E-Concussion

The Three Wishes
A man and his wife were always wishing for luck. One night a fairy came to them and said, “You may have three wishes.” In the morning the woman went to a neighbor’s house to get some bread. She saw a nice pudding there. When she came back, she said, “I wish I had a pudding like that! She did not think of the three wishes, but there was a pudding beside her. “Silly!” cried the man, you have lost one of your wishes, and we have only a pudding. I wish it were on your nose!” At that, the pudding jumped up and grew fast to her nose. “Silly, yourself!” cried the woman, “you have lost another wish. We have only one wish more.” “What shall it be?” asked the man. “We must wish this pudding off,” said the woman. “I can’t have it on my nose.” So they wished it would go away, and away it went. They had had their three wishes, but they were on better off than when the fairy came to them.

Talking to a Fish
One day a Negro went to a fish shop to buy some fish for his dinner. He picked up a fresh fish, and after examining it carefully, he held it up to his nose and smelled it. “Hey! What’s this?” cried the master of the shop. “Why do you smell that fish, do you think it,” answered the Negro. “Then what were you doing with your face so close to the fish?” asked the master. “I wasn’t smelling the fish; I was only talking to it,” answered the Negro. “Talking to it!” said the shopkeeper, why, what on earth did you say to it?” “I asked him if there was any Negro. “Well, and what did the fish say to that?” asked the shopkeeper. “He said he didn’t know the latest news, because he had been away from the sea or more than three weeks.”


** Vocabulary**

1. fairy [n.] 小妖精,仙女 [adj.] 小妖精似的,仙女似的
2. better off [ph.] 情況較佳
3. Negro [n.] 黑人 [adj.] 黑人的,黑色的


Carey 21-June-07