Читаем The Book of Riddles. Лексические задачки полностью

The Book of Riddles. Лексические задачки

burglar вор; break (broke, broken) into проникнуть в; steal красть; danger опасность; threat угроза pose a threat представлять собой угрозу; Who is speaking, anyway? А кто это вообще говорит?; indeed в самом деле

22. A Difficult Question

“If there were four flies on the table and I killed one, how many would be left?” asked the teacher.

Several children raised their hands, but only Mary gave the right answer.

fly муха; how many would be left сколько останется; raise поднимать

What was that answer?

23. The Sweets

Suppose, you had ten sweets and you hid two of them. How many sweets have you got now?

suppose предположим; sweet конфета; hide (hid, hidden) прятать

Solve this rebus to see the right answer.

24. The Bird Catcher

A bird catcher went to the forest to catch birds. By the end of the day, he caught only one bird.

“Let me go,” the bird begged him. “My husband and my hungry children are waiting for me.”

“So what? I am hungry, too. I will take you home with me, cook you, and have my supper.”

bird catcher птицелов; catch (caught, caught) ловить, поймать; Let me go. Отпусти меня; beg умолять; husband муж, супруг; wait ждать; So what? И что с того?

He put the bird in the cage, and headed home. On the way, he was caught in a storm. Lightning forked the sky, one thunderclap followed another. The bird catcher realized that would never get out of the forest alive. He lay down on the ground and waited for the Death to come for him.

cage клетка; headed home зашагал по направлению к дому; on the way по дороге; was caught in a storm попал под сильный дождь; lightning молния; fork здесь: прорезать; thunderclap удар грома; realize понять; alive живой; lie down (lay down, lain down) лечь, опуститься; ground земля; death смерть; come for sb прийти за кем-либо

Suddenly he heard the bird’s voice.

“Get up, hunter, and hide under that big tree.”

At that very moment, another lightning lit up the forest, and the bird catcher saw a big tree. He jumped up, and hid under its branches. Right above his head, there was a hole in the tree. In that hole, there lived the bird’s family.

“A bird catcher caught me,” said the bird to her husband. “He is hiding under the branches of our tree. He is cold and hungry. We must have pity on him.”

light up (lit up, lit up) осветить; branch ветка; right above his head прямо над его головой; hole дупло; have pity жалеть, пожалеть

Upon hearing her words, the second bird turned to the bird catcher.

“You are my guest,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“I am cold,” the bird catcher answered.

The bird left his nest, and soon came back with a piece of charcoal. He made a fire, and put some dry brushwood into it. The bird catcher got warm.

“I am hungry,” he said. “Give me something to eat.”

The bird answered:

“We, forest creatures, eat what we can get. But you will not die of hunger. I will now enter the fire, and you can eat me. I only have one thing to ask of you: Let my wife go. If you don’t, our children will die of hunger.”

upon hearing her words услышав её слова; turn to повернуться к; leave (left, left) покидать; nest гнездо; charcoal древесный уголь; dry сухой; brushwood хворост; forest creatures лесные твари; die of hunger умереть с голоду; enter the fire войти в огонь; Let my wife go. Отпусти мою жену.

The man felt something like conscience stir up inside his chest.

“No,” he said. “I will not accept this sacrifice. I will not eat you.”

He opened the cage, and let the bird out.

“Live long, and be happy,” he said.

The moment he spoke these words, the thunderstorm stopped, as if by magic, and the man could finally go safely home.

feel (felt, felt) чувствовать; something like нечто похожее на; conscience совесть; stir up шевелиться; chest грудь, грудная клетка; accept принять; sacrifice жертва; let out выпустить; thunderstorm гроза; as if by magic словно по волшебству; finally наконец; safely безопасно; sweetheart возлюбленный, возлюбленная