Sample
from
Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories
Raintree English Readers
Grade 5
retold by
Helen Kirkpatrick
More about Rip
There was one great misfortune in Rip's behaviour. He hated, completely, all kinds of useful work that might earn him money.
This was not because he was lazy or gave up too easily. He could sit all day on a wet rock, with his fishing rod. The fishing rod could be very long and very heavy, but Rip never grew tired of holding it. Sometimes he could fish all day without catching anything, but he did not complain. He could carry his gun on his shoulder for hours, wandering through woods and wet places, up and down hills, to shoot a few wild birds. He never refused to lend a hand to a neighbour even in the hardest work. He was the first to join the groups who assembled to cut the corn or build stone fences. The women of the village used to get him to do small jobs for them too - jobs which their husbands refused to do. In other words, Rip was ready to do anybody's business except his own. For him to do his family's business, or keep his farm in order, seemed to be impossible.
In fact, he said it was a waste of time working on his farm. It was the worst little piece of land in the whole country. Everything about it went wrong. His fences were always falling down; his cow was always getting lost or eating the cabbages; the rain always decided to start just as Rip was going to begin some outdoor work.
More of this and other stories in
Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories
retold by
Helen Kirkpatrick
Raintree English Readers
Grade 5
ISBN 967 65 3804 3
This text is copyright Penerbit Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd. (008974-T) 1997.
If you can read this sample easily, you can enjoy any Raintree English Reader from Grade 1 through to Grade 5.
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