Wise Men of Gotham and Other Stories (ESL/EFL Version with Audio)

By Qiliang Feng and Various Sources

This is Book 9, Collection II, of the Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) readers. It is suitable for learners with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words.
Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) is a reading project for ESL/EFL learners at the elementary level (with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words). In two years, for about fifteen minutes each day, an ESL/EFL learner can read one million words, and reach the upper-intermediate level, gaining a vocabulary of about 3,500 words and a large number of expressions.

[Text Information]
Readability | 83.35
Total word count | 15886
Words beyond 1500 | 869
Unknown word percentage (%) | 5.47
Unknown headword occurrence | 2.09
Unknown words that occur 5 times or more | 28
Unknown words that occur 2 times or more | 187

[Synopsis]
Wise Men of Gotham is the early name given to the people of the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, who are known for being foolish.
Stories of foolish people are told in almost every country. In Germany there are the Schildburgers, from the town of Schilda, and in the backcountry south of Warsaw, Poland, there are Chelmites, who come from a small Jewish village, named Chelm. In Ireland, stories are told about a foolish man named Sir Gaulard, and there are pedants in almost every country. In the old days, these stories brought joy to the dull and hard life of the people.
Even today, these stories still make us laugh. After laughing at these people, we might ask ourselves: aren’t we modern people, who consider ourselves wise, sometime just as foolish or even more foolish than those ancient people?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Qiliang Feng
• Release date: Dec 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310600173

Qiliang Feng

Qiliang Feng has been a teacher of English in senior high schools since 1983. He is a keen supporter of reading in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and is expert at rewriting graded/simplified ESL(English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) readers. He has published several series of English reading course books and is promoting a reading project called Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP), in which ESL/EFL learners at the elementary level (with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words) are expected to read one million words within two or three years, and reach the upper-intermediate level easily.

Book preview

About This Book

This is Book 9, Collection II, of the Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) readers. It is suitable for learners with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words.

Million-Word Reading Project (MWRP) is a reading project for ESL/EFL learners at the elementary level (with a basic vocabulary of 1,500 words). In two years, for about fifteen minutes each day, an ESL/EFL learner can read one million words, and reach the upper-intermediate level, gaining a vocabulary of about 3,500 words and a large number of expressions.

Text Information

Readability | 83.4

Total word count | 15886

Words beyond 1500 | 869

Unknown word percentage (%) | 5.47

Unknown headword occurrence | 2.09

Unknown words that occur 5 times or more | 28

Unknown words that occur 2 times or more | 187

Notes:

1. About readability: This is Flesch Reading Ease Readability calculated with MS WORD. The higher the score, the easier the text is to read.

Score | Level

0-29 | Very difficult

30-49 | Difficult

50-59 | Fairly difficult

60-69 | Standard

70-79 | Fairly easy

80-89 | Easy

90-100 | Very easy

2. This e-version does not give the meanings of unknown words. You can look them up with the dictionary on your e-reader. For words with different meanings and some expressions, we give their meanings at the end of the passages. We also provide some necessary background information.

3. To get the audio or video of this book, GO>>>

Synopsis

Wise Men of Gotham is the early name given to the people of the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, who are known for being foolish.

Stories of foolish people are told in almost every country. In Germany there are the Schildburgers, from the town of Schilda, and in the backcountry south of Warsaw, Poland, there are Chelmites, who come from a small Jewish village, named Chelm. In Ireland, stories are told about a foolish man named Sir Gaulard, and there are pedants in almost every country. In the old days, these stories brought joy to the dull and hard life of the people.

Even today, these stories still make us laugh. After laughing at these people, we might ask ourselves: aren’t we modern people, who consider ourselves wise, sometime just as foolish or even more foolish than those ancient people?

Wise Men of Gotham

1. Wise Men of Gotham

There is a town in England called Gotham, and many merry stories are told of the queer people who used to live there.

One day, news was brought to Gotham that the king was coming that way, and that he would pass through the town. This did not please the men of Gotham at all. They hated the king, for they knew that he was a cruel, bad man. If he came to their town, they would have to find food and lodging for him and his men; and if he saw anything that pleased him, he would be sure to take it for his own. What should they do?

They met together to talk the matter over.

Let us chop down the big trees in the woods, so that they will block up all the roads that lead into the town, said one of the wise men.

Good! said all the rest.

So they went out with their axes, and soon all the roads and paths to the town were filled with logs and branches. The king’s horsemen would have a hard time getting into Gotham. They would either have to make a new road, or give up the plan altogether, and go on to some other place.

When the king came, and saw that the road had been blocked up, he was very angry.

Who chopped those trees down in my way? he asked two country lads that were passing by.

The men of Gotham, said the lads.

Well, said the king, go and tell the men of Gotham that I shall send my sheriff into their town, and have all their noses cut off.

The two lads ran to the town as fast as they could, and told people what the king had said.

Everybody was frightened. The men ran from house to house, carrying the news, and asking one another what they should do.

Our wits have kept the king out of the town, said one; and so now our wits must save our noses.

True, true! said the others. But what shall we do?

Then one, whose name was Dobbin, and who was thought to be the wisest of them all, said, Let me tell you something. Many a man has been punished because he was wise, but I have never heard of any one being harmed because he was a fool. So, when the king’s sheriff comes, let us all act like fools.

Good, good! cried the others. We will all act like fools.

It was no easy thing for the king’s men to open the roads; and while they were doing it, the king grew tired of waiting, and went back to London. But very early one morning, the sheriff with a party of angry soldiers rode through the woods, and between the fields, toward Gotham. Just before they reached the town, they saw a queer sight. The old men were rolling big stones up the hill, and all the young men were looking on, and shouting