I. Pre-reading

1.1. SPEAK about the most wondrous gift you've ever received. Did it cost a fortune in terms of money or — love?

1.2. DISCUSS some well-established winter time traditions not connected with Christmas or New Year.

1.3. SHARE your ideas of what a real castle might look like. Pay special attention to the notions of comfort and romance.

II. Reading

2.1. Understanding the title.

Here is the title of the story written by Ann M. Quellette. On bal­ance, one castle is more than enough. Share your ideas on what one might do with several ones. Don't be afraid to fantasize a bit, ok?

2.2. Reading for pleasure and enrichment.

The protagonist of the story was lucky to have a speaking name. Read the story and say whether she lived up to her name or not. The following words will be useful for better understanding of the events.

Bodyguard - someone whose job is to protect an important person

Herald - someone who carried messages from a ruler

Joust - a contest where knights demonstrate their skills

Drought - a long period of dry weather

Suitor - a man who wants to marry a particular woman

Droop - to become sad or weak

Mason - someone whose building job is cutting stones to be used for

Turret – a small tower

Princess Felicity was so beautiful that young men came from far and wide to ask for her hand in marriage.

"Marry me!" they would beg, but Felicity would only shake her head, and laugh, and invite them to dance the night away.

When she finished school, Princess Felicity traveled about the kingdom, visiting farms and mills, schools and cottages and shops, until she had met everyone in the land. Her father, sure that she would soon settle down, asked only that she take a bodyguard along. The princess chose Nathaniel, son of the head gardener, and month after month, she rode into the countryside with Nathaniel by her side.

"This cannot go on forever, my dear," the king said at last. "Your mother and I wish to retire soon, and the country needs a royal couple to set a good example. You must choose a husband, and you must choose wisely. The happiness of our land depends on your happiness."

"But I am happy now, Father," said the princess. "I love our beautiful country and its people. By day I learn more and more about them, and my evenings are filled with parties and good friends. What more could I wish for?"

The king was silent. He loved his daughter and wanted her always to be as full of joy as she was at this moment. He also had faith in her good sense. He waited for her to speak, and at last she did.

"I know I am fortunate to be a princess and to have such loving parents. I will take on the burden of royalty, but give me a little more time, dear Father. Wait until my twenty-first birthday. Then I will declare the way in which I will choose my husband-to-be."

The king was satisfied and told the heralds to announce that the princess would reveal her marriage plans on her twenty-first birth­day, which was two years and forty days away. Soon the kingdom

uzzed with excitement. Everyone thought they knew what the rincess would ask of her suitors.

"She will hold a joust arid marry the winner," said some.

"No, no, she will give them a puzzle to solve, and the smartest one will become king," said others.

The princess did not think about it at all. She went on dancing, exploring the country, and enjoying life. But hard times came to the kingdom. Wars to the north and drought to the south made food scarce and money scarcer. People forgot about the princess and the royal suitors and struggled to feed their families. The king and queen worked day and night to bring prosperity back to the land.

On the princess's twenty-first birthday, there was no money for a royal ball. Instead, the queen invited everyone in the kingdom for punch and cookies on the palace lawn. When they all had sipped and munched and enjoyed a good chat, the king stepped up on a stool.

"Today," he said, "we will learn what qualities will win the hand of our lovely princess Felicity. Tell us, my child, what must a suitor do to win your heart?"

The princess looked at the people who had made her life so happy. How worn and shabby they were! She saw the wealthy princes and lords from other kingdoms, and the young men of her own kingdom with whom she had played, and ridden, and danced... And especially she looked at her friend Nathaniel.

Then, straightening her shoulders and holding her head high, she said, "I will marry the man who builds me the most beautiful castle in this kingdom. I will make my decision eight months from today, on the twenty-ninth day of February." Then she turned and walked back into the palace, where she wept silently in her room.

"Oh!" gasped the people. "How selfish! How unlike our dear princess!"

The king and queen looked at one another in puzzlement.

"She is our daughter," said the queen softly. "She must know what she is doing."

For a while the people gossiped about the princess's thought­lessness. But life in the kingdom became very busy.. Hopeful suitors bought land and hired woodcutters to clear it. Soon the mills were humming, and carpenters and masons were hiring assistants. Everyone was too busy to notice the princess, her pale face pressed against her window, or Nathaniel, drooping by the palace gate.

All summer the hills buzzed with the sound of saws. By autumn, turrets and towers rose from the woods in every direction. Every Sunday the princess and her parents had tea at another new castle. Everyone was invited, and bakeries turned out acres of cakes and pastries. Prosperity had returned to the kingdom.

But the princess grew paler and thinner and sadder as each Sunday came and went. Then, in December, Nathaniel disappeared, and the princess smiled no more.

Winter came. The people built cozy fires in their cottages and chatted about the royal wedding-to-come. They argued about their favorites among the suitors. Only the king and queen worried about the princess, who was not at all herself.

"Even I can see what is wrong," the king said. "You love Na­thaniel, and he is too poor to enter the contest. You must break your word."

"If I break my word, I will lose his respect, and my own," said the princess. "I must keep the bargain and I must never let the people know my heart is broken."

With only one day to go in the contest, the whole castle seemed to hold its breath. Young men dashed about in anticipation. Then, on the night before the last day, Nathaniel appeared at the palace gate.

"I have come to offer my castle to the princess," he said. "But it is miles away in the hills, and we must leave right now if she is to see it in time."

"Yes!" said the king, and immediately summoned sleighs and horses for everyone in the palace. Through the wooded hills they wound, a line of torches against the white snow, and as they passed farms and villages, the people joined the procession. Just before dawn they came to a clearing in the woods and there beheld a most wonderful sight. Towered and turreted, a great castle rose up from the snow. A cold and glittering blue, it began to turn a rosy pink as the sun's first light appeared over the towers. It was a castle made entirely of ice!

"Come inside," said Nathaniel, and led the princess into a great hall made of blocks and sheets of ice, all set at angles. The people and all the royal suitors crowded in behind them, whispering and shivering. Then the sun rose. One sunbeam streamed across the room. Then another, and another. Rainbows raced from side to side and up the great walls. The whole room danced with light and color.

"For you, my princess," said Nathaniel.

The princess started laughing with joy. "Oh yes!" she said, and clapped her hands, and everyone began to applaud.

Then suddenly they all heard a small, strange sound coming from outside the castle. As the sun rose higher, the sound became louder and faster. Clip, clop, clip, clop.

'The castle is melting!" the people cried,

"You lose, Nathaniel!" said one of the lords rudely. "In a little while, your castle will be nothing but a big puddle."

"Indeed! True!" shouted the other suitors. "Have I won, Princess? Was my castle best?"

The princess looked at Nathaniel and at the king and queen.

"It is true, Felicity," said the king. "Soon this lovely castle will be gone, and you and Nathaniel will have only the shabby old palace."

"Father," said the princess, "nothing lasts forever. If a flower lasts only a day, or a smile a few seconds, we do not value their beauty less, but enjoy them while we can. I said I would marry the man who built the most beautiful castle. This is it. Now, let us go home before we are soaking wet."

The king and queen, Princess Felicity, and Nathaniel climbed into the royal sleigh. Felicity held tight to Nathaniel's hand and glowed with happiness. The royal party, the people, and the dis­appointed suitors all went back to the palace for cocoa and cin­namon toast, and they began planning parties and balls for the happy couple. The wedding was a grand affair, and everyone in the kingdom lived long and happy lives. And every fourth year, when there was a twenty-ninth day in February, King Nathaniel, Queen Felicity, their children, and all their friends would build a magnificent ice castle in the clearing in the woods. Perhaps they are doing it still.

2.3. True or false?

1. Felicity was too busy with parties to choose her husband-to-be.

2. The king didn't impose his royal will on Felicity because he trusted her.

3. When bad times came, the princess's marriage was no longer big news.

4. All the people strongly approved of Felicity's final decision.

5. The Princess valued honesty and dignity more than love.

6. The Princess's idea seemed weird but it brought prosperity to the land.

7. Nathaniel built his castle to eliminate the other suitors.

8. The tradition of building ice castles has been long forgotten since then.

2.4. POINTS OF VIEW. Who said this? Why did they say so? Please, explain.

1. "The happiness of our land depends on your happiness."

2. "How selfish! How unlike our dear princess!"

3. "If I break my word I will lose his respect, and my own."

4. "If a flower lasts only a day, we do not value its beauty less..."

5. "I will marry the man who builds me the most beautiful castle in the kingdom."

2.5. Storing vocabulary.

1. Fill in the right word from the list below.

2. The curtains opened ... a darkened stage.

3. The winner of the race ... with triumph.

4. I have great... in her, she won't let me down.

5. The neighbourhood was ... with rumours.

6. Sheep farming is one of the sources of prosperity of the UK.

7. The company was in no position to take on another financial...

8. We heard the telephone ... in the corner of the room.

9. We shared the chores but he never ..., so I ended up doing everything myself.

Choose from the following: faith, burden, to reveal, to buzz, prosperity, to hum, to keep the bargain, to glow.

2.6. Idiomatic English.

Practise using the right idiom from the list below instead of the underlined part.

1. The suitors spent a lot of effort and money to build the most beautiful castle.

2. Nathaniel's ice castle came to be remembered as the most original project.

3. Princess Felicity was determined to keep her promise, no mat­ter what.

4. Most people thought Nathaniel's work was all wasted.

5. Days flew by very fast.

6. After Felicity's announcement the suitors set about hiring workers.

7. He never thought of marriage as a chance to better his social standing.

8. As the construction continued, the Princess grew paler and sadder.

Idioms to choose from: go on, come and go, come what may, come up in the world, go about doing something, go down in his­tory, go for nothing, go to great expense.

2.7. Studying grammar.

Being appointed or elected requires tons of reputation — and, grammatically speaking, no article! Make sure you can make unique appointments using the following verbs: become, be elected, be ap­pointed.

1. Prince Charles is the next person to King of Great Britain.

2. George Bush Jr. was President the second time in 2004.

3. Margaret Thatcher was the first woman to be Prime Minister.

4. (now think of your own variants)

2.8. More grammar.

Elegant speaking is nothing but using the right expression at the right moment. Let's try to practice some. Paraphrase the following using the structure in question.

e.g. He only wanted to get to the place sooner. —

He wanted nothing but to get to the place sooner.

1. He wanted truth and truth only.

2. She would live exclusively on vegetables.

3. Mary is so romantic. She would read love stories or noth­ing else.

4. How limited you are! Soap operas are the only films you watch!

5. Scholarships are given solely on the basis of examination results.

2.9. Castles in focus.

Most idioms are not to be translated. They are to be understood, learnt and used. Identify the meaning correctly, then produce brief stories as illustrations.

To build castles in the air means...

• to daydream.

• to build skyscrapers.

• to imagine beautiful structures.

To be built like a castle means...

• to look graceful.

• to look impressive.

• to look solid and strong.

To promise castles in Spain means...

• to offer property in a European country.

• to talk about things hardly realizable.

• to promise marriage with Spanish royalty.