Fantasy Stories

VIPERS
Comprehension Pack
 STAGE 6
Unit focus: Fantasy Stories
Text focus: Narrative

A Cowardly Champion
Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince. He had flowing brown hair and porcelain skin
with cheekbones that would make a superstar swoon. Unfortunately, he was also a bit useless.
When he was young, his mother ran away with a circus performer, and the king had to remarry. It
would be fi�ng in a story such as this to say that Prince Corblimey’s step-mother was mean and
chained him to a radiator. Unfortunately, this story must be one of truth, and the new queen was
actually ever-so-lovely. In fact, she gave the lazy prince more than his fair share of chances before
the king and queen finally decided that he should head out to live on his own.

As has been made abundantly clear, our hapless hero had very few redeeming characteristics, and
he soon found that the wide world was far removed from his pampered upbringing. On his first day
in the village, he wandered into the bakery and demanded that the baker make him a sandwich.
The baker recognised Prince Corblimey at once and rustled up a bacon bap. As is the case in most
places of business, it soon came time to pay the bill. Old Corblimey had never paid a bill in his life;
his parents hadn’t even given him any gold when they kicked him out. Needless to say, the baker
dumped our pompous prince on the kerb in no time at all.

Things continued like this throughout the village, with the prince making one faux pas after another
until, eventually, he made his way to the river that raced through the mountains. On the riverbank,
Prince Corblimey came across an old man sat whittling a long piece of wood. He was sat on a stool
with his feet propped up on the edge of a raft that was anchored to the shore.

“Old man,” the prince said, showing a distinct lack of tact. “I demand that you take me across this
river.”

“The river is too fast to travel on at the moment, and the boat isn’t safe.” the man replied,
continuing to shave the piece of wood. “Come back tomorrow.”

“I cannot return to the village. It is full of fools,” the prince said. He may well have stamped his feet
at this point; he was just the type. “I demand to cross the river.”

“The river flows over the tallest waterfall in the kingdom, not far from here. The only chance to
cross safely is to hold-” the old man tried to explain but the prince rudely interrupted.

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“I don’t want your excuses, old man.” With that, he leapt onto the boat and struck what he
considered a princely pose.

The old man shook his head and handed Prince Corblimey the end of a piece of rope. It snaked out
into the water before rising as it approached the opposite shore. It was tied off to a wooden post
hammered into the far bank. “Do not let go of this rope. Use it to pull you across. Make sure you
are quick. The current is unforgiving.”

“Harumph,” the prince scoffed, and he snatched the rope from the old man and tugged on it until
the raft slipped into the water. Instantly, the current grabbed the boat, and it began to drift towards
the roaring waterfall. “This isn’t working!” the prince cried out. “How does it normally work?”

“Normally, it is attached to a pole on this bank,” the old man said with a chuckle as he held up the
piece of wood he was whittling. “But the old one broke, and I haven’t finished this one yet.”

A look of panic passed across the impertinent idol’s face. Just as the boat was picking up speed, it
reached the end of the rope, which was snapped unceremoniously from the hero’s hand.

Some say that the price was saved at the last moment by a passing princess. Others that he
plummeted to a sticky end and a badger stole his crown. Whatever happened, it’s worth
remembering that not all adventures have a happy ending!

VOCABULARY FOCUS
1. Which word in the first paragraph tells you that the prince had pale skin?

2. What does “swoon” mean?

3. Complete the sentence: abundantly is a synonym for _________

4. What is a “faux pas”?

5. Find and copy a word that tells you that the river is very dangerous.

VIPERS QUESTIONS
S Where did the prince go first when he left the castle?

S Why was the baker annoyed with the prince?

R What did the baker make for the prince?

I How did the prince feel about the people in the village? What evidence tells you this?

P What do you think happened to the prince?

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 STAGE 6
Unit focus: Fantasy Stories
Text focus: Narrative

Coins
Thunder shook the plants of wood that formed the outer skin of the boat, the only protection from
the raging storm outside. Hana shivered and pulled her thick blanket closer around her shoulders.
“Where is he?” she muttered out loud. It wasn’t uncommon for Kingsly to be late, but it was all
the more annoying when the weather was so foul. As soon as their business had been completed,
Hana was planning to batten down the hatches on top of the boat and retreat to the relative
warmth of the smuggler’s hold. It may have been originally included to give the captain somewhere
to hide his illicit wares, but Hana had turned it into a snug hideaway for nights just like this one.

Suddenly, a knock broke through the sound of the storm and startled Hana from her reverie.
“Finally,” she said, standing up and edging towards the small door to the outside world. Even with
her experienced sea-legs, the waves were making the deck unstable.

“Where have you been?” she snapped, throwing open the door and staring into the dark eyes of a
stranger. “You’re not Kingsly,” she said.

“Let me in, child,” the man barked in a gruff, southern accent. “It’s a nightmare out here, and I have
news of your friend.”

“He’s not my friend,” Hana protested. “And I have no idea who you are, so I shan’t let you into my
home.”

“To hell with that,” the man said and used his brute strength to barge his way through the door. By
the time Hana had found her feet and chased a�er him, he was already placing the kettle onto the
hook and watching the water begin to boil. “Tea?”

“Who are you?” she demanded, taking the seat closest to the door. If he turned nasty, she wanted
to be able to escape quickly. “Where is Kingsly?”

“Kingsly is safe but in hiding. He found something that he wasn’t supposed to.”

“Is that what he was bringing me tonight? He said it was something unusual, and he wanted me to
identify it.”

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“You wouldn’t have been able to.” The man took the kettle from the hook and poured two mugs
of water. He tossed a pair of strangely coloured bags into them and let them brew. “They weren’t
from this world.”

“He said they looked like coins,” Hana said, taking a sip of the odd drink. It warmed her instantly,
but she didn’t want to show the man how grateful she was.

“They are coins. He found them in an old box that had been used by an ancient sorcerer to travel
between worlds. The coins themselves aren’t powerful, but the box they were in is worth more
than anything in the world. The people who want it will stop at nothing to find it.”

“Can’t he just give it to them?”

“Do you think they will let him live now that he knows their secret? No. Only we can help him. We
must take the box and find these men and destroy them. We can use the box for ourselves.”

“It sounds dangerous, foolish and ridiculous.” Hana finished her drink and stood up to show the
man to the door.

“That’s a shame,” the man said as he, too, stood up. “Because you’re already involved,” he finished,
pulling a wooden box from underneath his heavy coat.

RETRIEVAL FOCUS
1. Who is Hana waiting for?

2. What did Hana think had Kingsly found?

3. What important object had he, in fact, found?

4. Where did Hana sit?

5. What was the man wearing?

VIPERS QUESTIONS
S How does Hana keep warm at first?

V What is a “reverie”?

S Why did Hana struggle to walk?

V Find and copy a phrase that tells you the man was very strong.

I What evidence is there that Hana doesn’t like the man’s plan?

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 STAGE 6
Unit focus: Fantasy Stories
Text focus: Narrative

Dragons
Here be dragons. That’s what the map said. I don’t think either of us expected it to be true, though.

“That’s just what they used to write on old maps when they didn’t know what was there,” Kyran
said. “It’s not supposed to be true.”

But it was.

I suppose I should rewind a bit and catch you up. About a week ago, my best friend Kyran and I
were going through the attic in my house. My mum and dad had been on at me for ages to sort
out my old toys and to donate some to the local charity shop. I didn’t mind giving away my old
toys, but it was such a lot of effort sorting them out that I’d put it off until I had no other choice.
We spent a few minutes shooting each other with old, half-decomposed foam darts before we
discovered the map.

Granted, the map wasn’t in amongst my old toys. It was hidden away behind some of my dad’s old
photographs that he’d taken during his “artistic” phase. Kyran found it, but I didn’t ask what he was
doing back there. At first, it just looked like a map of our village, but then we realised that there
were lots of paths marked on it that didn’t exist anymore, or at least that we’d never seen.

Obviously, the first thing we did was swear a pact to each other that we wouldn’t tell anybody
else. Then, we had a proper look. The only way to do that, we realised, was to head out into the
village and find where one of the paths supposedly started. It didn’t help that the path we chose
seemed to start in the middle of the cemetery. Nonetheless, we took a quick stroll there and
unrolled the map. That’s when Kyran noticed the fateful words. To this day, I’m sure that the words
weren’t there when we looked at it in the attic. But, there they were as clear as day (although that
particular day wasn’t very clear at all) – Here be dragons! They were written just where the church
was.

“Maybe it means Mrs Dungess,” Kyran suggested, half-jokingly. The church pianist would definitely

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pass as a dragon if she had a few more scales.

It took us a few minutes to find what we were looking for. It wasn’t actually a path, it turned out.
Instead, one of the gravestones was covering an overgrown tunnel that led down underneath the
church. Kyran was reluctant to explore it at first. I was obviously the brave one and had to show
him that it was alright. It was pretty dark; only the light from above us stopped us from tripping
over each other. Eventually, that gave out too, and we were wandering along in what our teacher
would make us describe as ‘the empty blackness of an infinite void’, or something like that.

After about twenty minutes of walking (Kyran reckoned it was nearer an hour), we pushed up
against another stone. It gave way easily, and suddenly we were in a whole new world. It wasn’t
like in those rubbish, old films, where there’s a lush jungle underground; it was like an enormous
basement underneath the church. The roof above us looked just like you would expect the
foundations of a church to look. And there, asleep on the flagstone floor, was a dragon.

INFERENCE FOCUS
1. What evidence is there that the dragon was a surprise to the author?

2. How can the reader tell that the author was kind but lazy?

3. Why is the word “artistic” in speech marks?

4. How does the author see themselves compared to Kyran?

5. How do you think the author feels about older science-fiction films?

VIPERS QUESTIONS
R Why did people write “Here be dragons” on maps?

S How did they find the map?

V Find and copy a word that tells you Kyran “thought” it had been nearly an hour.

V Find and copy a word that has a definition closest to “giving away”.

R Who did the boys think the dragon might be referring to?

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 STAGE 6
Unit focus: Fantasy Stories
Text focus: Narrative

The Cupboard
“What’s that whistlin’ sound?” Big Small Jim was fed up with life in the kitchen and was desperate
to see the world beyond the cat flap. Being stuck inside the four walls of the cup cupboard was
driving him mad, and he was lashing out.

“You know what that sound it,” his mother said with strained patience. “It’s the Almighty Russell
Hobbs. It signals the beginning of the ritual of Caffeine. Stop being so childish.”

“Maybe if you let me go and explore more, I wouldn’t feel so childish,” Big Small Jim said haughtily.

“You know what happened to Big Big Jim when he went out into the kitchen.”

“The cat ate him up, every last bit,” Jim said, mimicking his mother’s voice.

“Every. Last. Bit,” she repeated. “I don’t want to lose you or your little brother like that.”

“Small Jim will never leave the cupboard. He’ll die in his Best Mum mug and be happy about it.”

Jim’s mum huffed but said nothing. She finished preparing the grains of rice for dinner and propped
open the cupboard door. “I’m going to find some more food. Don’t even think about leaving,” she
said as she hopped through the gap and disappeared from sight.

“Too late,” Big Small Jim muttered under his breath. He counted to ten before following his mum
through the crack in the door.

The world outside the cupboard was nothing like what Jim had expected. The polished work
surface gleamed in the bright sunlight, and the Almighty Russell Hobbs screamed out in the
distance.

Jim dropped to his knees and leaned over the side of the surface. For a second, the world
swam with the height, but he gathered his thoughts and took a deep breath. As he watched, an
enormous ball of fur rolled across the kitchen floor but paid him no attention. Jim had heard the
story about his older brother enough times to know what the cat looked like, so he held his breath

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until it was well out of sight.

Just as he was about to drop onto the tiles, a large part of the wall swung open, and an enormous
giant stamped into the kitchen. It was wearing a brown, flannelette gown and was rubbing its eyes
wearily. It groaned with every step and staggered across the room as though it couldn’t see where
it was heading. As Jim watched, the giant grabbed a mug from the cupboard where Jim had so
recently been and stumbled over to the other side of the kitchen. There, it picked up a brass jug
and poured boiling water into the mug before scooping in several spoonfuls of a brown powder,
followed by several more of a white, sandy substance. The giant stirred the concoction and took a
gulp.

Big Small Jim stood up and tried to sneak back to his cupboard. Maybe his mum had been right,
and it was too dangerous out here. Before he could make it back to the wall, he caught sight of his
mum out of the corner of his eye. She was on the opposite side of the room, rummaging around
with her head buried in a cardboard box. Small pieces of cereal were flying back past her head as
she burrowed around looking for something. As Jim watched, the man spotted his mother. He let
go of his cup, which smashed on the floor and reached out to grab her up.

RETRIEVAL FOCUS
1. Which cupboard does Jim live in?

2. Where does Small Jim spend his time?

3. What is his mum preparing for their dinner?

4. What was Jim’s mum gathering when she was spotted?

5. True or false: Jim followed his mother out of the cupboard immediately.

VIPERS QUESTIONS
I What do you think the giant was making?

S How does Jim know about the cat?

P What do you think the Almighty Russell Hobbs is?

V Find and copy a word that tells you the work surface was shiny.

P What do you think will happen next?

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 STAGE 6
Unit focus: Fantasy Stories
Text focus: Narrative

The House In The Hill

The people of Andragor were well aware of the hill on the edge of the village. Dragonback Hill,
they named it, because of the way it looked like the curved back of a sleeping dragon. Nobody ever
stepped foot on the banks of Dragonback Hill for fear of what would happen, and nobody noticed
when the house first appeared.

Callie had been an adventurous young girl from an early age. With her dark complexion and deep
brown eyes, she was her father’s pride and joy. He was so protective of her that he forbade her
from ever leaving their house. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep his eye on her all of the time, and
she often snuck out of the upstairs window and went on adventures of her own. One day, she
visited Dragonback Hill.

It was just after midnight, and a thin frost was bending the tips of the early spring leaves when
Callie slipped out from the shadows of her house and raced to the edge of the village. She’d been
sneaking to Dragonback Hill for days; it was all she could think about during the day. It had been
ever since that first night when she’d visited him in his house. She knew the best way there, now.
Through the alleyway at the back of the blacksmith (making sure to take advantage of the warmth
erupting from the roaring flames of his fire), up the steps in front of the church and through the
cemetery into the fields beyond. From there, it was a straight sprint to the hill.

Trying her hardest not to wake the village, Callie rapped her knuckles on the wooden door that had
appeared on the side of the hill. A young boy, perhaps a few years older than Callie, opened it and
ushered her inside. There was something about him that tricked the eye. It had taken Callie a few
visits to get used to the fact that the boy was both her age and hundreds of years old.

“You are still struggling with my appearance,” he said softly after offering her a cup of tea from a
whistling ke�le.

“I just don’t understand how you can be so young and so old at the same time.”

“It is simple. I am an ancient spirit, as old as the mountains. When I grew tired of drifting in the

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wind, I made my home here inside the hill. It should have been impossible for anybody to find me:
I cast so many spells and enchantments on my house. Yet, somehow, you managed it. I had to give
myself an appearance that you would be comfortable with, but, alas, my true age seeps through.”

“Why shouldn’t I be able to see you?” Callie asked. He hadn’t told her this before.

“Unfortunately, I am not here in peace. There are more spirits out there, and many of them are
dark and twisted. They are on their way to your world as we speak. I am the last line of defence,
and if I am distracted,” he coughed politely, “then I will fail in my task.”

“What will happen if they break through?” Callie said, suddenly alarmed.

“Your world will cease to exist. Shadows will extend across the land, and everything will wither and
die. People will turn against each other, and the spirits will win.”

“What can we do to stop them?”

“It is too late.” The boy stood up suddenly and reached for a strange wooden pole resting against
the wall. “Stay quiet.”

SUMMARY FOCUS
1. Why was Dragonback Hill given its name?

2. What was the first building that Callie ran past on her way to the hill?

3. Why was it hard for Callie to visit the man?

4. Why did the man appear to be two different ages?

5. What did the man do after he built his house, in order to protect it?

VIPERS QUESTIONS
R When does the story take place?

I Why do you think it is too late, at the end of the story?

V Which word describes how the heat was being produced by the blacksmith’s fire?

R What drink did the boy offer Callie?

V Write a definition for “wither”.

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Answers - Stage 6 - A Cowardly Champion:

1. Porcelain

2. Be overcome with emotion

3. Very, incredibly or any other synonym

4. An embarrassing mistake

5. Unforgiving

S: The bakery

S: He couldn’t/wouldn’t pay for his sandwich

R: A bacon bap

I: He didn’t think very highly of them - he referred to them as fools

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Answers - Stage 6 - Coins:

1. Kingsly

2. A set of coins

3. A magical wooden box

4. In the seat closest to the door

5. A heavy coat

S: She pulls a blanket tighter around her

V: Lost in your thoughts/daydreaming

S: The waves were rocking the boat and making it unstable

V: Brute strength

I: She refers to it as dangerous, foolish and ridiculous

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Answers - Stage 6 - Dragons:

1. They say that neither of them expected what it said on the map to be true

2. They didn’t mind donating toys but didn’t want to have to sort them out

3. The photographs weren’t very artistic/the dad wasn’t very good

4. They think that they are a lot braver than Kyran

5. They describe them as rubbish and old, so they probably don’t like them

R: Because they didn’t know what was there

S: They were tidying the attic and found it hidden behind some of their dad’s old photographs

V: Reckoned

V: Donating

R: Mrs Dungess

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Answers - Stage 6 - The Cupboard:

1. The cup cupboard

2. In his Best Mum mug

3. Rice

4. Cereal

5. False - he counted to 10

I: A cup of coffee

S: His older brother was eaten by it and he’s heard the story a lot of times.

P: A kettle

V: Gleamed

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Answers - Stage 6 - The House In The Hill:

1. It looked like the curved back of a sleeping dragon

2. The blacksmith

3. Her father was very protective and wouldn’t let her out of the house

4. He wanted to appear young for Callie, but his old spirit showed through

5. He cast spells on it to keep it hidden

R: Spring

I: The other spirits have already arrived.

V: Erupted

R: A cup of tea

V: Dry up/shrivel

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