A long time ago, in a far away country there lived a king who had everything he could possibly want to make him happy, except for one thing. That thing was knowledge. The king wanted to know about everything. In the king's palace lived the ten greatest scholars in the kingdom and whenever the king had a question, such as“What is thunder?”or“Where does rain come from?” he would ask these clever people. If they didn’t know the answer, they would go away and find out. One day, the king went to the scholars with a new question．

“What was the first language spoken in the world?”he demanded. The scholars went away for a long time and then came back with many different answers. Some said the first language was Chinese, some said it was Greek, some said it was an ancient language that had long ago been forgotten. The king knew they could not all be right, so he sent messengers all over his kingdom to ask the same question. But they too returned with many different answers．

Just after the last messenger returned, the queen gave birth to twins. Sadly the queen was not very strong and she died soon after the babies were born. When the king’s new son and daughter were brought to him they reminded him so much of his wife, whom he had loved dearly that he didn’t want to look at them. Instead, he sent his messengers to find someone to care for them．

“You must find a woman who is deaf and cannot speak，”ordered the king. You see, the king still badly wanted the answer to his question and he thought he knew a way to find it.

The messengers returned with a deaf and mute woman from a nearby village．

“I want you, and only you, to look after my children," the king said to her.“I don't want to see them or talk to them. And most important of all, I don’t want anyone else to talk to them either.”

The woman did as she was told and looked after the children for many years. Then, on the day of the twins’ fifteenth birthday, the king finally decided to see his children. He was sure that now, at last, he would have the answer to his question. Since their birth, the children had not heard anyone speak and so the king was sure they would speak to each other in the same language as the first humans.

The king hid in the children’s garden and waited. The children came outside laughing together and making all kinds of little noises. Sometimes they made signs with their hands and every so often one of them picked up a stick and drew a picture in the dirt. But neither child spoke a single word．

When the king realised what he had done, he was ashamed. From that day on he spent his life trying to make up to his children for his cruelty. And he never, ever again expected to find answers to every question he asked．

Comprehension

1.       What was the king’s problem?

2.       What did he do to try to solve this problem?

3.       Why did the king want a woman who could neither speak nor hear to look after the children?

4.       Did the king find out the answer to his question?

5.       Why didn’t the children speak?

6.       How did the king feel at the end of the story? Why did he feel like this?

7.       Number the events in the order they happened. If two events happened at the same time write the same number beside both events.

a.       The queen had twins and then died.

b.       The king saw that the twins communicated with each other without words.

c.       The scholars could not agree on the correct answer.

d.       The king felt ashamed.

e.       The king sent messengers to ask everyone in the kingdom the same question.

f.       The king asked his scholars what the world’s first language was.

g.       The king hid in the garden so he could listen to the twins talking.

h.       The messengers came back with many different answers.

i.       The king found a deaf and mute woman to look after his children.

Suggested answers

1. f, 2. c, 3. e, 4. h, 5. a, 6. I, 7. g, 8. b, 9. d