THE GIRL WHO LIVED WITH GAZELLES
There was once a young girl who lived with her father in the city.
The father went away on a business trip. When he came back, the city’s priest, who was a bad man, told him an evil lie about the girl. Though the lie was not true, the father believed the priest and banished the girl to the desert. “Banished” means sent away forever.
In the desert, the girl was adopted (taken care of) by a herd (group) of gazelles. A “gazelle” is a kind of animal similar to a deer or horse. She lived with the gazelles for many years.
One day, a handsome prince came by and saw the girl. The two fell in love and got married. Together, they had a son.
However, the prince’s advisor was jealous of the love between the prince and the girl. Because of this, he stole the baby. The girl was so upset and frightened (scared) that she ran away to a village nearby. There she wore a man’s cloths and found work.
Many years later, the village was holding a hunting competition. The girl’s father, the priest, the prince, and the advisor were all there. The girl recognized them (knew who they were), but they did not recognize her.
At the competition, the girl stood up and told her life story to the crowd.
Everyone immediately recognized her. They understood she was telling the truth! The girl, the prince, and her father were all happily reunited (brought together again). The priest and advisor were banished to prison.
They soon learned that the son who had been stolen was actually living in the village. The girl and her husband, the prince, were then reunited with their son.
The prince was so happy that he passed a law that said that hunters could not hunt (kill) gazelles. From that day on, the gazelles were protected from harm.
EXERCISES
VOCABULARY QUESTIONS
1. What does “insight” mean?
a) understanding
b) view
c) look at
d) listen to
2. What does “theme” mean?
a) story
b) idea that repeats itself
c) feature
d) family
3. What does “banished” mean?
a) brought home
b) found to be lying
a) send away forever
b) found to be telling the truth
GRAMMAR QUESTIONS
1. From these stories, listeners can learn a lot about Morocco.
a) a
b) the
c) an
d) that
2. Many Moroccan folk stories have similar themes.
a) have
b) had
c) had had
d) will have
3. The father went away on a business trip.
a) in
b) at
c) on
d) to
Մարիա Շոկարյան 