SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT It was New Year at the court of King Arthur.

The King, Queen and all the knights of the Round table were celebrating. Suddenly the door opened and everybody turned round. A knight rode into the room on a magnificent horse. The knight and his horse were completely green! The strange green knight got off his horse and spoke. "I know that King Arthur and his knights are famous for their bravery. I have come to test their bravery with a little game. Here is my axe. One of you brave knights must try to cut off my head. But, next year, on the same day, I will try to do the same to that knight." A brave and honest knight, Sir Gawain, stood up and said: "I will do it." With no hesitation, he took the axe and cut off the Green Knights head. Then the strangest thing happened. The Green Knight picked up his head, got on his horse and left the room! Ten months later, Sir Gawain went off to find the Green Knight. He came to a magnificent castle. The lord of the castle invited him to stay for the New Year. Sir Gawain and the lord made an agreement. They agreed to give each other anything they received. The next day, the lord of the castle went out hunting. Sir Gawain stayed in bed. Suddenly, the lady of the castle, the lords wife, came into his room. She was beautiful. She kissed Sir Gawain and then left. When the lord of the castle returned, he gave Sir Gawain a deer he had caught. Sir Gawain gave the lord a kiss. The next day the same thing happened. On the third day, the lady of the castle kissed Sir Gawain and then gave him a special belt. She said it would save his life. Sir Gawain did not give the belt to the lord of the castle because he thought it might be useful when he went to see the Green Knight. On New Years day, Sir Gawain went to meet the Green Knight. As they had agreed, the Green Knight took the axe. He was going to cut off Sir Gawains head, when suddenly he stopped. He tried a second time, but again stopped. The third time, he cut Sir Gawains neck a little, but did not hurt him. Sir Gawain was angry. He said: "Why did you try three times? We agreed only once!" The Green Knight told him that he was, in fact, the lord of the castle."I did not cut you the first two times because you were honest for two days! But on the third day, you did not tell me about the belt. So I had to cut you!" Sir Gawain returned to King Arthurs court. He was sad because he had not been honest. He decided to wear the belt around his neck for the rest of his life. He told King Arthur: "When I become arrogant, I can look at the belt and remember that I am not a perfect knight!"

Bilo je Nova godina na dvoru kralja Arthura. Kralj, kraljica i svi su vitezovi okruglog stola su slavili. Odjednom su se otvorila vrata i svi su se okrenula. Vitez jahao u sobi na velianstvenom konju. Vitez i njegov konj su posve zelen! udno zeleni vitez siao s konja i govorio. "Znam da je kralj Arthur i njegovi vitezovi su poznati po svojoj hrabrosti. Doao sam testirati hrabrost uz malo igre. Ovdje je moja sjekira. Jedan od vas hrabrih vitezova mora pokuati odsjei glavu. Ali, sljedee godine, Na isti dan, ja u pokuati uiniti isto za taj vitez. " Hrabar i poten vitez, Sir Gawain, ustao i rekao: ". u to uiniti" Bez oklijevanja, on je uzeo sjekiru i odsijee Green Knight glavu. Zatim najudnija stvar se dogodilo. Green Knight podigne glavu, dobio na konja i napustio sobu! Deset mjeseci kasnije, Sir Gawain otiao pronai Green Knight. Doao je u velianstvenom dvorcu. Gospodar dvorca pozvao ga da ostane za Novu go dinu. Sir Gawain i gospodar je dogovorio. Sloili su se da bi jedna drugoj sve su primili. Sljedeeg dana, gospodar dvorca iziao u lov. Sir Gawain je ostao u krevetu. Odjednom, dama iz dvorca, supruzi gospodara, doao u svoju sobu. Bila je lijepa. Poljubila Sir Gawain i onda otiao. Kada gospodar dvorca vratio, on je dao Sir Gawain jelena je uhvaen. Sir Gawain je dao Gospodin poljubac. Sljedeeg dana se ista stvar dogodila . Treeg dana ,dama dvorca poljubio Sir Gawain , a zatim mu je dao poseban pojas . Rekla je da e mu spasiti ivot . Sir Gawain nije dao pojas za gospodara dvorca , jer je mislio da bi moglo biti korisno kada je otiao vidjeti Green Knight. Na Novu godinu dana , Sir Gawain je otiao u susret Green Knight. Kao to je dogovoreno ,Green Knight uzeo sjekiru . On je htio da se iskorijeni Sir Gawain glavu , kad odjednom je stao . On je pokuao i drugi put , ali opet zaustavio . Trei put , kosio Sir Gawain je vratmalo , ali nije ga povrijediti . Sir Gawain je bio ljut . On je rekao : " Zato ste probati tri puta Dogovorili smo se samo jednom ! " Green Knight mu je rekao da je , u stvari ,gospodar dvorca . " Nisam rezati vam prva dva puta , jer si bio iskren dva dana ! Ali na trei dan , to mi nisi rekla za pojas . Pa sam morala rezati ! " Sir Gawain vratio na kralja Arthura sudu . Bio je tuan jer nije bio iskren . On je odluio da nose remen oko vrata za ostatak svoga ivota . Rekao je King Arthur : " Kada sam postao bahat , ja mogu pogledati na pojas i zapamtite da ja nisam savren vitez ! "

ALEXANDER MACKENZIE One of the most important men in the history of Canada was Alexander Mackenzie. He was born in 1764 in Scotland. His family was poor and when he was ten, his mother died and he emigrated with his father to New York. When the American Revolution started in 1775, Mackenzie went north to Canada and worked for a company that traded in furs. In 1789, he went on his first expedition to find a way west to the Pacific coast. With a group of French Canadian quides and two Native Americans he canoed down one of the longest rivers in the world, now called the Mackenzie River. They made rapid progress and on the fourthteenth of July, 1789, Mackenzie arrived at the ocean. But it was the wrong ocean - it was the Arctic and not the Pacific! Mackenzie was disappointed and the return journey up the river was terrible. However, Mackenzie was determined man. He went back to Britain to learn more about astronomy and geography for his next expedition. In May, 1793, he began his journey, travelling by canoe and on foot to the Rockies. At the Rockies, his men wanted to go bac home, but Mackenzie persuaded them to carry on. Finally, on the twenty - second of July, 1793, the expedition got to the Pacific. Mackenzie and his men became the first Europeans to cross North America north of Mexico. Mackenzies achievement was very important for Canada because it opened the way to the Pacific and meant that Canada now stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Mackenzies expedition got home safely and Mackenzie went on to become a successful businessman. He then wrote a book about his remarkable travels that became a betseller. The book shows something of Mackenzies personality. He was not only very brave but was a natural leader. He also treated the Native American people well and was interested in their customs. This attitude was not so common among Europeans in the late eighteenth century. Jedan od najvanijih ljudi u povijesti Kanade bio je Alexander Mackenzie. On je roen u 1764 u kotskoj. Njegova obitelj bila je siromana, a kad je imala deset godina, umrla mu je majka, a on je emigrirao s ocem u New Yorku. Kad Amerike revolucije zapoeo u 1775, Mackenzie otiao na sjever u Kanadu i radio za tvrtku koja trguje krznima. U 1789, on je otiao na svoju prvu ekspediciju kako bi pronali nain na zapad do obale Tihog oceana. S grupom francuskih kanadskih vodia i dva Indijanaca je canoed niz jednu od najduih rijeka na svijetu, koji se sada zove rijeka Mackenzie. Oni su brzi napredak i etrnaestog srpnja, 1789, Mackenzie stigli na ocean. No, to je u redu ocean - to je Arktik, a ne Pacific! Mackenzie je bio razoaran i put povratka do rijeke bila strana. Meutim, Mackenzie je odreena ovjeka. Vratio se u Veliku Britaniju kako bi saznali vie o astronomiji i geografiji za svoju sljedeu ekspediciju. U svibnju 1793, on je poeo njegov put, putujui kanuom i pjeke do Stjenjaka. Na Stjenjaku, njegovi ljudi htjeli da se vrati kui, ali Mackenzie ih nagovorio da nastavi. Konano, na dvadeset sekundi - srpnja 1793, ekspedicija stigla na Pacifiku. Mackenzie i njegovi ljudi postali su prvi Europljani koji prelaze Sjevernoj Americi sjeverno od Meksika. MacKenzie je postignue bilo vrlo vano za Kanadu jer je otvorio put do Pacifika i znailo je da Kanada sada prostire od Atlantika do Pacifika. MacKenzie ekspedicija stigla kui sigurno i Mackenzie je postao uspjean poslovni ovjek. On je tada napisao knjigu o svojim izvanredne putovanjima koja su postala betseller. Knjiga pokazuje neto Mackenzie osobnosti. On nije bio sa mo vrlo hrabar, ali je roeni voa. On je takoer lijei Indijanci ljudi dobro i bio je zainteresiran za njihove obiaje. Taj stav nije bio tako est meu Europljanima u kasnom osamnaestom stoljeu.

THE STORY OD BEOWULF Beowulf is the longest surviving Old English poem. The manuscript itself dates from the tenth century, although scholars think that the original version of the poem may date back a further three hundred years. Most critics think that the poem was the work of a single author. The poem is more than three thousand lines long. The events told in the poem are set in Scandinavia; they are a mixture of Germanic myth, legend and history. Beowulf can be divided into two halves.

Beowulf je najdue preivjela Old English pjesma. Sam rukopis datira iz desetog stoljea, iako znanstvenici misle da je izvorna verzija pjesme mogu datiraju jo tri stotine godina. Veina kritiara misli da je pjesma bila djelo jednog autora. Pjesma je vie od tri tisue linija duga. Dogaaji rekao u pjesmi se postaviti u Skandinaviji; oni su mjeavina germanskog mita, legende i povijesti. Beowulf moe se podijeliti na dva dijela.

CHRISTMAS CAROL It was Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge was in his office, the office of Scrooge and Marley. His clerk, poor Bob Cratchit, was working. Suddenly, Scrooge's young nephew came into the office. "Hello uncle. Merry Christmas!" he said happily. "Do you want to come and have Christmas dinner with us tomorrow?" "Christmas?" Scrooge replied. "Bah! Humbug!" Scrooge hated Christmas and he refused his nephews invitation for dinner on Christmas day. His nephew went away. Later two men came to the office, asking for money for the poor. "Bah! Are there no prisons for these people?" Scrooge refused to give even a penny. Then, when it was time to close the office, Bob Cratchit asked for the day off, because it was Christmas. "All right," Scrooge said, "but be here early the next morning!" That evening Scrooge was sitting in front of his fire at home when, suddenly, he saw a ghost in front of him. "Who are you?" Scrooge asked nervously. "In life, I was Jacob Marley, your partner. I am wearing these chains and I can never be in peace, because when I lived, I only thought about money. But I am here to help you. You have a chance to escape my terrible destiny. Tonight three ghosts will visit you." Then the ghost of Marley disappeared. Scrooge went to bed and fell aspleep. But in the night he woke up. The figure of a strange old man appeared near his bed. "I am the Ghost of Christmas Past. Of your past," it told Scrooge. The ghost took Scrooge to scenes of Christmas from the past. In one scene Scrooge saw himself as a boy at school. He was reading a book. All the other boys had gone home for Christmas. In another scene Scrooge saw himself as a young man. He was talking to his girlfriend, who he did not marry because she did not have any money. Scrooge began to feel sadder and sadder. "Stop! Show me no more!" he cried. Finally the ghost brought him home and Scrooge fell asleep again. Later that night, Scrooge woke up again. "I am the Ghost the Christmas Present. Look at me!" said the second ghost, laughing. He was a large man with a beard, wearing a green robe. He took Scrooge to the house of Bob

Cratchit and his family were sitting around a very small Christmas pudding. "What a wonderful pudding. Merry Christmas everyone!" cried Bob. Scrooge felt sad, because he could see how poor the Cratchits were. Bobs smallest child, Tiny Tim, was weak and ill. The ghost finally took Scrooge to a very poor area of London. There were two poor children out in the street. "Can not we do something to help these children?" he asked the ghost, who repeated what Scrooge had said before. "Are there no prisons?" The ghost laughed and disappeared. Then, the third ghost appeared. He was dressed in black and looked... "Are you the Ghost of Christmas Future?" Scrooge asked nervously. The ghost did not answer. It took Scrooge and showed him scenes the future. In one, people were talking about Scrooges death, but not one person was unhappy about it. The ghost also took him to the Cratchit family. The family was very sad. The little boy, Tiny Tim, had died. The next morning, Scrooge opened his windown and asked, "What day is it today?" Why sir, it is Christmas Day, replied a young boy in the street. Scrooge was very happy. He gave money to the boy to buy an enormous turkey for the Cratchit family. Then he went out into the street. "Merry Christmas!" He wished everybody he saw Merry Christmas. He met the man who had asked for money for the poor and gave him a large sum of money. Scrooge then went and visited his nephew and had the best Christmas dinner in his life. The next day he went to his office early. He waited for Bob Cratchit. "You are late!" said Scrooge in an angry voice. "Yes, I am very sorry..." replied poor Bob. "In that case, I am afraid I am going to ... increase your salary! Merry Christmas, Bob! From the day, Scrooge was the happiest man in the world. He gave money to the poor. He helped Bob Cratchits family. And people always said: "He knew how to celebrate Christmas."

Bio je Badnjak, Ebenezer Scrooge bio u svom uredu, ured Scrooge i Marley. Njegov slubenik, siromani Bob Cratchit, radio. Odjednom, Scrooge je mladi neak je doao u ured. "Pozdrav ujak. Sretan Boi!" rekao je sretno. "elite li da dou i imaju boinu veeru s nama sutra?" "Christmas?" Scrooge odgovorio. "Bah! Humbug!" Scrooge mrzi Boi, a on je odbio njegov neak poziv za veeru na Boi. Njegov neak ode. Kasnije dvojica doli u ured, trai novac za siromane. "Bah! Zar nema zatvora za te ljude?" Scrooge odbio dati ni peni. Zatim, kada je dolo vrijeme za zatvaranje ureda, Bob Cratchit zatraila slobodan dan, jer je Boi. "U redu," Scrooge rekao je, "ali se ovdje rano ujutro!" Te veeri Scrooge je sjedio ispred njegove poara kod kue kada je, iznenada, on je vidio duha pred njim. "Tko ste vi?" Scrooge upita nervozno. "U ivotu, bio sam Jacob Marley, va partner. Nosim ove lance, a ja nikad ne moe biti u miru, jer kada sam ivio, samo sam razmiljao o novcu. Ali ja sam ovdje da vam pomogne. Imate priliku za bijeg moja strana sudbina. Veeras tri duhovi e vas posjetiti. " Tada duh Marley je nestao. Scrooge otiao u krevet i pala aspleep. No, u noi kad se probudio. Lik udan starac pojavio pokraj njegova kreveta. "Ja sam duh Boia prolosti. Od svoje prolosti", rekao je Scrooge. Duh je Scrooge prizore Boi iz prolosti. U jednoj sceni Scrooge je sebe vidio kao djeak u koli. On je itao knjigu. Svi ostali momci su otili kui za Boi. U drugoj sceni Scrooge je sebe vidio kao mladi. On je u razgovoru s njegovom djevojkom, koji nije uda jer nije imao novca. Scrooge poeo osjeati tunije i tunije. "Prestanite! Pokai mi nema vie!" uzviknuo je. Konano duh ga je doveo kui i Scrooge ponovno zaspao. Kasnije te veeri, Scrooge probudio opet. "Ja sam Duh boini poklon.

Pogledajte me!" , rekao je drugi duha, smijeha. Bio je velik ovjek s bradom, odjeven u zelenu haljinu. Uzeo Scrooge u kuu Bob Cratchit i njegova obitelj sjedili vrlo mali boini puding. "Ono to divno puding. Sretan Boi svima!" povikao je Bob. Scrooge tuan, jer je mogao vidjeti kako siromani su Cratchits bili. Bob je najmanji dijete, Tiny Tim, bio je slab i bolestan. Duh napokon je Scrooge u vrlo loem podruju Londona. Postojale su dvije siromane djece na ulici. "Ne moemo uiniti neto kako bi se ta djeca?" upitao je duh, koji je ponovio ono to je rekao prije Scrooge. "Zar nema zatvora?" Duh se nasmijao i nestao. Zatim se pojavila trea duh. Bio je odjeven u crno i pogledao ... "Jeste li Duh Boia budunosti?" Scrooge upita nervozno. Duh nije odgovorio. To je Scrooge i pokazao mu scene budunost. U jednom, ljudi su priali o Scrooge smrti, ali niti jedna osoba nije bio nesretan zbog toga. Duh ga i odveo u obitelji Cratchit. Obitelj je bila jako tuna. Djeak, Tiny Tim, umro. Sljedeeg jutra, Scrooge otvorio svoj windown i upitao: "Koji je dan danas?" Zato gospodine, da je Boi, odgovorio je djeaka na ulici. Scrooge bio vrlo sretan. On je dao novac za djeaka kupiti ogromnu puricu za obitelj Cratchit. Potom je iziao na ulicu. "Sretan Boi!" Poelio je svima da je vidio sretan Boi. On se susreo ovjeka koji je traio novac za siromane i dao mu veliku svotu novca. Scrooge zatim je otiao i posjetio svog neaka i imao najbolju boinu veeru u svom ivotu. Sljedei dan otiao je u svoj ured rano. ekao Bob Cratchit. "Vi ste kasno!" rekao Scrooge u ljutitim glasom. "Da, ja sam jako ao ...", odgovorio je loa Bob. "U tom sluaju, bojim se da u ... poveati svoju plau! Sretan Boi, Bob! Od dana, Scrooge bio najsretniji ovjek na svijetu. On je dao novac za siromane. Pomogao Bob Cratchit-a . obitelj i narod je uvijek govorio: "Znao je kako bi proslavili Boi."