Английский язык
Приложение 2
THE BLIND MAN
AND THE GREAT ARTIST
Every day in one of the streets of Vienna you could
see a blind man playing the violin. His dog sat near him
with a cap in it's mouth. People, who were passing them,
dropped coins into the cap.
One day, when the weather was very cold, the man
was playing for a long time, but nobody wanted to give
him anything. The poor man thought that he would have
to go to bed without supper. He was so tired and so weak
that he stopped playing.
At the moment a young man came up to him and
asked him why he had stopped playing. The blind man
said he had played for two hours but nobody had given
him anything. «Give me your violin. I shall help you»,
said the man. And with these words he began to play.
He played so well that people began to gather and soon
there was a big crowd. Everybody was eager to listen to
the fine music and to thank the young man for the
pleasure.
Soon the cap was full of money.
«I don't know how to thank you*, said the blind man».
Who are you?*
«I am Paganini», was the answer.
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A WISE JUDGE
Once there lived two brothers. They worked together
on their father's farm. They were very honest and got
along together very well. One day their father died leav-
ing his property to his two sons. In his last will he told
them to divide the property between them.
But the brothers could not agree now. Each wanted
to have the better part for himself. After some time
they even did not speak to each other. At last they went
to the judge who was very wise and always knew how to
settle such difficult matters.
The judge listened to them attentively and then he
said: «The matter is very simple. We shall divide the
property in this way. One of you will divide it in the
way he thinks is best and the other one will then have
the right to choose whichever of the two parts he
prefers».
In this way the case was settled.
9. Зак. 912
257