Clever Katya

Clever Katya

A story from Russia

 Retold by Julia Donaldson

Illustrated by Jane Kochnewitz

        
          The Czar of Russia was out in his coach when he saw a farmer eating some bread.

          ‘I’m hungry,’ said the Czar. ‘Stop the coach!’

          He got out and asked the farmer for some bread. The farmer bowed low and gave him some.

          ‘This is the best bread I have ever tasted,’ said the Czar.  ‘Who made it? ’

          ‘My daughter, Katya, your Majesty,’ replied the farmer.

          ‘Tell me about Katya,’ said the Czar.

          ‘ Oh, she’s a wonderful girl,’ said the farmer.

‘ So pretty, so good, so strong, such a good worker, such a good singer …’

          ‘ And such a good baker,’ said the Czar with his mouth full of bread. ‘Is she clever too?’

          ‘Oh yes,’ boasted the farmer. ‘She’s the cleverest person in Russia.’

          ‘What? Cleverer than me?’  asked the Czar.

          ‘Oh no, your Majesty. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,’ began the farmer.

          But the Czar had jumped back into his coach.

          ‘I’ll be back!’ he called out.

The Wolf in the Sheep's Skin

The Wolf in the

Sheep’s Skin

       

            A hungry wolf saw a flock of sheep in a farm. They were eating grass. The wolf wanted to catch the sheep.

     

        The wolf was unlucky. There was a shepherd looking after the sheep. He had a rifle with him.

       “How am I going to catch those sheep?” the wolf asked itself.  “The shepherd will shoot me if I go into his farm.”

      
        The wolf tried to think of a plan. It looked around and saw a sheep’s skin. It had an idea. It quickly stole the skin.

       The wolf covered itself with the skin. It disguised itself as one of the sheep.

       "Nobody will know that I am a wolf," the wolf said to itself.

       “Now, I can catch those sheep,” it said happily.
       Then it walked slowly towards the other sheep.

        The shepherd did not know that the wolf had disguised itself as a sheep. The wolf quietly caught one of the sheep. It ate the sheep.

       The wolf continued to catch the other sheep and ate them one by one. The shepherd did not know what had happened to his sheep.

       Soon, the shepherd began to realize that his sheep were getting lesser. He wanted to find out what had happened to them.

       The next day, the disguised wolf went to the farm again. It did not see the shepherd. The wolf jumped at one of the sheep.

 

      The shepherd was hiding behind a tree. He saw the disguised wolf. It was attacking one of his sheep.

       Before the disguised wolf could eat the sheep, the shepherd came out. He pulled the sheep’s skin from the wolf.

       “So, it is you! You have been eating my sheep!” the shepherd shouted angrily.

       The wolf could not run away anymore.

       The shepherd caught the wolf and brought it home. He wanted to punish the bad wolf for eating his sheep.

      

Glossary

1.  flock              -      a group

2.  shepherd       -      a man who looks after sheep

3.  rifle               -      a long gun

4.  shoot            -      fire the gun

5.  skin               -      the cover of an animal

6.  idea              -      think of something

7.  stole             -      took without permission

8.  disguised      -      to be what you are not

Answer the questions below.

1.  What did the wolf see on the farm?

2.  Who was looking after the sheep?

3.  What did the wolf do with the sheep’s skin?

4.  What did the shepherd see?

5.  What did the shepherd do when he saw the disguised wolf?

 

Moral Value: 

Do not cheat others to get what you want.