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The Shortened
Trousers:
A young man once
went to town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When
he got home, he went upstairs to his bedroom and put them
on. He found that they were about two inches too long. He
went downstairs, where his mother and two sisters were
washing up the tea things in the kitchen. "These new
trousers are too long." he said, " They need
shortening by two inches. Would one of you mind doing this
for me?" His mother and sisters were busy and none of
them said anything.
But as soon as his
mother had finished washing up, she went quietly upstairs
to her son's bedroom and shortened the trousers by two
inches. She came downstairs without saying anything to her
daughters. Later on, after supper, the elder sister
remembered her brother's trousers. She was a
kind-hearted girl, so she went upstairs quietly without
saying anything to anyone, and shortened the trousers by
two inches. The younger sister went to the cinema, but
when she came in, she, too, remembered what her brother
had said, so she ran upstairs with her scissors, needle,
and thread, and took two inches off the legs of the new
trousers.
The Sea
and Bed
A sailor once had
a conversation with a farmer. He told him about all his
adventures at sea and how many times he was nearly drowned.
"My father was
drowned at sea." He said. "During a bad storm his ship was
driven on to some rocks and wrecked. All the lives were
lost. My father was also a sailor."
"And where did
your grandfather die?" asked the farmer.
"He died at sea,
too," answered the sailor. "Oh!" said the farmer. "The sea
must be a very dangerous place. Are you not afraid of
going to sea?"
The sailor
laughed.
"Where did your
father die?" asked the sailor.
"He died in his
bed of course," answered the farmer.
"And your grandfather?"
"He died in his bed, too."
"Oh!" said the
sailor. "A bed must be a dangerous place. Are you not
afraid of going to bed?"
A Man Who
Could Run Very Fast
Once there was a man who could run very fast indeed. He
was very proud of this and was always ready to show people
how fast he could run.
One day a thief broke into his house, took some of his
things and ran off as fast as he could. The man ran after
him shouting: "Hey, stop! Don't you know you can't get
away from me?"
But the thief only ran faster. The man got so angry that
he ran at his top speed. He was soon several miles away
from his house. He was still rushing along when he ran
into a friend.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" asked
the friend.
"I am trying to catch a thief." said
the man, who was very much out of breath. "
But where is the
thief?" asked the friend.
"Miles and miles behind!"
said the runner, smiling with pride, "He thought he could
run faster than I can, but you see, he is quite wrong."
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