The King and The Dragon
(a tale)
Once upon a time there lived a king who wanted to be famous. One day he thought, “If I find and kill a dragon, I will be famous. And if I’m famous, I will marry the princess I love. All fairy tales say that if a man kills a dragon and becomes a hero, he marries a beautiful princess”. So he took his sword and left his castle to look for a dragon.
The king went on and on and on until one day he saw a nice cave. It looked so nice outside that he thought, “If I were a dragon, I would live in this cave. I wish a dragon really lived there! I’m sure he does!” He decided to call for a dragon and cried out loudly “Hey, dragon! If you are there, go out and fight with me!”
A dragon really lived in the cave. At that time he was watching a video film and didn’t want to go out. “I wish that noisy man would go away”, thought the Dragon. The king cried “If you don’t come out, I’ll begin to throw stones into your cave!”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t do it!”, roared the Dragon, “If you were cleverer, you wouldn’t make me angry! I can breathe fire. I wish you would leave me alone!”
The king became afraid of the fire-breathing Dragon. He sat near the cave and began to cry, “Oh, poor, poor me! I wish I had never gone to fight with a dragon! I don’t want to be roasted! I only want to become a hero and marry my princess! If I had found this dragon when he was small and couldn’t breathe fire, I would have caught him and my love would have married me because I would have become a hero! But what shall I do now? And to tell the truth, I don’t really want to kill dragons.”
The Dragon heard these words. Actually, he was a kind Dragon. You know, if people don’t make dragons angry, they are usually very nice creatures. He went out of his cave and told the king that he would help him. After some time he gave the king a note. It said, “Dear Beautiful Princess!
This king is really a hero! If he hadn’t broken his sword in the fight with me, he would have killed me, but now we are friends. He really loves you and wants to marry you very much. If I were you, I would give him a chance. I wish you to be happy!
Love, Dragon.
P.S. If I have some free time, I will come to your wedding. And you may visit me any time you like.
D.”
So the king married the Beautiful Princess, they often visited the Dragon in his cave and watched the newest video films.
TASKS
I. Find all the examples of conditional and “wish” – sentences and explain their usage.
II. Answer the questions:
1. Why did the king want to be famous?
2. What would you do if you were a king and found yourself in the same situation?
3. Would you like to be famous? Why? / Why not?
4. Was the Dragon glad to hear the king? Give reasons.
5. What would you do if you were the Dragon?
6. Why do you think the Dragon decided to help the king?
7. Did you learn any new facts about dragons’ character? Give facts.
8. Why do you think the king acted this way when he learned that the Dragon was fire – breathing?
9. Do you think the Princess believed the Dragon’s note? Give reasons.
10. What do you like or dislike about the tale?
III. Translate the sentences into English:
1. “Если вы станете знаменитым, король, я стану вашей женой”, – сказала принцесса.
2. “На месте короля я бы не отправился искать дракона”, – подумал канцлер (the counselor).
3. “Мне хочется досмотреть фильм до конца. Хорошо бы этот шумный человек ушел”, – подумал дракон.
4. “Хотелось бы мне, чтобы ты вообще не подходил к моему жилищу. Но если уж ты здесь, сядь рядом с пещерой и жди моего ответа”, – проревел дракон.
5. “Зря я отправился на поиски дракона”, – подумал король.
6. “Если у тебя будет свободное время, приезжай ко мне в пещеру”, – сказал дракон королю.
7. “Мне бы хотелось посмотреть новый фильм. Поедем к дракону, если ты не занят”, – сказала принцесса королю.