EXAMPLE OF NARRATIVE TEXT
well, this is my first post after a long looong time i do not write anything, rite? well so i justtell you about a fairy tales, and i plan to show this story at practical examination, so here we gooo!
The Fisherman and His Wife
There was once upon a
time a fisherman and his wife who lived together in a small and dirty hut near
the sea. Every day the fisherman went out fishing, and he fished a long time.
Once he was sitting there fishing and looking into the clear water when his
hook went to the bottom, deep down, and when he pulled it out, he had caught a
large flounder. Then the flounder said to him, "I beg you to let me live.
I am not an ordinary flounder, but an enchanted prince. Put me back into the
water, and let me swim."
"Well," said
the man, "there's no need to say more. I can certainly let a fish swim
away who knows how to talk." Then he put it back into the water, and the
flounder quickly disappeared to the bottom, leaving a long trail of blood
behind him.
The man then went home
to his wife in the hut and told her that he had caught a flounder that had told
him he was an enchanted prince, and that he had let it swim away. "Didn't
you ask for anything first?" said the woman. "No," said the man.
What should I have asked for?"
"Oh," said the
woman. "It is terrible living in this dirty hut. It is filled with stench
and filth. Go back and ask for a little hut for us."
The man did not want to,
but he went back to the sea, and when he arrived he stood next to the water and
said:
Flounder, flounder, in the sea!
My wife, my wife Ilsebill,
Wants a thing, wants a thing
|
The flounder swam up and
said, "What does she want then?"
"Oh," said the
man, "I did catch you, and my wife says that I really should have asked
for something. She doesn't want to live in a hut any longer. She would like to
have a house as in the city."
"Go home,"
said the flounder. "She already has it."
The man went home, and
his wife was standing in the door of a house, and she said to him, "Come
in. See, now isn't this much better." And there was a parlor and a bedroom
and a kitchen; and outside there was a little garden with all kinds of
vegetables, and a yard with hens and ducks.
"Oh," said the
man. "Now we can live well."
"Yes," said the
woman, "we'll give it a try."
Everything went well for
a week or two, and then the woman said, "Husband. This house is too small.
The yard and the garden are too little. I want to live in a large stone castle.
Go back to the flounder and tell him to get a castle for us."
"Oh, wife,"
said the man. “The flounder has just given us the house like you want. I don't
want to go back so soon. It may make the flounder angry."
"I know he can do
it," said the woman, "and he won't mind. Just go!"
So, with a heavy heart,
the man went back, and when he came to the sea, the water was quite purple and
gray and dark blue, but it was still, and he stood there and said:
Flounder, flounder, in the sea!
My wife, my wife Ilsebill,
Wants a thing, wants a thing
|
"What does she want
then?" said the flounder.
"Oh," said the
man sadly, "my wife wants to live in a stone castle."
"Go home. She's
already standing before the door," said the flounder.
So the man went home,
and his wife was standing in front of a large palace.
"See, husband,"
she said. "Isn't this beautiful?" And with that they went inside
together. There were many servants inside, and the walls were all white, and
there were golden chairs and tables in the living room, and outside the castle
there was a garden and a forest a half mile long, and there were elk and deer
and rabbits, and there were cow and horse stalls in the yard.
"Oh," said the
man, "now we can stay in this beautiful castle and be satisfied."
"We'll think about
it," said the woman. "Let's sleep on it." And with that they
went to bed.
The next morning the
woman awoke. It was daylight. She poked her husband in the side and said, "Husband, get up. We should be
king over all this land."
"Oh, wife,"
said the man, "why do you want to be king? I don't want to be king."
"Well, I want to
be."
"Oh, wife,"
said the man, "how can you be king? The flounder won't want to do
that."
"Husband,"
said the woman, "Go there immediately. I want to be king."
So the man, felt sad
because his wife wanted to be king when he arrived, He stood there and said:
Flounder, flounder, in the sea!
My wife, my wife Ilsebill,
Wants a thing, wants a thing
|
"What does she want
then," said the flounder.
"Oh," said the
man, "my wife wants to be king."
"Go home. She's
already king," said the flounder.
Then the man went home,
and when he arrived at the palace, there were so many soldiers, and drums, and
trumpets, and his wife was sitting on a high throne of gold and diamonds, and
she was wearing a large golden crown.
"Oh," said the
man, "are you king now?"
"Yes," she
said, "I am."
And after he had looked
at her awhile, he said, "It is nice that you are king. Now we don't have
to wish for anything else."
"No, husband,"
she said, "I have been king too long. I can't stand it any longer. I am
king, but now I would like to become emperor."
"Oh," said the
man, "why do you want to become emperor?"
"Husband," she
said, "go to the flounder. I want to be emperor!"
"Oh, wife,"
said the man, "he can't make you emperor. I can't tell him to do
that."
"I am king,"
said the woman, "and you are my husband. Now go there immediately!"
So the man went, and on
his way he thought, "This is not going to end well. To ask to be emperor
is shameful. The flounder is going to get tired of this." With that he
arrived at the sea. He stood there and said:
Flounder, flounder, in the sea!
My wife, my wife Ilsebill,
Wants a thing, wants a thing
|
"What does she want
then," said the flounder.
"Oh," he said,
"my wife wants to become emperor."
"Go home,"
said the flounder. "She's already emperor."
Then the man went home,
and when he arrived, his wife was sitting on a very high throne made of one
piece of gold, and she was wearing a large golden crown that was two yards
high, and guards were standing at her side, each one smaller than the other,
Many princes and counts were standing in front of her. The man went and stood
among them and said, "Wife, are you emperor now?"
"Yes," she
said, "I am emperor."
"Oh," said the
man, taking a good look at her. "Wife, it's good that you are emperor."
"I have to think
about that," said the woman. Then they both went to bed, but she was not
satisfied. Her desires would not let her sleep. She kept thinking what she
wanted to become next. Then the sun came up. "Aha," she thought, as she
watched the sunrise through her window. "Couldn't I cause the sun to
rise?" Then she became very grim and said to her husband, "Husband,
go back to the flounder. I want to become like God."
The man, who was still
mostly asleep, was so startled that he fell out of bed. "Oh, wife,"
he said, "."
"No," said the
woman, tearing open her bodice. "I will not be quiet. I can't stand it
when I see the sun and the moon coming up, and I can't cause them to rise. I
want to become like God!"
"Oh, wife,"
said the man. "The flounder can't do that. He can make you emperor, but he
can't do that."
"Husband," she
said, looking very gruesome, "I want to become like God. Go to the
flounder right now!"
The man trembled with
fear at every joint. Outside there was a terrible storm. Trees and mountains
were shaking. The heaven was completely black, and there was thunder and
lightning. In the sea he could see black waves as high as mountains, and he
said:
Flounder, flounder, in the sea!
My wife, my wife Ilsebill,
Wants a thing, wants a thing
|
"What does she want
then?" said the flounder.
"Oh," he said,
"she wants to become like God."
"no, I can’t. Go
home. She is sitting in her small dirty hut again."
Then, the fisherman went
home hopelessly, on his way he thought “oh God, my wife must be sad then” when
he was walking, his wife pulled his hand and said “what’s the matter my
darling? Look! We’re poor again!!”
Since that time, the
fishernan and his wife were back to their poor life.