Practise reading the following tale:
Millions of Cats
'Once u'pon a ˏtime | there was a 'very old ˏman | and a 'very old woˎman. They 'lived in a ↑nice 'clean ˎhouse ≀ ˏwhich had 'flowers 'all ˎround it. But they 'couldn’t beˏhappy | because they were ↑so 'very ˎlonely.
“ 'If only we had a ˏcat!” said the ˎvery old woˎman. “A ˇcat?” asked the 'very old ˎman. “ˎYes, a 'sweet 'little ˎcat,” said the very old woˎman. “I will 'get you a ˏcat, my ˏdear,” said the very old ˎman.
And he 'went 'over the ˏhills ≀ to 'look for ˎone. He 'walked aˏlong, ˏlong ˏtime ≀ and he 'came to a ˎhill ˏwhich was 'covered with ˎcats.
'Cats ˏhere, 'cats ˎthere,
'cats and ˏkittens everywhere
'hundreds of ˏcats, | 'thousands of ˎcats,
ˏmillions | and ˏbillions | and ˏtrillions | of ˎcats.
“–Oh,” cried the old man ˎhappily, “ 'Now I can 'choose the ↑prettiest ˏcat ≀ and 'take it 'home with me!” So | he 'chose ˎone. It was ˎwhite. But he 'saw a'notherˏone | 'all ˏblack and ˎwhite and it was as 'pretty as the ˎfirst. 'So he ˏtook this ˎone too. But ˏthen | he 'saw a 'grey ˎkitten ≀ˏwhich was as 'pretty as the ˎothers, ˏso | he 'took it ˎtoo. And 'just ˏthen | the 'very 'old 'man 'found a ˏkitten ˎwhich wasˏblack and 'very ˋbeautiful. So he ˋtook it. And ˏthen | he 'saw a ˏbrown | and 'yellow ˎcat.
“I must ˎtake it!” cried the very old man, and he ˎdid.
'So it ˏhappened that 'every time the 'very 'old 'man 'looked ˏup, he 'saw a'nother ˏcat ˎwhich was so ˇpretty, | and he 'chose them ˋall. And ˏso | he 'went 'back to 'show ↑all his 'pretty ˎkittens to the 'very 'old woˎman.
They 'came to a ˎpond. “ˏMew, ˎmew! We areˎthirsty!” cried the ˏhundreds of ˎcats, | ˏthousands of ˎcats, |ˏmillions | and ˏbillions | and ˏtrillions of ˎcats.
“ˏWell, 'here is a 'lot of ˎwater, ” said the very old man. 'Each 'cat 'drank some ˏwater, | and the 'pond was ˎgone!
“ˏMew, ˎmew! 'Now we are ˋhungry!” said the ˏhundreds of ˎcats, |ˏthousands of ˎcats, |ˏmillions | and ˏbillions | and ˏtrillions of ˎcats.
“There is a 'lot of ˎgrass on the hill,” said the very old ˎman. 'Each 'cat 'ate some ˏgrass | and 'nothing was ˎleft!
The 'very 'old wo'man 'saw them ˎcoming. “My ˏdear!” she cried, “'What are you ˏdoing? I asked for 'one 'little ˏcat, | and 'what do I ˏsee?
'Cats ˏhere, 'cats ˎthere,
'cats and ˏkittens everywhere
'hundreds of ˏcats, | 'thousands of ˎcats,
ˏmillions | and ˏbillions | and ˏtrillions | of ˎcats.
Read the following tales. Mark the stresses and tunes
The Fly that Went to School
Once upon a time there was a fly and she wanted to be scholarly. She sat on the school window and listened to what the children were learning. Just then they were being taught a little song:
Willy, willy-nilly,
A donkey is quite silly!
After a little while the fly had learnt the song and said to herself: ”Now I am really quite clever. I shall go out into the world and teach the other animals”. She flew to a meadow , and there she found an old donkey grazing. The fly settled on its back and started singing:
Willy, willy-nilly,
A donkey is quite silly!
“What was that you were singing!” asked the donkey.
Willy, willy-nilly,
A donkey is quite silly!
sang the fly.
“That’s a nice little song,” said the donkey. “Just settle on my tail and sing it to me again, please.” So the fly settled on the donkey’s tail and the donkey swished so hard with his tail that the fly shot to the ground and nearly broke her legs.
“What an ungrateful donkey,” thought the fly to herself when she had recovered, and off she flew. She flew to a pond, where there was a carp swimming lazily around. The fly settled on the edge of the water and sang out sweetly:
Willy, willy-nilly,
A carp is really silly!
And suddenly the carp leapt out of the water and splashed the fly so thoroughly that she was hardly able to get dry even in the sun. “That was an ungrateful carp”, said the fly to herself when she was dry and off she flew.
She came to a farmyard and saw a gander there. The fly settled on the gander’s beak and began singing sweetly:
Willy, willy-nilly,
A gander is quite silly!
And the gander just snapped its beak and swallowed the scholarly fly.
The Tale of Two Bad Mice
Once upon a time there was a very beautiful doll’s house: it was red with windows, and it had real muslin curtains and a front door. Two dolls called Lucinda and Jane lived there. Jane was the cook; but she never did any cooking, because the dinner was bought ready – made. There were two red lobsters, some ham, a fish, a pudding, some pears and oranges. They were not real, but they were very beautiful.
One morning Lucinda and Jane went out. There was no one in the nursery. Tom Thumb put his head out of the hole near the fireplace. Tom Thumb was a mouse. A minute later, Hunca Munca, his wife, put her head out, too.
The doll’s house was not far from the fireplace. Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca came into the house and went upstairs to the living – room. Such a lovely dinner was on the table. There were spoons, and knives and forks, and two dolly – chairs – all so comfortable!
Tom Thumb wanted to cut the ham, but it was very hard. “Give me some fish, Hunca Munca!” said Tom. Hunca Munca tried every spoon but the fish didn’t come off the plate.
Then Tom Thumb lost his temper. He put the ham on the floor, and broke it with the shovel – bang, bang, smash, smash! The ham flew all into pieces, for under the paint there was nothing but plaster! Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca broke up the pudding, the lobsters, the pears and the oranges.
Then they went to the dolls’ bedroom. Tom Thumb took Jane’s clothes out of the chest of drawers and he threw them out of the window. With Tom Thumb’s help Hunca Munca brought a chair, a bookcase, a birdcage, and some other small things to the mouse hole. The bookcase and the birdcage didn’t go into it. Hunca Munca left them behind the house, and went to get a cradle. Suddenly the dolls came into the nursery. The mice ran back to their hole. Now Hunca Munca has got the cradle and some of Lucinda’s clothes
So that is the story of the two Bad Mice, - but they were not so very, very naughty. Tom Thumb paid for everything he broke. He found a sixpence under the rug; and upon Christmas Eve, he and Hunca Munca put it into one of the stockings of Lucinda and Jane.
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