Tài liệu TRUYỆN CỔ TÍCH ANH NGỮ ( KO CÓ BẢN DỊCH) The Old Father doc

ANH VĂN THIẾU NHI – TRUYỆN CỔ TÍCH ANH NGỮ
( KO CÓ BẢN DỊCH)


The Old Father

Once upon a time there was an old man. He had four sons. They
grew up, and the old man gave everthing he had to them. "I will
live with my children the rest of my days," he thought.

The oldest son said, "We must give our father food and clothes.
We must take care of him and make him happy."

At first the oldest son and his family took good care of the old
man. After some time passed the son did not want to keep his
old father in his house. He shouted at him. He stopped taking
good care of him.

Life got very bad for the old father. He went to his second son.
Life was no better there. Every time he ate, his son and his son's
wife were angry. The old man went to the next son. He went to
all four sons. Every son said, "We cannot keep you."

The old man didn't know where to go. The four sons decided to
send their father to a school in the next village. "At school he
will have a place to sit," they said. "And he can take somethind
to eat in his knapsack." The old man cried. He did not want to
go to school. He was too old.

His sons sent him away through the forest. On the way he met a
rich man riding in a carriage. The rich man asked him, "Where

are you going?" The old man cried and told him the sad story of
his life.

The rich man felt sorry for the old man. He said, "Don't go to
school. I have a plan." He filled a bag with something. The he
said to the old man, "Take this bag home and tell your sons this
story:
"My children, long ago I hid this bag of money in the forest. I
did not touch it for many years. Now I found it again. I will keep
it until I die. After I die, decide together who took care of me the
best. That son will get the biggest part og this money. Now, will
you be kind to your old father for money?"

The old man took the bag and returned to his children. He told
them the story.

Then all four brothers were very kind to their father. They took
good care of him. The old man was happy. But he never went
anyplace without the bag.

Finally the old man died. The children gave him a beautiful
funeral. Then they hurried to get the money in the bag. Because
all of the sons were good to their father, they decided to divide
the money into four equal parts.

They shook the bag. Something was inside. It was a treasure!
The opened it.

The bag was full of glass! The couldn't believe their eyes. They
looked carefully. There was no money in the bag, only glass.

The people of the village laughed at them. "You sent your father
to school," they said. "He learned something there. He learned to
fool you!"

The sons were very angry and sad. But what could they do?
Their father was already dead and burried.

Story of the rice cake - Bánh chưng bánh dầy

Emperor Hung-Vuong had many sons. Some pursued literary
careers. Others excelled in martial arts. The youngest prince
named Tiet - Lieu, however, loved neither. Instead, he and his
wife and their children chose the countryside where they farmed
the land.

One day, toward the end of the year, the emperor met with all
his sons. He told them whoever brought him the most special
and unusual food would be made the new emperor. Almost
immediately, the princes left for their homes and started looking
for the most delicious food to offer the emperor. Some went
hunting in the forests and brought home birds and animals
which they prepared into the most palatable dishes. Some others
sailed out to the open sea, trying to catch fish, lobsters and other
much loved sea food. Neither the rough sea nor the violent
weather could stop them from looking for the best gifts to please
the emperor.

In his search, Tiet-Lieu went back to the countryside. He saw
that the rice in his paddy fields was ripe and ready to be

harvested, Walking by a glutinous rice field, he picked some
golden grains on a long stalk. He brought them close to his nose
and he could smell a delicate aroma.

His entire family then set out to harvest the rice, Tiet-Lieu
himself ground the glutinous rice grains into fine flour. His wife
mixed it with water into a soft paste. His children helped by
building a fire and wrapping the cakes with leaves. In no time,
they finished, and in front of them lay two kinds of cakes: one
was round and the other was square in shape.

The round cake was made with glutinous rice dough and was
called "banh day" by Tiet-Lieu. He named the square shaped
cake "banh chung" which he made with rice, green beans
wrapped in leaves. Everybody was extremely happy with the
new kind of cakes.

On the first day of Spring, the princes took the gifts of their
labor and love to the emperor. One carried a delicious dish of
steamed fish and mushrooms. Another brought with him a
roasted peacock and some lobsters. All the food was beautifully
cooked.

When it was Tiet-Lieu's turn to present his gifts, he carried the
"banh chung" and his wife carried the "banh day" to the
emperor. Seeing Tiet-Lieu's simple offerings, other princes
sneered at them. But after tasting all the food brought to court
by his sons, the emperor decided that the first prize should be
awarded to Tiet-Lieu.

The emperor then said that his youngest son's gifts were not
only the purest, but also the most meaningful because Tiet-Lieu
had used nothing except rice which was the basic foodstuff of
the people to make them. The emperor gave up the throne and
make Tiet-Lieu the new emperor. All the other princes bowed to
show respect and congratulated the new emperor.