VIP Class Notes (Vicki)

The Old Woman and the Cakes

Once a little old woman was baking cakes. She was wearing a black dress and a small white apron. On her head was a red cap. A poor old man came to her kitchen door and said, “I am hungry, good woman. Please give me one of your cakes.” The old woman said, “These cakes are too large to give away. I will bake you a little cake. That will be plenty for you.”

So she made a very small cake. She rolled it and rolled it. Then she patted it and patted it, and put it into the oven. But the cake began to grow bigger and bigger. “I will keep this cake,” said the old woman. “It is too big to give away.” So she kept the cake for herself. Then she made a tiny little cake. She rolled it and rolled it and patted it and patted it until it was very thin.

“This will be large enough for you,” she said, as she put it into the oven. But it began to grow bigger, too. “I will not give you this cake,” said the old woman. “I want it myself. It is much too big for a fellow like you.” So she kept that cake for herself. She tried again. This time she made a tiny flat cake as small as a bean. But that cake began to grow, too. It grew bigger and bigger and bigger.

“I will not give you a cake at all,” said the old woman. “These cakes are too big to give away. I want to eat them myself.” So the poor old man went away hungry. The old woman swept her kitchen and sat down alone to eat the cakes.

Now comes the strangest part of this story. As the old woman was eating, she began to grow smaller and smaller. Her nose became a sharp bill. She looked at her arms and saw that they had been changed to black wings. And her feet were sharp claws. She was still wearing the black dress and white apron and red cap. But they were all feathers! She had been changed into a bird.

Perhaps you will see this little old woman some day. She hops up and down trees, hunting for bugs and worms. You will know her when you see her. You will say, “There is the black dress and the little white apron that she was wearing in her kitchen. On her head is the red cap, too.” For people say that the old woman who would not give away even one tiny cake was changed into a woodpecker.

Vocabulary

autumn – 秋天

wind – 风

rain – 雨

storm – 暴风雨

leaves – 树叶

umbrella – 雨伞

fog – 雾

boots – 靴子

puddle – 水坑

winter – 冬天

sledge – 雪橇

snowball – 雪球

snowman – 雪人

snow – 雪

ice – 冰

frost – 霜

valley – 山谷

hill – 小山

bridge – 桥

river – 小河

pyramid – 金字塔

desert – 沙漠

jungle – 丛林

animals – 动物

tunnel – 隧道

railway – 铁路

cave – 洞穴

rock – 岩石

weather – 天气

mountain – 山

forest – 森林

waterfall – 瀑布

lake – 湖

city – 城市

street – 街道

volcano – 火山

flag – 国旗

people – 人

ruin – 废墟

village – 村庄

harbour – 海港

North Pole – 北极

world – 世界

iceberg – 冰山

country – 国家

island – 岛

ocean – 海洋

South Pole – 南极

Review vocab