Page 17 - English 10 | Games and Activities-3

THEME 3 APPENDIX

3 Dictogloss 10 GRADE
th

A Chinese Folk Tale

nce upon a time, there lived a wise old man. He
was poor and lived with the three people in his
family on their small farm; he, his wife, and his son.
OHe loved his son very much.
One day, a beautiful horse arrived on the wise old man’s farm.
His friends saw this and said “Lucky you! You have a horse,
now. It will help you a lot.” And they laughed “hah ha hah!”
“You can never know what will happen.” the old man said, and
added “Wait and see.” He gave the horse food and water. He
treated it well.
Three days later, the horse suddenly disappeared. Then, the
old wise man’s friends came and said “Unlucky you! You don’t
have a horse, now. You have to do all the work by yourself.”
And they laughed “hah ha hah!” The old man was not sad, at
all. He said, “Don’t laugh, wait and see. You can never know
what will happen.” His friends heard this and walked away.
The next day, the beautiful horse appeared again. It was not
alone this time. It came with four other horses. The wise old
man gave them food and water. He treated them well, as usual.
His friends saw this and felt amazed. They said, “Lucky you!
You have five horses, now. You can do all the farm work with
them. How nice!” And they laughed “hah ha hah!” The wise old
man, once more, said “Wait and see. You can never know what
will happen.” His friends heard this and walked away.
One day, the beautiful horse kicked the old man’s beloved son. His son fell down and got
terribly injured. He couldn’t move his legs. It would take him a couple of months to recover.
This time, the old man’s friends said, “Unlucky you! Don’t feed these horses once more. Send
them away.” The old man, in a calm manner, said, “Don’t speak like that. Wait and see. You
can never know what will happen.” His friends heard this and walked away.
A week later, it was the king’s men that came to the village this time. The news was bad.
They were there to take each young man to war. All the young men in the village went to
the war with them. Only one young man was left behind. He was the wise old man’s beloved
son. As his legs were injured and he could not walk, the king’s men did not take him. Soon,
the other young men died at the war. But the old man’s son recovered and they led a long
and beautiful life together. The old man kept saying “You can never know what will happen.”

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