English / A2
The Cheeses That Went to Market
A man from Gotham wanted to sell cheese at the market in Nottingham. He carried the cheeses in a bag.
On the way, he walked down a hill. One cheese fell out of the bag and rolled down the road.
“Oh!” said the man. “Can you go to market by yourself? Then I’ll send the others after you.”
He put down his bag and took out all the cheeses. He rolled them down the hill, one after another. Some went into one bush. Some went into another.
“Meet me near the market!” he told them.
The man went to the market and waited. He waited until it was almost time for everyone to go home. But his cheeses did not come.
He asked other people, “Have you seen my cheeses?”
“Who is bringing them?” someone asked.
“They are coming by themselves,” said the man. “They know the way.”
Then he thought of a problem. The cheeses were so fast! Perhaps they had gone past the market. Perhaps they were almost in York, another town.
He paid for a horse and rode to York to look for them. But his cheeses were not there. Nobody ever told him where they were.
English summary · includes the ending
A man from Gotham goes to the market in Nottingham to sell cheese. On the way down a hill, one cheese falls out of his bag and rolls away. Instead of collecting it, he assumes it is going to market by itself.
He puts down his bag and sends the other cheeses rolling after it. Some disappear into one bush and some into another. He tells all of them to meet him near the market.
The man waits there until the market is nearly over, but no cheese arrives. He asks people whether they have seen his cheeses. When someone asks who was supposed to bring them, he says they know the way themselves.
He concludes that they rolled too quickly and went beyond Nottingham, perhaps almost to York. He hires a horse to search for them there. Nobody ever tells him where his cheeses are.
Adapted for Lejrbål from the credited source.
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