Jane and the Sun

Sabrina D. Harris

Ilustrace:Michaela Beznosková
www.atelier-wonderland.com

Grafická úprava: Jan Mikš
www.janmiks.com

Sabrina D. Harris
www.sabrinadharris.cz
www.houseofstories.cz

sabrinadharris@hotmail.com

ISBN: 978-80-87597-10-1
Copyright©2016 by Sabrina D.Harris

Copyright©2016 by Sabrina Harisová

List of Jane’s stories

The snake and the crown

VOCABULARY

The magical mirror

VOCABULARY

The snake and the crown

It was a beautiful summer morning and little Jane was asleep in her bed. Suddenly something warm tickled her nose. She opened one eye, looked around, saw nothing, and closed it. But something tickled her again. She opened the other eye and saw nobody, so she tried to fall asleep again. But a moment later she heard a soft voice.

“Jane…..Jaaaniiieee, wake up.”

Jane didn’t even try to see who it was. She just asked: “Who’s that? Mom, is that you? Can I sleep a little longer?”

“No, it is not your mom. It’s me. The Sun.”

“Whoa!” Jane almost jumped out of the bed.

“Good morning.” Jane saw the Sun shining and smiling and wishing her a good morning too.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” She asked.

“Yes there is actually…. I…. I like stories.” The Sun’s face went a little golden red.

“Oh, so you want me to tell you one?”

“Yes, yes, I would like that very much.”

“Okay, yesterday I read one you might like. It goes like this:

Once, there was a little girl, who loved animals and her name was Emma. Emma’s mom was very protective of her daughter and was afraid that animals would harm her. So Emma had a secret. She found a snake in the nearby forest and took it home. The snake was very little, a baby. Emma named him Charles and took him up to her room. She even put him into a doll bed and covered him with blankets to make him warm. When one day he asked her for some food, she realized he could speak and she could understand him. They became friends and spent nights talking together. After a couple of months Emma noticed that Charles was getting bigger and stronger.

“Dearest Emma, thank you for saving my life, but now it is time for me to go home.”

“Oh no! Don’t leave me, you are my best friend.”

“We can still be best friends, I will just live not far from you. We will see each other every day. Don’t worry.”

“If you say so… but I will miss you anyway.” Emma started crying.

“Don’t cry. Please come with me, so you can see where I live.”

On the way to the forest Charles asked her to do one thing.

“When you see my father, he will try to reward you for saving my life. Ask for a crown and nothing else.”

“Why?”

“You will see. Just do as I say.”

Emma agreed.

Suddenly she heard someone breathing very close to her face. She turned her head and almost screamed from the shock. She saw the biggest snake in her life. He was bright green, with red, blue and purple patches, and huge eyes. There was a golden crown on his head.

“This is Emma. She saved my life.” Charles went closer to his father, the Snake King and told him what she had done for him.

The Snake King was very grateful, so he asked her if there was something that would make her happy.

She remembered what she was told to say, and asked for the crown.

The Snake King smiled and brought her a crown that was even more beautiful than the one on his head.

She thanked him and went home.

She sneaked up to her room and stood in front of the mirror. She put the crown on her head and imagined herself as a princess in a beautiful pink dress. Suddenly she was dressed in it. Then she imagined that her family and her friends’ families were very happy and had everything they needed and one second later she heard people laughing and crying from happiness.

Then she carefully took the crown off her head and hid it in her closet.

She promised herself that she would only use it for good, not for anything selfish.

Emma and the Snake Prince were friends for many years and stayed friends even when Charles became as big and strong as his father.

One spring morning, Emma started cleaning the whole house after a very long winter. She even opened boxes that were buried under warm blankets. She found the snake’s crown in one of them. She thought for a moment and then ran to the forest. She found Charles enjoying the sunny day on a big rock.

“Look Charlie, what I have just found. You have to take it back.” He looked surprised.

“Why? You deserved it. It was a gift.”

“I know. And I am grateful because it changed not only my life, but also the lives of my family and friends…. And we are happy…but I still think the crown will be safer with you.”

“Ok, but whenever you need it, come and I will give it to you.”

Emma agreed and went home.

Her daughters became friends with Charles’s baby snakes and they all lived happily ever after. Emma never asked for the help of the crown ever again.

“Dear Jane, thank you for this story. I really enjoyed it. Can I come tomorrow for another one?”

“Of course, dear Sun, I’ll be waiting for you.”

VOCABULARY

she was asleep - spala

something tickled her nose – něco ji pošimralo na nose

actually – vlastně, skutečně

protective – ochranářský, starostlivý

to harm - ublížit

secret - tajemství

doll bed – postýlka pro panenky

she realized – uvědomila si, pochopila

if you say so – když to říkáš

reward - odměna

patch – skvrna

he was very grateful – byl velmi vděčný

she hid the crown – schovala korunku

boxes were buried – krabice byly zahrabané, ukryté (pohřbené pod..)

whenever you need it – kdykoliv budeš potřebovat

The magical mirror

Jane was laughing because the Sun had told her a funny joke.

“I heard it on the other side of the world,” the Sun said.

“It was funny… tell me… how is it on the other side?” Jane asked.

“Dear Jane, the whole world is beautiful. It has so many colours and scents… it is amazing… when you grow up… you can travel and see it for yourself.”

“I will…,” she paused for a moment… “And now a story. Are you ready?” she asked the Sun, but did not have to.

“Always” was his answer.

Once there was a Queen Elvira and she was the most beautiful queen in the world. She had a birthday and received lots of gifts from other queens and kings from other countries. She found silver spoons, golden statues, expensive silk and much more in the boxes. In the last box she opened she found a beautiful mirror. It was in a wooden frame and it was huge. It had a sign on the back, saying- I SEE DOUBLE.

Elvira did not know what to do with it, so she put it on the wall right next to a long table.

That evening she was eating her dinner at that table and noticed that everything her servants put on the table magically doubled.

She was so surprised that she went to her younger sister’s room and told her about it.

Elvira’s sister Elaine was a princess who wasn’t happy about the fact that Elvira was the Queen. She wanted to rule. She wanted to receive many gifts. She pretended to love Elvira but it was a lie. So when she heard about the magical mirror she got an idea.

She took her jewels and went to the hall where the mirror was. She put the jewels on the table and waited. In a moment she could see two small piles of jewels.

“Hmmm… so it is true,” she said to herself.

Elvira was happy to see her sister happy and did not think about anything bad.

Elaine went back to the hall at night and brought more gold and jewels and waited for the magic. In the morning, she had enough to pay the whole army of soldiers to do what she wanted.

She told the captain of the army to come to the castle and throw her sister, the Queen, into prison.

The soldiers received their payment and marched to the castle.

Elvira was writing letters when she heard some noise outside of the castle. She looked out the window and saw the army.

“You should pack your bags, my dear sister. You are going to prison.” Elaine was standing at the door with a winning smile.

Elvira put the crown on her head and went to the hall. She sat there on her throne and waited. The captain came in with his soldiers and said: “I’ve come here to take you to prison.”

“I am your Queen. You can’t do that.”

“I can. I was paid to do it by our new Queen Elaine. We all received lots of gold.” One of the soldiers wanted to show Elvira what he had got from Princess Elaine. He put his hand into his pocket but pulled out snakes and spiders instead of gold. Everybody else did the same and each of them had pockets full of spiders and snakes.

“This is a bad magic!” shouted the captain.

Elaine wanted to run away, but the captain caught her and put her in prison. Elvira covered the mirror and put it in her bedroom. She promised herself to use it only in difficult times.

“Dear Jane, what would you do, if you had a mirror like that?” asked the Sun.

“I would definitely double my ice cream.”

VOCABULARY

scent – vůně

statue – socha

silk – hedvábí

double – dvakrát, dvojnásobně, dvojník

to rule –vládnout

jewels – drahokamy

pile – hromada, halda

army – armáda, vojsko

to throw somebody into prison – vhodit někoho do žaláře, hodit do vězení

to march – pochodovat (March – březen)

payment - platba

noise – hluk

throne – trůn

to pull out – vytáhnout

snakes and spiders – hadi a pavouci

bad magic – zlá kouzla, zlé čáry (možno použít i black magic – černá magie)