Fiction

1. FABLE- THE LION AND THE BEETLE- S.E

SCHLOSSER
Lion was very proud and very vain. He loved to stomp around the savannah, roaring
and growling whenever he saw his animal subjects - Giraffe or Hyena or Elephant or
Gazelle or Ape - to show what a mighty Lion he was.
"I am a Very Mighty King!" he roared. And his subjects all bowed low before him.
One day, Lion looked into the mirror-like waters of the lake. He was struck by his own
greatness. What a beautiful and noble creature I am, he thought.
"I am a Very Mighty King!" he roared. "I am a Very Mighty King!"
Lion preened and posed and pranced in front of the glassy lake for hours, admiring his
greatness. Finally, Lion said: "I will show my devoted subjects that their leader is every
inch a King."
Lion put on his fancy robes, his jeweled crown, and all his gold and silver medals. His
clothes were very heavy, but they made him look mighty and grand.
"I am a Very Mighty King!" he roared in delight. "I am a Very Mighty King!"
Lion sent out a message to all his animal subjects - to Giraffe and Hyena and Elephant
and Gazelle and Ape. He sent messages to all the animals living on the savannah or in
the junge, inviting them to a meeting on the parade grounds in front of his palace, where
they could admire him in his finery.
And so the animals came to see Lion; the Giraffe and the Hyena and the Elephant and
the Gazelle and the Ape. And many more animals came as well; from the stately Zebra
in his black-and-white coat to the teeny, tiny Beetle, who was so little that he had to walk
on the side fo the road so the bigger anmals would not step on him by accidents.

"I am small. I am little. People look down and can't see me," sang the Beetle as he
scurried through the tall grass beside the road. "I am small. I am little. But inside, I'm
tall as a tree!"
When the animals were assembled on the parade ground, there came a mighty trumpet
blast from Elephant, and Lion came forth in all his grandeur.
"I am a Very Mighty King!" he roared. "I am a Very Mighty King!"
Lion strutted and preened and pranced before his animal subjects. The animals were
awed by his splendor and bowed before him. Lion stomped through the rows of
Elephants and Giraffes and Hyenas and Gazelles, roaring and growling to show how
mighty he was.
"I am a Very Mighty King!" he roared. "I am a Very Mighty King!"
Then Lion saw the teeny tiny Beetle, standing alone by the side of the road. The Beetle
was singing to himself as he watched the Lion. "I am small. I am little. People look
down and can't see me," sang the Beetle as Lion strutted before his subjects. "I am
small. I am little. But inside, I'm tall as a tree!"
Lion said to the Beetle: "You, Beetle, bow before me!"
Beetle said: "Your Royal Majesty, I know that I am small, but if you look at me closely,
you will see that I am making a bow!"
Lion replied: "Beetle, you are hard to see down there! I am not sure that you are
bowing to me."
Beetle said: "Look at me closely. I assure you that I am bowing."
Lion leaned over, peering down at the teeny tiny Beetle. His splendid robes, his jeweled
crown and his many medals made him so top-heavy that Lion wobbled and swayed as
he loomed over the teeny tiny Beetle. Then Lion lost his balance and fell onto his head!
His royal crown went flying off, and Lion rolled over and over, down the steep hill, and
plopped into a ditch filled with muddy water.

All the animals laughed and laughed when they saw the muddy Lion sprawled in the
ditch. Frightened, the teeny tiny Beetle scurried away. And the bedraggled Lion
scurried away too. He was not so very mighty, after all.

Moral: It is the high and mighty who have the longest distance to fall.

2. FAIRY TALE-LITTLE RED RIDING HOD-

Charles Perrault

Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest
creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her
grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little red riding hood
made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Red
Riding Hood.
One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how
your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this
little pot of butter."
Little Red Riding Hood set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in
another village.
As she was going through the wood, she met with a wolf, who had a very great mind
to eat her up, but he dared not, because of some woodcutters working nearby in the
forest. He asked her where she was going. The poor child, who did not know that it
was dangerous to stay and talk to a wolf, said to him, "I am going to see my
grandmother and carry her a cake and a little pot of butter from my mother."
"Does she live far off?" said the wolf
"Oh I say," answered Little Red Riding Hood; "it is beyond that mill you see there, at
the first house in the village."
"Well," said the wolf, "and I'll go and see her too. I'll go this way and go you that, and
we shall see who will be there first."
The wolf ran as fast as he could, taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a
roundabout way, entertaining herself by gathering nuts, running after butterflies, and

gathering bouquets of little flowers. It was not long before the wolf arrived at the old
woman's house. He knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
"Your grandchild, Little Red Riding Hood," replied the wolf, counterfeiting her voice;
"who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter sent you by mother."
The good grandmother, who was in bed, because she was somewhat ill, cried out,
"Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up."
The wolf pulled the bobbin, and the door opened, and then he immediately fell upon
the good woman and ate her up in a moment, for it been more than three days since he
had eaten. He then shut the door and got into the grandmother's bed, expecting Little
Red Riding Hood, who came some time afterwards and knocked at the door: tap, tap.
"Who's there?"
Little Red Riding Hood, hearing the big voice of the wolf, was at first afraid; but
believing her grandmother had a cold and was hoarse, answered, "It is your grandchild
Little Red Riding Hood, who has brought you a cake and a little pot of butter mother
sends you."
The wolf cried out to her, softening his voice as much as he could, "Pull the bobbin,
and the latch will go up."
Little Red Riding Hood pulled the bobbin, and the door opened.
The wolf, seeing her come in, said to her, hiding himself under the bedclothes, "Put
the cake and the little pot of butter upon the stool, and come get into bed with me."
Little Red Riding Hood took off her clothes and got into bed. She was greatly amazed
to see how her grandmother looked in her nightclothes, and said to her, "Grandmother,
what big arms you have!"
"All the better to hug you with, my dear."
"Grandmother, what big legs you have!"
"All the better to run with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big ears you have!"

"All the better to hear with, my child."

"Grandmother, what big eyes you have!"
"All the better to see with, my child."
"Grandmother, what big teeth you have got!"
"All the better to eat you up with."
And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate
her all up.
Moral: Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to
strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say
"wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming,
quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home
and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most
dangerous ones of all.

3. LEGEND-THE SILENT BLADE- R.A. SALVADOR

SUMMARY
n The Silent Blade, Wulfgar, a mighty barbarian, tries to come to terms with his freedom from
the Abyss, from the torturous clutches of the balor Errtu and fails, fleeing from his friends to the port
city of Luskan. Confused and angry, he finds a job in The Cutlass, a local tavern, as a bouncer in
return for a room and alcohol, which he has become dependent on to dull the pain of his six-yearlong entrapment in the Abyss. Many miles to the south Artemis Entreri returns to his hometown
of Calimport, only to find that a lot of things have changed in his old thieves guild and many more
will change if he and his new drow sponsors have anything to do with it. Drizzt himself travels with
the rest of his friends to see Cadderly Bonaduce who has said he will attempt to use his powers as
the chosen of Deneir to destroy Crenshinibon. Drizzt and company are duped by Jarlaxle and his
lieutenants who impersonate Cadderly and take the crystal shard for themselves.
Drizzt is determined to destroy the evil Crystal Shard, and seeks out the help of the scholar-priest Cadderly. But
instead, his worst fears are realized, and Crenshinibon falls into the hands of the dark elf mercenary Jarlaxle

and his unlikely ally Artemis Entreri.

The Silent Blade is the book that brought Drizzt back to the Realms, and was a New York Times best seller on
its initial release--and has been in print every day since. Like the rest of the Legend of Drizzt (R) reissues, The
Silent Blade features beautiful new cover art by award-winning illustrator Todd Lockwood.

4.MYTH- ODYSSEY-HOMER
Books 1-4
The first four books deal with Telemachus' struggle (in fact, Odysseus does not appear
in the epic until Book 5). A secondary plot in The Odyssey is Telemachus' coming of
age, his own quest, which scholars sometimes refer to as the "Telemacheia."
The goddess Athena appears to the young prince in disguise and advises him to gather
an assembly of the island's leaders to protest the invasion of the suitors. Soon after, he
is to visit King Nestor of Pylos and King Menelaus of Sparta, old comrades of his
father's, to gather from them any new of Odysseus.
At the assembly, the two leading suitors the aggressive Antinous and the smoothtalking Eurymachus confront the prince. They accuse Penelope of delaying too long
in her choice of a new husband. Telemachus speaks well but accomplishes little at the
assembly because the suitors are from some of the strongest families in the area and
are impatient with Penelope's delays.
As Telemachus secretly sets off for Pylos and Sparta, the suitors plot to assassinate
him. At Pylos, Telemachus learns little of his father but is encouraged to visit Sparta
where King Menelaus reports that Odysseus is alive but held captive by the goddess
nymph Calypso.
Books 5-8
Homer leaves the story of Telemachus as the suitors are about to ambush his ship on its
return to Ithaca. At Athena's urging, the gods have decided to free Odysseus from
Calypso. Hermes, the messenger god, delivers the order to Odysseus' captor.
Odysseus has spent seven years with the goddess, sleeping with her at night and pining
for his home and family during the day. Calypso is a beautiful, lustful nymph who wants

to marry Odysseus and grant him immortality, but he longs for Penelope and Ithaca.
Reluctantly, Calypso sends Odysseus on his way.
Poseidon, the sea god, spots the wayfarer and, seeking revenge because Odysseus
blinded Poseidon's son Cyclops, shipwrecks Odysseus on Phaeacia, which is ruled by
King Alcinous. The Phaeacians, civilized and hospitable people, welcome the stranger
and encourage him to tell of his adventures. Through Odysseus' narration, the reader
goes back 10 years and hears his tale.
Books 9-12
Known as "The Wanderings of Odysseus," this section is the most famous of the epic.
At the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus and his men sail first to the land of the Cicones.
The Greeks succeed in raiding the central city but linger too long and are routed by a
reserve force. Hoping to sail directly home, the flotilla instead encounters a severe
storm, brought on by Athena, that blows them far off course to the land of the Lotuseaters. These are not hostile people, but eating the lotus plant removes memory and
ambition; Odysseus is barely able to pull his men away and resume the journey.
Curiosity compels Odysseus to explore the land of the Cyclops, a race of uncivilized,
cannibalistic, one-eyed giants. One of them, Polyphemus (also known simply as
"Cyclops"), traps Odysseus' scouting party in his cave. To escape, Odysseus blinds the
one-eyed monster, incurring the wrath of the giant's father, Poseidon.
Aeolus, the wind god, is initially a friendly host. He captures all adverse winds and bags
them for Odysseus, who is thus able to sail within sight of Ithaca. Unfortunately, his men
suspect that the bag holds treasure and open it while Odysseus sleeps. The
troublesome winds blow the party back to Aeolus, who wants no more to do with them,
speculating that they must be cursed by the gods.
The next hosts, the cannibalistic Laestrygonians, sink all the ships but Odysseus' in a
surprise attack. The remaining Greeks reach Aeaea, home of the beautiful enchantress
Circe, who turns several of them into pigs. With advice from Hermes, Odysseus cleverly
defeats Circe and becomes her lover. She lifts the spell from his men and aids in the
group's eventual departure a year later, advising Odysseus that he must sail to the Land

of the Dead. There, he receives various Greek heroes, a visit from his own mother, and
an important prophecy from the seer Tiresias. Odysseus resumes his journey.
Barely surviving the temptations of the Sirens' songs and an attack by a six-headed
monster named Scylla, Odysseus and his crew arrive at the island of the Sungod Helios.
Despite severe warnings not to, the men feast on the cattle of the Sungod during
Odysseus' brief absence. Zeus is outraged and destroys the ship as the Greeks depart,
killing all but Odysseus, who is washed ashore at Calypso's island, where he stays until
released seven years later.
Books 13-24
The story of his adventures finished, Odysseus receives the admiration and gifts of the
Phaeacians who follow their tradition of returning wayfaring strangers to their homelands
by sailing him to Ithaca. Meanwhile, Athena helps Telemachus avoid the suitors'
ambush and arranges for him to meet his father at their pig farm not far from the palace.

5.PARABLE- THE LOST SHEEPThe Lost Sheep - Story Summary:

The parable of the Lost Sheep, taught by Jesus Christ, is one of the most beloved
stories in the Bible, a favorite for Sunday school classes because of its simplicity and
poignancy.
Speaking to a group of tax collectors, "sinners", Pharisees, and teachers of the law,
Jesus asks them to imagine that they had a hundred sheep and one of them strayed. A
shepherd would leave the ninety-nine sheep and search for the lost one until he found it.
Then he would put it on his shoulders with joy, take it home, and tell his friends and
neighbors to rejoice with him, because he had found his lost sheep.
Jesus concludes that there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.
But the lesson doesn't end there. Jesus goes on to tell another parable of a woman who
loses a coin and searches her home until she finds it (Luke 15:8-10).

6.SHORT STORY-THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL-HANS

CHRISTAIN ANDERSEN

The Little Match Girl

Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the
year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with
naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They
were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little
thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by
dreadfully fast.
One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran
with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children
himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from
cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand.
Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing.
She crept along trembling with cold and hunger--a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!
The flakes of snow covered her long fair hair, which fell in beautiful curls around her neck; but of that,
of course, she never once now thought. From all the windows the candles were gleaming, and it
smelt so deliciously of roast goose, for you know it was New Year's Eve; yes, of that she thought.
In a corner formed by two houses, of which one advanced more than the other, she seated herself
down and cowered together. Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew colder and
colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a
farthing of money: from her father she would certainly get blows, and at home it was cold too, for
above her she had only the roof, through which the wind whistled, even though the largest cracks
were stopped up with straw and rags.
Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! a match might afford her a world of comfort, if
she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by
it. She drew one out. "Rischt!" how it blazed, how it burnt! It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle,
as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though

she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top.
The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. The little girl had already
stretched out her feet to warm them too; but--the small flame went out, the stove vanished: she had
only the remains of the burnt-out match in her hand.
She rubbed another against the wall: it burned brightly, and where the light fell on the wall, there the
wall became transparent like a veil, so that she could see into the room. On the table was spread a
snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming
famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was,
the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it
came up to the poor little girl; when--the match went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall
was left behind. She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent
Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the
glass door in the rich merchant's house.
Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she
had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands
towards them when--the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she
saw them now as stars in heaven; one fell down and formed a long trail of fire.
"Someone is just dead!" said the little girl; for her old grandmother, the only person who had loved
her, and who was now no more, had told her, that when a star falls, a soul ascends to God.
She drew another match against the wall: it was again light, and in the lustre there stood the old
grandmother, so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.
"Grandmother!" cried the little one. "Oh, take me with you! You go away when the match burns out;
you vanish like the warm stove, like the delicious roast goose, and like the magnificent Christmas
tree!" And she rubbed the whole bundle of matches quickly against the wall, for she wanted to be
quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her. And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it
was brighter than at noon-day: never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall.
She took the little maiden, on her arm, and both flew in brightness and in joy so high, so very high,
and then above was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety--they were with God.
But in the corner, at the cold hour of dawn, sat the poor girl, with rosy cheeks and with a smiling
mouth, leaning against the wall--frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. Stiff and stark sat
the child there with her matches, of which one bundle had been burnt. "She wanted to warm herself,"
people said. No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even
dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year

7.ALLEGORY-WATERSHIP DOWN- RECHARD

ADAMS
Watership Down is the tale of a group of rabbits in search of a home. Fiver, a
small, young rabbit, has a gift: He can tell when things are going to happen and
he can sense whether they will be good or bad. Fiver foresees great danger to
the rabbits' home warren. His brother Hazel, who is slightly larger and helps take
care of Fiver, takes Fiver to the Chief Rabbit, the Threarah. Fiver tells the
Threarah that he foresees great danger, but the Chief Rabbit does not believe
him.
Hazel decides that they must leave the warren, so he recruits two of his friends,
Dandelion and Blackberry, and Pipkin, a friend of Fiver. Bigwig, one of the
leading members of the warren (the Owsla), believes Fiver and wants to go with
them. They decide to try to convince other rabbits to come; Silver, Buckthorn,
Hawkbit, Speedwell, and Acorn all go with them. Hazel is their leader, and he
takes advice from Fiver about where to go.
The rabbits go through several adventures before Hazel successfully brings them
to a field where they believe they can live. But the field is already inhabited by a
group of rabbits, who seem strange but let the travelers stay with them. Fiver
warns the rabbits not to join the new warren, but they do not listen to him
because the living is easy and there is food for everyone. There is something odd
about the warren, but they cannot figure out what it is. Finally, after an argument
with Fiver, Bigwig gets caught in a snare. Hazel and the other rabbits manage to
get him out, although they get no help from the rabbits who live in the warren.
Fiver figures it all out, explaining to the group that a farmer leaves the great food
behind for the rabbits in order to fatten them up before he catches them in his
snares. They decide to leave, and one rabbit from the new warren, Strawberry,
comes with them.

The rabbits travel on until they reach Watership Down. At the top there is a
perfect field for a rabbit warren. They settle down in the field, but then Hazel
realizes that they need does (female rabbits) to mate with, as they have only
bucks and their warren will not last long without does. Holly and Bluebell, two
survivors from their home warren, find the rabbits and tell them of a horrible
poisoning that occurred. The rabbits befriend a wounded bird, Kehaar, and after
he heals he searches for other warrens so they can get some does.
Kehaar finds a warren a few days away, as well as some rabbits living in the farm
next to the down. The rabbits send an expedition to the warren (Efrafa) to try to
bring back some does, and Hazel sets up a raid to free the rabbits in the farm.
The get three of the four rabbits out, although Hazel is badly injured and thought
dead until Fiver goes back and saves him. The expedition comes back roughed
up, describing Efrafa as a horrible warren run by a militaristic warlord, General
Woundwort.
Hazel decides that they must go to Efrafa and get some does, because otherwise
they will not survive. He has Blackberry come up with a plan, and then the group
sets off, leaving behind a few rabbits at the warren. Along with Blackberry, they
sneak to a hiding place close to Efrafa, at which time Bigwig enters the warren,
pretending to be a solitary rabbit. He finds a doe, Hyzenthlay, who helps him set
up a plan to escape. With the help of Kehaar and his own strength and cunning,
Bigwig engineers a masterful escape, and the whole groups flees on a boat just
as General Woundwort is about to attack them. However, on the way back to
Watership Down, a patrol from Efrafa bumps into them, and Captain Campion
tracks them and finds their warren. Soon after they return, a mouse whom Hazel
had earlier saved brings him news that there is a large number of rabbits close
by. They realize that the Efrafans have brought a large force to destroy them.
Hazel immediately sets the rabbits to work preparing to defend the warren. They
bury themselves in and prepare to fight off the invaders, even though they know

it will likely cost them their lives. Hazel gets a flash of inspiration and runs off with
Dandelion and Blackberry to try to release the dog from the farmhouse and get
him to attack the Efrafan rabbits. Meanwhile, Bigwig faces Woundwort in a
tremendous battle. Woundwort is bigger and stronger than any other rabbit, but
Bigwig defeats him, and soon afterward the dog comes and scatters the Efrafan
forces. A cat catches Hazel, but the girl who lives at the farm saves the rabbit and
lets him go.
The rabbits live happily in their warren and Campion returns to run the Efrafan
warren. They decide to build a third warren halfway between the two and fill it
with rabbits from each warren. Hazel lives several years, longer than most
rabbits live, and he sees the warren prosper and thrive before he dies.

8. FOLK TALES- THE LITTLE RED HEN MARGOTZEMMOR

Little Red Hen lived in a barnyard. She spent almost all of her time walking
about the barnyard in her pickettypecketty fashion, scratching everywhere for worms.

She dearly loved fat, delicious worms and felt they were absolutely necessary
to the health of her children. As often as she found a worm she would call
Chuck-chuck-chuck! to her chickies.

Then they were gathered about her, she would distribute choice morsels of her
tid-bit. A busy little body was she!
A cat usually napped lazily in the barn door, not even bothering herself to
scare the rat who ran here and there as he pleased.

And as for the pig who lived in the styhe did not care what happened so long
as he could eat and grow fat.
One day the Little Red Hen found a Seed. It was a Wheat Seed, but the Little
Red Hen was so accustomed to bugs and worms that she supposed this to be
some new and perhaps very delicious kind of meat. She bit it gently and found
that it resembled a worm in no way whatsoever as to taste although because it
was long and slender, a Little Red Hen might easily be fooled by its
appearance.

Carrying it about, she made many inquiries as to what it might be. She found it
was a Wheat Seed and that, if planted, it would grow up and when ripe it could
be made into flour and then into bread.

When she discovered that, she knew it ought to be planted. She was so busy
hunting food for herself and her family that, naturally, she thought she ought
not to take time to plant it.

So she thought of the Pigupon whom time must hang heavily and of the Cat
who had nothing to do, and of the great fat Rat with his idle hours, and she
called loudly:
Who will plant the Seed?
But the Pig said, Not I,

And the Cat said, Not I,

And the Rat said, Not I.

Well, then, said the Little Red Hen, I will.

And she did.
Then she went on with her daily duties through the long summer days,
scratching for worms and feeding her chicks, while the Pig grew fat, and the
Cat grew fat, and the Rat grew fat, and the Wheat grew tall and ready
for harvest.

So one day the Little Red Hen chanced to notice how large the Wheat was and
that the grain was ripe, so she ran about calling briskly: Who will cut the
Wheat?

The Pig said, Not I,

The Cat said, Not I,

And the Rat said, Not I.

Well, then, said the Little Red Hen, I will.

And she did.
She got the sickle from among the farmers tools in the barn and proceeded to
cut off all of the big plant of Wheat.

On the ground lay the nicely cut Wheat, ready to be gathered and threshed,
but the newest and yellowest and downiest of Mrs. Hens chicks set up a
peep-peep-peeping in their most vigorous fashion, proclaiming to the world
at large, but most particularly to their mother, that she was neglecting them.

Poor Little Red Hen! She felt quite bewildered and hardly knew where to turn.
Her attention was sorely divided between her duty to her children and her
duty to the Wheat, for which she felt responsible.
So, again, in a very hopeful tone, she called out, Who will thresh the Wheat?

But the Pig, with a grunt, said, Not I, and the Cat, with a meow, said, Not I,
and the Rat, with a squeak, said, Not I.

So the Little Red Hen, looking, it must be admitted, rather discouraged, said,
Well, I will, then.
And she did.

Of course, she had to feed her babies first, though, and when she had gotten
them all to sleep for their afternoon nap, she went out and threshed the
Wheat. Then she called out: Who will carry the Wheat to the mill to be
ground?

Turning their backs with snippy glee, that Pig said, Not
I, and that Cat said, Not I, and that Rat said, Not I.

So the good Little Red Hen could do nothing but say, I will then. And she
did.

Carrying the sack of Wheat, she trudged off to the distant mill. There she
ordered the Wheat ground into beautiful white flour. When the miller brought
her the flour she walked slowly back all the way to her own barnyard in her
own picketty-pecketty fashion.

She even managed, in spite of her load, to catch a nice juicy worm now and
then and had one left for the babies when she reached them. Those cunning
little fluff-balls were so glad to see their mother. For the first time, they really
appreciated her.

After this really strenuous day Mrs. Hen retired to her slumbers earlier than
usualindeed, before the colors came into the sky to herald the setting of the
sun, her usual bedtime hour.
She would have liked to sleep late in the morning, but her chicks, joining in
the morning chorus of the hen yard, drove away all hopes of such a luxury.
Even as she sleepily half opened one eye, the thought came to her that to-day
that Wheat must, somehow, be made into bread.

She was not in the habit of making bread, although, of course, anyone can
make it if he or she follows the recipe with care, and she knew perfectly well
that she could do it if necessary.
So after her children were fed and made sweet and fresh for the day, she
hunted up the Pig, the Cat and the Rat.
Still confident that they would surely help her some day she sang out,
Who will make the bread?
Alas for the Little Red Hen! Once more her hopes were dashed!
For the Pig said,
Not I, the Cat said, Not I, and the Rat said, Not I.
So the Little Red Hen said once more, I will then, and she did.
Feeling that she might have known all the time that she would have to do it all
herself, she went and put on a fresh apron and spotless cooks cap. First of all
she set the dough, as was proper. When it was time she brought out the

moulding board and the baking tins, moulded the bread, divided it into loaves,
and put them into the oven to bake.
All the while the Cat sat lazily by, giggling and chuckling.
And close at hand the vain Rat powdered his nose and admired himself in a
mirror.

In the distance could be heard the long-drawn snores of the dozing Pig.
At last the great moment arrived. A delicious odor was wafted upon the
autumn breeze. Everywhere the barnyard citizens sniffed the air with delight.

The Red Hen ambled in her picketty-pecketty way toward the source of all this
excitement.
Although she appeared to be perfectly calm, in reality she could only with
difficulty restrain an impulse to dance and sing, for had she
not done all the work on this wonderful bread?

Small wonder that she was the most excited person in the barnyard!
She did not know whether the bread would be fit to eat, butjoy of joys!
when the lovely brown loaves came out of the oven, they were done to
perfection.
Then, probably because she had acquired the habit, the Red Hen called:
Who will eat the Bread?

All the animals in the barnyard were watching hungrily and smacking their
lips in anticipation, and the Pig said, I will,

The Cat said, I will,

The Rat said, I will.

But the Little Red Hen said,

No, you wont. I will.
And she did.

9. FANTASY-THE GAME OF THRONES -GEORGE R

MATIN
SUMMARY
Go ahead and try to summarize an 800ish-page book. We dare you. Actually, we dare
ourselves. And we never, ever turn down a dare.
Here's the super short version: Several noble houses fight a civil war over who should
be king, while an exiled princess tries to find her place in the world, and the kingdom is
threatened by some rising supernatural threat in the north. Boom. Take that, Book-aMinute.

What makes this book so hard to summarize is that it's told from the point-of-view of
eight different characters and, well, there's a lot going on. But here's a secret: A Game
of Thrones can be broken down into three stories:
(1) The longest part of this book tells how the noble Stark family deals with conspiracy
and court politics in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, with particular emphasis on
Eddard Stark, the father and leader of the noble family.
(2) A second story follows the exiled princess Daenerys, one of the last descendants
from the previous royal family, as she grows up on another continent.
(3) A third story follows Jon Snow, the illegitimate son of Eddard Stark, as he grows up
in the north of Westeros. He is in the special military order called the Night's Watch,
which is dedicated to protecting the civilized Seven Kingdoms from the dangers beyond
the Wall.
So it's not that hard to follow, after all. (Okay, there's a lot going on here, but the book is
actually pretty clear about everything. Don't forget to check out our discussion of
"Setting" if you're confused about this world. That might help clear up some of the plot,
too.)
So, here's the slightly longer plot summary:
(1) Court politics is less fun than regular politics
Eddard Stark is the lord of the north, but he's friends with (and less powerful than) King
Robert Baratheon. So when Robert asks Eddard to be the Hand of the King (which is
like being Prime Minister, but less fun), Eddard can't really refuse. (What makes this
even less fun is that the old Hand died under mysterious circumstances; and he was
also a good friend.) So Eddard decides to go to the capital, King's Landing. There's just
one problem: the Stark family symbol is a direwolf and all six of Eddard's kids have one
of these giant wolves and they're not really city pets.
Unfortunately, the Stark family doesn't get along so well with the Lannister family. This is
an issue because Cersei Lannister is the queen; and her twin brother Jaime is a
powerful knight. But the third brother is Tyrion, and he seems like an okay guy: he's
funny and smart (and a dwarf, by the way). By the way, the Lannister family has a

secret: Cersei and Jaime are incestuous. This is so dangerous a secret that Jaime
throws young Bran Stark from a tower when he sees the Lannister twins in the act.
Down in King's Landing, Eddard gets caught up in the court politics and conspiracy.
Eddard doesn't know whom to trust: should he trust his wife's old friend, Petyr Baelish,
who is now a powerful politician (read: schemer)? Should he trust the old wise man,
Maester Pycelle, who seems to be an ally of the queen? Or the spymaster, Varys?
After another assassination attempt on Bran's life, Catelyn comes down to King's
Landing with the knife that was used to try to kill Bran. (Luckily, Bran has a wolf to
protect him.) Petyr tells her that the knife is Tyrion's. So when Catelyn heads home and
runs into Tyrion (coming back from the Wall), she decides to take him prisoner and
takes him to see her completely crazy sister. That doesn't go well and Tyrion wins his
freedom and a small army.
Meanwhile, Eddard learns that King Robert has a lot of illegitimate children and they all
have his dark hair, which is very different from Robert's children with Cersei. In fact,
Cersei's three kids look a lot like Jaime. Yeah. So now Eddard knows the big secret,
which isn't just gross, but is also a political issue: Cersei's kids aren't true heirs to the
throne. Eddard tells Cersei that he knows about her incestuous relationship and that
she should get out of town. She responds (we're paraphrasing here): "You gonna make
me? You and what army?"
When Robert dies (under mysterious circumstances), Cersei arrests Eddard. She
promises to protect his two daughters Sansa and Arya (the two he brought down to
King's Landing) if, and only if, he'll confess to treason. He does just this, and Cersei's
son Joffrey now the king has Eddard killed.
So now we have war in Westeros: Eddard's oldest (trueborn) son, Robb Stark, is now in
charge of the north and he has an army. Meanwhile, the Lannister army has been
attacking the Tully family in the Riverlands. (It doesn't help that Catelyn is a Tully by
birth.) Although he's very young, Robb turns out to be a pretty good commander, even
capturing Jaime Lannister. But Robb isn't sure who should be king of all Westeros, until
his followers tell him that he should secede and be the king in the north, like in the old
days. It's funny to see that even in fantasy worlds, people still love them some nostalgia.
Here there be dragons?
Before Robert Baratheon was king of the Seven Kingdoms, they were ruled by the
Targaryen family, who had the charming habit of marrying brother to sister to keep their
blood pure. As with most people who are interested in "blood purity," some of the
Targaryens were bughouse mad, which is part of the reason why they got overthrown
(by Robert, Eddard and others). Now all the Targaryens are dead except for a young

exiled prince Viserys, who really wants to get his throne back (and is a jerk) and a
younger exiled princess Daenerys, who just wants to make her brother happy.
Although the Targaryens once had dragons (that's how they conquered Westeros),
Viserys and Daenerys have nothing: they have to rely on the kindness of people. (And
people aren't really that kind in a George R.R. Martin book.)
While they're in exile, Viserys marries (or sells) his sister to Khal Drogo, a powerful
leader of a barbarian tribe. (These horse-riding barbarians are called the Dothraki.) As
part of her wedding present, Daenerys is given three fossilized dragon eggs (and a
bunch of other stuff, but keep your eyes on those dragon eggs). Khal Drogo is strange
and scary, at first, but Daenerys adapts to the Dothraki way of life and is happy. Also,
she gets pregnant. Meanwhile, Viserys remains focused only on his own feelings and
continues to be a jerk. Viserys even threatens Daenerys and her unborn son, but Khal
Drogo won't have that and kills Viserys in a way that is both poetic and gruesome. It's
really a win-win: everyone loves that scene. (Except maybe Viserys.)
After Daenerys survives an assassination attempt ordered by King Robert, Drogo
decides that he needs to kill his wife's enemies (aw, what a sweet anniversary present).
But in the process, Drogo gets wounded (less romantic). Daenerys asks the help of a
wise woman named Mirri Maz Duur to try to heal Drogo, but Mirri betrays Daenerys'
trust and kills both Drogo and her unborn son. In response, Daenerys grieves by
burning Mirri alive on a pyre. Take that. This awesome revenge has the added benefit of
hatching those dragon eggs, which it turns out weren't fossilized at all. Who would've
guessed that a fantasy novel would have dragons?
It's hard out there for an illegitimate son
Just so we're clear, in Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin uses the word "bastard" to
describe an illegitimate child (someone whose parents weren't married). Since that's got
some negative connotations these days, we'll just call Jon an illegitimate son.
Jon Snow is Eddard Stark's, yes, illegitimate son, and while Eddard loves him, Catelyn
kind of hates him. So when Eddard goes down south to King's Landing, Jon can't stay
home. Instead, he joins the military order of the Night's Watch, a bunch of poor guys
who guard the giant Wall in the north. The Night's Watch used to be a well-respected
institution, but now most of them are convicts who were given the choice between losing
limbs/dying or joining the gang.
Unfortunately for Jon, his uncle Benjen Stark goes missing in the north; also, Jon is
terrible at making friends because he's kind of a stuck-up bully. (And to think, he's one
of our favorite characters.) But Jon stops being such a jerk and makes some friends,
including fat, cowardly Samwell Tarly. On the other hand, Jon also makes one enemy
out of their fighting teacher, Alliser Thorne, so he needs all the friends he can get.

That's especially true when Jon sees firsthand that there are monsters up in the north:
two of the Night's Watch were killed and turned into some sort of snow zombie and Jon
barely manages to kill one of them. So even though there's a lot of crazy civil war stuff
going on in the south, Jon's friends make him see that the real monsters are in the north
with them.

10 HISTORICAL-THE NUMBER OF STARS LOIS

LOWRY
SUMMARY
Annemarie Johansen is a young girl who hangs out with her friend Ellen and takes care
of her little sister Kirsti. Seems normal enough, right? Sure, except that she lives in
Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II. Copenhagen used to be peaceful, but now
it's full of enemy soldiers. The Nazis have come into Denmark from Germany and are
slowly forcing the Danish people to do what they say.
(Quick history break: are you interested in the historical context behind all of this? You
can read more of the details about what happened in Denmark during World War II at
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museumwebsite. One section, "Rescue in
Denmark," talks specifically about what characters like Annemarie and Ellen would have
seen and experienced while living in the country.)
Annemarie is a thoughtful young lady, and she reflects on how much life has changed
since the Nazis came along. Actually, Annemarie's older sister Lise died around the time
the war began and naturally, Annemarie misses her like crazy. At least her family still
gets to see Lise's mysterious (in a good way) fianc, Peter.
Things start getting worse in Denmark. The Nazis have begun gathering up Jews and
taking them somewhere unknown. Brave families like the Johansens insist on helping
their Jewish friends, no matter how dangerous it might be. Ellen comes to live with
Annemarie, pretending to be her sister, and even removing her Star of David necklace
to hide her identity.
After a scary interrogation by Nazi soldiers, Mrs. Johansen takes Ellen, Annemarie, and
Kirsti to visit her brother (their uncle) Henrik up north. After a tense run-in with more
Nazi soldiers on the train, they make it to Henrik's house, and are able to relax a little.
(Don't get too excited, it doesn't last long.)

Pretty soon, they start preparing a funeral for a non-existent great aunt. Turns out
they're trying to fake a reason for having so many people at their house. Several other
Jewish people, including Ellen's parents (whew!) show up, too. After the funeral, Peter
and Mrs. Johansen each take a group of Jewish guests out of the housetoward
safety, it seems.
When her mom gets back, injured from a bad fall, Annemarie discovers that an
important package Ellen's father was supposed to take to Henrik never made it. Her
mother sure can't take it, so Annemarie has to go. Talk about courage. She hides the
package in a basket with food and hurries through the woods to her uncle's boatbut
not before another scary encounter with the Nazi soldiers and their dogs.
Only later does Annemarie find out that she did something wonderful and courageous.
Henrik had hidden Ellen's family and other people on his boat. When Nazi soldiers and
their dogs came to search the boat, they didn't sniff out any humansthe package had
a special ingredient in it that kept the dogs from finding the people hidden on Henrik's
boat. If Annemarie hadn't delivered the package, they would have all been discovered.
So Annemarie saved them. The boat traveled safely to Sweden, and Ellen and her
family escaped.
The book concludes two years later, as World War II is ending. Peter has been
discovered as a Resistance worker and killed by the Nazis. But in a moment of hope,
Annemarie knows that her best friend will finally be able to come back homeand she
has her necklace waiting for her.

11. RELEGIOS FICTOIN

12.SCI-FI- ENDERS GAME-Orson

Scott Card

SUMMARY
Heres the super-short version of Enders Game: Ender is confronted with an opponent
whom he cannot beatand then Ender beats that opponent. And then Ender feels bad
about it. Wash, rinse, repeat. (For an alternative super-short version, check out this
one.)
Heres a slightly longer version: Ender Wiggin beats up a school bully named Stilson,
which makes the military recruiters decide that Ender is the one they need to command
the army against the aliens, called the buggers. (No, dont go beat anyone up when you
want leadership roles, please. This is an isolated case.)
Enders family life is complicated, since his sister Valentine wants to protect him and
his brother Peter wants to kill him. But no worries, because Colonel Hyrum Graff is here
to whisk Ender away to the most awesome destination after Disney World: Battle
School. On the way to Battle School, Ender runs into another bully named Bernard, and
Ender beats him up also (both physically and socially, by spreading rumors about the
kid).
At Battle School in space! Ender excels because he understands that theres no up
or down in space. Also because hes just smarter than everyone, even the older kids.

Ender is lonely, but eventually becomes friends with some kids, notably Alai. Then, after
he makes friends with some other new kids, Ender gets transferred to Salamander
Army, where he has zero friends. Enders commander Bonzo dislikes him, which
doesnt help that situation. But Ender also meets a girl named Petra, who teaches him
how to shoot for the zero-gravity laser tag game that is the entire focus of the school.
(Imagine Harry Potters Hogwarts if Quidditch were the center of the school. Oh wait, it
kind of is.) Ender practices the game and soon gets transferred to Rat Army. There he
meets Dink Meeker, who reminds him that the game is just a game and that adults are
just lying jerks.
Back on Earth, Peter and Valentine Wiggin are taking over the world by and were
totally serious about this posting political opinions online. The classic rebuttal to that
plan is this comic.
Meanwhile in space! Ender is given his own army for the laser tag game, and you
know its going to be a good army because its named Dragon Army. (Seriously: can a
dragon beat a rat? What about a salamander? Yes, of course.) And surprise, surprise
Ender wins over and over with Dragon Army, even against unfair odds. Ender even
beats his old commander, Bonzo. So Bonzo tries to kill Ender. But Ender beats up
Bonzo and feels bad about it.
Colonel Graff takes Ender to Command School. We also find out that Ender has killed
both Stilson and Bonzo, though Ender doesnt learn this until later. At Command School,
Ender meets Mazer Rackham, hero of the second bugger invasion. Mazer sets Ender
up with a new computer simulation, and this time Ender has his old Battle School
friends acting as sub-commanders under him. They play the simulation and win the
game. But it turns out to be a real war. Oh no. So Ender has killed the buggers in a very
dramatic act of genocide. Or xenocide, the killing of something foreign. Or maybe
geno-xeno-cide? Or maybe self-defense? Whatever you want to call it, Ender feels
really bad about it.
Valentine convinces Ender to go out to a new colony with her. There, Ender discovers
that the buggers left him a message to say that everythings cool, even though he, you
know, kind of killed them all off. Except he didnt. The buggers left him a bugger pupa in
a cocoon so that he can restart the bugger species.
Which is a nice way to move us towards the sequel where, were just guessing, Ender
probably feels bad about stuff.

13.NOVEL- THE GREAT GATSBY-F. Scott

Fitzgerald
SUMMARY
Our narrator, Nick Carraway, begins the book by giving us some advice of his father's
about not criticizing others. (Butbut what if they're lying, possibly sociopathic
murderers?) And now it's time to meet our cast of characters: Nick's second cousin
once removed Daisy Buchanan; her large and aggressive husband, Tom Buchanan;
and Jordan Baker. Jordan's a girl, and she quickly becomes a romantic interest for our
narrator. Probably because she's the only girl around who isn't his cousin.
While the Buchanans live on the fashionable East Egg (we're talking Long Island, NY in
the 1920's, by the way), Nick lives on the less-elite but not-too-shabby West Egg, which
sits across the bay from its twin town. We (and Nick) are soon fascinated by a certain
Mr. Jay Gatsby, a wealthy and mysterious man who owns a huge mansion next door to
Nick and spends a good chunk of his evenings standing on his lawn and looking at an
equally mysterious green light across the bay. Ookay.

Tom takes Nick to the city to show off his mistress, a woman named Myrtle Wilson who
is, of course, married. Myrtle's husband, George, is a passive, working class man who
owns an auto garage and is oblivious to his wife's extramarital activities. Nick, who has
some good old-fashioned values from his childhood growing up in the "Middle West," is
none too impressed by Tom.
Back on West Egg, this Gatsby fellow has been throwing absolutely killer parties, where
everyone and his mother can come and get wasted and try to figure out how Gatsby got
so rich. Nick meets and warily befriends the mystery man at one of his huge Saturday
night affairs. He also begins spending time with Jordan, who turns out to be loveable in
all her cynical practicality.
Moving along, Gatsby introduces Nick to his "business partner," Meyer Wolfsheim. Hm.
This is starting to sound fishy. Next, Gatsby reveals to Nick (via Jordan, in the middle
school phone-tag kind of way) that he and Daisy had a love thing before he went away
to the war and she married Tom, after a serious episode of cold feet that involved
whisky and a bath tub. Gatsby wants Daisy back, and he enlists Nick to help him stage
an "accidental" reuniting.
Nick executes the plan; Gatsby and Daisy are reunited and start an affair. Everything
continues swimmingly until Tom meets Gatsby, doesn't like him, and begins
investigating his affairs. Nick, meanwhile, knows all about it: Gatsby grew up in a poor,
uneducated family until he met the wealthy and elderly Dan Cody, who took him in as a
companion and taught him how to act rich. But Dan isn't the one who left him the
money.
The big scene goes down in the city, when Tom has it out with Gatsby over who gets to
be with Daisy; in short, Gatsby is outed as a bootlegger and Daisy is unable to leave her
husband. Everyone drives home, probably in a really bad mood, and Tom's mistress,
Myrtle, is struck and killed by Gatsby's car (in which Gatsby and Daisy are riding).
Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was driving, but that he's going to take the blame for it.
Tom, meanwhile, feeds Gatsby to the wolvesor at least the ticked-off husbandby
telling Myrtle's husband George where to find him. Bang-bang, and George Wilson and
Gatsby are both dead.
Daisy and Tom take off, leaving their mess behind. Nick, who by now has had just about
enough of these people, ends things off with Jordan in a way that's about one step up
from breaking up via text message. He arranges Gatsby's funeral, which is very
sparsely attendedalthough Gatsby's dad does show up with some more info about his
past. Standing on Gatsby's lawn and looking at the green light (which, BTW, turned out
to be the light in front of Daisy's house across the bay), Nick concludes that nostalgia
just ends up forcing us constantly back into the past.