Old Sultan

by Brothers Grimmfrom Grimm's Fairy Tales

This reading comprehension includes difficult vocabulary (in bold) defined at the end,
as well as a reading comprehension quiz to check your understanding.

A shepherd had a faithful dog, called Sultan, who was grown very old, and had lost
all his teeth. And one day when the shepherd and his wife were standing together
before the house the shepherd said, 'I will shoot old Sultan tomorrow morning, for he
is of no use now.' But his wife said, 'Pray let the poor faithful creature live; he has
served us well a great many years, and we ought to give him a livelihood for the rest
of his days.' 'But what can we do with him?' said the shepherd, 'he has not a tooth in
his head, and the thieves don't care for him at all; to be sure he has served us, but
then he did it to earn his livelihood; tomorrow shall be his last day, depend upon it.'

Poor Sultan, who was lying close by them, heard all that the shepherd and his wife said
to one another, and was very much frightened to think tomorrow would be his last day;
so in the evening he went to his good friend the wolf, who lived in the wood, and told
him all his sorrows, and how his master meant to kill him in the morning. 'Make
yourself easy,' said the wolf, 'I will give you some good advice. Your master, you know,
goes out every morning very early with his wife into the field; and they take their little
child with them, and lay it down behind the hedge in the shade while they are at
work. Now do you lie down close by the child, and pretend to be watching it, and I will
come out of the wood and run away with it; you must run after me as fast as you can,
and I will let it drop; then you may carry it back, and they will think you have saved
their child, and will be so thankful to you that they will take care of you as long as you
live.' The dog liked this plan very well; and accordingly so it was managed. The wolf
ran with the child a little way; the shepherd and his wife screamed out; but Sultan
soon overtook him, and carried the poor little thing back to his master and mistress.
Then the shepherd patted him on the head, and said, 'Old Sultan has saved our child
from the wolf, and therefore he shall live and be well taken care of, and have plenty to
eat. Wife, go home, and give him a good dinner, and let him have my old cushion to
sleep on as long as he lives.' So from this time forward Sultan had all that he could
wish for.

Soon afterwards the wolf came and wished him joy, and said, 'Now, my good fellow,
you must tell no tales, but turn your head the other way when I want to taste one of
the old shepherd's fine fat sheep.' 'No,' said the Sultan; 'I will be true to my master.'
However, the wolf thought he was in joke, and came one night to get a dainty
morsel. But Sultan had told his master what the wolf meant to do; so he laid wait for
him behind the barn door, and when the wolf was busy looking out for a good fat
sheep, he had a stout cudgel laid about his back, that combed his locks for him
finely.

Then the wolf was very angry, and called Sultan 'an old rogue,' and swore he would
have his revenge. So the next morning the wolf sent the boar to challenge Sultan to
come into the wood to fight the matter. Now Sultan had nobody he could ask to be his
second but the shepherd's old three-legged cat; so he took her with him, and as the
poor thing limped along with some trouble, she stuck up her tail straight in the air.

The wolf and the wild boar were first on the ground; and when they espied their
enemies coming, and saw the cat's long tail standing straight in the air, they thought
she was carrying a sword for Sultan to fight with; and every time she limped, they
thought she was picking up a stone to throw at them; so they said they should not like
this way of fighting, and the boar lay down behind a bush, and the wolf jumped up into
a tree. Sultan and the cat soon came up, and looked about and wondered that no one
was there. The boar, however, had not quite hidden himself, for his ears stuck out of
the bush; and when he shook one of them a little, the cat, seeing something move,
and thinking it was a mouse, sprang upon it, and bit and scratched it, so that the boar
jumped up and grunted, and ran away, roaring out, 'Look up in the tree, there sits the
one who is to blame.' So they looked up, and espied the wolf sitting amongst the
branches; and they called him a cowardly rascal, and would not suffer him to come
down till he was heartily ashamed of himself, and had promised to be good friends
again with old Sultan.

Vocabulary

faithful - true to someone or something to pat - similar to petting

was grown - old passive form - more common dainty morsel - tasty bit of food
'had grown'
stout - fat, big and round
creature - animal
cudgel - short, heavy stick, a club
livelihood - job, means of living
locks - hair
depend upon it - count on something, be sure of
something rogue - unreliable, deceitful person

sorrows - sadness boar - wild pig

to mean - intend to do something to limp - walk with difficulty

hedge - group of shrubs that grow together to to espy - to see in the distanceto scratch - to
make a natural wall scrape,

shade - area of shadows, cool area where sun is hurt someone or somethingto grunt - to make a
blocked by something low sound

accordingly - in that mannerto heartily - with warmth and sincerity

overtake - to pass, catch up with rascal - unreliable, deceitful person