Черная курица, или Подземные жители / The Black Hen

He ran away.

"Alyosha, Alyosha, help me catch a hen!" shouted the cook.

But Alyosha ran faster. Then he hid behind the hen-house. The tears from his eyes started falling on the ground.

Alyosha stood behind the henhouse long. The cook still tried to catch a hen. Suddenly the boy's heart started beating harder. He heard the voice of his dear Blacky. He must help her! Alyosha ran up to the cook.

"Please, don't touch my Blacky!" he cried.

Blacky flew up to the roof of the hen-house.

The cook was angry. She wanted to tell the headmaster about Alyosha. But he came up to her and said:

"You're so good, nice and kind. Please, don't take my Blacky! You can have this."

Alyosha took an old gold coin out of his pocket. It was a present from his grandmother. The cook looked at the coin. She liked it. Alyosha wanted very much to keep the coin. But he gave it to the cook to save his favourite hen.

The cook went back into the house. Blacky flew down from the roof and came up to Alyosha. All morning she followed the boy around the yard like a dog.

"She wants to tell me something," thought Alyosha. "But she can't do it. She is only a hen."

Helpful Words & Notes

headmaster — директор школы.

by name — по имени.

Exercises

1 Answer the questions.

1) When did this story happen?

2) How old was Alyosha?

3) What did Alyosha do on holidays?

4) Who is Blacky?

5) Why did the cook want to catch a hen?

6) How did Alyosha save Blacky?

2 Choose right.

1) Alyosha studied and lived in a school for____.

a) girls

b) boys

c) knights

2) Alyosha hoped to see ____ in the street one day.

a) his parents

b) the headmaster

c) a good fairy

3) Alyosha kept the best pieces of ____ for Blacky.

a) bread

b) meat

c) fruit

4) The gold coin was a present from Alyosha's ____.

a) mother

b) friends

c) grandmother

3 Correct the statements.

1) There were fifty children in the school.

2) Alyosha liked to read stories about hens and dogs.

3) Alyosha was fond of a white hen called Whitey.

4) The cook was a nice woman with a loud voice.

4 Complete the chart.

5 Answer the questions and speak about Alyosha.

1) How old was he? What do you know about his parents?

2) What books did he like? What did he do in the yard?

3) Why did he save Blacky from the cook? Was he a kind boy?

6 Speak for yourself.

1) How old are you? Do you have brothers or sisters?

2) What books do you read?

3) What presents do you like to get?

4) What do you do on your holidays?

Chapter 2

Two hours or so before the dinner the guests started to come. Alyosha wanted to see the inspector very much.

"He must be a famous knight," he thought. "I think he is young and tall and very brave."

But then Alyosha remembered the black hen. He saw the awful picture again: the cook with a knife, trying to catch his favourite hen.

"What did Blacky want to tell me?" he thought. "I can go to the hen-house. But not now. I must go to the dinner first. It is very important for the headmaster."

Soon the inspector came. The headmaster's wife saw him through the window. She told her husband about the important guest. Everything in the house started moving. The headmaster went out of the house to meet the inspector. The other guests followed him. Even Alyosha forgot about his hen. He came up to the window to see the noble knight. But he didn't see him: the inspector was already in the house.

A few minutes later the headmaster's wife opened the door of the drawing room. Alyosha came up to the door and saw … a little man in a grey suit!

"He is not a knight at all," thought the boy.

Everyone sat down to have dinner. There were a lot of wonderful things on the table, but Alyosha ate very little. He couldn't stop thinking about his Blacky. After the dinner he came up to the headmaster and said:

"Can I go out to play in the yard?"

"Yes," said the headmaster, "but don't stay there long."

Alyosha put on his red coat and a green hat and ran out into the yard. It was four o'clock. The hens were already sleepy. They didn't even want to take new pieces of bread from the boy. Only Blacky was not sleepy. She came up to Alyosha at once. He played with the hen for a long time. Then it got dark: it was time for supper. Alyosha closed the door of the hen-house. The black hen looked at the boy. Her eyes were like two bright stars in the sky.

"Is she asking me to stay?" thought Alyosha. "No, it can't be!"

After supper Alyosha went to the classroom and sat there alone. The guests left at half past ten. Before that Alyosha went downstairs to the bedroom. He got into his bed. The boy put out the light. But he couldn't sleep. Some time later the headmaster entered the bedroom. He had a candle in his hand. He looked at Alyosha and left, closing the door.