World Literature (Aesop Fables)｜世界文学（イソップ童話）Lesson78: The Farmer and His Sons

PART A_1

Let’s learn vocabulary. Listen and repeat the words and the sentences with your tutor.

PART A_2

1.　estate	/i-STEYT/
	-a large area of land in the country which is owned by a family or an organization and is often used for growing crops or raising animals
	The largest estate in the town belongs to a prominent family.
2.　treasure	/TRE-zher/
	-very valuable things, usually in the form of a store of precious metals, precious stones or money
	The miners found the hidden treasure in a quarry site.
3.　spare	/sper/
	-to give time or money to someone
	She had time to spare so she decided to drop her social life.
4.　harvest	/HAR-vest/
	-when crops are cut and gathered from fields
	She is now harvesting the crops to be able to sell them.
5.　bountiful	/BAWN-ti-ful/
	-(of a person) generous, or (of a thing) large in amount
	The real estate which the petitioner defended was bountiful land.

PART B_1

Let’s read the story. Please read them aloud, and I will check your pronunciation and intonation.

PART B_2

The Farmer and His Sons

A rich old farmer, who felt that he had not many more days to live, called his sons to his bedside.

“My sons,” he said, “heed what I have to say to you. Do not on any account part with the estate that has belonged to our family for so many generations. Somewhere on it is hidden a rich treasure. I do not know the exact spot, but it is there, and you will surely find it. Spare no energy and leave no spot unturned in your search.”

The father died, and no sooner was he in his grave than the sons set to work digging with all their might, turning up every foot of ground with their spades, and going over the whole farm two or three times.

No hidden gold did they find; but at harvest time when they had settled their accounts and had pocketed a rich profit far greater than that of any of their neighbors, they understood that the treasure their father had told them about was the wealth of a bountiful crop and that in their industry had they found the treasure.

The industry is itself a treasure.

PART C_1

Let’s answer comprehension questions. Please answer them based on the story.

PART C_2

1.	What was the message of the farmer to his sons?
2.	Were the sons able to find the treasure?
3.	What did the sons realize about the treasure?

PART D_1

Let’s discuss the story. Please answer the questions below and express your opinions.

PART D_2

1.	Do you think the farmer knows that there is no treasure in the ground? How did you say so?
2.	What do you think is the objective of the farmer in giving that last statement to his sons?
3.	How do you think the sons react upon finding out that there was no treasure? Do you think they are happy with the industry?
4.	Do you agree with the moral of the story? Why or why not?
5.	Why do you think one should always protect his/her industry?

REVIEW AND FEEDBACK

Now, let us review the things that you learned in this lesson.

ではこのレッスンで学んだことを振り返りましょう。

(Please give a short feedback on how your student did on your class.)

	Grammar 文法	Pronunciation 発音	Vocabulary 単語	Comprehension 理解
GOOD	文法の誤りはほとんどなく、完全な文章で話すことができる	ほとんどの単語をはっきりと正しく発音することができる	習った表現を適切に使うことができる	文章を理解し、質問に正しく答えることができる
FAIR	文法の誤りはあるが、完全な文章で話すことができる	発音の練習が必要な言葉がいくつかある	たまにミスはあるが、習った表現を適切に使うことができる	文章を完全に理解するのは難しく、質問に正しく答えられないときもある
POOR	文章で話すのは難しく、単語だけで話すことができる	発音の練習が必要である	習った単語と表現を少しだけ使うことができる	文章を理解するのは難しく、質問に答えるのは難しい

TUTOR FEEDBACK

GRAMMAR
Good:	Was able to speak in complete sentences with minimal grammatical errors.
Fair:	Was able to speak in complete sentences with evident grammatical errors.
Poor:	Was able to speak using words only.
PRONUNCIATION
Good:	Was able to pronounce most of the words clearly and correctly.
Fair:	Mispronounced a few words.
Poor:	Mispronounced most of the words.
VOCABULARY
Good:	Used appropriate expressions learned in class.
Fair:	Used appropriate expressions learned in class and made a few errors in word choice.
Poor:	Used only a few words and expressions.
COMPREHENSION
Good:	Was able to understand the passages and answer the questions correctly.
Fair:	Had a little difficulty in understanding passages and answering questions.
Poor:	Had a hard time understanding passages and answering questions.

Parts of this lesson material are based on:
An eBook from The Project Gutenberg.
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