READING COMPREHENSION 7-th Form (Term I)

TOM’S FIRST ROYAL DINNER

At about one o’clock, Tom was dressed for dinner. Then he was taken to a large room, where a table for one person was ready. The room was full of people. All of them knew that the Prince was mad and that they didn’t have to show any surprise if he did anything strange.

Poor Tom ate with fingers, but no one smiled. He looked at his napkin with great interest and then said: “Take it away, please, I’m afraid it will become dirty.” The napkin was taken away without a word of protest.

When he finished his dessert he filled his pockets with nuts but nobody paid any attention to that either. Suddenly his nose began to itch. He looked first at one then at the other of the lords near him. They ran up to him and asked what the matter was. Tom said with the tears in his eyes: “My nose is itching terribly. What shall I do?” Nobody smiled, nobody knew how to help him. Tears began to run down his cheeks; at last he begged pardon of the people standing around him and scratched his nose himself. Nobody smiled but all were sorry for the Prince.

At last our small friend was led to his cabinet and left alone. Then he remembered the nuts. He took them out of his pockets and soon was cracking them and feeling almost happy for the first time since he became a Prince.

When the nuts were eaten up, he found some books in the bookcase, among them one about the etiquette of the English court. He lay down upon the sofa and began to read it.

to itch - свербіти

to beg pardon - просити пробачення

to scratch - чухати