Beauty and the Beast - Student's Book [antikvár]

CHAPTER 1 ONCE UPON A TIME IN A COUNTRY FAR AWAY, THERE LIVED A very rich merchant. In fact, the merchant was the richest man in town. The merchant and his wife had three sons and two daughters. The family lived in a very big house with many rooms and servants. The merchant's wife gave birth to another daughter. The youngest daughter was very beautiful, so everyone called her Beauty. Soon after Beauty's birth, her mother died. As she grew older, Beauty became prettier and prettier. Her sisters were very jealous because everyone admired her. They were very mean to her and never played with Beauty. Beauty's brothers were nice to her, but they were always busy, so they didn't play wdth her either. The merchant's older daughters were very spoiled and always asked their father for gifts. Beauty never asked her father for anything, so she became his favourite. Beauty's sisters often went to parties, but Beauty stayed home with her father. Beauty loved books and enjoyed reading to her father. A lot of young men wanted to marry Beauty's sisters because the girls were very rich. However, Beauty's sisters were not interested in these young men. They wanted to marry a prince or a duke. So they waited. Beauty was in no hurry to get married either. "My Prince wdll appear some day," she thought. And so the years went by. Beauty's sisters became even meaner to her because they couldn't find good enough husbands. But Beauty never complained. There was a young man in tovm called Pierre. He was very handsome but he also showed off a lot. Pierre wanted to marry Beauty because she was so beautiful and so rich. One day, he decided to visit her. He went to Beauty's house and knocked on the door. A servant opened the door. "Who are you sir and what do you want?" the servant asked. "I am Pierre and I want to talk to Beauty," answered Pierre very rudely. "Is she expecting you?" the servant asked. "No, but that is not important," Pierre replied. "Just tell her I am here." "I cannot do that," said the servant. She was about to close the door when Beauty appeared.