63 HOW BUTTERCUPS CAME

Once there was an old man who lived all by himself. He had a great bag full of shining gold. He did not want to give away any of it, so he lived far back in the woods.

One night a robber came while the old man was asleep, and stole all the gold.

There was a hole in the bag in which the money had been kept, and as the robber ran away, the money fell out through the hole.

Early in the morning a little fairy came walking through the woods.

When she saw the pieces of money on the ground, she said,“If I leave them here, the old man will come and pick them up again. So I will change them into golden flowers.”

Then she touched each piece of gold, and up sprang bright golden flowers. She called the flowers “buttercups”.

This is the way the beautiful golden buttercups came into the world.

(Old Tale)

Word list

robber: someone who steals things from other people

sprang: jumped suddenly

You Practice

Answer the following questions.

1) Why did the old man live far back in the woods?

2) Why did the fairy change the money into flowers?

3) Why do you think the fairy called the flowers “buttercups”?

4) What can we learn from this story?

5) What would you do if you had a bag of gold?