The Little Jackal and The Alligator

The little Jackal was very fond of shell-fish. He used to go down by the river and hunt along the edges for crabs and such things. And once, when he was hunting for crabs, he was so hungry that he put his paw into the water after a crab without looking first, — which you never should do! The minute he put in his paw, snap ! — the big Alligator who lives in the mud down there had it in his jaws.

“Oh, dear!” thought the little Jackal; “the big Alligator has my paw in his mouth! In another min ute he will pull me down and gobble me up! What shall I do? what shall I do?” Then he thought, sud denly, “I’ll deceive him!”

So he put on a very cheerful voice, as if nothing at all were the matter, and he said, –

“Ho! ho! Clever Mr. Alligator! Smart Mr. Alliga tor, to take that old bulrush root for my paw! I hope you’ll find it very tender!”

The old Alligator was hidden away beneath the mud and bulrush leaves, and he couldn’t see any thing. He thought, “Pshaw ! I’ve made a mistake.” So he opened his mouth and let the little Jackal go.

The little Jackal ran away as fast as he could, and as he ran he called out, –

“Thank you, Mr. Alligator! Kind Mr. Alligator! So kind of you to let me go!”

The old Alligator lashed with his tail and snapped with his jaws, but it was too late; the little Jackal was out of reach.

After this the little Jackal kept away from the river, out of danger. But after about a week he got such an appetite for crabs that nothing else would do at all; he felt that he must have a crab. So he went down by the river and looked all around, very carefully. He didn’t see the old Alligator, but he thought to himself, “I think I’ll not take any chances.” So he stood still and began to talk out loud to himself. He said, –

“When I don’t see any little crabs on the land I most generally see them sticking out of the water, and then I put my paw in and catch them. I won der if there are any fat little crabs in the water to-day?”

The old Alligator was hidden down in the mud at the bottom of the river, and when he heard what the little Jackal said, he thought, “Aha! I’ll pretend to be a little crab, and when he puts his paw in, I’ll make my dinner of him.” So he stuck the black end of his snout above the water and waited.

The little Jackal took one look, and then he said, — “Thank you, Mr. Alligator! Kind Mr. Alligator! You are exceedingly kind to show me where you are! I will have dinner elsewhere.” And he ran away like the wind.

Please enjoy the narrative, I mean that the story about Fox:

One day many years ago, at a time when his mouth was still small and dainty, as in fact it used to be, the fox was out walking and happened to notice a huaychao singing on a hilltop. Fascinated by the bird’s flute-like bill, he said politely, “What a lovely flute, friend Huaychao, and how well you play it! Could you let me try it? I’ll give it back in a moment, I promise.”

The bird refused. But the fox was so insistent that at last the huaychao lent him its bill, advising him to sew up his lips except for a tiny opening so that the ‘flute’ would fit just right.

Then the fox began to play. He played on and on without stopping. After a while the huaychao asked for its bill back, but still the fox kept on. The bird reminded him, “You promised. Besides, I only use it from time to time; you’re playing it constantly.” But the fox pain no attention and kept right on.

Awakened by the sound of the flute, skinks came out of their burrows and climbed up the hill in a bustling throng. When they saw the fox playing, they began to dance.

At the sight of the dancing skunks, the fox burst out laughing. As he laughed, his lips became unstitched. His mouth tore open and kept on tearing until he was grinning from ear to ear. Before the fox could regain his composure, the huaychao had picked up his bill and flown away. To this day the fox has a huge mouth - as punishment for breaking his promise.

Hai teman-teman yang selalu haus soal-soal narrative! Halloenglish mengamati banyak sekali pengunjung atau tamu yang bertandang ke sini untuk mencari soal-soal narrative. Tampaknya mereka ini sedang bingung mencari referensi yang bagus untuk keperluan belajar.

Maklumlah, semester ini memang materinya narrative dan recount sehingga soal narrative senantiasa diburu (wah, seperti memburu harta karun aja). Untuk itu Halloenglish berharap ada kontributor yang memang berniat sharing knowledge dengan pembaca dan sesama. Syaratnya harus gratis. Sebab, sejak awal kita memang niatnya membantu sesama. 

Untuk level SMP, soal narrative memang dibuat secara lebih sederhana. Bentuk teksnya lebih banyak didominasi dengan legenda, mitos, cerita binatang, dongeng, dan cerita rakyat. Sedangkan tensesnya tentu saja menggunakan Past Tense. Okelah!

Teks narrative sering sekali dibuka dengan kata penunjuk waktu once upon a time, one day, a long time ago, dan sejenisnya. Karena berbentuk dongeng, mitos, legenda, dan cerita rakyat, dapat dipastikan di dalamnya terdapat tokoh, setting tempat, setting waktu, dan alur (plot).

Para tokoh pasti mengadakan percakapan, sehingga akan banyak ditemukan kalaimat langsung, seperti: he said, “……..”.

Teks narrtive bertujuan menghibur pembaca (entertain the readers) dan memiliki struktur sebagai berikut:

1. Orientation, berisi pengenalan tokoh, setting, dan problem

2. Complication, berisi problem yang serius sehingga para tokoh dipastikan menemukan jalan buntu.

3. Resolution, berisi pemecahan masalah secara bertahap

4. Re-orientation (optional), berisi akhir cerita, kesimpulan, atau pelajaran moral dari cerita tersebut. 

Oke, selamat menikmati. Lalu mana soalnya? Hehehe, silakan unduh di sini sepuas-puasmu….

King Frog

Once upon a time, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful.  Close by the king’s castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime-tree in the forest, there was a well. The day was very warm, the king’s child went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain. When she was bored she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and caught it, and this ball was her favorite plaything.

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Hai, hai, teman-teman, mbak-mbak, adik-adik, mas-mas, salam sejahtera.

Terkadang Tuhan itu senang menganugerahkan surprise buat kita, bisa kejutan yang menyedihkan, bisa kejutan yang membahagiakan. Seandainya kita tidak pernah terkejut, kita masih dihibur oleh harapan-harapan di depan langkah kita. Tuhan masih memberikan keajaiban-keajaiban yang sulit kita prediksi.

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