Red Line 3, Coursebook

“Yes, sir,” said Arthur. “I’ll never steal anything again.” Arthur pushed the sword back into the stone. Sir Ector and Kay were very excited. “Now go and wait by the horses, boy,” said Sir Ector. “But … how could Arthur pull it out?” said Kay. “He’s only a stupid kid … he’s not even a knight!” “I have no idea, son. But I’m going to try it.” Sir Ector took the handle of the sword in his big hands and pulled. But nothing happened. “You try, Kay!” he said. Kay jumped onto the stone. He took the sword’s handle in his hands and pulled until his face was red. “Ouf! I c-can’t move it an inch,” he said. Arthur was waiting with the horses. Suddenly he heard Sir Ector’s voice. “Arthur!” he called. “Come here!” ‘Ohh no … ,’ thought Arthur. He went back to the place where Sir Ector and Kay were standing. “Were you lying about this sword?” “No,” said Arthur. “I’m sorry. I’ll never steal again.” A large group of knights came down the road from the tournament. With them were the innkeeper and the little old man with the long nose and white beard. ‘My father won’t tell me off in front of all these people,’ he thought. ‘Everyone will know then that his son is a thief.’ “Pull the sword from the stone if you can, Arthur,” said Sir Ector. All the knights laughed. “Ha ha! Get this boy out of our way,” said one of the knights. “We have important business to do here!” “No, let him try,” said Sir Ector. Everyone was silent as young Arthur took the handle of the sword in both hands and pulled. The sword came out like a knife out of butter. “Ahhh!” said the knights. They all knelt down in front of Arthur. Sir Ector even pushed Kay onto his knees. Arthur didn’t know what was happening. “Kay, Father, get up, please! Why are you all kneeling in front of me?” The only person who was not kneeling was the little old man. “Hail, O Great King of all Britain!” he said. “Hail, O King!” said all the knights. The old man took off his old coat. Underneath was a black cape. “Wow! It’s Merlin theWizard!” said Arthur. “But how can I be king? Ha ha! I’m not even a knight yet.” “Read the words on the stone, King Arthur,” said Merlin. “Only the person who can take this sword from the stone is the true king of all Britain.” “Father, what is all this about?” asked Arthur. “I am not your father,” said Sir Ector. “Merlin theWizard brought you to me when you were a baby. ‘One day this baby will be a very important man,’ he said.” “Arthur’s the king of all Britain?” said Kay. “It’s not fair!” But no one could hear him. “Hail, O King!” said all the knights again. “Wow!” said Arthur. “I’m King of all Britain! Does this mean I can go to the tournament?” All the knights laughed. “The king can do whatever he likes, my boy,” said Merlin. King Arthur was a very good king. He and his knights stopped the terrible wars and brought peace to Britain. They didn’t fight real wars but the knights had fantastic tournaments every Saturday. Honey cakes were free for all the children. one hundred and fif teen 115 to lie [ laI ] – lügen , to tell off [ tel*Of ] – ausschimpfen , business [ *bIznIs ] – Geschäfte , silent [ *saIlEnt ] – still , to kneel down [ +ni:l *daUn ] – niederknien , Hail! [ heIl ] – Heil!, underneath [ +0ndE*ni:T ] – darunter , whatever [ +wOt*evE ] – was (auch) immer 310 315 320 325 330 335 340 345 350 355 360 365 370 375 380 385 Weitere unbekannte Wörter findest du im Dictionary ganz hinten im Buch. A story E Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv