It was late evening when a tired knight came to the gate of an old monastery. He banged on the gate three times and waited. As no answer was coming from inside, he banged on the gate three times again. He heard some noise on the other side of the gate and than someone opened a little window on the door and looked at him.
‘Who are you and what do you want here?’ asked the person from the monastery.
‘I am a knight and I lost my way. It is too late tonight for me to continue in my travels. I need a bed and some food. I have money on me, so I will pay you,’ said the knight and waited for reply.
‘OK. Please, wait here. I will go and ask the abbot whether I can let you in or not.’
‘Good. Go and ask, but please, be quick! I am very tired and hungry,’ said the knight.
Few minutes later, the man was back at the gate. ‘The abbot said that you can spend your night here and you will get good dinner, sir knight. But you must leave your sword and all your weapons outside the monastery.
When the knight heard this, he got angry: ‘I am a knight of the Eastern lands. I have my sword always on me. Tell your abbot that I cannot leave my sword outside the monastery because without my sword I am not a knight anymore.’
‘I told him the same thing,’ said the man at the gate.
‘And what did he say?’ asked the knight.
‘He said it will be enough for you to leave your sword and other weapons on your horse. But you mustn’t have the sword on you.’
The knight thought for a while and then he agreed. He put his sword on his horse and his knife and other weapons too. He left them all on the back of his horse. He got off and when he was standing on his feet, the gate opened.
He walked through the gate with his horse.
The monks welcomed him and took him to a little room, not far from the gate. They gave him good food and then they sold him some wine, too. He liked their wine and bought some more. He drank it all and went to bed.
In the morning, he woke up and started shouting at the monks: ‘Where is my horse? What did you do with my horse? I have my swords on it and other things. Where is it?’
‘Calm down, good knight,’ said the abbot who came to the gate with other monks. ‘Your horse was hungry, so we let him eat some grass outside the monastery. We keep our horse there, as well’
The knight went out the gate and looked around. When he saw that his horse was eating grass on the hill, he calmed down a little. Then he turned to the abbot and said to him: ‘OK, my horse is here, but there is no saddle on it. I had my sword and other weapons there!’
‘Don’t worry,’ said the abbot. ‘We kept your saddle and your sword inside a room. Now you can take them and leave in peace. Here they are!’ said the abbot and two monks behind him came to the knight. They were carrying the saddle and all his things, including the sword.
The knight was very happy now. He put the saddle on his horse and the sword on his belt. He bought some more wine from the monks and he gave some gold coins to the abbot for his monastery.
‘Thank you all for your help,’ said the knight when he was on the horse. ‘I will not forget about you.’
Then he turned his horse and went down the hill.
monastery /ˈmɒnəstri/ – kláštor
abbot /ˈæbət/ – predstavený kláštora
sword /sɔːd/ – meč
weapon /ˈwepən/ – zbraň
including /ɪnˈkluːdɪŋ/ – vrátane
coin /kɔɪn/ – minca
Sparrow's English Reader 