English

THE MASTER OF MAGIC The Story of a Boy who Learned His Lessons in School Once upon a time there lived a man who had three sons. The two older ones worked in the fields, but the youngest one went to school. He learned how to read and write and do sums and make drawings. At last he even learned magic. The two elder brothers complained to their father about him one day. Their hearts were bitter against him. "It is not fair, father," they said. "We work hard every day in the fields and bring home money to enrich the family. Why shouldn't our brother work, too?

THE LITTLE PINE TREE Once upon a time there was a little pine tree who lived in the woods. It had no leaves. It had needles. The little tree said, "I do not like needles. All the other trees in the woods have pretty leaves. I want leaves, too. But I will have better leaves than all the other trees. I want gold leaves." The little tree didn’t know it but a fairy from the forest had heard his wish. Night came and the little tree went to sleep. The fairy came by and gave it gold leaves. When the little tree woke it had leaves of gold. It said, "Oh, I am so pretty!

This is Richard, and I’m here with our latest yarn from our dog who travels in space. But before I hand you over to the capable claws of Astropup, Some of you have been asking us what a “mog” is. You may not be able to find that word in the dictionary, but it is in fact, a “cat.” So I hope that helps. Now, let’s hear from Astropup. It happened when I was on shore leave. I was living at home in blissful comfort with my owner, Jenny. I did not lack for biscuits, blankets or cuddles. One morning, I was chewing on my favourite rubber bone, when I heard a tap-tapping at the French doors.

This is Richard, and I am here to introduce the latest instalment in our canine space adventure, Astropup. If you have heard the earlier stories, you will know that Astropup tells them in his own words. So, if you will just hang on for a moment, let me adjust the microphone stand down to dog level. Thank you Richard. As you know, by the standards of the Universe, it’s a little more than a skip and a jump to the moon – a mere 240,000 miles. The humans gave me a special probe to take there.