Page 193 - @ccess 2 Teacher´s Book

PRACTICE 2 Fin: And every time I suck me thumb, I get more
TRACK 12 (Practice 2, Activity 7, Reader’s Book)
"The Giant’s Wife", A Tall Tale of Ireland
Narrator 1: Many years ago, in the north of
Ireland, there lived a giant named Fin MacCool.
Fin: That’s me name!
Narrator 4: One thing Fin is said to have done
was to make a road that crossed the sea from
Ireland to Scotland. You can still see what’s
supposed to be the first stretch of that road. It’s
called the Giant’s Causeway, and it’s a group of
great rocks all fitting together.
Narrator 2: Now, this story happened when Fin
was building his road. At the time we’re talking
about, Fin was a worried giant. He’d been told
that another giant, called Cuhullin, was looking
for him to challenge him to a fight, to find out
which of them was the strongest.
Cuhullin: (roaring)
Narrator 3: This Cuhullin was said to have beaten
every giant in Ireland except Fin, and the thought
of meeting him face to face made Fin shake in
his boots.
Narrator 1: Well, when Fin had been working
away from home a good many months, he took it
into his head to go home and see his wife, a fine
woman named Oona. It was two counties away—
but sure that wasn’t far for a man like Fin.
Narrator 4: He pulled up a fir tree by its roots—a
fullgrown tree, mind you—and stripped off the
branches to make himself a walking stick. Then
off he set, and in no time at all he reached his
own mountain and the house he’d built on it,
and there was Oona to greet him.
Fin: Oona, me love!
Oona: Ach, Fin, it’s glad I am to see you. I hope
you’re a bit hungry, for I fixed a little something
when I saw you coming.
Narrator 2: She sat him down to a grand meal of
three whole roast oxen, thirty boiled cabbages,
and a pile of her best bread loaves, which she’d
just taken from the oven.
Fin: A finer cook never filled this great belly!
Narrator 3: But Oona could see that her
husband was worried about something.
Oona: What ails you, Fin?
Fin: Ach, Oona, it’s this Cuhullin.
Narrator 1: Fin told her how the dreaded giant
was looking for him.
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worried about him.
Narrator 4: You see, Fin had a magic thumb, and
if he sucked it, it would warn him of any danger.
Narrator 2: Now, Oona was worried, too, but she
had an idea.
Oona: Go now, and look across the mountain for
his coming. You’re sure to see him on his way,
and that’ll give us time to prepare a welcome.
Narrator 3: So Fin MacCool did what his wife
bid, for he knew her to be a woman of great
good sense. And inside the house, Oona cleared
the table and began baking a new batch of
bread loaves. These were the big, flat loaves
you can see in Ireland to this day. But this was a
special batch indeed, for inside each loaf she put
a great iron griddle.
Narrator 1: Well, at last Fin ran into the house.
Fin: Oona, he’s coming, and he’s a terrible size
of a creature! What can I do? If I run away, I’ll be
shamed forever! And if I stay here, he’ll tie my
body in knots!
Oona: Ach, be easy now, Fin. Just do what I
say, and before the day is out, maybe his own
forefinger will betray him.
Narrator 4: You see, Cuhullin too had a magic
finger. All his strength was in the forefinger of
his right hand. If he lost that finger, he’d be no
stronger than any ordinary man.
Fin: He’s coming! He’ll be here in a minute!
Oona: Now, hold your tongue, Fin, and put on
this nightgown of mine.
Fin: What?! Me put on the clothes of a woman?!
Are you trying to make a fool of me?
Oona: Trust me, now, Fin.
Fin: (sighs)
Narrator 2: So, grumbling away, Fin put on his
wife’s nightgown. Oona put a white Bonnet on
his head, then pushed him toward a cradle in the
corner.
Fin: Woman, what do you think you’re doing?!
Oona: Just lie down there, Fin. And you’ll need
this baby bottle too.
Fin: Ulp!
Oona: Now, keep yourself quiet and leave
everything to me.
Narrator 3: Just then, Cuhullin came walking up
fast to the house.
Cuhullin: Good day to you.
Oona: Come in, then, and welcome! It will grieve
my husband to know you called when he wasn’t
here to greet you.