Лучшие сказки загадочной Шотландии. Уровень 1 / The Best Tales of Enchanted Scotland

The queer little man laughed again.

“Waste no time, good Dame,” he replied. “Go into the house. If anyone asks you who brought you hither so quickly, tell them that there was nobody near your house, so you rode behind the Brownie Of Ferne-Den!”

Упражнения

1. Who was not afraid of the Brownies?

1) the country people

2) the old woman

3) the farmer's wife

4) the little children

5) everybody

2. Вставьте нужный глагол:

There is no one to ____________________ her at the farm there.

1) look for

2) catch

3) sell

4) nurse

5) kill

3. Какие домовые не упоминаются в сказке?

1) the Brownie of Blednock

2) the Brownie of Reverbrunn

3) the Brownie of Bodsbeck

4) the Brownie of Stary-Trom

5) the Brownie of Ferne-Den

4. Вставьте нужное существительное:

The silly ____________________ were afraid and dared not set out to fetch a nurse.

1) children

2) servants

3) Brownies

4) farmers

5) old women

5. Как переводится safe and sound?

1) целый и невредимый

2) безопасный и звучащий

3) мирный и спящий

4) толстый и здоровый

5) милый

Ответы:

the farmer's wife; nurse; the Brownie of Reverbrunn, the Brownie of Stary-Trom; servants; целый и невредимый

Farquhar Macneill

Once upon a time there was a young man named Farquhar MacNeill. One day the farmer's wife asked him to go over the hill to the house of a neighbour. She wanted to borrow flour, because she didn't have any left.

Farquhar agreed to do so. He set out at once upon his errand. The farmer's wife showed him the path to follow. She said that it was easy to find the house. So he looked for the light in the window.

Soon on his left hand he saw something that he took for the light[20 - he saw something that he took for the light – он увидел что-то, что принял за свет]. He forgot his Mistress's instructions to follow the path right over the hill. He left it, and walked towards the light.

He thought he reached it. Suddenly his foot tripped. He fell down, down, down, into a Fairy Parlour, far under the ground. It was full of Fairies.

He saw two little elderly women, in black aprons and white mutches. They stood close by the door. They ground corn between two flat millstones. Other two Fairies, younger women, in blue print gowns and white kerchiefs, gathered up the freshly ground meal. They baked it into bannocks. Then they toasted it on a girdle over a peat fire. The fire burnt slowly in a corner.

In the centre of the large apartment many Fairies, Elves, and Sprites danced to the music of a tiny set of bagpipes. A brown-faced[21 - 1 brown-faced – смуглолицый] Gnome played it. The Gnome sat on a ledge of rock far above their heads.

Farquhar came suddenly down in their midst. They all stopped, and looked at him in alarm. But then they saw that he was not hurt. They bowed gravely. Then they went on with their work and with their play.

Farquhar liked to dance very much. So he asked the Fairies to join them. They looked surprised at his request. But then they allowed him to do so. In a few minutes the young man danced with them.

As he danced a strange change came over him. He forgot about the flour. He forgot his home. He forgot everything. He only knew that he wanted to remain with the Fairies all the rest of his life[22 - all the rest of his life – на всю оставшуюся жизнь].

And he remained with them. A magic spell was cast over him. He could be invisible and sip the dew from the grass and honey from the flowers daintily and noiselessly.

Time passed by. One night he and his merry companions set out for a long journey through the air. They started early. They intended to pay a visit to the Man in the Moon and be back again before cock-crow[23 - 3 cock-crow – пение петуха].

During the flight Farquhar fell in love with a young Fairy Maiden. He did not see a cottage that was right in his way. Suddenly he struck against the chimney. Then he stuck fast in the thatch.