Reading supplement

I. Reading for pleasure caught in his own trap

It happened in England not very long ago. A judge was going for an assize to a distant town. His wife asked him to allow her to go with him. The judge agreed but told her not to take a lot of boxes. Next morning they started in a carriage. On the way the judge wanted to stretch his legs and his feet struck against something under the seat. It was a box. The judge was very angry; he opened the window and threw the box out. The coachman stopped the horses to pick up the box but the judge ordered to drive on.

The next day the travelers reached the town. The judge put on the robes and was ready for going to the court, but he couldn't find his wig which is a very important attribute of an English judge. Then he cried: «Where an all the world is my wig? » — «Your wig, my Lord? Why, your Lordship threw it out of the carriage window yesterday», explained the coachman who was watching the scene.

Questions:

1. What did the judge's wife ask him to do?

2. What did the judge do with the box?

3. What was there in the box?

The monkey detective

A merchant goes to Calcutta on some business. He takes with him a large sum of money and some valuable jewels. A monkey, of which he is very fond, also travels with him. Some thieves decide to attack and to rob merchant. On a lonely part of the road they catch him, murder him and take his things. Then they throw the body into a dry well, cover it over with leaves and go away.

All this time the monkey is watching them from the top of the tree. When the murderers are out of sight, the monkey goes to the magistrate's house and is crying and moaning and finally makes the magistrate follow him to the well. The magistrate brings some men with him, and one of them goes down into the well where the body of the murdered man is found. The monkey then leads them to the bazaars, and as soon as he sees one of the murderers he runs at him and bites him in the leg. The magistrate's servants come and seize the man. In this way all the murderers are detected by the monkey. They are all caught and punished accordingly.

Questions:

1. What does the merchant take with him?

2. What is the monkey doing when the thieves attack the merchant?

3. Where does the monkey lead the magistrate with his men?

A strange sentence

A man was brought up before a judge and charged with burglary. He had cut a hole in the side of a tent, had put his head, his right arm and his right shoulder through the hole and had stolen several things belonging to the people sleeping in the tent.

The lawyer of the defendant said that as the man had not entered the tent, he couldn't be convicted of burglary and ought to be set free. The judge however said that while the man as a whole had not committed burglary, his head, his right arm and his right shoulder had.

The jury brought in a verdict of guilty against these parts, which were sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour in the state prison. All the rest of the man was found not guilty and discharged.

Questions:

1. What was a man charged with?

2. Who defended the criminal?

3. What was the verdict of the jury?