English Fairy Tales / Английские сказки. Elementary

The Three Sillies

Once upon a time, there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter. And a gentleman courted this girl. He came every evening to see her and stopped to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter went down into the cellar to bring the beer for supper. So one evening she went down to bring the beer, and she saw a mallet that was hanging on the ceiling. She did not notice it before. She thought it was very dangerous to have that mallet there, and she said to herself, “If we marry, and we have a son, and he grows up and comes down into the cellar to bring the beer, the mallet will fall on his head and kill him.

Her father and the gentleman were wondering upstairs where the girl disappeared, and her mother went down to look for[52 - look for – искать] her. She saw that the girl was sitting and crying, and the beer was running all over the floor[53 - was running all over the floor – растекалось по полу].

“What’s the matter?” said her mother.

“Oh, mother!” says she. “Look at that horrid mallet! If we marry, and we have a son, and he grows up and comes down into the cellar to bring the beer, the mallet will fall on his head and kill him. How awful! How awful!”

“Dear, dear! That’s really terrible!” said the mother, and she sat down and started to cry, too.

“What’s the matter?” says he.

“Oh,” says the mother, “look at that horrid mallet. Just think: if our daughter and her sweetheart marry, and they have a son, and he grows up and comes down into the cellar to bring the beer, the mallet will fall on his head and kill him.

“Dear, dear, dear! It is so dreadful!” said the father, and he sat down and started to cry, too.

Now the gentleman went down into the cellar too, to see what they were doing there. They three were sitting and crying side by side[54 - side by side – бок о бок], and the beer was running all over the floor. And he ran and turned the tap.