THE GINGERBREAD MAN

Once upon a time there was a little old man and a little old woman. One day the little old woman decided to make a Gingerbread man. She said to her husband, “I shall make his eyes from two currants, his mouth and nose form bits of lemon peel, and his waistcoat from sugar”.

So the little old woman made the gingerbread man and popped it into the oven to bake. Before long it was time for the Gingerbread man to be ready. The little old woman was just bending down to the oven when she heard a tiny voice.

“Let me out. Let me out”.

It was coming from inside the oven. The little old woman opened the oven door and all at once the Gingerbread man jumped out and onto the floor. He straight away ran out of the kitchen door. The Gingerbread man ran off down the road and the little old woman and the little old man ran after him.

“Stop, little Gingerbread man!”, they shouted.

But the Gingerbread man carried on running and cried, “Run! Run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me! I am the Gingerbread man!”. And they could not catch him.

The Gingerbread man carried on running and soon met a Cow.

“Stop, stop little man!”, said the Cow, “You look good to eat”.

But the Gingerbread man just ran even faster saying, “Run! Run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me! I am the Gingerbread man!”. And the Cow could not catch him.

The Gingerbread man carried on running and soon met a Horse.

“Stop, stop little man!”, said the Horse, “You look good to eat”.

But the Gingerbread man just ran even faster saying, “Run! Run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me! I am the Gingerbread man!”. And the Horse could not catch him.

A little further on he met a sly old Fox.

“Stop, stop little man!”, said the Fox, “I want to talk to you”.

But the Gingerbread man kept running. And the Fox ran after him. The Fox again called out, “Stop, stop little man! I want to talk to you”.

But the Gingerbread man only ran faster still and shouted, “Run! Run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me! I am the Gingerbread man!”.

Very soon they came to a river. The Gingerbread man stopped and so did the Fox.

“Oh, dear”, cried the Gingerbread man, “I want to keep on running. But I can’t cross the river”.

“Jump onto my tail”, said the sly old Fox, “and I’ll swim across”.

So the Gingerbread man jumped onto the Fox’s tail and he began to swim across the river.

A little way from the shore he said, “Gingerbread man, you’re getting too heavy for my tail. You will soon get wet. Climb onto my back instead”.

So the Gingerbread man climbed onto the Fox’s back. A little further across the river the sly old Fox said, “Gingerbread man, you’re getting a little heavy for my back. You will soon get wet. Climb onto my nose instead”. So the Gingerbread man climbed onto the tip of the Fox’s nose.

It was not long before the sly old Fox reached the other side of the river. And as soon as he reached the shore he tossed the Gingerbread man into the air, opened his mouth, and “Snap!” went his teeth.

“Oh, no”, cried the Gingerbread man, “I am a quarter gone. Help!”, said the Gingerbread man, “I am half gone!”. Then he cried, “I am three quarters gone”.

B. Scan the text of the fairy tale. State the percentage rate of monosyllabic, disyllabic, three-syllable and polysyllabic words if any. The total number of words in the text is 598 what makes 100%. Group the words according to the parts of speech they represent. Do it in writing.

Nouns	Verbs	Adjectives	Adverbs	Pronouns	Prepo­sitions	Con­junctions	Articles and Particles

 

C. Look through the fairy tales you have worked at (Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, the Prince and the Pea, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Gingerbread Man).Find the sentences with the inverted word order, e.g. The Gingerbread man stopped and so did the Fox. Define its function.

a) He straight away ran out of the kitchen door.

b) The little man took the necklace and straight away started spinning.

c) Suddenly the door flew open and in walkeda strange little man with a long ginger beard.

d) And no sooner had she begun than the door flew open and in walked that strange manikin.

e) She so much wanted to go to the ball.

f) Not even the ugly sisters recognised her.

g) There standing outside in the pouring rain was a beautiful girl.

and “Snap!” went his teeth.

h) And scarcely had he said that then he jumped out of bed and swallowed her up with one great gulp.

D. Go over the fairy tale and summarise its content in several sentences. Use the adequate proverbs or sayings expressing the main idea of the text.

E. Write down the end of the fairy tale The Gingerbread man.