By Roald Dahl
I guess you think you know this story.
You don't. The real one's much more gory.
The orange colour shows a grammar subject from the Basics. You can click the Basics tab on the left to find the explanation.
The blue colour shows words that might be new or difficult. You can use an online dictionary to find the meaning. You can add these to your personal word list.
Questions in English will be answered in English. Questions in Dutch can be answered in English and Dutch.
Cinderella - by Roald Dahl
We’re going to read and listen to another Roald Dahl story. He has altered the story of Cinderella. Again, he says we shouldn’t take this story too seriously… Watch the video. If you want to read the story while watching, you can find it below. Then answer the questions below. You can look up the blue words after watching to learn the meaning and add them to your personal word list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtXGmnR9F5Y
Cinderella
By Roald Dahl
I guess you think you know this story.
You don't. The real one's much more gory.
The phoney one, the one you know,
Was cooked up years and years ago,
And made to sound all soft and sappy
just to keep the children happy.
Mind you, they got the first bit right,
The bit where, in the dead of night,
The Ugly Sisters, jewels and all,
Departed for the Palace Ball,
While darling little Cinderella
Was locked up in a slimy cellar,
Where rats who wanted things to eat,
Began to nibble at her feet.
She bellowed 'Help!' and 'Let me out!
The Magic Fairy heard her shout.
Appearing in a blaze of light,
She said: 'My dear, are you all right?'
'All right?' cried Cindy. 'Can't you see?
'I feel as rotten as can be!'
She beat her fist against the wall,
And shouted, 'Get me to the Ball!
'There is a Disco at the Palace!
'The rest have gone and I am jealous!
'I want a dress! I want a coach!
'And earrings and a diamond brooch!
'And silver slippers, two of those!
'And lovely nylon pantyhose!
'Done up like that I'll guarantee
'The handsome Prince will fall for me!'
The Fairy said, 'Hang on a tick.'
She gave her wand a mighty flick
And quickly, in no time at all,
Cindy was at the Palace Ball!
It made the Ugly Sisters wince
To see her dancing with the Prince.
She held him very tight and pressed
herself against his manly chest.
The Prince himself was turned to pulp,
All he could do was gasp and gulp.
Then midnight struck. She shouted, 'Heck!
I've got to run to save my neck!'
The Prince cried, 'No! Alas! Alack!'
He grabbed her dress to hold her back.
As Cindy shouted, 'Let me go!'
The dress was ripped from head to toe.
She ran out in her underwear,
And lost one slipper on the stair.
The Prince was on it like a dart,
He pressed it to his pounding heart,
'The girl this slipper fits,' he cried,
'Tomorrow morn shall be my bride!
I'll visit every house in town
'Until I've tracked the maiden down!'
Then rather carelessly, I fear,
He placed it on a crate of beer.
At once, one of the Ugly Sisters,
(The one whose face was blotched with blisters)
sneaked up and grabbed the dainty shoe,
And quickly flushed it down the loo.
Then in its place she calmly put
The slipper from her own left foot.
Ah ha, you see, the plot grows thicker,
And Cindy's luck starts looking sicker.
Next day, the Prince went charging down
To knock on all the doors in town.
In every house, the tension grew.
Who was the owner of the shoe?
The shoe was long and very wide.
(A normal foot got lost inside.)
Also it smelled a wee bit icky.
(The owner's feet were hot and sticky.)
Thousands of eager people came
To try it on, but all in vain.
Now came the Ugly Sisters' go.
One tried it on. The Prince screamed, 'No!'
But she screamed, 'Yes! It fits! Whoopee!
'So now you've got to marry me!'
The Prince went white from ear to ear.
He muttered, 'Let me out of here.'
'Oh no you don't! You made a vow!
'There's no way you can back out now!'
'Off with her head!' The Prince roared back.
They chopped it off with one big whack.
This pleased the Prince. He smiled and said,
'She's prettier without her head.'
Then up came Sister Number Two,
Who yelled, 'Now I will try the shoe!'
'Try this instead!' the Prince yelled back.
He swung his trusty sword and smack
Her head went crashing to the ground.
It bounced a bit and rolled around.
In the kitchen, peeling spuds,
Cinderella heard the thuds
Of bouncing heads upon the floor,
And poked her own head round the door.
'What's all the racket? 'Cindy cried.
'Mind your own bizz,' the Prince replied.
Poor Cindy's heart was torn to shreds.
My Prince! she thought. He chops off heads!
How could I marry anyone
Who does that sort of thing for fun?
The Prince cried, 'Who's this dirty slut?
Off with her nut! Off with her nut!'
Just then, all in a blaze of light,
The Magic Fairy hove in sight,
Her Magic Wand went swoosh and swish!
'Cindy! 'she cried, 'come make a wish!
'Wish anything and have no doubt
'That I will make it come about!'
Cindy answered, 'Oh kind Fairy,
'This time I shall be more wary.
'No more Princes, no more money.
'I have had my taste of honey.
I'm wishing for a decent man.
'They're hard to find. D'you think you can?'
Within a minute, Cinderella
Was married to a lovely feller,
A simple jam maker by trade,
Who sold good home-made marmalade.
Their house was filled with smiles and laughter
And they were happy ever after.
Basis
Task 1 - Questions
1. In the text there are a number of words which are written in bold. Guess what their Dutch translation is, but don’t use a dictionary. You can add these and more blue words to your personal word list. For all the nouns (zelfstandige naamwoorden), also write down if you use a or an.
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Cellar |
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Jealous |
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Tight |
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Ripped |
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Loo |
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Tension |
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Whack |
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Wary |
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2. According to (=volgens) the text, which part from the Roald Dahl story is the same as the original version?
3. Why did the rats nibble Cinderella’s feet?
4. How did the fairy know Cinderella was in the cellar?
5. What does Cinderella want to wear? Name 3 things.
6. When Cinderella got to the Palace ball she started dancing with the prince. Where did she put her hands? (Which body part?)
7. What happened to Cinderella’s dress at midnight? What was she wearing after it happened?
8. When Cinderella lost her shoe, the Prince put it onto something. On what did he put the shoe?
9. What did one of the evil stepsisters do with Cinderella’s shoe? First she …, then she … .
10. The Prince obviously didn’t want to marry Cinderella’s ugly sister. What did he do to her to prevent (=voorkomen) the marriage?
11. Did the Prince recognise Cinderella? What did he call her?
12. Who did Cinderella marry eventually? What was his job?
*Challenge: pick a moment in the story and continue writing your own ending in English. Please write down what moment you picked.
Task 2
1. Het verhaal van Roald Dahl zit vol met interessante gebeurtenissen... Kies twee momenten uit het verhaal om te beschrijven. Schrijf op wat er met de hoofdpersoon gebeurt en wat je hiervan vond. Let in je beschrijving extra goed op het gebruik van de persoonlijk voornaamwoorden (=personal pronouns), het werkwoord zijn (=to be) en de aanwijzende voornaamwoorden (=this, that, these & those).
2. In het verhaal van Roald Dahl staan een aantal zinnen waarin gezegd wordt dat iets kan of niet kan. Zoek de zinnen met can en can't op in de tekst, schrijf ze over en vertaal ze naar het Nederlands.
Task 3
1. Which version do you like more? The original, or this one? Why? Do you think that the prince did the right thing? What about Cinderella, did she make the right choice? Answer in English.
2. What wish would you make? Choose three things and talk about them to your partner in class. Answer in English.
3. If your wishes were to come true, what would be the effect on your life? Describe your dream life in about 50 words. Would you wish for different things? Try to make full sentences and don’t translate them with Google Translate. Think about using personal pronouns, a/an, this/that/these/those, 'to be', can/can't.