Ирина Матвеева - Добрые сказки для чтения на английском языке

The day before the big race, Hubert came up to Tommy. Hubert looked at the old tortoise and laughed. He was very glad to see that the tortoise looked as old as he had sounded! “So, big guy, you think that you can beat me, huh?” asked Hubert. Hubert ran circles around Tommy as fast as he could. “Do you really think you’re faster than me? Look! I can literally run circles around you!” And Hubert was. Hubert could run a circle around Tommy before he could even move his feet quickly enough for just one step. “You’re going down!”

But, Tommy did not care. Tommy just smiled at Hubert and kept on going along without a care in the world. You see, Tommy was too old to care about winning or losing. He was too old to think that only the fastest would win. He knew a very important secret and he w’as sure that his very important secret would be enough for him to figure out how to beat Hubert. And, even if he did lose, he was okay with that, too, for he was not a sore loser.

On the day of the big race, animals came from far and wide to watch. They heard that there was going to be a hare racing a tortoise and they all thought that it sounded so absurd that they had to go and see it. So, just before the race began, there was a lineup of animals as far as the eye could see. They were all lined up along the race path, and they where very interested to see what kind of tortoise would challenge a hare to a race.

Slowly but surely, Tommy meandered to the starting line. The entire time he was making his way there, Hubert was behind him, laughing at him. “Good luck, slowpoke!” Hubert would say with a mean voice. “Don’t worry! I’ll leave you some pieces of apple seeds!” he announced. “I hope you’re ready to eat my dust!

But, Tommy did not care. Tommy did not mind that Hubert was saying all of those mean things because Tommy was taught that words only have power if he thinks that they have power, so he did not listen to Hubert. He knew that mean words were not nice to say.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” cried Olivia, hooting as loudly as she could for all to hear. “I hope you’re ready for a good race! Remember, this is a good, clean, fair race! No kicking or hitting or underhanded tricks! Just running and racing!”

So, Tommy and Hubert stood at the finish line.

“On your marks!” They were ready to go. Hubert was jumping from foot to foot impatiently. “Get set!” Hubert was ready to kick off to run. “Go!” And as soon as Olivia hooted, off Hubert ran!

Before Tommy could even lift his foot off of the ground, Hubert was off! He ran very quickly and reached the finish line in record time! But, he was not ready to win, yet! So, he turned around and returned back to the tortoise. “You know,” said Hubert, “I knew that I would win, but I didn’t know that I’d win before you could get in three steps!” Hubert thought he was hilarious, and he rolled around on the ground, laughing.

Tommy did not listen to Hubert at all. He ignored the hare and smiled as he walked along, humming his own song and not reacting at all. So, Hubert came up with his own game. He decided that he would run to just before the finish line and then go all the way back to Tommy. He wanted to know how many times over he could have beaten Tommy on his own. He was interested in seeing just how quick he could go. So, he went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. After twenty times, Tommy was not even halfway done with the race yet! So, this continued for most of the afternoon. Tommy would slowly but steadily walk toward the finish line, step by step getting closer, and Hubert would run back and forth.

Soon, Hubert started to feel very sleepy. He was breathing big, deep breaths because he was running so much. He had an idea. If Tommy was as slow as he was, he could just take a nap! So, Hubert ran all the way back to Tommy one more time. “You know,” said Hubert. “You are so slow that I can take a nap and I’ll still beat you!”

Tommy smiled back at Hubert. He did not mind at all. “Good night,” he said politely as he continued to slowly walk away. And sure enough, Hubert walked over to a pile of nice, comfy grass, and curled up. Before Tommy had moved even a few more feet, Hubert was asleep!

Tommy kept on going, and soon, long after Hubert had stopped for a nap, Tommy realized that he could see the finish line! He kept going, step by step, and even though the crowds could see that the tortoise was about to win, no one wanted to cheer, for they did not want to wake up the hare. So, they watched very, very closely and very, very quietly.

But, just before Tommy could cross the finish line, Hubert woke up! Hubert blinked and looked around and realized that the sun was almost set. He had to win the race!! So, off Hubert went. He ran as fast as he could and he had never run faster than he was right that minute. He ran faster and faster.

“Go, Tommy, go!!” animals started to call out. They could see that Hubert was coming quicker and quicker. But, Hubert was not quick enough! Tommy was too close to the finish line!

So, for the first time, Hubert lost and Tommy won. Everyone cheered for him, and Tommy was very proud. Hubert was very angry. He yelled and he screamed and he said that he had gotten to the finish line so many times already that he could not have lost! But, because he never crossed the finish line, he was not the winner.

Tommy smiled at Hubert. “Slow and steady wins the race,” he said.

One day, a small mouse was running around throughout a cave. The mouse was trying to be very quiet, for the mouse knew that a big, strong lion lived in the cave. But, the cave was the best place that the mouse could hide from the big falcon that was outside, looking for food. So, the mouse decided to hide in the cave. He was looking for a good place to hide away, knowing that the lion that lived in the cave liked to sleep during the day and was only really awake at night.

So, Mouse kept his paws crossed that this day would be like any other day, and the lion would stay asleep. He knew that he would be able to hide out and be quiet, but he just needed to find a good spot.

As Mouse looked around the cave, he saw a hole in the wall that looked like it would be the perfect hiding place. But, it was right next to the big sleeping lion. With no other choice, Mouse moved closer and closer to the lion. He tiptoed as quietly as he could, using one paw at a time to slowly and steadily creep all the way across the floor of the cave. He was very careful to be quiet, and he did a very, very good job at it.

But, in his sleep, the lion’s tail twitched and landed on the ground next to Mouse. It kicked up a little cloud of dust that tickled Mouse’s nose. Mouse tried very hard not to sneeze, but sure enough, he did. “Ah… Ah… ACHOO!” Mouse rubbed his nose and sniffled before he froze—did he wake up the lion? Sure enough, the lion was looking right at him.

“Eep!” squeaked Mouse and he tried to run all the way into the little hole. But, Lion was faster and Lion put a big, strong paw right onto Mouse’s tail. “Ow! Let me go!” squealed Mouse, trying to pull his tail out from under the lion’s paw.

“Why should I?” asked Lion. “I’m hungry and you woke me up from my nap. Everyone knows that lions are hungry when they wake up, and you woke me up. But, you are right here and I could eat you up and then go back to sleep!”

Mouse looked up at Lion in fright. He didn’t want to be lunch! “I’m sorry, Mr. Lion!” he squeaked. “But please, let me down! I promise I’ll be careful next time!”

The Lion frowned and picked np the mouse in his paw, holding him from his tail. He pulled the mouse closer and closer to his mouth and opened up his big, mighty jaws, and Mouse saw teeth that were bigger than his tail!

“I’m sorry!!” Squealed Mouse. “I’m going to be much more careful! But, why would you want to eat such a little mouse? I would not taste good and I am too small to make you full. Surely, you would be much happier with a worthier meal!”

The lion looked back at Mouse for a moment and seemed to consider it. But then, something happened. Lion put Mouse down. “You know,” he said with a big yawn. “You’re right. You’re not even big enough to be a little snack. Get out of here,” said the lion as he got comfortable on the floor again, stretching out his back.

“Thank you, kind lion!” said Mouse. “I promise I’ll return the favor someday!” And with that said, Mouse ran away.

Lion chuckled to himself. A mouse, save a lion? How absurd!

A month later, Lion went out on a great, big hunt. He went searching for something new to eat, for he was once again, very hungry. As he was hunting a pack of zebras, something horrible happened! As Lion walked underneath a tree, he suddenly found himself wrapped up in a big net that was stuck to the tree! He could not run away, for the rope was too big. He could not scratch or cut through the net either, because the little squares were too small for him to fit a tooth or a claw through. So, Lion was stuck!

Lion roared and roared as he tried to get out. He shook himself, but nothing happened. He tried to run away, but nothing happened. He tried to chew through the net, but again, nothing happened. Angry and stuck, Lion roared again.

But this time, Mouse happened to be nearby. He heard the roar and thought of the Lion that had let him go, not too long ago. “I wonder if that’s Lion…” he wondered out loud. He started to walk away, but then he remembered his promise. “Maybe I should go see if he’s okay,” said Mouse to himself, so off he went.

It did not take very long to find Lion—he was very busy making very big, loud roars that were so frightening that no one wanted to get near him. But, Mouse recognized the little white spot on one of his paws—the very paw that had held him up to eat him—and he knew that it was the same lion.

Mouse did not hesitate at all. He went right up to Lion. “Excuse me!” he squeaked, but Lion did not hear him. Lion was too busy rolling around and trying to get out of the net, but as he tried to get out, he only made himself more and more tangled up, unable to escape.

“EXCUSE ME!” Mouse yelled as loudly as he could, and that seemed to be enough. Lion stopped roaring and fighting the net and turned to look at him. Lion looked very annoyed.

“What are you doing here?” asked Lion. “Go away!” he was very angry and growled at Mouse.

“I think I can help,” said Mouse. He looked at the net. It would take a very, very long time, but Mouse was pretty sure he could chew it up and let Lion out. After all, he owed Lion a debt, and he always repaid his debts.

“Go away!” said Lion. Lion was not happy about being stuck and knew that if he could not break the net, then there was no possible way that a tiny mouse could instead! He knew that there would be no point in trying for the little mouse, for the mouse would never be able to do it anyway! He did not want to get his hopes up, so he tried to push Mouse away. But, he was so tangled up that he could not push away Mouse. He could barely move.

But, Mouse did not want to go away. Mouse wanted to do what he promised, so he walked right over to Lion and began to chew on the net. “Sit still!” he told Lion as he held up the net to his mouth and chewed on it. He was able to chew right through most of it very easily because it fit into his mouth. It was not hard to chew through it all when he could pick it all up! So, he chewed and he chewed. He chewed and chewed some more, until finally, a little piece fell down.