The World of Fairy Tales. The Ultramarine Book / Мир волшебных сказок. Синяя книга. Книга для чтения на английском языке

Next morning, the prince found a beautiful stranger on the palace steps. The girl wasn't able to say anything but they became great friends. Very soon the little Mermaid found out that the prince loved another princess who lived in a far-away country.

What could the little Mermaid do? She knew that she couldn't return home and missed her family very much.

One day, an invitation arrived from the princess who lived far away. The prince was full of happiness and invited the little Mermaid to go to the distant kingdom with him. He rushed to his wonderful princess and looked forward to seeing his sweetheart. They didn't want to separate for a while and could talk for hours. Very soon the happy couple married.

The little Mermaid knew that all her efforts were in vain. So she walked into the sea and her body turned into foam. The kind prince and his bride spent hours looking for the silent beauty. They missed their good friend who came mysteriously to their lives and just mysteriously disappeared forever.

Hans Christian Andersen

The Emperor’s Nightingale

This news reached the ears of the Emperor himself. He flew in rage and demanded to take this creature to the palace. In a flash his servants rushed to the ancient tree ready to catch and bring the magical bird to the emperor's hall. Very soon a cage with a little grey bird was placed in front of him and the plain creature started to sing.

The song of the nightingale was so sweet that our rough Emperor burst into tears immediately. The birds voice touched everyones heart and the nightingale became a star.

All citizens only talked about the magical bird and he became the main sight of the country.

One day, the Emperor received a big parcel with a mechanical nightingale inside. It sang like a real nightingale and was covered with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. The Emperor decided to compare which of them was better. But the duet sounded quite wrong because the real nightingale sang from natural inspiration and couldn’t match the artificial toy.

The mechanical bird could sing for many hours without becoming bit tired. The silly Emperor chose a toy and ordered to chase the real nightingale away. Every day the Emperor enjoyed listening to wonderful songs. He couldn’t imagine his evening before going to bed without these concerts. One evening listening to his favourite song he suddenly heard some crack and his beloved bird stopped to sing forever.

After this terrible event the Emperor’s life changed completely. He couldn’t sleep and eat, he even fell ill and was going to die. The old Emperor lay pale and cold in his bed. He opened his eyes and saw Death. The frightened Emperor understood that it was his end when he suddenly heard a delightful song.

It was the little nightingale from the park who sat trilling on a branch. The nice creature sang so beautifully that in a flash the Emperor forgot about his death and illness completely. The old man was full of energy. The happy Emperor burst into tears but they were tears of happiness and pleasure.

The grateful Emperor understood his mistake and asked the bird to forgive him. The kind bird only wanted to make people happy singing her songs and the Emperor’s tears of happiness were the main reward.

The clever nightingale promised to visit his friend Emperor and sing to him about good and evil things, about everything what happened in his Empire.

A moment later, the courtiers and servants came to see the Emperor for the last time. You can’t imagine how they were surprised when the Emperor sat up and wished them to have a good day.

Hans Christian Andersen

The Little Lead Soldier

Once upon a time there lived a family, a mother, a father and their two nice children, a son and a daughter. One day, a boy had a birthday and as a present he received twenty-five lead soldiers. They looked like brothers, brave and proud. The lead soldiers had guns and their uniforms were painted red and blue.

The boy lined them on the table. All the soldiers were the same, except for one who had only one leg. There were also many other toys on the table. The most remarkable was a cardboard castle. Through the windows the kids could see the rooms of the castle. The rooms were furnished and looked very pretty. Outside the castle, there were trees which looked like real and a castle moat made from a mirror. Two magnificent swans glided on the castle moat.

The kids could spend hours playing with their toys and even telling magical fairy tales. The girl especially liked a little ballerina who stood by the castle gate. She was made of cardboard, too. The little dancer wore a tutu and a blue scarf. She stretched her arms above her head like a real ballerina on the stage. The maiden held one of her legs so high that the one-legged little lead soldier couldn't see it. He supposed that the girl had only one leg like him. The little lead soldier was sure that the dancer would be a perfect wife for him. Every night, when the house was quiet our little brave soldier dreamed of her.

One night, on the last stroke of midnight, there was a click. It was an ugly Jack-in-the-box. He popped out from his box and started to threaten the little lead soldier The ugly Jack liked the ballerina too and didn't need any rivals. But the little soldier just pretended not to hear his loud threats.