Da Trang and the Magic Pearl
Long ago, there was a hunter named Da Trang who lived near the edge of the forest. One day, when he returned from hunting, he was terrified to see two bright green snakes moving quickly moving quickly through the grass to the temple! But when he saw them raise their heads to listen to the prayer coming from the nearby temple, he thought, “They are surely harmless. Maybe they are sacred snakes.”
When passing the temple one morning, Da Trang saw a big cobra, jaws open, attacking the snakes. He raised his bow and shot the cobra to save the snakes.
When the arrow struck him, the cobra hissed horribly and moved away as the male snake chased it down the hill. The female snake was badly wounded, and soon died. Da Trang buried her under the temple.
The male snake gave him a beautiful white pearl to allow one to understand the language of animals as a gift of its gratitude.
The King had Da Trang bring the magic pearl to the palace because the King was very enthusiastic to hear about the animals’ conversation and spent a great deal of time listening to them.
One beautiful spring morning, the King and Da Trang went sailing. While the fish were singing happily, Da Trang burst out laughing and dropped the magic pearl into the sea.
Da Trang ordered an army of workmen who brought hundreds of cartloads of sand to the seashore to fill up the sea to find his lost pearl, but he failed and died.
Before death, he asked to be buried near the seashore.
Nowadays, when you are at the seashore early in the morning, you can see many small crabs, believed to do the work of Da Trang.
Task 1: Match a word in column A with its definition in column B, writing the answer in each blank.
Answer A B
______ 11. prayer (n) F. having a connection with a god ______ 12. sacred (adj) G. to make a sound like a long ‘s’
______ 13. bow (n) H. the words that you use when you speak to a god ______ 14. hiss (v) I. a weapon for a shooting arrows
Task 2: Read the passage again, and then answer the following questions.
15. Why did Da Trang think that the two bright green snakes were harmless?
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16. What did he do to save the snakes when the cobra attacked them?
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17. What did the male snake give him? Why?
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18. Why was the pearl called a magic one?
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19. Why did Da Trang lose the magic pearl?
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20. What did he do before his death?
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Task 3: Read again, and then complete the details of the legend by filling in each blank with ONE suitable word.
Main characters Character 1: Da Trang. He was (11)____________, but he did an impossible thing.
Character 2, 3: The green snakes. They were (12)__________, sacred and (13)____________.
Character 4: The cobra. It was (14)____________.
Plot: beginning Long ago, there was a (15)_____________ named Da Trang who lived near the edge of the forest.
Plot: middle One day, when he (16)___________ the temple, he saw a big cobra, attacking the snakes. He (17)___________ to shoot the cobra to save the snakes.
The female snake died (18)____________ Da Trang buried her under the temple. The male snake gave him a magic pearl to allow one to understand the language of animals.
The King was also (19)_______________ in the magic pearl, and asked him to bring the magic pearl to the palace.
Plot: end One day, (20)__________ sailing on the boat with the King, Da Trang dropped the pearl into the sea. He tried to fill up the sea with sand but he failed and died.
E. WRITING
Make sentences about the Legend of the Milky Way, using the words and phrases given. You can add some words and make changes. The first two sentences have been done for you as examples.
The Legend of the Milky Way
0. Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful and charming princess, named Chuc Nu.
0. She was a very hard-working lady and she was often sitting on the shore of the Silver River to sew clothes.
1. One day/ a young man, named Nguu Lang/ heard/ his buffaloes/ the river
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2. He/ fall in love/ the princess at first sight/ she/ love/ him, too.
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3. The King of Heaven/ not allow/ daughter/ marry Nguu Lang.
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4. But the couple/ have to promise/ continue their work/ after marriage.
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5. They/ enjoy/ being married/ and/ they/ forget their promise.
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6. The King/ become furious/ and/ order/ them/ separate.
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7. Each of them/ would live/ one side of the river/ and/ could only look at each other/ across the river.
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8. The King/ allow them/ meet once a year/ the seventh month/ the lunar year.
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9. When/ they/ meet/ they/ usually cry/ joy.
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10. They/ cry even more bitterly/ when/ it/ time for separation.
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11. That is why/ it/ rain/ heavily/ the beginning/ the seventh lunar month in Vietnam.
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12. If/ you/ look at/ the sky/ clear nights/ you may see/ Silver River/ which/ look like/
a long milky white strip.
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I)-Choose the best answer A, B, C or D to complete the sentences.
1. The toad was very ___________ because he tried to find way to the heaven to sue God.
A. brave B. kind C. generous D. mean
2. The King was very ___________ to allow his daughter. Tien Dung, to travel to many wonderful places of the kingdom.
A. wise B. mean C. kind D. wicked
3. The Peacock was well known to be a/an ___________ animal, so he just applied black colour to the Crow’s feathers.
A. hard-working B. lazy C. ugly D. clever
4. The wife of the fisherman was very ___________ when she demanded for bigger and bigger things.
A. kind B. generous C. greedy D. fierce
5. Ali Baba was very _____________ when he also used the words “Open Sesame!” to enter the cave of treasures.
A. wise B. cunning C. kind D. evil
6. The servant was very ___________ to mark other houses with white chalk so that the thieves couldn’t find Ali Baba’s house.
A. mean B. wicked C. kind D. clever