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"TheCrane
I. Read and"AuntMisery."
Maiden"
questions
II. Answerthemultiple-choice on the pageafterthe stories.
T H E,
C R A I { E,
Usethesemarksto monitor
yourreading:
T h iss e le c t iois
n a re t e llin g
of a Japane sf o
e lkt a lea b o u ta c ra n e .
Cranes aregracefulwhite birdswith long
necks. Theywadein the waterlookingfor
fish,grainsa, n ds ma lla n ima ls o n wh ic h
to feed.InJa p a nt ,h e c ra n eisa s y mb ool f
longlife.Because cranepartnersstay
r:.i;.' togetherfor life,theyarealsoa symbol
' of loyalty.
nce, long ago,an old couple lived all alone near rhe e
7 A s you readthe beginning
edgesof a marsh.l They were hard-working but poor. of thi s fol k tale, you'llf ind
out w hat happenswhen
One day the man had been gathering marsh plants, cartails, a man encoun t er sa wild
and such for his rvife to cook. As he walked back along the creaturethat n eedshelp.
\?,\
a \r,iidcrearure.
His heart\1'ainloved.Speakingsoo:h1ng,-,
he drew closer.Somehowthe craneseemedro sensehis ixe _ .
and grewcalm. Gentleand slowwerethe man'smo\:emenri
ashe approached. Then, bendingdown, he loosenedthe snir:
from the crane'sleg and backedaway.
The cranestoodup. Flexingits injured leg, it stoodthere
gazingdirectiy at the man. Then openingits wings, it flappec
Complete the itemsbelowto
once,twice, lifted up off the muddy ground,and flew away.
sumupwhathashappened in The man srood gazingafterthe greatwhite bird as it made
the folktalesofar.
its way acrossthe sky.Tearscameto his eyeswith the beautr-
of it. "I must seethis clearly,and rememberit, everydetail,"
he saidto himself. "How my wife will enjoyhearingof this
adventure.I shall weaveeverydetail into words for her, so she
too will see."
"You arelate,"his wife saidwhen her husbandreturned."I
havebeenworried.Are you all right?"
"I am betterthan all right, dearwife. I havehad an
adventure.I haveseensucha sight.\Vait, let me removemy
sandalsand sit down. I shalltell you all."
Then he told her of his finding the trappedcrane,of
the bird's panic and pain, and of the greatjoy he felt ashe ':.
watchedthe white bird fly away.'
"Dear husband,I am so gladyou heipedthat wild creature.
tuly it must havebeena wondroussight ro seethe cranerise
.:.
.,:1r. ,:.j. tj):'
1 30 T . I N I T 6 : I V I Y T H S ,L EGENDS, AND T AL ES
The next morning they hearda knocking at the door. The ) ,n"next day,a stranger
woman opened the door and there stood a young girl. knockson the old couple's
door.Readon to find out
"I am lost," she said. "M"y I come in?" is,and
who the stranger
,i, "Of course.Come in, dear child," the old woman said. what shewants.
"Have a cup of tea. Sit down."
So the girl came in. She was aione in this world, she said,
"Let me confess,"she added, after drinking the tea and eating
the rice the old coupie gave her, "I would like to stay here
with you. I am a hard worker. I no longer wish to be alone.
You are kind people. Pleaselet me stay."
The old couple had alwayswanted a daughter, and so it was
agreed.
"Thank you," the girl said."I do not think you will regret Completethe sentences
below.
it." Shepeeredcuriouslyaroundthe house.Shelookedinto an
adjoining room. Her facelit up. "I seeyou havea loom.2May
I useit from time to time?"
"Daughter,"the woman said,"all that we haveis yours.Of
courseyou may usethe loom."
"I am a shy weaver,"the girl said."Please,Mother, please,
Father,when I am weavingdo not look into the room until I
am done.\Will you promiseme this?"
"It will be asyou wish, chiid."
The next day their new daughtersaidshewould go into the
weavingroom. The door wasto be shut and neitherher father
nor her mother wereto look in until her work wascompleted.
All day the girl sat at the loom. And all day the old couple
heardthe clackingand the whirring of the shuttle,the
spinningof the bobbins3of thread.
\fhen the sun was setting the girl emerged,pale and worn.
But in her handssheheld the most splendidcloth the old
couplehad everseen.The patternwasperfect,the colors
magnificent cloth. On it were imagesof the setting sun, the the gl owingm oon
al l ofthe above
rising moon, the treesitr autumn, the long migrations of the
cranes.On it too were the images of a man ancla woman A test may askyou
about an eve ntin a f olk
watclring a white crane fry away. tal e. R emem bert hat in
"Father,Mother," she said, "I had hoped to staywith you fol k tal es,eve nt sar e of t en
repeated. Thegir l in t his
aiways.But you have seenme as I trull' am. I aln the crane storyspi nsth r eedif f er ent
you saved,Father, from the trap. I wanted to repay you for cl othsand cre at est hr ee
di fferenti mages.Evenif you
your kindness.I shali never forget you, but now that you thi nk you know t he answer ,
kno'w this truth, I cannot stay witir you." rereadthe linesreferredto
i n the questiont o be sur e
The man and the woman wept. They beggedand pleaded, you arethi nk ingof t he r ight
"\7e iove you. Do not leaveus. \7e do not care that you are a cl oth.
It :lex- ax.a\t
l
\i'l
..!i
"Farewell,"said the man and the woman, watching the
Whatqualityor cranedisappearoverthe marsh."We shall missyou, daughter.
mightthe crane
.ralities But we are glad that you are free."
:*resent?t4d{r rtulE*d'Ai{::l:.$
After that, every yearwhen the cranesmigrated, the old
coupieleft a silver dish of grain out beforetheir door. And
everyyear abeautiful cranecameto eat that grain.
So the story goes.
Whatdoyouthinkthe
:upleismeantto learnfrom ffi
li
l*'*J"{"t.*
reirexperience?
ereadthe BigQuestion on
agerz7.Why is it imPort.ant
rrthecouple to letthe
'anemaidengo aftertheY
iscoverheridentitY?+t*r;r
-, t " i , t 1 ., \ , t! t
V O CA S UL A R Y
his is a story about an oid, very old woman who lived Whatisthemostlikely
alonein her little hut with no other companythan a meaningof the wordpilgrim
in line9?
beautiful pear tree that grew at her door. Shespentall her
, settler
time taking careof her pear tree.But the neighborhood . colonist
children drove the old woman qazy by stealingher fruit. : Cfane
They would climb her tree,shakeits delicatelimbs, and run '
. traveler
awaywith armloadsof goldenpears,yelling insultsat 'Aunty TIP Atestmayaskyou
Misery," asthey calledher. the likelymeaning of a
word.Toanswer, reread
One day,a pilgrim stoppedat the old womant hut and the sentence the wordis in.
ra askedher permissionto spendthe night under her roof. Thensubstituteeachanswer
choicefor that word,and
Aunty Misery sawthat he had an honestfaceand badethe seewhichchoicemakes
travelercome in. Shefed him and made a bed for him in front sensein the sentence. For
thisquestion, onlyoneword
of her hearth. In the morning while he was getting readyto makessenseasa substitute
leave,the strangertold her that he would show his gratitude for pilgrim.Thatisthe correct
answer.
for her Fsjgitalil5 by granting her one wish. +F
/ eunrv MISERy
r:Hr cn:i.NnMATDEN 135
"Thereis onlyonething that I desire,"
saidAunty Misery.
'Ask, andit shallbeyours,"repliedthe stranger,
who wasa
sorcererrin disguise.
"I wish that anyone who climbs up my pear rree should not
be able to come back down until I permir it."
"Your wish is granted," said the stranger,touching rhe pear
tree as he left Aunty Miseryt house.
And so it happened that when the children came back to
..-.r::,
, the old woman and to stealher fruit, shestood at her
window watching them. Severalof them shimmied2 up the
trunk of the pear tree and immediateiy got.stuck to it as if
with glue. She let them cry and beg her for a long time before
lentifythe characteristics
of
rlk talesthat havebeenin she gave the tree permission to iet them go, on the condition
re storysofar.
that they never again steal her fruit or bother her.
character:
rpernatural Time passedand both Aunty Misery and her tree grew
bent and gnarled with age. One day another traveler stopped
at her door. This one looked suffocated and exhausted,so
upernaturalevent: the old woman asked him what he wanted in her viliage. He
answeredher in a voice that was dry and hoarse,as if he had
swallowed a desert: "I am Death. and I have come to take r-c*
haracter a
who represents
with me."
uality:
Thinking fast,Aunty Misery said,'All right, but before
hequalitythe character I go I would like to pluck somepearsfrom my belovedpear
lemonstrates:
tree to rememberhow much pleasureit brought me in this
life. tsut, I am a very old woman and cannot climb to the
'i:iit}-q"#j tallestbrancheswherethe bestfruit is; will you be so kind ;'
)raw a starnextto the
nragraphthattellshow to do it for me?"
\untyMiserytricksDeath.,',';
-With
a heavy sigh like wind through a catacomb,3Deati-
//hat doyouthinkthe long- climbed the pear tree. Immediately he becamestuck to it
:ermeffectsof preventing as if with glue. And no matter how much he cursed and
reoplefrom dyingwouldbe?
yVritetwo predictions. threatened,Aunty Misery would not give the tree permissi'-
to releaseDeath.
1 . s o rc e re r:
a wi zardor magi ci an.
2 . s h i m m i e d rshi nni ed,or scooted.
c a ta c o m b(kdt' e-kom' ): an undergroundcemeterymadeup of tunnel sfr, :'
graves.
?. D o yout hink'Aunt y
Misery"is a good namef*r
the old woman?Why or wi
not?,ttA,ff"rUDfildFi!.ri
)u
Whywasit soimportantf
AuntyMiseryto let go af
Death?A4Ai{r
J{J$$iri-ni: ,;
4. undertakers:funeral directors.
\T
TH E cR A N E MA TD E N / aur.rrv Mi s E R Y
--. - i..+.1
.:: Reading
Comprehension
DIRECTIONS
Answerthesequestions abo,;! -.,e CraneMaiden"
and'AuntyMisery"byfilling in the correcto',,dis.
, , Themaidenspin sa c lo t h . supernatural
events
, Thecraneisfree. a n ima cl h a ra c t e rs
Similarities Differences
IV. PROMPT