NARRATIVE TEXT Name : Maulidya Irani Class : X-MIA 3 Nu.abs : 25 LEGEND Phra Nang Suwanasopha Once there was a beautiful and clever princess named Phra Nang Suwanasopha. Her father, the king, wanted her to marry a man as clever as she was, a man who could make her talk, for the princess was very shy. In fact, she was so shy that she didn't talk to any man, not even her father. When Phra Nang Suwanasopha was old enough to be married, the king sent word to nearby kingdoms. He said that whoever could make the princess talk could marry her. From all around eager princes came to try and make the princess speak. But they all went home again. Phra Nang Suwanasopha had nothing to say to any of them. The king had almost given up finding a husband for his daughter. Then another prince came to the palace to try his luck. This prince was called Phra Sanphasit, and he brought many fine gifts with him. He also brought one of his best friends. Before going to see the princess, Phra Sanphasit used magic to put his friend's soul in a lamp. Phra Nang Suwanasopha was waiting in her room when the prince arrived carrying his lamp. He set the lamp carefully on the floor and began to tell a story. "Once there were three merchants travelling by boat," he began. "They stopped each night to rest by the bank of the river. One night, one of the merchants was awakened by a sound. Something was bumping against the boat. When he looked over the side, he saw a piece of wood. Now, this merchant liked to carve, so he pulled the piece of wood out of the water. He then carved it into the shape of a beautiful girl. He spoke some magic words and the girl came to life. At this moment the other merchants woke up. One asked the girl to come and sit near him'. The other brought some fine cloth for her to wear. The girl was so sweet and beautiful that all the merchants fell in love with her, and they began to fight over who should marry her." Phra Sanphasit paused, then he asked the lamp who should marry the girl. The lamp immediately replied, "Well, of course the merchant who carved her in the first place should marry her." "Wrong!" said the princess. "The one who carved her is her father. The one who asked her to sit with him is her mother. The one who brought her cloth should be her husband." At this, a great cheer went up in the courtyard outside Phra Nang Suwanasopha's room where all the courtiers were listening. Phra Sanphasit knew, however, that lie would have to make the princess say more than just those few words. He moved his friend's soul from the lamp to the bedpost and began to tell another story. "Once there were four princes walking through the forest. One was an archer. One was a fortune-teller. Another was a swimmer, and the other was a magician. “Tell us,” they said to the fortune- teller, “What will happen today?” “Oh, today will be very exciting,” he replied. “In a few minutes a big bird will fly past. It will have a lovely girl in its claws. We're going to try to rescue her." "At that moment they heard a bird flapping its wings overhead. Looking up, they saw a large bird with a girl held firmly in its claws. The archer took out an arrow and shot the bird. The, bird squawked and dropped the girl into a deep pond. Then the swimmer dived into the water where he found the girl dead on the bottom of the pond. He brought her up, and the magician used his powers to give her life again. The girl sat up and smiled at the princes. She was so beautiful thatthey all fell in love with her. Naturally, they soon began to quarrelabout who should marry her." Again Phra Sanphasit paused. Then he asked the bedpost who should marry the girl. The bedpost quickly said, "Of course, the archer should marry her. After all, he shot the bird." "Silly bedpost," said Phra Nang Suwanasopha. "The swimmer is the one who should marry her. He touched her first." The cheering in the courtyard was very loud now. Phra Sanphasit moved his friend's soul to the head of the bed. This time he did not begin with a story. Instead, he asked a direct question, "Which is softer to touch, a lovely girl or a fluffy kapok pillow?" "'That's easy," said the head of the bed. "A kapok pillow is the softest thing in the whole world." "Not me. The softest and nicest thing in the world," said the princess, "Is the heart of a good husband." The courtiers outside cheered. Phra Sanphasit knew now that he had won the princess's heart. They were married shortly thereafter, and lived happily from that time on. Moral Value : Do not be embarrassed to tell the truth In the end the lies will be revealed Lie will lose the truth FABLE The White Rabbit story There once lived a white rabbit on a small island. One day, when he was on the beach, he saw a large island in the distance. “There must be a lot of good fresh grass on that island. But how can I go to it without a boat?” while he was thinking about what to do a big shark swam close to the beach. The rabbit saw the shark and called to him. “Hello, Mr. Shark, you look a clever fellow. Do you think there are more sharks than rabbits in this world?” “We would have to count them to find that out,” answered the shark. “Well,” said the rabbit, “You line up your sharks between this island and that one and I’ll count them.” “Very well,” said the shark, and he called to all of his friends to come and float side by side between the two islands. When they were ready, the rabbit jumped from one shark to the next counting them. “One, two, three …..” he had almost reached the other island when he laughed and said without thinking, “You stupid shark! What is the use of counting you? I only wanted to cross over to this island.” At once, the sharks were very angry because they did not like being cheated. They began to bite the white rabbit who asked them to forgive him. Finally they let go but all of his lovely white fur was torn off. His skin was bare. He sat down and cried. Soon three men came along and asked him why he was crying. The rabbit told them what had happened. The men looked at each other and then one of them said, “The best thing you can do is to wash yourself in the sea and then let the sun dry you. Your wounds will heal and your white fur will grow again.” The rabbit ran back to the sea and then sat in the sun. But his skin was only more painful. It began to hurt so badly that he cried out, “Who will save my life? Help! Help!” A young man, who was coming along the road, stopped when he heard the rabbit crying. “What has happened to you, Rabbit?” He asked. He felt sorry for the rabbit. The poor creature could not stop crying and told his story as the tears ran down his face. The young man was annoyed when he heard how the rabbit had been treated. “The three men did not give you good advice. Please forgive them. I’ll help you. Now, go and wash your body in fresh river water and I’ll get a bed ready for you.” The rabbit did as he was told and returned to rest on the soft grass bed which the young man had made ready for him. The poor rabbit rested and was warm and comfortable. His white fur grew again. He was so happy that he did not try to cheat anyone again. Moral Value : Every word we say that there was a reply Do not deceive others if you do not want to get karma If we do bad to others then we will also get a bad thing We have to care about other people FAIRY TALE Sleeping Beauty In a faraway kingdom, there was an empire led by a king and queen. The king led his region with a very wise and prudent. Despite being a king, their life was less happy because they did not have a child. It made the king and queen became sad. Then one day the queen gave birth to a beautiful little daughter named Princess Aurora. The birth of the little princess made the king and the entire kingdom happy. The king was making a big celebration to welcome his daughter. He invited all the people in the kingdom, including all the fairies that live in the kingdom. The king invited them to ask for their blessing. But the king forgot to invite all the fairies in the kingdom. The facts that there were 13 fairies in kingdom but the king only invited 12 fairies. When the celebration party was running on, all of the fairies invited by king surrounded the little princess to give a blessing. One by one fairy was utter blessings. One fairy gave blessing of goodness, another fairy gave blessing of health, and the next fairy gave blessing of beautiful voice and so on. When the 12th fairy was about to give her blessing, the 13th fairy who were not invited by the king come. She was very angry and could not accept this humiliation. The 13th fairy was not giving a blessing to the little princess, she even cursed her. The 13th fairy said, “When the baby is 16 years old, she will be pricked by a needle and fall asleep for a long time”. After saying that curse the 13th fairy left the palace using her broomstick. Everyone in the palace was shocked and saddened as well as the king and queen. The queen begged to the fairies, “Please withdraw this curse”. “What have been spoken irrevocable my queen” said the fairy. The others fairy tried to calm king and queen, “You do not worry. The princess will not die, she just fall asleep for a long time “” And this curse will be lost if there is prince who awakened her “another fairy added. Hearing the explanation, the king and queen relieved. However, they were still afraid of the incident occurred. The king ordered to get rid of all the needles in the palace. Days passed, Princes aurora grown into a beautiful princess. She was very good and had very beautiful voice. Everyone in the palace loved her. At the age of 16, the princess entered a small room in her palace. She saw a woman who was sewing. The princess was surprised and asked, “What are you doing?”, “I’m sewing, come here I will teach you to sew” the woman replied. Princess Aurora did not know that the old woman is evil fairy in disguise. She took needle in the hands of women. Then suddenly she was pricked and fell asleep. When Princess Aurora asleep, all people in the kingdom were fell asleep too. Then the fairy put her on a mattress. Years passed, Princess Aurora had been asleep for hundreds of years. Until the day came, a prince from a distant land approached the kingdom. He saw a beautiful princess asleep there. Then the prince kissed princess aurora. Then the cursed was destroyed. The princess woke up from her sleep, as well as those that exist in the palace. Eventually they become lovers and lived happily ever after. Moral Value : Do not hold grudges on others because it will only make us uneasy in life At the end of kindness will defeat all evil ROMANCE Anthony and Cleopatra The last Pharaoh of Egypt and the dashing Roman general Some love stories are immortal. And the true love story of Antony and Cleopatra is one of the most memorable, intriguing and moving of all times. The true story of these two historical characters had later been dramatized by the maestro William Shakespeare and is still staged all over the world. The relationship of Antony and Cleopatra is a true test of love. One of the most famous women in history, Cleopatra VII was the brilliant and beautiful last Pharaoh of Egypt. The woman was legendary, not only for her breathtaking beauty but also for her great intellect. She was proficient in nine languages and was also a skilled mathematician. She is often considered to be a stunning seductress though she was studying to be a nun. She became the mistress of the famous emperor Julius Caesar. After he was slain, she was accused of having been a party to Ceaser's assassination, for there was a rumor in Rome that Cleopatra had given help to Cassius, one of the assassins of Caesar. Matters came to such a head that Caesar's successor and best friend Mark Anthony, the present emperor of Rome, summoned Cleopatra to explain herself at his headquarters in Anatolia. In the spring of the year 41 BC. she crossed the Mediterranean to see him. But as she saw Marc Antony, she fell in love with him, and he with her, almost instantly. Sometime later the emperor accepted her invitation to visit her in Egypt and arrived in Alexandria in time to spend a winter of pleasure. The relationship between these two powerful people put the country of Egypt in a powerful position. But their love affair outraged the Romans who were wary of the growing powers of the Egyptians. Despite all the threats, Anthony and Cleopatra got married at Antioch(in Syria) in 36 BC. Together, Antony and Cleopatra, formed a formidable ruling power. They were now openly together; and openly a team against Octavian, Antony's rival for power in Rome. As a Roman general, with a powerful army in the eastern provinces, Antony gave his new wife a spectacular wedding present - much of the Middle East. In 34 BC, he declared Cleopatra to be the Queen of Kings and Caesarion the King of Kings, jointly ruling over Egypt and Cyprus and joint overlords of the kingdoms of the other children. In the tradition of many eastern monarchies, Cleopatra and Antony now began presenting themselves as divine. To Greeks they appeared as Dionysus and Aphrodite; to Egyptians as Osiris and Isis. But Octavian, Antony's rival in power, had had enough of it. He was a blood-relative of Ceaser. how could he bear to see Antony taking his uncle's place? In 31 BC, he declared a war against Antony. The battle between the forces of Octavian and of Antony and Cleopatra took place at Actium, in Greece, on 2 September 31. The exact course of the battle is not known, but it is said that while fighting a battle in Actium, Antony got false news of Cleopatra's death. Shattered, he fell on his sword. It is also said that Antony escaped to Egypt with Cleopatra when their fortunes in war turned against them. But the royal couple couldn't escape misfortune. The following year, when Octavian arrived in Egypt with his army, Antony had to commit suicide to escape imprisonment. When Cleopatra learned about Antony 's death, she was shocked. She was taken a prisoner of Octavian, restricted by his guards to part of her own palace. Shattered by her husband's death and her captivity, with the help of some loyal subjects, she arranged for a small poisonous snake, an asp, to be smuggled into her quarters in a basket of figs. Then, Cleopatra ordered her chambermaids to leave her. She put on her royal robes, lied on a couch of gold, and applied the asp to her breast. A little later she was found dead. Great love demands great sacrifices. The love of Antony and Cleopatra epitomize that love is another name for sacrifice. Moral Value : Great love demands great sacrifices We shouldn’t accuse others without any proof Do not be prejudiced before to know the truth SCIENCE FICTIONS Survivors by M. Bennardo Nobody ever asked me the secret to survival. You didn't ask either, but I'll tell you anyway. It's cowardice, O-hana, so that's how we'll survive. You and I and all the others in our cave--with a million tiny acts of cowardice. I didn't start out as Japanese. I'm still not sure if I am, despite what everyone seems to think--the Okinawan soldiers who found me in the crater, the student-nurses who brought me juice and sticky slices of mango at the hospital, the thin doctor with the mustache who says he is my father. And you too, O-hana. None of you seem to notice that I am six feet tall, with blond hair and blue eyes. None of you seem to notice I only speak and understand English, and a couple words in Polish. Somehow I understand you, though I don't know how. I can even read the characters on the brass dog tag strapped around my chest under these hospital pajamas. There's no name on it--just a company, a unit number, and my own serial number. I could be anybody, but you tell me that my name is Aragaki-san. I guess that's what you would have called the Japanese soldier who jumped into the crater beside me. Meanwhile, the thin doctor with the mustache calls me Isamu. I guess that's what he called his son. I was American to begin with, either in reality or in some vivid dream. I came from Milwaukee, the son of Polish immigrants. When I reported to the draft board, bitter, sullen, my stomach full of ice, the officer there looked at the collision of Zs and Ss and Ks in my name and said, "We're fighting this war for you, son." It was four years since the invasion of Poland and two since Pearl Harbor, but I didn't contradict him. I didn't say, Don't fight for me--I don't want your war. Instead, I said, "Yes, sir." It was the first of many tiny acts of cowardice. The first of many tiny steps I took to survive the war. I liked the first hospital best, before we evacuated to this cave. Before the Americans got so close. The Americans? We Americans? Either way, I liked the low stone walls, the wooden ceiling, and the cool sea breeze through the open windows. I liked the thin doctor with the mustache too--the one who calls me Isamu, the one who says he is my father. I fear he's dead now, blown up with the rest of the hospital and the patients who couldn't be moved. He would have stayed with them. He was no coward. I liked you, O-hana, and the rest of the student-nurses. You said you came from high school along with your teachers and classmates. You said you brought your books to study, laughing and thinking the war would be over in a matter of days. How long ago was that? Months, years, eternities? I wonder if my American unit had already landed on Okinawa by the time you joined up as a nurse. I wonder if I was in the crater with that Japanese soldier, the one who must have been called Aragaki Isamu. I wonder if I was Japanese already. I wonder if I was on my way here. You want to hear about my million acts of cowardice? They're very much alike, but first you must imagine we're in battle. I rattle my gun at you and you rattle your gun at me, each of us afraid that the other will rattle it first. We hear that some of the Japanese are carrying sharpened sticks or bamboo poles. We hear that some of them are peasant boys pressed into service, younger than our own kid brothers. But still I rattle my gun. Rat-a-tat-tat, it jumps and jerks in my hands. I don't stop to see who is coming, if they have a rifle or a broomstick. Rat-a-tat-tat, they fall like stalks of wheat. We hear that there are civilians hiding in the caves. We hear there are nurses and wounded with them. But I shoot my tommy gun and hurl my grenades. I hang back on the charges and never take point. I never volunteer for anything. I didn't ask for this war, I didn't ask to be here. But I am, and I am trying to survive. It could have been you, O-hana. If things had turned out differently, I could have rattled my gun at you. In frenzy and fear, I could have hurled my grenade into this cave. Did I tell you about the crater, O-hana? That was another of my million acts of cowardice. But passive, that time. Not active. The Japanese soldier flopped down not ten feet from me, seeking shelter the same as I was. My gun was jammed, half taken apart in my hands, and he flopped down over the rim--just him and me, alone in that crater where a bomb had exploded days before. I looked at him, but there was nothing I could do. He looked at me, but he never raised his gun. Seconds ticked by and explosions thudded around us--shouts, screams, the pinging and whizzing of bullets. What a god-awful mess, what a god-awful sound. But still, the seconds passed. Two, three, four, five. That's an endless eternity in battle. He could have cut me in half a dozen times over. I would have done it, almost as a reflex, if my gun hadn't been lying in my lap in three pieces. Rat-a-tat-tat, and I survive a few minutes longer, until the next crisis in cowardice. Yet, he never moved. He never raised his gun. We just sat looked at each other, eye to eye. Moral value Do not be a coward Think before you act