Thursday, 16 July 2020

The Little Sumo, and the Princess, and the Giant, part 1 -小さなお相撲さんとプリンセスと巨人 パート1-


Here is a Little Sumo story.  They are jointly written by myself and my three year old son.

“No, Daddy!” my son says.  “You’re telling a silly story!  Let me tell it now!”

See if you can tell which parts were written by me, and which by my son.

*

The little sumo had never met a princess before.  But one day he met a princess in the vegetable garden, where he and his family grew aubergines, tomatoes, and green peppers.

Daddy was wearing Wellington boots, long trousers to keep the mosquitos away, and a big hat to keep out of the sun.  Mummy was wearing an old pair of shoes, a long-sleeved jumper, and thick gloves to protect her skin from the dirt in the vegetable garden. The little sumo had little Wellington boots, little gloves, and a little hat.

All of a sudden he noticed a beautiful woman in a purple dress who was pulling up weeds in the vegetable plot next to the little sumo’s.  She was wearing a purple dress, and stylish moon shoes, which were silvery-grey.  There was a smell of orange and cinnamon coming from her exposed legs and arms.

“Look Mummy and Daddy,” said the little sumo.  “There’s a princess in the vegetable garden!  She’s not wearing Wellington boots or long trousers.  How does she keep away the mosquitos and keep clean?”

“She has sprayed her arms and legs with orange and cinnamon to keep away the mosquitos,” whispered Mummy.

“What a clever idea,” whispered Daddy.

The little sumo could tell that only a princess would grow vegetables in a vegetable garden wearing a beautiful purple dress, and smelling of orange and cinnamon.  She wasn’t pulling up weeds in gloved hands like Mummy.  Instead, she was pulling up weeds using special chopsticks.  She had a pair of chopsticks in each hand and pulled up the weeds in her plot of land like this:by pushing one set of chopsticks into the dirt and scraping it away from the weeds, and then pulling the weeds up with her other set of chopsticks.  This also allowed her to stay on the path, and reach the weeds without standing in the dirt.

“How elegant!” whispered Daddy.

“I wonder where she buys her special chopsticks,” whispered Mummy.

It seemed to get dark in the vegetable garden all of a sudden.  A huge shadow was blocking the sun from touching the vegetables.

The little sumo looked up and saw a giant, dressed all in green, who was standing over them all.

Fee-fi-fo-fum!  I smell the blood of an orange-flavoured woman!” said the giant in a booming voice.  “Fee-fi-fum-fo!  I smell the blood of a tasty sumo!” he continued.

Then before anyone could complain, or run away, the giant picked up the princess in his left hand, and scooped up the little sumo, and Mummy and Daddy in his right hand.

“How lucky!” boomed the giant.  “I have found breakfast, lunch dinner, supper, and a snack too, in this vegetable garden!”

And the giant carried them all off to his castle, so that he could eat them the next day when he got hungry.

*

Oh, dear!  Will the little sumo, Mummy and Daddy, and the princess be safe?  How will they escape from the giant’s castle, or will they all be eaten like squishy aubergines?

Find out next time!



Vocabulary:
an aubergine – a vegetable, also called an eggplant

Wellington boots – long boots designed to keep the feet dry and safe from mud, puddles of water, etc.

exposed – uncovered, not protected by clothing

Fee-fi-fo-fum – In the traditional fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk, the giant says, “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman

to scoop something up – to pick something up as if using a spoon

squishy – easily crushed and spilling out juice (for example a strawberry is squishy, but a potato is not)





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