Basme bilingve americane / American fairy tales and stories - Vol II

Cea mai mare colectie de literatura bilingva utila copiilor (si nu numai) care vor sa invete o limba straina prin lectura unor povesti, basme si povestiri celebre. O colectie frumos ilustrata si accesibila - un companion de nepretuit la scoala pentru lecturile suplimentare, in timpul liber si in vacantele scolare. Cu aceasta colectie incepe adevarata cultura a copiilor, de care nu se vor desparti toata viata!

Ilustratii color de Silvia Mitrea si Done Stan.

" Taming the Bicycle Mark Twain

I thought the matter over, and concluded I could do it. So I went down and bought a barrel of Pond's Extract and a bicycle. The Expert came home with me to instruct me. We chose the back yard, for the sake of privacy, and went to work. Mine was not a full-grown bicycle, but only a colt - a fifty-inch, with the pedals shortened up to forty-eight and skittish, like any other colt. The Expert explained the thing's points briefly, then he got on its back and rode around a little, to show me how easy it was to do. He said that the dismounting was perhaps the hardest thing to learn, and so we would leave that to the last. But he was in error there. He found, to his surprise and joy, that all that he needed to do was to get me on to the machine and stand out of the way; I could get off, myself. Although I was wholly inexperienced, I dismounted in the best time on record. He was on that side, shoving up the machine; we all came down with a crash, he at the bottom, I next, and the machine on top. We examined the machine, but it was not in the least injured. This was hardly believable. Yet the Expert assured me that it was true; in fact, the examination proved it. I was partly to realize, then, how admirably these things are constructed. We applied some Pond's Extract, and resumed. The Expert got on the other side to shove up this time, but I dismounted on that side; so the result was as before. The machine was not hurt. We oiled ourselves up again, and resumed. This time the Expert took up a sheltered position behind, but somehow or other we landed on him again.

Cum sa imblanzesti o bicicleta Mark Twain

Am rasucit problema pe toate fetele si am ajuns la concluzia ca-i pot da de capat. Asa ca am cumparat o bicicleta si un bidon de ulei. Expertul s-a prezentat la mine acasa si ne-am pus pe treaba. Am ales curtea din spate, pentru mai multa. discretie. Nu era o bicicleta matura, ci doar un mânz de 50 de inchi, cu pedale mai scurte si vioaie ca orice mânz. Expertul mi-a explicat pe scurt fazele, apoi s-a cocotat pe ea si a facut o tura ca sa-mi demonstreze cât de simplu e. Mi-a atras atentia ca lucrul cel mai greu de invatat e coborâtul, asa ca o sa-l lasam la urma. Trebuie sa va spun ca se inselase amarnic. A aflat curând, spre marea lui bucurie si surpriza, ca tot ce avea el de facut era sa ma urce pe bicicleta si sa se dea un pas inapoi. Coboram singur, fara niciun ajutor. Desi lipsit total de experienta, un biet incepator, am fost jos intr-un timp-record. El era acolo, tinând de masinarie; ne-am prabusit huruitor, el jos de tot, eu deasupra lui si, in vârful gramezii, bicicleta. Am cercetat-o cu atentie, dar n-avea nici cea mai mica zgârietura. Greu de crezut, desi expertul m-a asigurat ca asta-i adevarul. De altfel, era evident. A fost momentul sa constat cât de solid sunt fabricate chestiile astea. Am uns-o si am reluat antrenamentul. Expertul s-a refugiat de partea cealalta, dar fara folos, ca tot de partea lui am coborât; asa ca deznodamântul a fost ca mai sus. Bicicleta era nevatamata. Am uns, am reluat. De data aceasta, expertul a recurs la o pozitie mai sigura, in spatele bicicletei, dar, cum-necum, tot deasupra lui am aterizat amândoi, bicicleta si cu mine. "