Narrative Text 2 for Grade 9 Semester 2

Level: English for Junior High School
24-hours online learning

Text 1

The Stingy and the Generous

(A folk tale from Sambas)

Long, long time ago, there lived two brothers. They had completely different characters. The big brother was very stingy and greedy. He never shared his wealth with the poor. The little brother was exactly the opposite. He was generous and kind to poor people. He even had no money left because he had shared it with the poor.

One day the generous brother was sitting in his garden when suddenly a little bird fell on his lap. It was wounded. He took care of it, fed it, and put it in a nice cage. After the bird was healthy, the generous brother let it fly. After some time, the bird returned to him and gave him a watermelon seed.

The generous brother, then, planted the seed and watered it until it grew into a good watermelon plant. Yet, the plant was very strange. It had only one fruit; a big and heavy one. When the watermelon was ripe enough, the generous brother picked it and cut it into two. How surprised he was. The watermelon was full of gold.

The generous brother sold the gold and became very rich. He built a big house and bought very large field. Still, he never forgot to share his wealth with the poor.

Text 2

Takatuliang, the woodcarver

Long, long time ago on the island of Simbau, in the Sulawesi Sea, there lived a king and his beautiful daughter. The princess was not only beautiful, but she was also wise and kind.

Many princes wanted to marry the king’s daughter and this made the king confused. He, then, announced a contest: whoever presented the princess with the most valuable gift would marry her.

Takatuliang, a poor woodcarver, wanted to join the contest but he was so poor that he had nothing to present. Then, he went far into the forest. There he chose the best tree and carved it into a doll. Next, he took an old piece of cloth and sewed it into a dress for the doll. After that, he cut his own hair and glued it to the doll’s head.

On the day of the contest, all of the princes gathered before the king and the princess. One by one, they presented their gifts: diamond, silk, gold, jewelry. Then, came Takatuliang’s turn.
“What do you have?” asked the princess.
“I bring only a doll,” said Takatuliang softly.
“How many dolls like this do you have?” asked the princess again.
“Only this one. I carved it myself and decorated it with my own hair and my father’s old cloth. He died and this is the only thing he left me.” answered Takatuliang.

The princess was very touched to hear Takatuliang’s story. She decided to marry Takatuliang because he had presented her everything he had. Together, Takatuliang, and the princess lived happily ever after

Exercise

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