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A fairytale that teaches real English

Aesop's The Lion and the Mouse, read and explained line by line: story words, past-tense storytelling and the kindest moral in English literature.

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Inside this lesson

A2
Aesop

The Lion and the Mouse

The complete fable

The passage

A mouse wakes a sleeping lion and is caught. The mouse promises that one day he will help, and the lion laughs and lets him go. Later hunters tie the lion to a tree and the little mouse chews through the ropes and sets him free.

Once when a Lion was asleep, a little Mouse began running up and down upon him. This soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him and opened his big jaws to swallow him. "Pardon, O King!" cried the little Mouse. "Forgive me this time. I shall never repeat it and I shall never forget your kindness. And who knows, but I may be able to do you a good turn one of these days?" The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him that he lifted up his paw and let him go. Sometime later a few hunters captured the King and tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, ran up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. "Was I not right?" said the little Mouse, very happy to help the Lion. MORAL: Little friends may prove great friends.

  • asleep
    A1
    spící, spát
    sleeping
    „Once when a Lion was asleep"
  • paw
    A2
    tlapa
    the foot of an animal such as a lion or a dog
    „placed his huge paw upon him"
  • huge
    A2
    obrovský
    very, very big
    „his huge paw"
  • jaws
    B1
    čelisti
    the two bones of the mouth that hold the teeth
    „opened his big jaws"
  • swallow
    A2
    spolknout
    to make food go down your throat
    „to swallow him"
  • forgive
    A2
    odpustit
    to stop being angry with someone for something they did
    „Forgive me this time"
  • kindness
    A2
    laskavost
    friendly and caring behaviour
    „I shall never forget your kindness"
  • hunter
    A2
    lovec
    a person who catches wild animals
    „a few hunters captured the King"
  • rope
    A2
    provaz, lano
    very thick strong string
    „gnawed away the ropes"
  • gnaw
    B1
    hlodat, okusovat
    to bite something again and again
    „soon gnawed away the ropes"
  • prove
    B1
    ukázat se (jako)
    to turn out to be
    „Little friends may prove great friends"
  • moral
    A2
    ponaučení
    the lesson a story teaches you
    „MORAL: Little friends may prove great friends."

Read this passage aloud

Listen to the model, record your reading, replay it immediately, then let Paní Liška check accuracy, pace, phrasing, stress and expression.

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