A howling Halloween

Un Halloween del grito

It was a dark, rainy night at eight oclock on the thirty-first of October.

Andy and his friend Paul were walking home together as usual. But
this night was different. It was Halloween. As they were walking along
a large, black cat jumped out in front of them and ran off into the night.
They looked up into the sky and saw a light shining. It glowed red,
then blue then green and gold. What was it? they wondered. The air
felt still and cold. It had stopped raining and everything was creepy. It
felt like something was going to happen. Andy and Paul went past a
very old house. It was a huge old house which was deserted. The
house lay in a big, shadowy garden, surrounded by trees. As they
were going past the house they heard a strange noise. It was a long,
low howling noise. "Maybe it's a dog," said Paul, trying not to be
scared. "It must be in trouble. Let's go and see," said Andy. They
passed through the old rusty gates and crept along the path towards
the door of the house. It was so dark that they could hardly see. The
wind whistled through the trees. Again they heard the low howling
sound, coming from the house. Oooooh! Oooooh! "I don't think it's a
dog," said Andy. "You're just a scaredy cat!" said Paul. "Come on, let's
go inside." They went up the stairs and pushed open the front door. It
creaked loudly and fell open with a bang. The air felt cool and clammy
and creepy. Paul walked into the hallway. An enormous spider's web
hit him in the face and he screamed. "Aaagh!" "It's only a spider's
web," said Andy. They went into a large room on the ground floor. On
the wall over the fireplace hung a huge mirror. They looked into the
mirror and saw lights dancing inside it. Then suddenly a huge ghostly
head came out of the mirror and tried to grab them! 'Aaagh!' they both
screamed and turned and ran to the front door - but it was shut! What
was happening to them? Then they heard the howling noise again. It
was coming from upstairs. They had no choice. They tiptoed silently
up the stairs. They listened again. The noise was coming from a room
at the end of the corridor. They moved slowly towards the door. They
felt really afraid. What would they see? What horrible thing would they
find behind the door? They went into the room. They couldn't believe
their eyes. They saw the most amazing collection of witches and
monsters and ghosts - and they were all having a party! The witches
were disco dancing, the wizards were drinking their special brew and
jumping around, the monsters were eating exploding lollipops and
other exciting sweets. There were bats wing cocktails, worm-flavoured
crisps and pumpkin surprise pizzas. In fact there was everything for a
Halloween party. They found out that the howling noise was a ghost
called Grimly, who was providing the singing entertainment for the
evening. Paul and Andy drank several bats wing cocktails and then
Paul danced with the ugliest witch at the party - she had a green head
and no teeth. Andy danced with a spectacular purple headed monster
who taught him a new dance called the 'Monster Boogie'. Everyone
had a wonderful time and danced until dawn. When the sun came up
they all went off to their ghostly homes agreeing that it was the best
Halloween party ever. "See you next year," they shouted to Paul and
Andy, "and Happy Halloween!"

Era una noche oscura, lluviosa, a las ocho en punto en el treinta y uno de
octubre. Andy y su amigo Paul fueron caminando juntos a casa, como de
costumbre. Pero esta noche era diferente. Era Halloween. Mientras
caminaban a lo largo de un grande, gato negro salt en frente de ellos y sali
corriendo hacia la noche. Miraron al cielo y vieron un resplandor de luz.
Brillaba rojo, luego azul luego verde y oro. "Qu fue eso?" Se preguntaban.
El aire se senta tranquilo y fro. Haba dejado de llover y todo era
espeluznante. Se senta como que algo iba a suceder. Andy y Pablo iban ms
all de una casa muy vieja. Era una enorme casa antigua que estaba desierta.
La casa estaba en un gran jardn sombro, rodeado de rboles. A medida que
iban ms all de la casa oyeron un ruido extrao. Fue un largo, bajo nivel de
ruido aullido. "Tal vez es un perro", dijo Paul, tratando de no tener miedo.
"Debe estar en problemas. Vamos a ver", dijo Andy. Pasaron a travs de las
antiguas puertas oxidadas y se arrastraron a lo largo del camino hacia la
puerta de la casa. Estaba tan oscuro que apenas podan ver. El viento silbaba
entre los rboles. De nuevo se oy el sonido de baja aullido, que viene de la
casa. Oooooh! Oooooh! "Yo no creo que sea un perro", dijo Andy. "No eres
ms que un gato miedoso!" dijo Paul. "Vamos, vamos a ir en el interior."
Subieron las escaleras y abri la puerta principal. Se cruji ruidosamente y se
abri con una explosin. El aire se senta fra y hmeda y espeluznante. Pablo
entr en el pasillo. Web Una enorme araa de lo golpe en la cara y grit.
"Aaagh!" "No es ms que una tela de araa", dijo Andy. Entraron en una
habitacin grande en la planta baja. En la pared sobre la chimenea colgaba un
enorme espejo. Se miraron en el espejo y vio las luces bailando en su interior.
Entonces, de repente una enorme cabeza fantasmal sali del espejo y trat de
apoderarse de ellos! 'Aaagh!' ambos gritaron y dieron la vuelta y corrieron a la
puerta principal - pero se cerr! Qu le estaba pasando a ellos? Entonces
oyeron el ruido del grito de nuevo. Vena de arriba. No tenan otra opcin.
Ellos puntillas silenciosamente por las escaleras. Ellos escucharon de nuevo.
El ruido vena de una habitacin al final del pasillo. Se movan lentamente
hacia la puerta. Sintieron mucho miedo. Qu iban a ver? Qu cosa horrible
encontraran detrs de la puerta? Entraron en la habitacin. No podan creer lo
que vean. Vieron la ms increble coleccin de brujas y monstruos y
fantasmas - y todos estaban teniendo una fiesta! Las brujas eran baile del
disco, los asistentes estaban bebiendo su cerveza especial y saltando, los
monstruos estaban comiendo piruletas explosin y otros dulces emocionantes.
Haba ccteles murcilagos de alas, patatas fritas con sabor a gusanos y
pizzas calabaza sorpresa. De hecho, haba todo lo necesario para una fiesta
de Halloween. Se dieron cuenta de que el ruido del grito era un fantasma
llamado gravedad, que estaba proporcionando el entretenimiento de canto
para la noche. Pablo y Andy bebi varios ccteles murcilagos ala y luego
Pablo bailado con la bruja ms fea en la fiesta - que tena una cabeza de color
verde y sin dientes. Andy bail con un espectacular monstruo con cabeza de
color prpura que le ense un nuevo baile llamado el "Boogie Monster '. Todo
el mundo tena un tiempo maravilloso y bail hasta el amanecer. Cuando sali
el sol, todos se fueron a sus casas fantasmales de acuerdo en que era la
mejor fiesta de Halloween nunca. "Nos vemos el ao que viene", gritaban a
Pablo y Andy, "y Feliz Halloween!"

Thanks so much to Dennis for sending in this story.

Muchas gracias a Dennis para el envo de esta historia.

The hare and the tortoise

La liebre y la tortuga

Once upon a time.... there was a hare who, boasting how he could run
faster than anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness.
Then one day, the irate tortoise answered back: "Who do you think
you are? There's no denying you're swift, but even you can be
beaten!" The hare squealed with laughter.

rase una vez .... no era una liebre que, jactndose cmo poda
correr ms rpido que nadie, estaba tomando el pelo siempre tortuga
por su lentitud. Entonces, un da, la tortuga airado contest: "Con
quin te crees que eres No se puede negar que eres rpido, pero an
puedes ser golpeado?!" La liebre chill de risa.

"Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there's nobody in

the world that can win against me, I'm so speedy. Now, why don't you
try?"
Annoyed by such bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A
course was planned, and next day at dawn they stood at the starting
line. The hare yawned sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off.
When the hare saw how painfully slow his rival was, he decided, half
asleep on his feet, to have a quick nap. "Take your time!" he said. "I'll
have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute."

"Golpeado en una carrera? Por quin? No es usted, sin duda!

Apuesto a que no hay nadie en el mundo que puede ganar en contra
de m, que soy tan rpido. Ahora, por qu no lo intenta?" Molesto
por tal jactancia, la tortuga acept el reto. Un curso fue planeado, y el
da siguiente, al amanecer se situ en la lnea de salida. La liebre
bostez somnolienta como la tortuga manso camin lentamente.
Cuando la liebre vio cmo dolorosamente lento era su rival, que
decidi, medio dormido de pie, tener una siesta rpida. "Tome su
tiempo!" , dijo. "Voy a tener cuarenta guios y ponerse al da con
usted en un minuto."

The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and gazed round,
looking for the tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance
away, having barely covered a third of the course. Breathing a sigh of
relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off
he went to munch some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby field.
But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a
careless glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he
decided to have another snooze before flashing past the winning post.
And smiling at the thought of the look on the tortoise's face when it
saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon snoring
happily. The sun started to sink, below the horizon, and the tortoise,
who had been plodding towards the winning post since morning, was
scarcely a yard from the finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a
jolt. He could see the tortoise a speck in the distance and away he
dashed.

La liebre se despert con un sobresalto de un sueo inquieto y mir

alrededor, en busca de la tortuga. Pero la criatura era slo una corta
distancia, habiendo apenas cubierto un tercio del curso. Con un
suspiro de alivio, la liebre decidi que bien podra tomar el desayuno
tambin, y se fue a picar algunas coles que haba notado en un
campo cercano. Pero la comida pesada y el calor del sol hizo que sus
prpados se inclinan. Con una mirada descuidada a la tortuga, ahora
a mitad de camino a lo largo del curso, l decidi tener otra cabezada
antes de flashear pasado el poste de llegada. Y sonriendo ante la
idea de la mirada en la cara de la tortuga cuando vio la velocidad por
liebre, cay profundamente dormido y pronto roncaba feliz. El sol
comenz a hundirse, por debajo del horizonte, y la tortuga, que haba
sido perseverante hacia el poste de llegada desde la maana, era
apenas un metro de la meta. En ese preciso momento, la liebre se
despert con un sobresalto. Poda ver a la tortuga una mota en la
distancia y lejos l de trazos.

He leapt and bounded at a great rate, his tongue lolling, and gasping
for breath. Just a little more and he'd be first at the finish. But the
hare's last leap was just too late, for the tortoise had beaten him to the
winning post. Poor hare! Tired and in disgrace, he slumped down
beside the tortoise who was silently smiling at him.
"Slowly does it every time!" he said.
Thanks so much to Dennis for sending in this story.

l salt y salt a gran velocidad, con la lengua colgando y jadeante.

Slo un poco ms y l estara primero en la meta. Pero pasado el
salto de la liebre era demasiado tarde, pues la tortuga le haba
golpeado al poste de llegada. Pobre liebre! Cansados y en desgracia,
l se dej caer junto a la tortuga que estaba en silencio sonrea.
"Poco a poco lo hace todo el tiempo!" , dijo.
Muchas gracias a Dennis para el envo de esta historia.