New Year Present
A Chinese Fairy-tale
Everybody celebrates New Year with happiness and hope.
An old man and his three daughters were sitting at the New Year dinner table eating some fish and rice. The girls gave their father a glass of warm wine; he smiled and said: “I’m very grateful, my lovely daughters, for your care of me and the house where we live. Now, as the good old tradition says, I’ll give you all my New Year presents. They aren’t generous, but they are from the bottom of my heart, and they will give you an opportunity to show me what each of you is able to do.”
The man opened an old chest with the key and gave his daughters three bundles with presents. The daughters kissed their father, said good night and went to their rooms.
The eldest daughter saw the present. There were three copper coins in the bundle. She thought: “Our father became a stingy man. Look! Only three copper coins! What can I buy? If only they were silver…”
Just then her door opened and the second daughter came in. She said to her sister: “There were three copper coins our father gave. I can only buy three pieces of ice-cream next summer.”
The youngest daughter saw the present and thought: “Any present from my father is generous. But his words are even more generous.”
A year passed. At the New Year dinner the father presented his daughters with silk belts. He didn’t say anything about his previous presents.
Two years passed. The New Year dinner started as usual. The old man drank a glass of warm red wine and asked his daughters: “Tell me, please, what you have done with the presents I gave you three years ago?”
The eldest daughter started laughing and said: “Oh, father, I simply forgot about those coins. I put them somewhere in my room and then I even couldn’t find them.”
The second daughter said: “Oh, I bought some tasty ice-cream two summers ago.”
And the youngest daughter said: “I’m very grateful for that present, my dear father. I bought a cow using your lovely present.”
Her father and sisters were surprised: “How could you buy a cow for three copper coins?”
“Well, – said the daughter. – First, for three copper coins I could buy one yellow duckling. She grew and turned into a nice duck. During the summer I was selling her eggs at the market, so in autumn I saved some money and could buy a piglet. The next year it grew into a pig. I sold him and bought a calf. It grew and now you can see our cow. And next year she will be big enough and we’ll have some milk and cheese for breakfast”.
The father was so glad he hugged and kissed his daughter. It was the best New Year present for him.
EXERCISES
1. Give the English equivalents:
oни не особо щедрые; от всего сердца; три узелка с подарками; наш отец стал скрягой; если б только они были серебряными; шёлковые пояса; он ничего не сказал про предыдущие подарки; я очень благодарна за этот подарок; он обнял свою дочь.
2. Discuss these questions:
1. What is the best New Year present for you in your opinion?
2. What present would you give to your father? Mother? etc.
3. Why do you think the eldest and the second daughters treated their father’s present in that way?
3. Retell the story as if you are:
a) the father;
b) the eldest daughter;
c) the youngest daughter.
4. Make a role play based on the story.
5. Vocabulary Work. Fill in the chart:
Animals and Their Babies
| Animal | Babies |
| A horse | A foal, colt |
| A cat | |
| A dog | |
| A duck | |
| A pig | |
| A cow | |
| A hen |