The Magic Jar I

Once there was a girl called San-San who lived with her father, her step-mother and her step-sister,  Mei. San-San's father loved her, but Mei and the step-mother did not. They of­ten told her she was a lazy girl, and made her work very hard.  From early morning until late at night San-san helped with the cooking, the cleaning and the washing.

One night San-San’s step-mother became very angry. “The rice is burned,” she shouted. “And the pork is too salty.”

 Sari-Sari bowed tier head and said nothing.

“Leave her alone,” said the father.  “I think the food is nicely cooked.”

Sari-San's step-mother said nothing, but she went to the kitchen and made some special tea. "The next Morning, San-San was working when her step-mother brought her the tea. “Drink this, my dear,” she said. “It will make you feel cool.”

San-San drank the tea, and before long she began to feel very sleepy. She went to her room where she soon fell fast asleep. When she woke up, it was already dark. Going into the kitchen, she found her father.

“I've saved you some dinner,” he said. Then he looked up from the table and cried, “San-San! What has happened to your hair?”

San-San, ran to the mirror and saw that all tier hair had fallen out; her head was as smooth as an egg. San-San began to cry. She rushed out of the house and into the woods where she finally sat down beneath a large tree and cried herself to sleep.

While she was sleeping, San-San had a dream. She dream that a beautiful goddes stood before tier, holding a jar.

“Take this jar of oil,” said the goddess. “Rub the oil on your head, and soon everything will be all right.”

When San-San woke up, she found a jar of oil by her side. She opened the jar and found that it was full of golden oil. San-San carefully rubbed the oil all over her head, and soon she could fell the hair growing back. Before long San-San had all her beautiful hair again, so she walked on through the woods.

Now, in these woods lived a kindly widow, the widow Ang. When San-San came to her house and told her what had hap­pened, the widow Ang said she could stay as long as she wanted. And so, San-san lived in the house of the widow Ang and was very happy there.

But San-San's father was not very happy. He did not know where his daughter had gone, and his wife shouted at him all day long. One day, he had a talk with his friend, the rice-mer­chant.

“Why don't we ask my son to find her,” said the rice-mer­chant. “He's clever boy, and he has plenty of free time. Beside, he's always liked your daughter.”

San-San's father liked this idea because he knew that the rice- merchant's son was a good young man. The next day the rice-merchant's son and his friend went out to look for San-San.

Together, the two young men looked all over the village. Then they looked in other villages nearby. One night, when they were staying in a strange village, thieves came to the house. The rice-merchant's son tried to fight the thieves, and he was badly hurt. The following morning he could not get out of bed, and so he asked his friend to look for San-Sari on his own.

Luckily, some people in the next village knew the widow Ang, and they knew that a girl was staying with her. They told the young man that a girl was staying with her. They told the young man to go to the house in the forest. When he found the house, he saw San-San standing near a window.

“San-San!” he cried. “I've found you at last. Your father is worried, and my friend, the rice-merchant's son, has been hurt looking for you.”

“Then I must go with you,” said San-San. Then she said to the widow, “I'll never forget your kindness.”

"That's all right.” said the widow Ang. “Run along now —your father and his young man need you.”

San-San and the young man ran through the forest to the village where the rice - merchant's son was lying. When he saw San-San, the rice-merchant's son thought she was very beauti­ful, and he soon fell in love with her. As soon as he was well enough to travel, they all went back to their own village.

San-San's father was very happy to see her. He asked her to come home, but San-San said she had other plans. Some­time later, San-San and the rice-merchant's son were married. They sent many presents to the widow Ang, and after that had a long and happy life together.

The magic jar II

Cinderella story

Cerpen Bahasa Inggris - Cinderella story

Once upon a time there was a beautiful, sweet young girl, with blue eyes and long, blonde hair. She was the daughter of a rich merchant who loved her dearly. When her mother died, her father decided his daughter would need a good woman to bring her up and take care of her, and so he married again. Unfortunately, the stepmother turned out to be greedy and selfish, and her two daughters, the stepsisters of the beautiful young girl, were arrogant and envious. Since the merchant often had to travel, the step­mother and stepsisters began to rule the household. The young girl was forced always to dress in rags, dirty from dust and cinders, so much so that everyone soon began to call her “Cinderella.”

One day, the son of the king, who wished, to marry, invited all the young women in the kingdom to a great ball, so that he could meet them and choose a wife. In Cinderella's house, they began to make great prep­arations: expensive clothes were purchased, different hairstyles were tried, and a selection was made of jewels to wear. Nothing made Cinder­ella's stepmother and stepsisters happy and she, as usual, served them without a word of complaint. She, too, had been invited to the ball, but her stepmother had refused to take her.

At last, the long awaited evening arrived: the stepsisters were trans­formed, each wearing a beautiful dress and covered in jewels. Cinderella felt so unhappy a.^, she watched them depart. She too would have loved to go to the ball, she too would have loved to wear a silk dress! The poor girl couldn't hold back her sobs. She cried so much that the floor was bathed in her tears, but when she raised her eyes.... she was face to face with a beautiful lady. It was her fairy godmother.

“Why are you crying, little Cinder­ella? Do you, too, wish to go to the ball?” the lady asked her.

“The ball is no place for me,” replied Cinderella sadly.

“We'll see about that. Bring me a pumpkin,”

With one touch of her magic wand, the lady changed the pumpkin into a splendid carriage, she changed four mice into horses and a couple of lizards into coachmen in livery.

“Everything is ready,” said her fairy godmother, “you may go to the ball.”

“But.... dressed like this?” said Cinderella, pointing to her rags.

The fairy godmother sighed. “You're absolutely right.” With a wave of her wand, the rags disappeared and Cinderella found herself wearing a silk dress studded In gold, crystal slippers and precious jewels: only Cinderella's lovely face needed no change, for now she was happy and smiling.

“Now get in and go,” said the fairy godmother. “But remember, at the first stroke of midnight, you must leave the ball. At that moment, my spell will cease to work: the carriage will again become a pumpkin, the horses will be mice again, and the coachmen will become lizards once more. And you will be the same Cinderella as before, dressed in rags.”

The ball was fabulous. Everyone admired the unknown princess and the prince insisted on dancing with her all evening. Cinderella's heart over­flowed with joy,

Then the clock struck the first stroke of midnight. Cinderella did not lose a moment. Still smiling, she ran quickly away. The prince ran after her, but could not catch her. The only trace of her that he found was a little crystal slipper that Cinderella had lost voile running down the palace stairs.

At the palace the prince was deso­late. He had to find the beautiful girl who was at the ball, the one who had lost her slipper. There was a royal announcement: all the young maidens in the kingdom were to try on the slipper and the prince would marry the girl it fitted perfectly.

The morning after, the court officials began their search, but not one young maiden managed to fit into the extra­ordinary slipper. Finally, the prince arrived at the merchant's house and both of the stepsisters tried on the slipper. Absolutely useless! It was so small and so delicate that they could not even get their toes into it.

The prince, who was growing ever more sad and despondent, was about to leave when he noticed Cinderella, who was standing shyly in the background.

“And who are you?” he asked.

“Oh, she's only a servant....” replied the stepmother. But the prince looked into Cinderella's eyes and, in great excitement, commanded her to sit down before the chamberlain. She extended her foot.

The slipper was a perfect fit. Immediately, Cinderella was dressed as she was at the ball. The prince asked her to be his wife and the marriage was celebrated that very day. It was a magnificent ceremony, worthy of their great love.

And as regards the stepmother and the stepsisters? The prince might have wanted to punish them for their wick­edness, but Cinderella chose to forgive them. She invited them all to come and live with her at the royal palace and, soon after, the two stepsisters married two noble knights of the court. Her stepmo^ther at last realised the error of her ways and became kind and gentle to everyone.

So the story finished with the most beau^tiful spell of all — they lived happily ever after.

Englishstory12

The Gift of the three Kings

One night, a comet appeared in the sky. All who saw is were surprised and afraid. King Caspar consulted with two other kings who were, like himself, amongst the wisest men in the world, and asked them if they knew the meaning of this strange star. King Balthasaar, while studying old books, discovered an ancient prophecy: the comet was to announce the coming of the Messiah and showed the place where he was to be born. He invited the others to accompany him to pay tribute to the Messiah, and asked them to think of the most suitable gifts to take.

Melchior, who knew that it Messiah was going to be a man, decided to take a jar of myrrh as his offering, because with this he would be able to perfume his body. Caspar, on the other hand, said that the Messiah was Lord of heaven and earth, and he searched far and wide for a gift precious enough for such a powerful king. At last he chose a casket full of gold. Balthasaar believed that the Messiah ought to be worshipped as the Son of God, and he therefore decided to take him frankin­cense as his gift, the substance that people have always burnt to their gods as a sign of their devotion.

And in the staole at Bethlehem, the gifts of the three kings lay alongside

those of the shepherds, whose riches lay in the love they showed.

Englishstory12