Sample
from
The Golden Goose and Other Stories
Oxford Progressive English Readers
Grade 1
retold by
David Foulds
The Cat and the Parrot
The dinner parties
Once a cat and a parrot agreed to invite each other to dinner. They said they would take turns. First the cat would ask the parrot, then the parrot would invite the cat, and so on. It was the cat's turn first.
Now the cat was very mean. All he put on the table for dinner was a small jug of milk, a little piece of fish, and a biscuit. The parrot was too polite to say anything, but he did not have a very good time.
When it was the parrot's turn to invite the cat, the parrot cooked a fine dinner. He had a big roast of meat, a large pot of tea, a great plate of fruit and, best of all, he made a lot of sweet little cakes. How many? Oh, I should think as many as 500. And he put 498 of the cakes in front of the cat. He kept just two for himself.
Well, the cat had all the roast meat, and drank all the tea, and ate all the fruit, and then he began on the cakes. He ate all 498. Then he looked round the room and said,
'I'm still hungry. Haven't you got anything more to eat?'
'Why,' said the parrot. 'I haven't touched my two cakes yet. I suppose you can have them, if you must.' He thought the cat would feel sorry when he heard that.
The cat reached across the table and took the cakes. He ate them up quickly. Then he said, 'Well, that was really good -- for a start. What are we going to have next?'
More of this story in
The Golden Goose and Other Stories
Oxford Progressive English Readers
Grade 1
ISBN 0 19 586298 8
This text is copyright Oxford University Press 1994.
If you can read this sample easily, you can enjoy any Oxford Progressive English Reader in Grade1.
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