Jennings & Ponder: World Tales & Celtic Music
PO Box 522 Montpelier VT 05601
802-223-9103

home page:
http://www.folktale.net.html

e-mail:
tim@folktale.net

folktales from ESL students

T`he Boy from the North`

(Vietnamese)

One time there was a boy from the North. He always wanted a motorcycle, but he never had one. He never got to drive one. He didn't know anything about them. All he knew was, he wanted one. So, when he came South, right away he got a motorcycle.

He tried to start it, but it didn't have any gas in it, so it wouldn't go.

He said, "Give me my money back. It's broken. It doesn't work."

The guy in the store put in the gas, and showed him how to start it up and put it into gear. But when the motorcycle started up, the boy got scared, and squeezed the handlebars-- VROOOM VROOOM-- like that, and he held on and squeezed harder. He was going VRAAAAAAAA!, really fast, and hit a bump, and went up in the air, and when he came down he was over here, and the motorcycle was over there.

So he took it back to the store, he said. "Take that gas out! You sold me the wrong kind of gas!"

The man said, "No, that was good gas!"

The Boy from the North said, "I said, put in some motorcycle gas. But you put in airplane gas! Take the gas out, and give me my money back!"

He went to another store. He said, "Put in MOTORCYCLE gas. No airplane gas! Motorcycle gas."
The man put the gas in, the boy from the North started up the motorcycle, and he got scared again, squeezed the handlebars-- VROOOOM VROOOM-- and he got scared and squeezed tight--- VRAAAAAAAAAAA-- and took off into the jungle!

Bounced around and around VRAAAAAAAAA came to a farm, tore around and around, dug up the dirt. He dug the farmer's field! The farmer came out and planted. After awhile, the engine quit. The Boy from the North pushed the motorcycle back to the store.

"Take this gas out, and give me my money back!"

"What's wrong with the gas? That was good gas!"

"I told you to put in motorcycle gas."

"Yeah, so?"

"You gave me tractor gas!"

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Jennings & Ponder: World Tales & Celtic Music
PO Box 522 Montpelier VT 05601
802-223-9103

home page:
http://www.folktale.net.html

e-mail:
tim@folktale.net