English Fairy Tales / Английские сказки. Elementary

The robbers saw that it was all dark, and they sent one man back to the house to look after[29 - look after – присмотреть] the money. But he came back in a great fright and told them his story.

“I went back to the house,” said he, “and went in and tried to sit down in the chair, and there was an old woman; she was knitting, and she stuck her knitting-needles into me.” That was the cat, you know.

“Then I went to the table to look after the money, and there was a shoemaker under the table, and he stuck his awl into me.

“Then I started to go upstairs, and there was a man up there; he was threshing, and he knocked me down with his flail.” That was the goat, you know.

“Then I started to go down cellar, and there was a man down there; he was chopping wood, and he knocked me up with his axe.” That was the bull, you know.

“But the most dreadful thing was that little boy on top of the house. He was crying, �Chuck him up[30 - Chuck him up! – Бросайте его вверх!] to me-e! Chuck him up to me-e!’” Of course[31 - of course – конечно] that was the cock-a-doodle-do[32 - cock-a-doodle-do – ку-ка-ре-ку].

Johnny-Cake

Once upon a time, there was an old man. He lived with an old woman and a little boy. One morning, the old woman made a Johnny-cake and put it in the oven to bake.

“Watch the Johnny-cake, and I will go to work in the garden,” she said to the little boy. Then the old man and the old woman went out.

But the little boy didn’t watch the Johnny-cake, and suddenly, he heard a noise. He looked up and saw how the oven door opened. Out of the oven[33 - Out of the oven – Р?Р· печи] jumped Johnny-cake and went towards the door of the house.

“Stop, stop!” cried the little boy, but Johnny-cake was very quick and ran away. The boy called his parents for help, but they could not catch Johnny-cake. Soon, he was out of sight[34 - he was out of sight – он скрылся из виду].

Johnny-cake was going along the road, and soon he came to two well-diggers who were digging a well. They saw him and asked, “Where are you going, Johnny-cake?”

He said, “I outran an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and I can outrun you too-o-o!”

“Really? You can, can you? We’ll see!” they said and threw down their picks and ran after him[35 - ran after him – погнались за ним].