Easy English Texts
79 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingThis podcast is for people taking early steps in the English language. I will be reading: popular nursery rhymes, Poems, and short stories. Since beginning ESL students are not regularly exposed to English literature, I hope that you enjoy reading and listening to these beautiful writings and learn something new!
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Episodes
#026- The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry -Part 4
August 04, 2020 23:01 - 4 minutes - 3.87 MBThe Gift of the Magi by O. Henry White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat. For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped for long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise-shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the b...
#025- The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry - Part 3
August 04, 2020 23:00 - 5 minutes - 4.86 MBThe Gift of the Magi by O. Henry At 7 o'clock the coffee was made, and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops. Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit of saying little silent prayers about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispe...
#024- The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry - Part 2
August 04, 2020 22:59 - 5 minutes - 5.43 MBThe Gift of the Magi by O. Henry Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the Queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out of the window someday to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the ...
#023- The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry - Part 1
August 04, 2020 22:57 - 5 minutes - 4.87 MBThe Gift of the Magi by O. Henry One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas. There was clearly nothing left to do but flop down on the shabby little c...
#022- The Aged Mother, Matsuo Basho- Part 2
August 04, 2020 04:44 - 3 minutes - 3.01 MBThe Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho Once more he shouldered his burden (how light it seemed now) and hastened down the path, through the shadows and the moonlight, to the little hut in the valley. Beneath the kitchen floor was a walled closet for food, which was covered and hidden from view. There the son hid his mother, supplying her with everything she needed, continually watching, and fearing she would be discovered. Time passed, and he was beginning to feel safe when again the governor se...
#021- The Aged Mother,Matsuo Basho- part 1
August 04, 2020 04:43 - 6 minutes - 6.11 MBThe Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho Also known as The Story of the Aged Mother, this Japanese folktale tells the story of an unkind ruler who issues cruel orders, including one demand that all old folks are to be abandoned and left to die. Basho tells a poignant story about a mother and her son and their love for one another. Long, long ago there lived at the foot of the mountain a poor farmer and his aged, widowed mother. They owned a bit of land which supplied them with food, and they were...
#020- Old King Cole,Mother Goose
July 29, 2020 22:01 - 1 minute - 1.71 MBOld King Cole Was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he: He called for his pipe, And he called for his bowl, And he called for his fiddlers three. Every fiddler, he had a fiddle, And a very fine fiddle had he; Twee tweedle dee, tweedle dee, went the fiddlers. Oh, there's none so rare, As can compare With King Cole and his fiddlers three. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/uirapuru/message
#019- The Blind Men and the Elephant, James Baldwin
July 29, 2020 21:00 - 4 minutes - 3.87 MBThere were once six blind men who stood by the road-side every day, and begged from the people who passed. They had often heard of elephants, but they had never seen one; for, being blind, how could they? It so happened one morning that an elephant was driven down the road where they stood. When they were told that the great beast was before them, they asked the driver to let him stop so that they might see him. Of course they could not see him with their eyes; but they thought that by tou...
#018- A Strange Story, O. Henry
July 29, 2020 19:56 - 3 minutes - 3.4 MBIn the northern part of Austin there once dwelt an honest family by the name of Smothers. The family consisted of John Smothers, his wife, himself, their little daughter, five years of age, and her parents, making six people toward the population of the city when counted for a special write-up, but only three by actual count. One night after supper the little girl was seized with a severe colic, and John Smothers hurried downtown to get some medicine. He never came back. The little girl r...
#017- The Disciple, Oscar Wilde
July 29, 2020 19:05 - 2 minutes - 1.84 MBWhen Narcissus died the pool of his pleasure changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, and the Oreads came weeping through the woodland that they might sing to the pool and give it comfort. And when they saw that the pool had changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, they loosened the green tresses of their hair and cried to the pool and said, `We do not wonder that you should mourn in this manner for Narcissus, so beautiful was he.' `But was Narcissus...
#016- Wild Blue Yonder, Robert MacArthur Crawford's
July 28, 2020 22:04 - 7 minutes - 7.26 MBHistory of the Air Force Song In 1937, after the U.S. military had been developing airplanes for more than a decade, the Assistant Chief of the Air Corps, Brigadier General Henry Arnold, thought the Army Air Corps needed a fight song similar to the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. In 1938, Liberty Magazine offered a $1,000 prize in a contest for composers to come up with a suitable song for the Air Force. A committee of Army Air Force wives selected Robert MacArthur Crawford's composition, w...
#015- The Fox and The Monkey,Aesop
July 27, 2020 20:43 - 2 minutes - 1.95 MBAesop was a Greek fabulist and storyteller born in 620 BCE (Before the Christian Era) and died in 564 BCE (Before the Christian Era) . He is credited with a number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables The Fox And The Monkey by Aesop At a great meeting of the Animals, who had gathered to elect a new ruler, the Monkey was asked to dance. This he did so well, with a thousand funny capers and grimaces, that the Animals were carried entirely off their feet with enthusiasm, and th...
#014- The Elephant's Child,Rudyard Kipling- Part 5 of 5
July 27, 2020 20:25 - 4 minutes - 4 MBThe Elephant's Child ,Part 5 of 5 One dark evening he came back to all his dear families, and he coiled up his trunk and said, "How do you do?" They were very glad to see him, and immediately said, "Come here and be spanked for your 'satiable curiosity." "Pooh," said the Elephant's Child. "I don't think you people's know anything about spanking; but I do, and I'll show you." Then he uncurled his trunk and knocked two of his dear brothers head over heels. "O Bananas!" said they, "Where di...
#013- The Elephant's Child,Rudyard Kipling- Part 4 of 5
July 27, 2020 20:22 - 5 minutes - 4.66 MBThe Elephant's Child PART 4 OF 5 "Then you will have to wait a long time," said the Bi-Colored-Python-Rock-Snake. "Some people do not know what is good for them." The Elephant's Child sat there for three days waiting for his nose to shrink. But it never grew any shorter, and, besides, it made him squint. For, O Best Beloved, you will understand that the Crocodile had pulled it out into a really truly trunk, same as all Elephant's have today. At the end of the third day a fly came and stun...
#012- The Elephant's Child,Rudyard Kipling- Part 3 of 5
July 27, 2020 20:19 - 5 minutes - 4.96 MBThe Elephant's Child PART 3 OF 5 Then the Elephant's Child put his head down close to the Crocodile's musky, tusky mouth, and the Crocodile caught him by his little nose, which up to that very week, day, hour, and minute, had been no bigger than a boot, though much more useful. "I think," said the Crocodile--and he said it between his teeth, like this--"I think to-day I will begin with Elephant's Child!" At this, O Best Beloved, the Elephant's Child was much annoyed, and he said, speaking...
#011- The Elephant's Child,Rudyard Kipling- Part 2 of 5
July 27, 2020 20:16 - 4 minutes - 4.41 MB"That is odd," said the Elephant's Child, "because my father and mother, and my uncle and my aunt, not to mention my other aunt, the Hippopotamus, and my other uncle, the Baboon, have all spanked me for my 'satiable curiosity--and I suppose this is the same thing." by Rudyard Kipling The first thing that he found was a Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake curled around a rock. "'Scuse me," said the Elephant's Child most politely, "but have you seen such a thing as a Crocodile in these promiscuou...
#010- The Elephant's Child ,Rudyard Kipling - part 1 OF 5
July 27, 2020 20:11 - 6 minutes - 6.05 MBOne fine morning in the middle of the Procession of the Equinoxes this 'satiable Elephant's Child asked a new fine question that he had never asked before. He asked, "What does the crocodile have for dinner?" Then everybody said, "Hush!" in a loud and dreadful tone, and they spanked him immediately and directly, without stopping, for a long time. The Elephant's Child PART 1 OF 5 by Rudyard Kipling In the High and Far-Off Times the Elephant, O Best Beloved, had no trunk. He had only a blac...
#009- The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of The United States
July 27, 2020 19:50 - 3 minutes - 3.02 MBThe Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag A Pledged means you make a promise, you swear it. An Allegiance- means loyalty, to be faithful. In the United States, before all government function is customary to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, also when one became a Citizen of the United States. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men remove any non-relig...
#008- The Bremen Town Musicians, Brothers Grimm PART 2
July 27, 2020 00:24 - 6 minutes - 5.58 MBThe Bremen Town Musicians- PART # 2 Brothers Grimm So they made their way to the place where the light was, and soon saw it shine brighter and grow larger, until they came to a well-lighted robber's house. The donkey, as the biggest, went to the window and looked in. "What do you see, my grey-horse?" asked the cock. "What do I see?" answered the donkey; "a table covered with good things to eat and drink, and robbers sitting at it enjoying themselves." "That would be the sort of thing for...
#007- The Bremen Town Musicians, Brothers Grimm PART 1
July 27, 2020 00:22 - 6 minutes - 6.16 MBJacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was born in 1785, and his brother Wilhelm Carl Grimm was born in 1786. Wilhelm Grimm and Jacob Grimm were among the first and best-known collectors of German and European folk tales The Bremen Town Musicians PART 1 OF 2 By Brothers Grimm A certain man had a donkey, which had carried the corn-sacks to the mill indefatigably for many a long year; but his strength was going, and he was growing more and more unfit for work. Then his master began to consider how he m...
#006- The Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key/voz Demi Lovato
July 21, 2020 04:43 - 4 minutes - 4.23 MBThe Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defense of Fort McHenry". The poem was written on September 14, 1814, by a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key. After witnessing, the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor, during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. flag, with 15 stars and 15 stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner,...
#005-The Princess and the Pea,Hans Christian Andersen
July 20, 2020 21:30 - 4 minutes - 4.28 MBHans Christian Andersen was born in 1805 in Denmark, so he was a Danish Author. He died in 1875. He was usually called H.C. Andersen, Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his fairy tales. The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen ONCE upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He travelled all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he want...
#003- This land is your land,Woodrow Wilson Guthrie
July 15, 2020 04:42 - 3 minutes - 2.91 MBWoodrow Wilson Guthrie as born in 1912 in Oklahoma, U.S.– He died in 1967 . He was an American singer-songwriter, who is considered one of the most significant figures in American western folk music. His music, including songs, such as "This Land Is Your Land", has inspired several generations both politically and musically Guthrie wrote hundreds of country, folk, and children's songs, along with ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan "This machine kills fasc...
#004- The Three Little Pigs, English Fairy Tales
July 14, 2020 22:52 - 7 minutes - 7.12 MBThe Three Little Pigs English Fairy Tales, Once upon a time there was an old mother pig who had three little pigs and not enough food to feed them. So when they were old enough, she sent them out into the world to seek their fortunes. The first little pig was very lazy. He didn't want to work at all and he built his house out of straw. The second little pig worked a little bit harder but he was somewhat lazy too and he built his house out of sticks. Then, they sang and danced and played t...
#002- Just So Stories (poems),Rudyard Kipling
July 14, 2020 19:33 - 3 minutes - 3.53 MBJoseph Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay ,British India in 1865 – died in 1936 at the age of 70. He was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book, The Man Who Would Be King, and many short stories, Just So Stories (poems) BY Joseph Rudyard Kipling The Camel's hump is an ugly lump Which well you may see at the Zoo; But uglier yet is the hump we geT From having too little to do. Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo, If...
#001 - Mary Had a Little lamb. Mother Goose
July 14, 2020 02:16 - 4 minutes - 4.15 MBMother Goose Mary had a little lamb Its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go. He followed, her to school one day. That was against the rule. It made the children laugh and play To see a lamb at school. And so, the teacher turned him out but still he lingered near and wait patiently about until you marry did appear what makes the lamb love marry so? the eagle children cry Oh, marry loves the lamb you know the teacher did reply --- This epi...
#001 - Mary Had a Little lamb, Mother Goose - AND I N D E X
July 14, 2020 02:16 - 4 minutes - 4.15 MBMother Goose Mary had a little lamb Its fleece was white as snow And everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go He followed, her to school one day That was against the rule It made the children laugh and play To see a lamb at school And so, the teacher turned him out But still he lingered near And wait patiently about until Mary did appear What makes the lamb love Mary so? The eagle chil...
#001 - Mary Had a Little lamb, Mother Goose
July 14, 2020 02:16 - 4 minutes - 4.15 MBMother Goose Mary had a little lamb Its fleece was white as snow And everywhere that Mary went The lamb was sure to go He followed, her to school one day That was against the rule. It made the children laugh and play To see a lamb at school And so, the teacher turned him out But still he lingered near And wait patiently about until Mary did appear What makes the lamb love Mary so? The eagle children ...
#001 - I N D E X - Mary Had a Little lamb, Mother Goose
July 14, 2020 02:16 - 3 minutes - 3.25 MBThe most popular Nursery rhymes has no known author -it is anonymous, but in 1695, a French author Charles Perrault created many stories and fairy tales. He put together all popular nursery rhymes, and fairy tales, under the name of the Tales of Mother Goose. Mother Goose stories was first translated into English by Robert Samber in 1729. Thanks to Mr. Perrault for giving us Mother Goose and creating fairy tales in the 1690's, so we may continue to enjoy them until today Mary had ...