How the whale got his throat

Once upon a time there was a Whale. He lived in the sea and ate fishes. He ate all the fishes that he could find. At last there were no more fishes in the sea. There was only one very small Fish, but that was a very clever fish. He swam all the time near the Whale’s right ear, and so the Whale could not eat him.

The Whale swam and swam and could not find any more fishes. He was very hungry. He stood up on his tail and said, “I am hungry.”

Then the small Fish said in a very small voice,

“Oh, Whale, have you ever tasted Man?”

“No,” said the Whale, “No, I haven’t. Is it nice?”

“Yes,” said the small Fish, “very nice, but it tickles.”

“Then bring me some,” said the Whale and made a storm with his tail.

The small Fish said,

“Swim to latitude Fifty North and longitude Forty West. There you will find a shipwrecked Sailor. He is sitting on a raft in the middle of the sea. He has a pair of blue trousers, a pair of suspenders (you must not forget the suspenders) and a knife. Swim there and eat him. But you must know that this Sailor is a very brave and clever man.”

The Whale was glad, because he was very hungry. He started at once for latitude Fifty North and longitude Forty West. He swam very quickly and soon he was there. And indeed, he saw the Sailor on his raft. And the Sailor had a pair of blue trousers, a pair of suspenders (you must remember the suspenders) and a knife.

At that time, you must know, the Whale had a very big throat. So he swam up to the Sailor, opened his big mouth and swallowed him. He swallowed the Sailor together with his raft, his blue trousers, his suspenders (which you must not forget) and his knife. He liked it very much.

You remember that the Sailor was very brave and very clever. So when he found himself in the warm, dark stomach of the Whale, he was not afraid at all. He began to make a noise and run about in the Whale’s stomach. He jumped and danced and beat the Whale on the sides of his stomach. And the Whale felt very unhappy. (Have you forgotten the suspenders?)

So the Whale said to the small Fish, “You are right, the Man tickles very much. Besides, he is making me cough. I don’t know what to do.”

“Tell him to come out,” said the small Fish.

And the Whale said to the Sailor, “Come out and don’t tickle me. You make me cough.”

But the Sailor was a very clever man. He said, “No, I don’t want to come out now.”

“Why not?” said the Whale.

“Because I am far from my home. What shall I do in the middle of the sea where there are no ships? If you want me to come out, take me to my native shore and then I’ll think about it.”

“Take me to the country which is called England,” said the Sailor. And he began to jump and dance in the Whale’s stomach again. The Whale was really very unhappy.

Then the small Fish said to him, “I told you that the Sailor was very brave and clever. You had better take him home.”

So the Whale had to swim to England. It was a long way and it was difficult for the Whale to swim because the Sailor was dancing and jumping in his stomach, and he couldn’t stop coughing. But he swam and swam, as fast as he could.

At last he saw the land which is called England. He swam up to the shore and opened his big mouth very wide. “Come out,” he said to the Sailor, “here is your native shore.”

And the Sailor walked out of his mouth on to the sand.

Now I must tell you a very important thing. When the Whale was swimming, the Sailor, who, as you know, was a very clever man had taken his knife, cut up the raft and made a little grating, which he had tied with his suspenders (now you know why you had to remember the suspenders!). And when he was walking out of the Whale’s stomach, he pulled that grating behind him, and the grating stuck in the Whale’s throat.

The Whale swam away. But he could not swallow the grating down and he could not cough it up, and from that day he could eat only very small fish. That’s why whales never eat men or boys and girls.

The small clever Fish went and hid himself deep in the mud under the Equator¹. He was afraid of the Whale. He thought that the Whale would eat him.

And the Sailor went home with his knife. He had on his blue trousers, but he had no suspenders, because he had tied the grating with them. He went home to his mother and then he married and lived happily for many years.

Word:

1. the Equator [I'kweItq] – экватор

1. Questions and tasks:

1. Why couldn’t the Whale eat the small Fish?

2. What did the small Fish tell the Whale to do?

3. Did the Sailor have many things with him?

4. How did the Sailor make the Whale agree to take him to England?

5. Explain why the small Fish hid himself deep in the mud under the Equator?

2. Retell the text in detail.

I F –

Read the poem and its Russian versions. Analyse them. What translation is more close to the original? Prove it with examples.

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you.

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies.

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master,

If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken.

And stood and build’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue.

Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run.

Yours it the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!