Folk Tale
Mary Kinoshita
Words Checked: 4952 Words in Oxford 3000: 94%
2
Contents
Page About the Author
4
Synopsis
5
Chapter 1
Moves to Country
6
Chapter 2
Be Careful
16
Chapter 3
As Usual as Before
27
Chapter 4
Voice Gone!
39
Chapter 5
Folk Tale
47
3
About the author Mary Kinoshita is a fourth year student at Wenzao majoring in English. “Folk Tale� is her first story. Nowadays, many people lie. Mary likes to read folk tales, so she wrote a folk tale related to a person who usually lies to his parents, friends and teachers.
4
Synopsis Tim moved to a different country, and there was a famous folk tale in that country. There were many folk tales in that country. The most famous on which was that if a person tells lies, he will lose his voice. Tim always told lies. One day, he
met
a
strange
man,
and
he
recommended that Tim not tell anymore lies, but Tim didn’t listen. After that day, Tim got into trouble.
5
Chapter 1 Moves to Country Tim got off the school bus and rushed into the house. Tim got home from school and showed the paper to his mother. “Mom, I get an A on math test!” said Tim. “You get an A again? How smart you are! I’m very proud of you!” said his mother. Tim was a smart boy, and he always got good grade at school, but he had a bad habit - he always lied to people. “Wash your hands, it’s ready for the dinner.” During dinner,
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his mother looked at his son who was eating dinner, and sighed. “What’s up, mom?” His mother looked serious. “I have a very important thing to tell you. Tim, your father was fired.’’ Tim was surprised, and he couldn’t think about anything. After a silent moment, Tim asked his mother “When? When was he fired? ” “Today. He just called me and told me ten minutes ago,” answered his mother, “Also, we have to move out of here because this apartment is offered to
7
employee by your father’s company.” Tim asked, “So, where are we moving to ?” “We will move to grandfather’s house, which is where your father grew up. Don’t worry you have gone there several times, and you can also get good grades in a new school! ” his mother said. The next day, they packed up their belongings, and they moved to the grandfather’s house. They arrived there in the afternoon and they met Tim’s grandfather and grandmother. When he met his grandparents, his grandparents
8
walked closer to him, and hugged him. “Long time no see, grandpa, grandma!” said Tim. Tim’s grandparents were very happy that they could live with their son, daughter in law, and grandson together. After dinner, some neighbors come to grandfather’s house. These neighbors and Tim’s grandparents have a good relationship, and after dinner, these neighbors brought some cookies and fruit and came to Tim’s grandparents’ house. Neighbors came to Tim’s house as usual.
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Mr. Black who was one of the neighbors saw Tim, Tim’s father and mother. “I’ m sorry to hear that you have been fired, but I am glad that you came back here and help your parents, ” Mr. Black said to Tim’s father. Tim’s grandparents were farmers and they were getting older. Tim’s father said, “Yeah, it’s time to be dutiful to my parents.” Tim noticed that Mr. Black’s son hadn’t come, so he asked Mr. Black, “Where is Dim?” “He will come here later,” answered Mr. Black. Dim was
10
Tim’s best friend. Tim visited his grandparents’ house every summer vacation. When Tim visited here, he always spent time with Dim. After Tim came back to the city, they used email or cell phone to stay in touch. The tea time started, and neighbors and Tim’s family were talking, eating and drinking. “Welcome to our country, Tim. Well, you have lived here for a short time before, but you live here now, so we have to tell you about our country, and what you should
11
pay attention to, ” Mr. Black said to Tim. “What should I pay attention to? This is a country, not a city. Burglary or murder might not happen in country! Also, people who are here are very kind, not like people who live in the city. They are selfish!” said Tim. He had no idea what he should be pay attention to in the country. When he had lived in the city, his parents always told to him be careful of the strange people. There was bad news on TV everyday, like a man had killed a woman
12
or a person had stolen money in the city. Tim knew that there were seldom any bad news on the TV in the country. Actually, he thought that he felt safe in the country. “Tim, you don’t have to pay attention to those kind of things. You have to pay attention to other things,” said Mr. Black. “What kind of things?” Tim asked. “There are many folktales in our country, ” said Mr. Black. Tim’s grandparents, his parents and neighbors all looked at Mr. Black and Tim seriously. “You really have to listen
13
carefully, Tim. It’s very important, ”Tim’s grand-mother said. Mr. Black started to talk, “There is a forest in our country.” You don’t go there late at night. If you go late at night, you will meet monsters, and they will eat you. Also, don’t go to the lake near the forest. There is a big alligator there, as there are many children who played in the lake and their legs were eaten by the big alligator. Some children survived, but others died in the lake. The last one is the most famous folktale in our
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country. You don’t tell a lie to anybody. If you tell a lie to somebody, you will lose your voice. Well, I haven’t heard that any one had lost his voice until to this point in our country. Tim didn’t believe these three folktales, and he didn’t care about them either. He thought that it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard in his life. He thought that it was impossible that monsters, big alligators and a strange man appeared in real life.
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Chapter 2 Be Careful Next Monday, it was Tim’s first day of school in the country. He went to school with Dim who was his neighbor and best friend. They walked to school. Tim asked Dim, “How long does it take to get to school?” “Only twenty minutes. Well, it takes only ten minutes when you run to school!” Dim laughed. Their houses were not so far away from their school. Tim asked Dim about the school, “Is it big?
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How many students in the school? “I hope that you won’t be disappointed to hear this. Our school is small, very small. There are twenty students in our school. First grade, six students, second grade, eight, third grade, six.” Tim couldn’t imagine only six or seven students in a classroom studying, because fifty students in a classroom in a school from the city. “It’s quite different from schools in the city,” he thought. They walked almost ten minutes and Tim saw the river. “Is this river the one in which we
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swam together every vacation?” “Yeah, you have a good memory! And after we walked around the river about ten minutes, you will get to school.” This 10 minutes, they talked. “So, you went to the bookstore and read some comic books and were late for school. Did your teacher in your last school ask you why you were late for school?” Tim smiled in an evil way and said, “Well, I lied to my teacher and I told a stranger directions to the station.
But
the
stranger
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couldn’t
understand what I said, so I took him to his destination. No one would doubt my words. I always get good grades, and I pretend that I am a good, kind and honest boy. So, they trust me, and never doubt my words.” Dim looked at Tim seriously, and shouted at him, “You don’t tell any lies to people!!” “Why? People tell lies sometimes, don’t they? Also, it’s not a serious thing. Why are you so angry?” Tim asked Dim. “Whether there is white lie or black lie, you do not tell the people.
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You should be honest. Otherwise, you hurt people who trust you, and yourself! Do you know the most famous folktale in our country?” Dim asked. “Yeah, I know. I heard that my first day I arrived here,” Tim said. “You should be careful,” Dim said. “Come on, Dim. You believe that folktale?
It’s
impossible!
Don’t
be
serious!” Tim said. “I’m serious. You must stop telling lies to other people. Otherwise, you really lose your voice. It really happen! You know other folktales right?
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My grandfather went to the forest at midnight and he was eaten by the monster, and never returned last year. Also, I know the children who went to the lake and had their legs eaten by a alligator. They were still alive, but they couldn’t do any thing, like go to the bathroom or go to school. I feel pity for them.� He looked sadly. Tim thought that the two folktales were true. Tim said to Dim, “Well, Dim. Maybe those two folktales might be true. But, the third folktale is impossible. How can a
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person lose his voice immediately?” Tim still couldn’t believe that folktale. Tim said, “Also, your father told me that he hasn’t heard that any one lost his voice until today in our country.” Dim stared at Tim, and said nothing. Today was the first day for Tim to go to school in the city, so during
the
homeroom
period,
his
homeroom teacher let him introduce himself in front of his classmates. “My name is Tim. I came from Green city. I like to read.” After he introduced himself,
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his classmates clapped their hands. Tim took Mathematics, English, World History and Science on Monday. During the day, Tim and Dim didn’t talk to each other. Dim was thinking about that folktale, and he was angry that Tim lies to people easily, and worried that Tim will lose his voice. He had no idea why Tim could tell any lies to other people. However, Tim didn’t think about the folktale anymore. He listened to the lecture carefully and thought
that
maybe
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Dim
joined
a
basketball club, and he had to practice until six o’clock. “Tim, are you going home now, or will you go home with me? If you want to go home with me, you have to wait until six o’clock,” said Dim. “I will go home now. See you later,” said Tim. Tim was not good at sports. Although he got good grades in academic subjects, he got bad grades in Physical Education class. He never joined clubs like basketball, baseball, volleyball or tennis. He had no idea why some people
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liked to do sports. And he also thought that it wasted time joining these clubs. He preferred studying and reading to joining clubs. He went home alone. When he walked along the river, he saw the strange man approached him. The strange man was very tall. He was about 2 meters. “Is he a basketball player?” Tim thought. The strange man wore a black T-shirt, black long pants, black long coat, and black top hat and sunglasses. “Is he mad? Why does he dress this way? All black, and he wear
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a coat on a hot summer day like this,” Tim thought. Tim looked at this strange man. When the strange man passed Tim, he whispered in a Tim’s ear, “If you still tell lies, you really will be in trouble, Tim.” Tim was surprised, “How does he know my name? Who is he?” He had never seen that strange man before. Tim wanted to know who he was and how he knew Tim. When he turned around, the strange black man was gone.
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Chapter 3 As Usual as Before For several days, Tim thought about that strange black tall man. He asked his grandparents, his parents, and his neighbors if there was a strange black man in our country. No one knew that man. Tim’s grandfather also said that, “I lived here for seventy years, and I have never seen a man who is two meters tall.” Tim thought, “Maybe I was dreaming at that time.” He never thought about the strange
27
black man again, and he still told lies to people like before. One morning, Tim woke up at six thirty. He felt tired and he wanted to sleep more. He recently felt that classes in his school was boring, and he didn’t want to go to school. There was a sound from the kitchen. Tim’s mother was cooking breakfast. He went to the dining room. “Good morning, Tim!” “Good morning grandpa, grandma.” Tim’s grandparents were wearing their shoes to go to the farm. After he greeted his
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grandparents, he went close to his mother. “Mom, I have a cold. I feel tired and uncomfortable,” he said pretending to be like a real patient. His mother looked worried and said, “You don’t have to go to school today. Take a rest today. I will call the school and tell them you will be absent today.” Tim acted like he had a cough. “cough, cough.” “Are you alright, Tim?” His mother looked very worried. “You really have to take a rest. What do you want to eat? I will buy some food” Tim
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answered, “I want to eat chocolate and strawberry Haagen-Dazs ice cream.” “Ok, I will buy them. And I also have to buy some vegetables and fruit. Vegetables and fruit help you getting better soon.” Tim went to his room and looked outside the window. His mother drove the car from the garage. It took forty-five minutes to get to the supermarket from his house. After he checked that his mother had left, he took off his pajamas, and put on a green T-shirt and blue jeans. After he
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changed clothes, he brushed his teeth and washed his face. There was no one in his house. His grandparents and his father were on a farm early in the morning, and his mother went to the supermarket to buy some food for her son. Tim went out and he went to the river where he went every summer vacation with Dim. He sat on the riverside and started to smoke looking over the blue sky. No one other than Dim knew that Tim was smoking. It was too young for him to smoke, so Dim
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recommended him not to smoke again. But Tim didn’t listen to him, he just keep on smoking. After twenties minutes, Tim stood up and went home. Tim got home and heard the engine of his mother’s car. He rushed to his room and took off his green T-shirt and blue jeans putting on pajamas. If Tim was wearing pajamas, his mother wouldn’t doubt he went out. After putting on his pajamas, he laid in his bed. He heard the sound of footsteps, and his mother opened the door, and said “I
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bought your favorite ice cream for you. Do you want to eat some now? ” “No thanks, I feel terrible, and I don’t want to eat any food,” Tim told a lie to his mother. His mother looked worried and patted Tim on the head. When his mother left his room, she found a pack of cigarettes on the floor. When she picked it up, Tim got nervous. “Is this yours?” asked his mother. “Of course not! Those are father’s cigarettes. He came to my room last night, and he forgot to take them,” said Tim. His
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mother asked, “But, why weren’t they put on your desk?” “It’s because, the wind blew them from the desk,” answered Tim quickly. “I’m just kidding. Why did you take me so seriously? You are a good boy, so it’s impossible for you to smoke,” said his mother. His mother trusted him deeply, and she didn’t doubt him. After Tim heard these words, he felt sorry for her. Whatever he said, her mother trusted him. He lied to her and she didn’t know the truth yet and she still trusted him. Two
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days later, he went to school. When he came in the classroom, his classmates asked him, “Do you feel better now? You were absent yesterday, and you come to school today. If you felt bad, you can tell me and I’ll take you to hospital.” And after the home room period, Tim’s teacher walked closely towards him and said, “Do you feel better now?” Tim answered, “Yes, I feel better now.” After math class, the math teacher said, “Tim, would you carry the teaching material to my office for
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me?” “OK, Mr. White,” said Tim. When Tim was carrying the teaching material, his classmates asked him, “Aren’t they too heavy? Do you need help? ” His classmates thought that Tim was just getting better and he didn’t completely restore. Tim thought that the citizens were very kind, and pure. After he finished bringing the teaching materials to his math teacher’s office, and returned to his classroom, he met his P.E. teacher in the corridor. His P.E. teacher was two
36
hundreds centimeters tall. He talked to him, “Do you feel better now, Tim?” “Yes, Mr. Gray.” Mr. Gray stared at him and smiled. Mr. Gray asked Tim, “Did you really have a cold?” Tim was surprised. After Mr. Gray watched his reaction, he whispered to Tim, “You truanted, didn’t you?” “No, I didn’t. I really caught a cold!” said Tim loudly. There were some students who were talking with each other in the corridor looking at them. “If you really caught a cold, why were you on the
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river side and not stayed at home taking a rest?” Tim was shocked, and thought “Mr. Gray saw me that day, and he might know that I smoked.” He wanted to ask Mr. Gray if he saw Tim smoke at the river side, but he wasn’t brave enough to ask. “Maybe he didn’t see that I was smoking. I just smoked for a few minutes,” thought Tim. “You know the famous folk tale don’t you?” Mr. Gray whispered to Tim walked away.
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Chapter 4 Voice Gone! One day in winter, he woke up and sneezed. “Achoo, achoo!” It was only two degrees Celsius. He felt really cold. After he brushed his teeth and washed his face, he said to his mother as usual, “Good morning, mom.” His mother said, “Did you catch a cold? Your voice is weaker than usual.” “Really? Maybe I have a sore throat and didn’t feel comfortable, so my voice is not as loud as usual,” said Tim.
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He thought “Maybe I kicked the blanket to the floor again when I was falling asleep, and I caught a cold.� Tim usually kicked the blanket to the floor. He tossed about in bed. He just thought that he just caught a cold. After two weeks, his voice was still weak. Tim even thought that his voice was weaker and weaker day by day. Normally, when Tim had a cold, he just took one or two weeks to get better, but this time, he had been getting a cold for over two weeks. He thought this was strange. He
40
also found that he didn’t have a runny nose or a cough as usual at this time. He only had a sore throat, and his voice was weaker than before. He went to school as usual, and he walked home with Dim after school. When Tim and Dim walked along the river bank, Tim thought about the strange tall black man! Tim was surprised and stopped walking. “What’s up, Tim?” asked Dim. The man smiled at Tim. “The man, the black strange man is in front of us!” said Tim. “Are you crazy? There is
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no one in front of us!” said Dim. Only the person who always lies to other people can see the man. The man didn’t say anything and went away. Two days later, Tim’s voice was almost completely gone. When he went to school, he saw the strange black man at the river side again. He was angry and said to Tom, “I warned you that you will get into trouble if you keep telling lies to people. You didn’t listen to my warning, and still tell lies to your classmates, teachers, and your family,
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poor boy.� He looked sad and went away. When Tim wanted to ask how to recover his voice and turned around, he was gone. Tim finally understood why he lost his voice. During lunch time, Tim and Dim brought their lunchboxes and water bottles, and went to the roof top and ate lunch. There weren’t any stores in their school, so they had to bring their lunchboxes every day. As soon as Dim sat on the floor, he opened his lunchbox and started to eat. There was a fried pork cutlet inside. Fried
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pork cutlet was Dim’s favorite. He was very happy. On the other hand, Tim didn’t open his lunchbox but still stood by Dim, looks unhappy. “Dim, my best friend, would you do me a favor?” Tim said to Dim, but his voice was gone, so Dim didn’t hear anything and just continued eating. Tim took a piece of paper and pencil out of his pocket, and wrote “Would you do me a favor?” Dim looked at the paper and nodded his head. “Is it related to that folk tale?” Dim said to Tim.
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Tim was surprised and wrote, “How did you know that?” Dim smiled and said, “You looked strange recently. You were always worried about something, and I found that your voice was weaker and weaker day by day. Today, you didn’t say anything in your favorite science class, and you wrote the words what you want to say now.” Tim was surprised that Dim so cared about him, and he felt very sorry for him that he hadn’t followed that folk tale. Tim wrote, “What can I do to recover my
45
voice?” Dim looked at the paper and said, “I knew a man who lost his voice in the past.”
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Chapter 5 Folk Tale Dim said that there was an old man who lost his voice in the past in the forest. They went home and put away their school bags and changed clothes, then went to the forest. While they were walking, Tim asked Dim a question, “I heard that there was no one who lost his voice in this country. This isn’t true. But, Dim, how do you know him?” “Actually, that old man is my grandfather.” Tim was
47
surprised. Tim had met Dim’s grandfather before. He was a kind and honest person. Dim said, “My grandfather didn’t tell anybody except me. He didn’t tell my father
because
there
was
a
good
relationship between my grandfather and me. There was no secret between us.” They walked almost forty minutes and got to the entrance of the forest. Dim’s grandfather’s house was in the forest. They also walked about fifteen minutes in the forest and got to the house. Dim
48
knocked a door, and his grandfather opened
the
door.
As
soon
as
his
grandfather opened the door, he hugged his grandson. It seemed like they really had a good relationship with each other. After his grandfather hugged Dim, he saw Tim and said, “Hello, Tim.” “Hello, Mr. Black.” Tim spoke, but Dim’s grandfather didn’t hear anything. His grandfather looked carefully at Tim and thought that Tim had gotten into trouble. “Come on in! Let’s
have
some
tea,”
49
said
Dim’s
grandfather. They sat on the chair and Dim started to talk about why Tim’s voice was gone because he tells lies to people. After Dim’s grand-father looked at Tim laughed and said, “Your situation was just like me fifty years ago. I usually told lies to people.” “How can he recover his voice?” asked Dim. “He should go to the lake in the forest and call a fairy. The fairy will ask you some questions, and you should answer those questions. If you answer correctly, she will give you holy
50
water which can recover your voice. And if you answer incorrectly, you never get that holy water. You only have one chance, and you have to go there alone. You have to answer that question by yourself.” “What kind of question?” Dim asked. His grandfather answered, “I’m sorry, I forgot it. It’s long times ago.” Tim wrote the words on the paper which was on the table with his pens. “OK. Thank you, Mr. Black.” Tim stood up and went to go to the lake, but Dim grabbed Tim’s arm and
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said, “It’s almost nine o’clock now, and you have to take some time to find the lake. I’m afraid that you will take too much time, and reached the destination at midnight.” There was only one lake in the forest. The lake was in the depth of the forest. It took much time to get there even for those residents who usually walked in the forest. “You remember the folk tale. You will meet the monster at midnight, and you should watch out for the big alligator in the lake. The sight is bad at
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night, so I think you should go there tomorrow morning,” said Dim. Dim’s grandfather also said, “Yeah, you can sleep here and go to the lake tomorrow morning.” Tim and Dim stayed at Dim’s grandfather’s house. Tim and Dim slept on the sofa in the living room. When Dim slept and began to snore, Tim had a strange dream. He was walking along the river. He walked and walked, and he found a house whose roof, door and wall were all black. He went into the black
53
house. He found the tall strange black man in the house. The strange black man gave him a drink. After he drank the drink, his throat felt uncomfortable. The strange black man disappeared. There was another situation. “Mom, I really have a fever!” said Tim. His mother said, “Don’t lie to me, Tim. I don’t want to trust you anymore!” He had a fever, and he had to bring the teaching materials for his mathematic teacher. Tim felt dizzy, and fell down but no one helped him, because
54
they thought that Tim pretended like he had a fever and was weak now. Actually, Tim really had a fever, but no one trusted what he said, and no one helped him. He felt pain and his heart was hurt awakening from his dream. Tim looked at his watch. It was six o’clock. Dim was still sleeping. Tim went to the dining room and Dim’s grandfather already got up and he was cooking breakfast. “Good morning, Mr. Black,” said Tim. “Good morning, Tim,” said, Dim’s grandfather. After ten minutes,
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Dim woke up and came to the dining room. Tim, Dim and Dim’s grandfather ate breakfast together. “Good luck!” said both Dim and his grandfather. After breakfast, Tim left the house. He looked at the map which Dim’s grandfather had given him. He walked almost two hours, and he still couldn’t find the lake. After he took a rest, he walked one hour and he finally found that lake. Tim walked near the lake and looked at it. He looked at the lake and wrote the words on the surface of
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the water, “Holy fairy, are you there?” There was no sound. He wrote the words on the surface of the water again, “Hello, are you there?” One minute later, the small fairy came up from the water. A fairy was just fifteen centimeters tall. She was so small. The small fairy said, “You lost your voice, did you?” Tim nodded his head. “Well, there is the important question for you. After you lost your voice, what did you think when you tell lies to people? If you answer correctly, I will
57
give you the holy water to recover your voice. If you answer incorrectly, you will never get the holy water, and you will lose your voice forever,” the fairy said. Tim recalled the dream which he had this morning, and memories of these days. “I thought that it was a bad thing,” Tim wrote on the surface on the water. “Why? You have to explain the reason in simple words,” said the fairy. Tim thought for a moment and wrote, “If the liar tells lies to people, not only the people but also the
58
liar get into trouble. Also, if liar tells lies to people once, and after people find that he tells lies, they will think that he won’t ever be honest and always will tell lies to people and won’t believe what he will say. It is difficult to make people trust the liar again even if he stops telling lies to people.” There was a silence. Tim was very nervous whether his answer is correct or not. The fairy clapped her hands and said, “Good answer!” and gave the holy water to him. As soon as he got the water,
59
he drank it. He checked whether his voice had recovered. “I recovered my voice! Thank you cute fairy. I swear I will never tell lies again. Never!�
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Acknowledgements http://office.microsoft.com/zh-tw/downloads/FX1 01321101028.aspx?pid=CL100570421028 http://www.civillink.net/sozai/index.html http://media.photobucket.com/image/forest%20la ke%20fairy/ruezebra345/fairy.jpg
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Tim moved to a different country, and there was a famous folk tale in that country. There were many folk tales in that country. The most famous on which was that if a person tells lies, he will lose his voice. Tim always told lies. One day, he
met
a
strange
man,
and
he
recommended that Tim not tell anymore lies, but Tim didn’t listen. After that day, Tim got into trouble. 62