king arthur текст по английскому

Ответ от Евгений Иванов[мастер]
THE SWORD IN THE STONE
Many years ago, there lived a great and
noble king Uther Pendragon. He ruled the
country wisely and brought peace to England.
He had an adviser Merlin, who made
powerful magic.
Uther married beautiful Igraine and soon
the king's son was born. Soon after he was
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born, Merlin came to the king with terrible
news.
'King Uther,' said Merlin, 'I can see into
the future. Very soon, you will become ill and
you will die. It will be a terrible time. There
will be great wars in Britain. Your son will be
in danger because your enemies will want to
kill him. Let me take him away. He will live
in a secret place there until he becomes a
man.'
Uther and Igraine got very unhappy but
they believed Merlin.
'Take our child to a safe place,' said King
Uther. 'He must be out of danger.'
So, one dark night, Merlin took the baby
away. He brought him to the castle of a good
knight Sir Hector. The knight promised to
take good care of the baby. Merlin told Sir
Hector to name the baby Arthur.
Soon the king fell ill and died. The next
sixteen years were terrible. There were many
wars. Many castles and villages were burnt.
The people needed a strong ruler to bring
peace to Britain.
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Merlin decided that it was time to reveal
his secret. He went to London with a message
for the Archbishop. Lords and ladies from all
over the land came to hear what Merlin had to
say.
'I have great news,' said Merlin. 'This land
will soon have a new king. He will be wiser
and nobler than Uther Pendragon. The new
king will bring peace to this land. There will
be no war and hunger in England.'
Merlin told the Archbishop to gather all
the knights in the biggest church.
When the knights arrived, they saw a great
stone outside. A shining sword was buried
deep in it. On the stone, they saw the words
written in gold letters:
'Whoever pulls this sword out of the stone
is the rightful king of Britain.'
All the knights tried to pull the sword out
of the stone. They pulled it with all their
might, but no one could do that!
The Archbishop decided to send
messengers across the land.
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'You will tell our people about a
tournament on New Year's Day. Everyone
can try to pull the sword out of the stone,' the
Archbishop said.
On the day of the tournament, knights
came from every part of England. Among
them was Sir Hector with his son Kay and
Arthur who was eighteen years old. When
they were in one of London streets, Kay
suddenly cried:
'I have left my sword at home!'
Arthur rode back to bring it, but the gates
were locked and no one was at home.
'What can I do?' Arthur thought. 'I have an
idea. In one of London churchyards, I saw a
sword in the stone. I'll bring it to my brother.'
Then Arthur rode quickly to London, came
into the churchyard and easily pulled the
sword out of the stone. Arthur knew nothing
about the sword and the importance of his
actions.
Kay looked at the sword and gave it to Sir
Hector.
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'Father, here is the sword out of the stone. I
must be the rightful king of Britain!'
'Have you done it yourself, my son?'
'I am sorry, my father. It was not me. It
was Arthur. He has given the sword to me.'
'Where did you get it from, Arthur?' asked
Sir Hector.
'I pulled it out of the stone in the
churchyard,' answered Arthur.
Sir Hector, Kay and Arthur rode back to
the churchyard. All knights watched in
surprise when Arthur pushed the sword into
the stone. Then they tried to pull the sword
out of the stone but couldn't do it. Then
Arthur came to the stone and quickly pulled it
out.
The sword shone brightly in Arthur's hand.
Britain had a new king!