Page 82 - Unit 1 - Exercise 1A

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Page 82 - Unit 1 - Exercise 1A

Llewellyn and Gelert

There was once a Prince of Wales called Llewellyn. He was young, strong and handsome, and everybody loved him, because he was always laughing and smiling. He had a dog called Gelert.

The prince and the dog often used to go hunting. One day, they were walking quietly through the forest when they saw a small hut. A deer was standing next to the hut. Llewellyn and Gelert stopped and hid among the trees. The deer didn’t run away, so Llewellyn slowly and carefully took his bow and arrow and shot the deer.

‘I got it!’ shouted the prince. ‘Come on, Gelert. We’ll all eat well tonight!’ They ran to get the deer and take it home.

But as he was lifting the dead animal onto his shoulders, Llewellyn heard a noise behind him. He turned round. An old woman was standing there. She lived in the forest and people said that she was a witch. She pointed a long, bony finger at Llewellyn. ‘You’ve killed my deer,’ she said angrily. ‘And you will pay for this.’

Llewellyn didn’t take any notice, and with the deer on his shoulders, he and Gelert turned to go home. ‘You’re happy now, Prince Llewellyn,’ screamed the old woman, as the prince and the dog were walking away. ‘But you will die a sad and lonely man.’ When he heard this, Llewellyn suddenly felt very cold. ‘Remember my words!’ shouted the old woman and then she disappeared.

Time passed and Llewellyn soon forgot about the old woman.

In fact, his happy life became happier and happier. A few years later, he married a beautiful young princess and they soon had a fine, baby boy. By now, Gelert was an old dog, and he didn’t use to go hunting with his master so often.

But every night he used to sleep by the fire and guard the baby’s cradle. Llewellyn knew that his son was safe with his old friend Gelert there.

Then one night Llewellyn woke up suddenly. Gelert was barking loudly. The prince jumped out of bed. By the light of the fire, he saw a terrible sight. The baby’s cradle was upside down. Gelert was standing next to it and blood was dripping from his mouth.

Llewellyn couldn’t believe it. ‘What have you done to my son?’ he shouted at the old dog. ‘You’ve killed him!’ Near the fire there was a pile of wood and there was an axe on top of it. Angrily, Llewellyn grabbed the axe and brought it down on the old dog’s head. Gelert fell dead on the floor.

At that moment Llewellyn heard a noise. It was coming from under the cradle. Llewellyn picked up the cradle and he saw his son. He was lying on the floor and he was smiling. Next to the baby there was something large and grey. Llewellyn turned it over. It was the body of a dead wolf! ‘Oh, Gelert, my dear old friend,’ cried Llewellyn. ‘What have I done? You saved my son from the wolf!’

Suddenly, the prince felt very cold and the old woman’s words came back to him. From that night, Llewellyn never smiled again. Even his young son could not make him happy.

He died, as the old woman said, a sad and lonely man.