Голицынский, 6-е издание – Артикль – Упражнение 59

The English king Richard the Lionheart was a tall, strong man. He was very proud of his strength and liked to show people how strong he was. Once, as he was riding on horseback in the countryside, his horse lost a shoe. Luckily he was not far from a village and soon he found a blacksmith. “Give me a good horseshoe,” he said to the man. The blacksmith gave the king a horseshoe. Richard took it in his hand and broke it in two. “This horseshoe is no good,” he said, “give me a better one.” The blacksmith did not say a word. He gave the king another horseshoe, but Richard broke it, too. The blacksmith gave him a third shoe. This time Richard was satisfied and ordered the blacksmith to shoe his horse. When the work was done, Richard offered the man a coin. The blacksmith took the coin between his fingers and broke it in two. Now it was Richard’s turn to be surprised. He took a larger coin out of his pocket and handed it to the blacksmith. The man broke it, too, saying, “This coin is no good, give me a better one.” Richard smiled and gave the man a gold coin.