BRITISH LEGENDS (6)

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magic spirit who tells him these things will be silent. So the next day Merlin says that the King needs the Giant's Dance, that is a giant circle of stores on Killaraus, a mountain in Ireland. Many many years ago Giants brought these stones from Africa and put them near their home on the mountain in Ireland. They used them when they were ill. To take these stones there was a battle with Irishes. They need to take the stones to the sheets, so Merlin used his magic to put them on the carts. When they returned back, Merlin put them in a circle around the place where all the noblemen were burried. Today we called this place Stonehenge. 2 Dick Whittington and his Cat 2) Dick Whittington, lived with his many brothers and sisters in a village in Gloucestershire. His life was very hard. Dick heard people told him about the big city of London and that the streets of the city were made of gold and that it was easy to make your fortune there. Dick decided to go there and he had only bread to eat during the journey. When he finally arrived in London, Dick saw that the streets weren't made of gold! It was not very different from his village but there were a lot more people! He was talking to his cat about where to go where the door of the house suddenly opened and an angry woman told him where was he doing here and then a gentleman asked who is him and he told him where to find work. So dick began his live in London and he was very tired but although he worked hard, the cook was always angry with him. Alice, the daughter of Mr. Fitzwarren, was so kind and beautiful that Dick soon fell in love with her and he told her that he will marry her. When he returned to England he bought silks, spices and precious stones but and the merchant knew that Dick had nothing else to give him, so he took his cat on his sheep where there were always too many rats and mice. After Dick became sadder and sadder and alone in a big city where he couldn't make his fortune so he decides to return to his village and family. Early one morning when he arrive at the top of Highgate Hill he couldn't belive his ears because the bells rang telling him to return to London to become the Lord Mayor. Mr. Fitzwarren gave him two big bags full of gold and he also have another surprise for him that was his cat. After that he thanked Mr. Fitzwarren. So, Dick started to work very hard and used his money to do good things for the people in the city. And finally he married Alice in Bow church. Lady Godiva One day Lady Godiva walked to the center of Coventry with her servant to do some shopping. In the middle of the marketplace a young woman stopped her and asked her to help she and her family because they haven't got any money to buy food because they must pay the new tax of the Lord of Mercia. Lady Godiva gave her a small silver coin. She told to Lord Leofric that the new tax was so high and the people could not pay it. Every times she went into the marketplace, a mother or an old person stopped her. She returned to her husband and asked him to cut the tax but every time he got hungry and sent her away. When she went to the marketplace, she always bought some extra food to give to the poor people. Lord Leofric was forgetting that his wife was a very intelligent woman, in fact immediately she called two of her husband's soldiers and gave them orders to go into the town and tell the people to stay inside their homes for one hour and not look out of the windows or doors. All the people were in their homes so the streets were empty. When Lord Leofric saw his wife arriving home he was very surprised. There was a is a big party in Coventry, were all the people now loved Lady Godiva. The Legend of Gelert Al long time ago there was a brave prince called Llywelyn, he especially liked hunting. King John agreed that the young prince could marry Joan, his daughter. The king gave Llywelyn a special, grey puppy, which was an excellent hunting dog. He called him Gelert. The day came when Joan had a beautiful baby. Gelert spend many hours next to the cradle. Llywelyn did not want the other dogs in to the house to come near the baby. One day he went hunting with his dogs and Gelert was the fastest and the most intelligent of all the dogs. In a moment he didn't see his dog anymore so he returned back home. He was walking quickly towards the house when suddenly he heard a terrible cry. It was his wife Joan, she couldn't speak. She pointed the door of their baby's bedroom. Llywelyn ran and a terrible scene met his eyes. The cradle was over turned on the floor with all the covers, but there was no sign of the baby. Llywelyn looked down at his old friend and threw his sword on the floor. Suddenly, there was a little noise and they both stood up and ran back in to the child's room. There, under the covers on the floor was their baby's son. There was an enormous dead Wolf. Now everything was clear. For a long time, Llywelyn stayed on the floor holding is dead friend and telling him how sorry he was. Four man carried Gelert in a sheet from the house and put him in a gave. After that terrible day, Llywelyn changed. He often walked in his garden or went riding alone, always thinking about Gelert. People say that from that day, the prince never went hunting again, was never happy and never smiled. 5 Robert the Bruce and the Spider Scottish people wanted a Scottish King and wanted to be free from England. Robert the Bruce made himself king of Scotland in 1306. Edward I, the king of England, was very angry and sent a large army north from London to fight the new Scottish king. Robert had to live as an outlaw because English soldiers were looking for him. King Robert sat in a dark cave on the island of Arran. King Robert knew that he had the blood of many men on his hands and his heart told him that he had to help Scotland. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again he saw a big spider above his head. The spider tried 6 times to make a longer thread but there was a lot of wind. King Robert said to the spider that if he failed again for the 7th time, he will stop fighting for Scotland to be free. But if the spider attach his thread to the wall and then make his web, Robert will also try again. Spider swung to the wall and attached the first line of its web. The next morning he left the cave and return to his castle and he fought against the English. Finally, in 1314 won the Battle of Bannockburn and pushed the English out of Scotland. People called him "Good King Robert". "It at first you don't succed, try, try, try again"; Still today one of the most famous proverbs in Britain. 6 The Giant's Causeway Our story begins with a giant called Fionn McCool. He was the biggest giant in Ireland. One day, after spending the day with his band, Fionn was silking along the coast on his way home. He was resting on the beach when suddenly, on the coast of Scotland, he saw something moving, it was another giant. The Scottish giant's face became as red as his beard. He was furious! He picked up an enormous piece of land and threw it at the Scot, but instead of hitting the giant, it fell into the Irish Sea. He started throwing rocks into the sea. He really was the biggest giant in the world and double the size of Fionn! He was running and shouting and moving his arms in the air. He was very angry. Fionn wasn't laughing now. There was only one thing he could do. He ran home quickly to close himself in his house. He told his wife that. She said to get in to the bath and she covered him with a white sheet. Benandonner came into the house. Benandonner was begging to warry so he decide to put his arms around the house and started to pull and pull, but the house was made of many big rocks and it was really heavy. Slowly the house began to move. The giant took one big bite of the meat and immediately broke two teeth! That was enough for Benandonner! If the baby could eat the same meat without breaking his teeth. Benandonner was already out of the door and running towards the causeway. He crossed the sea, pulling up the black stones behind him and throwing them into the water. Fortunately, he did not pull up all of the stones. In fact, the first part in Ireland is still there.