—

An old woman lived in a small house.

—

The house was not near a village and she did not have many friends.

She did not have much money but she was happy. She had a table and some chairs.

She had some plates and some bowls and some pots and pans. She had a table-cloth to put on the table.

She had food to eat. She had a little radio to listen to.

Every day she had a newspaper to read. She was very happy.

One day she picked up her newspaper. ‘Oh, dear!’ she said. ‘I cannot read it. My eyes are bad.’

She switched on the radio.

‘I cannot read the newspaper but I can listen to the radio,’ she said.

The next morning her eyes were weaker.

‘Oh, dear!’ she said. ‘My eyes are weaker. I can see my table and my chairs but I cannot see my plates andmybowls and my pots and my pans. I cannot cook my food.’

The next morning her eyes were weaker. ‘Oh, dear!’ she said. ‘I cannot see anything.’ She opened the window.

‘Help me, someone,’ she cried. ‘Please help me. I cannot see.’

—

There was a doctor near the window. H was a good doctor but he was a bad man.Hewanted to make a lot of money.

He went into the house and said to the woman, ‘I can make your eyes better but I want some money.’

‘Oh, yes!’ said the old woman. ‘I have some money. Please make my eyes better. I want to see. I cannot see anything.’

‘Very well,’ said the doctor.

‘Here is some medicine for your eyes. Wash your eyes with this medicine. It is very good.’

He gave the old woman a bottle but there was no medicine in the bottle. It was water.

The woman washed her eyes.

‘Is that better?’ asked the doctor. ‘No,’ said the woman. ‘I cannot see anything.’

‘Wait,’ said the doctor. ‘Sit down and listen to your radio. Goodbye!’

He went but he took one of the old woman’s chairs with him. She did not see this.

The next day the doctor went to the house. ‘How are you today?’ he asked the old woman.

‘I cannot see,’ she said. ‘Please give me some more medicine for my eyes.’

‘Here is the medicine,’ said the doctor. He gave her some more water.

‘Wash your eyes with it. I’m coming back tomorrow.

He went off and this time he took two of the old woman’s chairs.

The old woman did not see this. The next day, and the day after, and the day after that, the doctor went back.

Every day he gave the old woman some more water. Every day she washed her eyes and said, ‘I cannot see anything.’

—

Every day the doctor took something away. He took away her table, all her chairs, all her plates, all her bowls,allher pots and all her pans.

Then one day he took away her radio.

The doctor went to see the old woman the next day.

‘How are you today?’ he said.

The old woman was very unhappy. ‘Oh, doctor,’ she cried. ‘Your medicine is no good. I cannot see and now I cannot hear my radio!’

‘Don’t cry,’ said the doctor. ‘I have some better medicine. It is stronger than the other medicine. I am going to get itnowbut I want some more money.’

‘Oh, yes,’ said the old woman. ‘I have some more money, but pleasebequick. I want to see and I want to hear my radio.’

‘Wait!’ said the doctor. ‘I am going now.’ Off he went.

This time be brought back the radio and he brought back some medicine. It was not water. It was good medicine.

‘Wash your eyes with this,’ he said. ‘This is very good medicine.’

The old woman washed her eyes with the medicine.

—

The doctor switched on the radio. ‘Oh, doctor!’ said the old woman. ‘I can hear my radio. That is very good medicine.

Now I can hear my radio. Thank you!’

‘Good!’ said the doctor. ‘I want a lot of money for that. Now open your eyes. Can you see?’

The woman opened her eyes. It was good medicine. She saw the doctor and she saw her house but she did not say, ‘I can see.’

‘No, doctor,’ she said. ‘I cannot see. I cannot see my table. I cannot see my chairs. I cannot see my plates and my bowls.

I cannot see my pots and my pans. The medicine is nol good, doctor. I cannot see many things!’

The old woman was clever.

‘Please wait,’ the doctor said. He went off and carried back the table and the chairs and all the other things, and put

themin the house.

‘Yes,’ said the woman. ‘I can see much better now. Your medicine is good but it is not very good.

Here is some money for you. It is not a lot of money. I am giving you a little money.

‘Thank you,’ said the doctor, and he went away.

—

2. The clever schoolboy

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A schoolboy lived in a small house, at the side of a big house. The schoolboy’s father and mother did not have much money and it was a very small house. The schoolboy worked very hard. He went to school in the morning. In the afternoon he helped his father. His father was a farmer.

At night the boy did his school work. There was only one lamp in the house. Every night his father and mother went to bed.

Then the boy started to do his school work. He put the lamp on the table in front of him. Then he read his books and wrote

inhis exercise books.

One night his lamp went out.

‘I cannot see,’ he said, ‘I cannot do my work. What can I do? We have one lamp and it is no good. I cannot buy a lamp.

I have no money.

Then he said, ‘The man in the big house has a lot of money. He has a lot of lamps. I am going to ask him for one.’

He went outside and knocked on the door of the big house. A man opened the door.

—

—

‘Why are you knocking on my door?’ he said. ‘What do you want?’

‘Please, sir,’ said the boy, ‘may I have one of your lamps? I cannot do my school work. My lamp is no good.’

‘No,’ said the man. ‘You cannot have one of my lamps. I want all my lamps.’

‘But, sir,’ said the boy. ‘You have a lot of lamps and I haven’t one. Please give me one. I cannot do my work.’

‘No!’ said the man. ‘Go away.’

He closed the door.

The boy went back to his house. ‘What can I do?’ he asked. ‘There is a street lamp but I cannot work in the street.

All my friends have lamps but they are working, too. I cannot buy a lamp. I have no money. What can I do?’

Then the moon came up and started to shine through the boy’s window.

‘Good!’ said the boy. ‘Now I can read my book.’

He started to read the first page. Then big black clouds came into the sky.

‘Oh dear!’ said the boy. ‘Now I cannot see.’

Then he saw a box of matches. ‘I can see with these matches,’ he said.

—

But there were not many matches in the box. The boy read two pages of his book. Then there were no more matches.

‘What can I do now?’ he said.

Then he went to a cupboard and took out a hammer and a big nail. Look at the picture. What is he doing? Can you see?

He is making a hole in the wall. It is not a very big hole. The man in the big house cannot see it. It is a small hole.

—

The light is shining through the hole in the wall. It is shining on the boy’s book.

‘Now I can see,’ he is saying. ‘Now I can read and write. Now I can do my work. I have no lamp but I can see.’

He was a very clever boy.

—

3. The clever postman 

—

There were a lot of big houses in New Street. One house had a big garden and a gate. A long path went from the gate to the house. In the garden there was a big dog with a big mouth and long teeth. The dog had a collar but there was no chain. The dog ran about the garden every day.

Every day a postman went down New Street. He carried a bag. In the bag there were letters, packets and parcels. The postman stopped at every house. He pushed letters through the letter-boxes. He knocked on the doors and gave packets and parcels to the people in the houses.

—

‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘Here is a parcel for you. Write your name here, please.’

He was a happy man. All the people liked him.

One day the postman had a letter for the house with the big dog. He opened the gate and walked down the path. He did not seethedog. It was behind a tree. The postman pushed the letter through the letter-box and started to walk up the path. Then the dog jumped at him. Its mouth was open and the postman saw its long teeth.

—

The postman ran up the path to the gate very quickly but the dog was very quick, too. It bit the postman’s ankle

andmade a hole in the leg of his trousers.

The postman pulled his leg from the mouth of the dog. He opened the gate and went out into the street.

Then he quickly closed the gate.

‘You cannot catch me now,’ he said. ‘The gate is high. You cannot jump over it. But what can I do?

I have many letters for this house.’

The next day the postman had another letter for the house with the big dog.

‘What can I do?’ he asked. ‘That dog is very dangerous. I can see it. It is behind the tree. It cannot see me.’

Then the clever postman went up to the gate. He did not open it. He stopped and shouted at the dog. The dog looked upandsaw the postman. It ran down the path and jumped at the gate.

Very quickly the postman opened the gate. The dog went through the gate and past the postman. Quickly the postman wentthroughthe gate and closed it. The dog was then outside the garden, in the street.

‘You cannot bite me now,’ said the postman. He walked up the path and pushed the letter through the letter-box.

Then he went back to the gate. At first he did not open it. He stopped and shouted at the dog. The dog jumped at him.

Quickly the postman opened the gate. The dog went through the gate and into the garden. It went past the postman.

Quickly the postman went through the gate and closed it.

‘You cannot bite me now!’ he said.

—

—

4. The clever painter

—

There was once a clever painter. He worked in a room at the top of a house. He painted many different things. Sometimes he painted ships. Sometimes he painted flowers. Sometimes he painted houses and streets. He painted many different things but

henever painted people.

Some people bought his paintings but they did not give him very much money.

‘Paint people,’ his friends said to him. ‘They will give you a lot of money. Paint men and women.’

‘Very well,’ said the painter. He wrote on a piece of paper:

—

Then he pinned the paper to the door of his house.

The next day there was a knock on the door.

‘Come in, please,’ he said.

The door opened and a beautiful girl came in. She had beautiful black hair, big brown eyes,abeautiful noseanda beautiful mouth. Her teeth were white.

‘Do you paint people?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ said the painter.

‘Please paint me,’ said the girl. ‘Yes,’ said the painter. ‘Please sit on the chair under the window.’

The girl sat down and the painter started to paint. He painted the girl’s beautiful face. He painted her beautiful black hair.

He painted her big brown eyes. He painted her beautiful nose, her beautiful mouth and her white teeth. He was a good painter.

Then he said to the girl, ‘You can stand up now. Here is your painting. You can have it now.’

‘Oh!’ said the girl. ‘That is a beautiful painting. Is that me?’

‘Yes,’ said the painter.

‘Thank you very much,’ said the girl. She gave him a lot of money and took the painting.

The next day there was another knock on the painter’s door.

‘Come in, please,’ he said.

The door opened and a very ugly girl came in. She had ugly hair and small eyes. Her nose was long and thinandshe had a very big mouth. Some of her teeth were yellow and some were brown and some were black.

‘Please paint me,’ she said.

‘Yes,’ said the painter. ‘Sit on that chair under the window, please.’

The girl sat down and the painter started to paint. He painted her ugly hair, her small eyes, her long, thin nose and her big mouth.

He painted her yellow, brown and black teeth. He was a good painter.

Then he said to the girl, ‘You can stand up now.

—

Here is your painting. You can have it now.’

‘Oh!’ said the girl.‘That painting.Is that me?’

‘Yes,’ said the painter.

‘No,’ said the girl. ‘That is ugly. That is not me. I don’t want that painting.’

She went away and did not give the painter any money.

The next day another ugly girl knocked on the door. Her hair was too long. One eye was big and one was small.

Her nose was very big and her mouth was very small. All of her teeth were black.

‘Please paint me,’ she said.

‘Yes,’ said the painter. ‘Please sit on that chair under the window.’

—

The girl sat down and the painter started to paint. He was a good painter but this time he did not paint the ugly girl. He painted a beautiful girl. The girl in the painting had beautiful black hair and big brown eyes. Her nose was beautiful and she had a beautiful mouth. Her teeth were white and shining.

—

Then he said to the girl, ‘You can stand up now. Here is your painting. You can have it now.’

The girl looked at the painting and said,‘Oh, thatis me. That is a beautiful painting. You are a very clever painter.’

She gave him a lot of money and went off happily with the painting.