Jerry got up early in the morning. He always does. He likes it when he gets out of his house and people in other houses are still sleeping. Everything is quiet. Just before the sun gets up. Just before the birds start singing.
He goes to work early because it is far away from where he lives. He needs to drive there for an hour, so he always goes early in the morning to avoid the traffic on the roads.
He had his breakfast and his morning coffee. He put his shoes on and got off the house. Everything was dark and quiet as always. He was walking to his car when, suddenly, there was a sharp light everywhere.
At first he didn’t know what was happening. It was as if someone had turned on a switch. Slowly, he looked up. He was shading his eyes with his hand. Now he was shocked. There was a flying saucer above his head.
Suddenly, an alien appeared in front of him. He had big black eyes and he was looking at Jerry and Jerry was looking at him. After a minute, Jerry finally said to the alien:
‘Look, I have to go to work, so I hope you are coming in peace!’
The alien didn’t say anything. He just turned his head a little. It was clear that he didn’t understand.
‘Do you understand what I am asking?’ Jerry asked.
The alien was quiet.
‘You can’t speak English? You’re joking!’ Jerry said to him. ‘You fly over half the universe, and you do not learn English?’
The alien was quiet.
‘Man, let me tell you something,’ Jerry said to the alien. ‘On this planet, everyone can speak some English. Even the monkeys in the jungle. So, if you can’t speak English, learn it. Or you can get back on your saucer and fly away.’
The alien made no sound. He was only looking at Jerry and he was turning his head a little.
‘Look, I have no time for this,’ said Jerry and started walking to his car. ‘I really hope that you come in peace. So please, please, do not burn my house, OK?’ he said to the alien and pointed to his house.
Then he got into his car and drove to work.
When he came to the office, everybody was excited. They were watching news on TV.
‘Jerry, isn’t this where you live?’
Jerry looked at the screen. They were showing houses, many houses, and all of them were on fire. He knew those houses. Of course, he knew them. Those were his neighbours’ houses. All of them were burning.
And then the camera showed one house in the middle of the burning town. It was the only house, which was not on fire. Jerry knew that house. Yes, he knew it very well.
‘So he could speak some English,’ he smiled and went to his desk to do some work so that he could go home early.
avoid /əˈvɔɪd/ – vyhnúť sa
as if – akoby
shade /ʃeɪd/ – tieniť, cloniť
flying saucer /ˌflaɪɪŋ ˈsɔːsə(r)/ – lietajúci tanier
alien /ˈeɪliən/ – mimozemšťan
appear /əˈpɪə(r)/ – zjaviť sa
peace /piːs/ – mier
universe /ˈjuːnɪvɜːs/ – vesmír
even /ˈiːvn/ – dokonca aj
point /pɔɪnt/ (v) – ukázať (prstom)
be on fire – horieť
so that – aby
Sparrow's English Reader 