Reading

The Storyteller

It was a hot afternoon, and the

hour-long train journey had just begun. There were five people in the railway

carriage- two young girls and their brother, sitting with their aunt, and a

young man, who was sitting in the corner. The young man had already begun to

think he'd chosen the wrong carriage to sit in.

The children were hot, tired and

bored, and behaving badly. The youngest girl was singing the first line of a

song, over and over again. Everything the aunt said began with, 'Don't!' and

everything the children said began with 'Why?'

"Don't put your feet on the seat,

Cyril!"

Why not?

Because you will make it dirty, and

don't stare at the man. Oh, look at those sheep in the field.

Nearly every field the train had

travelled past had had sheep in it, so the aunt's surprise was difficult to

explain.

Why is that man taking the sheep into

the other field? asked the younger girl.

'Perhaps there's more grass in that

field,’ replied the aunt. But there's lots of grass in both fields.

Well, perhaps the grass is better in

the other field.

Q

The kinds of questions that the children asked about

the grass and the sheep show that ---- .