Fairy tale: Princess Rose and The Golden Bird

Read the fairy tale ‘Princess Rose and The Golden Bird’

M any, many years ago, in a kingdom far, far away

there lived a beautiful princes. She had long red hair and loved
roses, so much that everyone called her Princes Rose. Every
evening after dusk, Princes Rose went out on the balcony and
clapped her hands. A golden bird came flying out of nowhere and
alighted on her shoulder. Instantly, the princess's hair began to shine,
ablaze with brilliant red light.
When the bird started to warble an enchanting tune, Princess Rose joined it in a song, and everyone in
the kingdom fell asleep and had sweet dreams till the break of dawn. Thus passed the years. Every
evening Princess Rose, along with the little golden bird, sang a loving lullaby, so that all people fell
asleep and had sweet dreams till the break of dawn.
Until one day something terrible happened. A wicked witch learned about Princess Rose and decided
to curse her. "Abracadabra, Sim-Sala-Bim, may the rose's color dim!" the witch said, and Princess
Rose's hair instantly turned as black as tar. That evening, too, Princess Rose went out on her balcony
and clapped her hands. But when the golden bird appeared, her hair glowed black instead of red. The
bird warbled its enchanting melody, and Princess Rose sang her lullaby. Everyone in the kingdom fell
asleep, but that night they only had bad dreams and nightmares.
On the following day, the saddened princess asked the bird, "Tell me, golden bird, how can I make my
people's dreams sweet again?" "Black hair in rose water," the bird chirped in reply. The princess
wondered at this counsel but she filled up a basin with water and sprinkled rose petals on its surface.
Then, she dipped her hair into the rose water, and it instantly turned red again.
That evening, when the bird perched on her shoulder, the radiant red glow of her hair lit up the night
sky once more. The Princess sang her lullaby, and everyone in the kingdom fell asleep and had sweet
dreams till the break of dawn. The wicked witch was so very angry that her curse had been broken that
she decided to cast it again. "Abracadabra, Sim-Sala-Bim, may the rose's color dim!" And the
princess's hair turned as black as tar again. Only this time the witch also picked up all of the rose
blooms in the entire kingdom. "Let's see how you'll break my curse now!" she sneered, filled with
rage.
Once again, the saddened princess asked the bird, "Tell me, golden bird, how can I make my people's
dreams sweet again?" "Black hair in rose water," the bird chirped in reply. "But where should I find a
rose?" The princess didn't know what to do. So great was her anguish that her eyes filled with tears,
one of them falling to the ground below. At that moment, a young and handsome prince, took out a
little box and a single red hair from within it. He bent down and placed the hair atop the princess's tear.
And then, a miracle happened. Suddenly, the red hair turned into a red rose. The prince picked the rose
and took it up to the princess. Upon seeing the rose, she immediately brushed off her tears and plucked
its petals to add to the water in the basin. Then, she dipped in her hair, and the curse was broken.
Everyone gasped in astonishment, and the King asked the prince, "Young man, where did you find that
red hair?" "When the princess and I were both children, I picked a single strand of hair from her head
as a sign of my loyalty to her. And she did the same to me, pulling out a strand of my own hair." "It's
true, father," the princess confirmed and took out  a little box. She opened it to reveal a single hair
from the prince's head inside.
Everyone was delighted with this news. The prince and Princess Rose got married on that very same
day. Upon learning that her curse had been broken again, the wicked witch's evilness swelled so much
that she exploded into a thousand tiny pieces. Eventually, rose blooms sprang up in every garden in the
kingdom once again.
Put the pictures of the fairy tale in the correct order. Number them from 1 until 8.
 The Past Simple Tense

In the fairy tale ‘Princess Rose and The Golden Bird’, the Past Simple Tense is used.
When do we use this tense? Complete the grid:

We use the Past Simple _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Take a marker and mark all the verbs in the fairy tale that are written in the Past
Simple.
Use one colour for the regular verbs, use another colour for the irregular verbs.
Afterwards, complete the two columns with regular and irregular verbs and also
write down the infinitive.
Regular verbs Irregular verbs

Past Simple Infinitive Past Simple Infinitive

And many many more … You

can find the entire list of the
irregular verbs in your Grammar
Summary at p. 98
The formation of the Simple Past is quite easy, take a look at these examples:

We owned a flat two years ago.

I worked at Johnson & Co. from 1990 to 1995.
The host presented the talk show.

Form: +

Rules for adding – ed:

VERB RULE EXAMPLES

ending in –e move – moved
dance – danced
1 syllable ending in vowel + hug – hugged
consonant stop – stopped
BUT if the ending consonant is w fix – fixed
or x bow – bowed
2 or more syllables ending in admit – admitted
vowel + consonant with stress on
last syllable
ending in –l travel – travelled

ending in consonant + y study – studied

try – tried
ending in vowel + c mimic – mimicked
picnic – picnicked

Negative sentences
We didn't work yesterday.
I didn't see him last night.
He didn't hear the telephone.

Questions
Did he work yesterday?
Did she see him last night?
Did you go to the supermarket?

+ +
 EXERCISE PAST SIMPLE
Complete this fairy tale with the Past Simple of the verbs between brackets. Use
the list of the irregular verbs when necessary.

Jack and the beanstalk

Once upon a time there (1)…………………….. (be) a boy
called Jack. He (2)…………………….. (live) with his mother.
They (3)…………………….. (be) very poor. All they had
(4)…………………….. (be) a cow. One morning, Jack’s
mother (5)…………………….. (tell) him to take the cow to
the market and sell her. On the way Jack (6)…………… (meet) a man.
He (7)…………………….. (give) Jack some magic beans for the cow. Jack (8)……………………..
(take) the beans and (9)…………………….. (go) back home. When Jack’s mother saw the beans she
(10)…………………….. (be) very angry. She (11)…………………….. (throw) the beans out of the
window. The next morning, Jack (12)…………………….. (look) out of the window. There (13)
…………………….. (be) a giant beanstalk. He (14)…………………….. (go) outside and (15)
…………………….. (start) to climb the beanstalk. He (16)…………………….. (climb) up to the sky
through the clouds. Jack (17)…………………….. (see) a beautiful castle. He (18)
…………………….. (go) inside. Jack (19)…………………….. (hear) a voice “Fee,fi,fo,fum!” and
…………………….. (run) into a cupboard. An enormous giant (20)…………………….. (come) into
the room and (21)…………………….. (sit) down. On the table there (22)…………………….. (be) a
hen and a golden harp. ”Lay” said the giant. The hen (23)…………………….. (lay) an egg-it was
made of gold. ”Sing” said the giant. The harp (24)…………………….. (begin) to sing. Soon the giant
(25)…………………….. (be) asleep. Jack (26)…………………….. (jump) out of the cupboard. He
(27)…………………….. (take) the hen and the harp. Suddenly the harp (28)……………………..
(sing) “Help,master!”. The giant (29)…………………….. (shout), “Fee,fi,fo,fum!”.Jack (30)
…………………….. (run) and (31)…………………….. (start) to climb down the beanstalk. The
giant (32)…………………….. (come) down after him. Jack (33)…………………….. (shout)
“Mother,help!” Jack’s mother (34)…………………….. (take) an axe and (35)……………………..
(chop) down the beanstalk. The giant (36)…………………….. (fall) and (37)……………………..
(crash) to the ground. Nobody ever (38)…………………….. (see) him again. With the golden eggs
and the magic harp Jack and his mother (39)…………………….. (live) happily ever after.