典范英语8-13

13.Robbie Woods and his Merry Men罗比.伍兹和他快乐的弟兄们

Chapter 1

I am Robbie Woods.

I am always the first to make a good joke .

I always the first to tidy my work away at the end of the day.

But somehow I am never the first to be picked for teams and plays.

Big Bradley Tomlinson and Bossy Becky Sparrow always get to pick the teams for rounders. ?I?ll have Jack and Scott and Jordan and Sam,?says Big Bradley. ?I?ll have Carly and Kylie and Katy and Kaylee,?says Bossy Becky. It is the same with the school play.

In my first year at school ,we did the Christmas Nativity Play. No, I wasn?t Joseph.

I wasn?t a Wise Man either. I wasn?t a shepherd. I was a sheep.

I had to stand there looking woolly and being quiet. I wasn?t even allowed to go ?Baaaa?. The next year, we did Humpty Dumpty.

No, I wasn?t Humpty Dumpty. That was katy. I wasn?t one of the Kng?s men They were Becky ,Jack ,and Scott.

I wasn?t one of the King?s Horses either. I was a brick in the wall.

I just had to stand there, wearing a box and then fall over. The next year, we did the Pied Piper.

No, I wasn?t the Pied Piper. That was Jordan (because the he can play the recorder). I wasn?t the Mayor ,That was Bradley (because he?s big).

I wasn?t one of the townsfolk and I wasn?t one of the children. I was a rat.

This time I had words to learn and say. It was what they call a ?speaking part?. I had to say :squeak squeak squeak .

If you ask me it was more of a squeaking part than a speaking part.

Chapter 2

Our teacher, Miss Goody, called everyone together.

?What about his merry women?? said Becky. ?It?s sexist!? ?What about his miserable man?? said Scott. ?It?s miserablist!?

?What about just getting on with it,? said Miss Goody. ?Who would like to be Robin Hood?? I shot my hand up into the air.

?Robbie Woods would...?said Miss Goody.

?Robbie Woods would. Robbie Woods would, would he...? Bradley began to chant. But I ignored him. ?I?m dead keen on Robin Hood,? I explained. ?I know all the stories. I?ve got all the books. I?ve got a bow and arrow.

I?ve even got my own Robin Hood costume,? I said.

?But I want to be Robin Hood,? said Becky. ?And me!? said Bradley.

?I will give everyone a chance,? said Miss Goody. ?There are all these parts.?

?And there are also parts for villagers, knights, and ladies...and of course we?ll need lots of trees to be the forest.? I can guess what I?m going to be.

Chapter 3

?I bet I?ll be a tree,? I sighed.

?No you won?t,? said Becky. ?You?ll be a little baby bush…? ?Or a teeny tiny twig,? said Bradley. ?Quiet,? said Miss Goody.

I took a copy of the Robin Hood words. There were lots of words.

And some of them were a bit strange. But I was determined to be Robin Hood.

I mean, If your name was Frankie Stein, you?d be interested in Frankenstein. Wouldn?t you? If your name was Richard King, you?d be interested in King Richard. Wouldn?t you?

And my name , Robbie Woods, is just like Robin Hood. So it?s only natural I?d take an interest in a hero with the same name (almost) as me. Isn?t it?

I?m not the only one to notice how like Robin Hood I am. All my uncles and aunties give me Robin Hood presents.

I?ve got Robin Hood teddies (I?ve had those since I was little).

I?ve got Robin Hood jigsaws( and it?s not easy doing a jigsaw which is nearly all green).

I?ve got all the videos of all the Robin Hood films and... I?ve got cassettes of Robin Hood songs. I made up my own version. I?d gallop round the playground (when I was little) singing: Robbie Woods, Robbie Woods And his Merry men

Robbie Woods, Robbie Woods Here he comes again. Feared by the bad . Loved by the good,

Robbie Woods, Robbie Woods Robbie Woods.

There were other versions, mostly made up by Bradley but I didn?t like those so much : Robbie Woods, Robbie Woods running round the school. Robbie Woods, Robbie Woods Looking like a fool . Feared by the bad . Loved by the girls,

Robbie Woods, Robbie Woods , Robbie Woods.

But I don?t care if Bradley teases. I want to play the part of Robin Hood . Trouble is – so does Bradley.

Chapter 4

Bradley is clever. Very clever.

Give him words to learn and before you can say. A B R A C A D A B R A Or SHAZAM

Or even you what?

He?s learnt them.

I have to try a bit harder. but I took the script and decided I would learn it by Monday. I read the words on the way home。 I spoke them out loud and clear.

Good morrow my Lord 。To the greenwood I go. We?re going to Greenford. Is that what you mean? I practised the actions. At teatime I practised.

Here comes.Maid Marian. At bathtime I practised.

I fight the foe with sword so bright. Under the greenwood tree I lie. At bedtime I practised. All the next day practiced.

I am Robin Hood with my Merry Robber Band.

It was hard 。I kept forgetting things and making mistakes but I didn?t give up. On Monday while everyone was out for playtime I got my chance to try for the part. “Take your time. Take a deep breath. Don?t be nervous,? said Miss Goody. And I did it.

I spoke very loud and very clear.

I did some brilliant acting and I remembered every word. I got the part.

Well done. Hooray! Fantastic! Hmmff!

“You really learnt the part well,”said Miss Goody. Now here?s the rest of it.

Pages and pages and pages of it. Oh dear!

Chapter5

Bradley got the part of little john . He got that part because he is the biggest in the class .he still really wanted to be Robin Hood.

?can?t wait for our swordfight scene,? he said.

Becky would have loved to be Robin Hood but she would also have been happy to be little John. Instead she was one of the ladies-in-waiting .She had to smile a lot and say,? Yes ,my lady.?

Jordan was the minstrel. He did?t want to be in the play at all but miss Goody instead.

I?d always thought a minstrel was a chocolate sweet but it turns out it?s someone who tells stories and sings songs . The minstrel in our story was the narrator. He told the tale in song with a little strum of the guitar every now and then.

He had lots of words to learn.

Of course the biggest and best part was the part of Robin Hood. Everybody wanted that part but I?d got it . ?You?ll never learn all that,? said Bradley.

But I was determined to be the best Robin Hood ever. I?ve got the part of a hero and a hero I shall be . I had three weeks to learn it .It was hard. I practised in the park . My friends helped.

I practised in the supermarket . My mum helped.

I practice all the way to school. The lollipop lady helped.

Even Becky helped me. She was bored being a lady-in-waiting so she rehearsed with me. She played Little John's part and gave me hints on fighting.

But I still got nervous when everyone(especially Bradley) was watching. They seemed to be waiting for me to make mistakes. And I made plenty of them.

I felt dizzy with worry.

Miss Goody took me to one side.

\ A bit worried? Oh no ……

Sometimes I was hot and bothered. Sometimes I was in a cold sweat.

I had knocking knees, cold feet, and goose pimples big as goose eggs.

I had shaky hands, wobbly legs and butterflies big as seagulls in my tummy. But I wasn?t a BIT worried.

But I was still determined to be Robin Hood.

Chapter6

At home I did my best to practise, but since Grandad came to live with us we don?t have a lot of spare room. I got a great echo practising in the bathroom but no one was very keen on me practising in there. Then Grandad said, ?You can practise in my shed. That?s the place for peace and quiet .?

The shed is where Grandad keeps all the piles of stuff he brought with him when Grandma died. He?s got boxes and boxes of bits and bobs that he says will come in useful.

He and Mum came down and cleared a space for me.

`If I move this box you can sit down here ,?said Mum. ?Oh…look at that! It?s your old banjo. You used to love playing that.?

?Play me a tune, Grandad,? I said.

But he just signed.?It?s not the same without your Grandma,? he said. ?She used to love to hear me play.?

?But we?d love to hear you play, wouldn?t we?? Mum nudged me. She?d been trying to cheer Grandad up for ages. ?Yes,? I said.

?Why don?t you help me with the minstrel scenes? You can sing his words and play the banjo.? ?It would really help him,? said my mum. Grandad gave the banjo a half-hearted twang. After half an hour there was no stopping him.

He was singing louder and louder, stomping his feet and playing faster and faster and he was really getting into the minstrel?s part. He even made up a minstrel dance.

We practised every day. He really cheered up and so did I. It made learning the words much easier and funny. I got an extra ticket for the play. I had a feeling that Grandad would want to see it.

At school the rehearsals were going better. I was remembering my words quite well, but it was hard acting with Bradley especially in that little bit too loud.

He would slap my back that little bit too often. And he would always push that little bit too hard.

In the final dress rehearsal he was really getting carried away. He was waving his stick round and round in the air. ?Careful, Bradley,? said Miss goody.

He was shouting louder and louder and pushing harder and harder until……he lost his balance and fell off the bridge. ?Ow! My ankle!?

He had sprained his ankle.

?You won?t be able to stand on that ankle for tonight?s performance, ?said Miss Goody.

?Ouch!?

?Will we have to cancel the play?? asked Becky. Carly started to cry. Kylie joined in.

Then Kaylee started.

They always did everything together. You?d think they were triplets.

They wailed and sobbed and sobbed and wailed. Miss Goody tried to make things better. ?Nobody blames you, Bradley,? she said, ?so stop sulking. And Carly and Company will you stop that noise. I can?t think.?

?Can anybody else learn the part……before tonight?? She looked at a group of boys. Scott shrugged. Sam shook his head. Jack shuffled his feet.

Miss Goody sighed. Everyone sighed. It was just not possible to learn the words and the actions in the time. Then Becky stoop up. ?What about me ??she said.

?I?ve practised the part with Robbie. I?ve been to all the rehearsals. I could do it really well. And Carly could have my part as lady-in-waiting.?

Carly stopped crying in mid sniff. ?Could I?? she said. Miss Goody stopped frowning. I signed with relief. Everyone cheered.

Carly and Co burst into tears of joy.

?That only leaves one problem,? said the secretary, coming in with a phone message. ?Jordan, the minstrel. He?s got the measles. ?Oh no!?said Bradley. ?Oh no!?said Becky.

?OH NO!!!?said everyone else except Carly and Co who were crying fit to bust. And now Becky was joining in and so was Jack. Even Bradley was getting a bit of a red nose.

I didn?t feel to happy myself.

After all I?d been through I wouldn?t be able to be Robin Hood. ?We shall meet the bog, forsooth.? ?After all that learning in the loo.? ?After all that practising in the park.?

After all that reading in my bed and after all that rehearsing with my grandad as the min… ?Hey!!! I?ve got a great idea.?

?Grandad knows the words and he plays the banjo.? ?The banjo? I?m not sure a minstrel…?

But we phoned Granded and he came to school. He showed how he knew all the words.

And he showed how well he played the banjo.

He danced his mad minstrel dance and everyone agreed he was brilliant. He glowed with pride.

Miss Goody sighed with relief and I felt…like a hero. In the performance that night the was nearly perfect.

He just made one mistake. He kept saying Robbie Woods instead of Robin Hood. I liked it.

?Oh hear our tale of Robbie Woods. He was brave and bold and great and good. He fought many a fierce foe. He found many a fine friend and he triumphed like a hero in the end.

And everyone clapped and clapped and clapped.

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