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Country: Spain, Catalunya |
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| Rationale
for Choice: PAGE 1 Once upon a time, there was a very avaricious and stingy old woman who was a real scrooge. That means that she kept thinking over for a long time before getting rid of her cents. And, if possible, she avoided giving anything to anyone. This old woman had a wheat field but, as she was too old to reap it, somebody else had to do the job. Every year, when she had to employ a reaper man she spent a fortnight haggling over the pay of the reaping and the reaper men always got the worst part. PAGE 2 One year a crafty and jaunty reaper man came along. He was called Quimarro, and the other reaper men explained to him that in that village there was an old and wicked woman who swindled them. Young Quimarro said he was going to sort it out. He went to meet the old stingy woman, and he accepted the payment that she offered which was a pot of soup after a whole reaping day. PAGE 3 On the agreed day, young Quimarro appeared at the old woman's house and she gave him a pot with watered soup to be eaten all day long. Young Quimarro took the soup and slowly, little by little, went to the wheat field. PAGE 4 When he arrived at the fields, he lay in the shade of an oak tree without touching the sickle. At breakfast time, he woke up and slowly, little by little, he ate some soup. Then he lay in the shade again. He did the same at lunch time and at the afternoon snack time. He lay all day long, and he did not touch the wheat. PAGE 5 In the twilight, under the oak tree, he found some dung beetles and, to tease the old woman, he put them into the pot and slowly, little by little, he went back to the woman's house. PAGE 6 As soon as the old woman saw young Quimarro, she asked him: • Well? How did the reaping go? And young Quimarro replied: • It could not go better and the wheat cannot be better than it is, and, by the way, I have been very lucky, because I have found a swarm of bees. I put them into the pot, and then, at the proper time, I will have honey. PAGE 7 • Hoity-toity! – claimed the old stingy woman-. I do not believe it at all, young Quimarro; these bees are mine, because you found them in my fields, while you were working for me and, therefore the bees are mine. PAGE 8 Young Quimarro said no and the old woman said yes. And then young Quimarro said no and the old woman said yes, and the more they talked over it, the less they agreed, till they decide to go to the Justice of Peace, who was a wellbeing rural man of the nearby, to see who was right and who was the owner of those supposed bees. PAGE 9 The Justice of Peace listened to them carefully, one after the other, and when he wrote the reasons of one and the other, he told them: • If you have found the bees in the woman's fields while working for her, young Quimarro, even though you are the reaper man who found them, the bees belong to her. PAGE 10 Young Quimarro seemed to be angry and enraged. He grumbled and growled, and at last he said: • That is neither fair nor lawful. I wish the swarm of bees to turn into an amount of dung beetles and I wish your wheat fields remain as if nobody had ever reaped them! And once that was said, he slammed the door when he went out. PAGE 11 The old woman went back home happily, because she had won and because she wanted to put the bees from the jar into a beehive. She arrived home, she switched on the light, she took the soup pot and…: • Yuck! You can imagine how upset and annoyed she was when she saw those beetles! She thought young Quimarro was a wizard and that he had thrown her a curse. She could not sleep the whole night thinking that perhaps the wheat had been unreaped. PAGE 12 The morning after, she had butterflies in her stomach as she ran out to the wheat fields and she found the spikes straight and golden as if they would have never been touched by the blade of the sickle. It was then when the old woman became really scared! And she really promised herself that next year she would employ another reaper man, although he were more expensive, the pay would not matter, as long as he was not a wizard like young Quimarro. Young Quimarro was not a wizard but only a very crafty and jaunty reaper man. He certainly was!
BEFORE READING 1st Activity: “Geographical key points” The teacher shows a map of Catalonia and asks the children if they know where it is in the world. Then she shows a map of Spain and sticks the maps one near the other. The children can match the Catalonia shape into the Spanish one. The teacher finally shows a European map to place Catalonia and Spain and how far they are from Great Britain and the United Kingdom and other countries.
2 nd Activity: “The Catalan countryman” The teacher shows three different flashcards with traditional Catalan clothes: esparto grass cordage shoes: “espardenyes”, a little red and black wool hat :“barretina” and the sickle: “falç”. The children have to describe them and guess their utility. The teacher has all the children's descriptions written on the board under each flashcard. Finally, she sticks the real descriptions under the cards and children can have fun checking how many things they have guessed or how far they were from the truth.
3 rd Activity: “Let's invent the story!” The teacher has the images scanned and maid into flashcards. She just sticks on the board three of them, representing the key moments of the story. The pupils work in groups of three in order to imagine a story with those three moments. They explain it orally.
WHILST READING 1 st Activity: “Let's discover the story!” The teacher reads the story once. Then she sticks all the missing images on the board, but they are scrambled. The teacher reads the story a second time and her pupils have to put the flashcards in order.
2 nd Activity: “The old scrooge stingy woman says…” It is the game known as “Simon says” but this time it is not Simon but “The old scrooge stingy woman” who gives the orders. The orders can be the following related to the text: Eat the soup! Reap the wheat with the sickle! Fall asleep! Walk slowly, little by little! Knock at the door! Slam the door! Get angry and enraged! Get annoyed and say “Yuck”!
Before playing, the teacher explains the actions.
3 rd Activity: “Act it out” The teacher reads the story for the third time. She changes her intonation when an action is coming in order to warn the children to act it out. The orders are the same as in the previous activity, so they are familiar with them.
AFTER READING 1 st Activity: “A play” This activity is a review of the story and its aim is to perform it. Half of the class will be Young Quimarro and the other half will be the old scrooge woman. They can change their roles to work on both characters. The teacher will develop the Justice of Peace character. Young Quimarro has the following short and adapted dialogues: - I am going to sort it out (reply 1) - How much are you going to pay me? (sentence 2) - Very well, the wheat is already reaped and I have found a swarm of bees. I put them into the pot to have honey. (reply 3) - No, it is mine. I have found it. (reply 4) - Let's go to the Justice of Peace! (reply 5) - I am angry and I wish the swarm of bees will turn into an amount of dung beetles and I wish your wheat fields remain as if nobody had ever reaped them! (sentence 6) The old scrooge woman has the following short and adapted dialogues: - I need a reaper man to reap my wheat fields but I do not want to pay him. (sentence 1) - A pot of soup. (reply 2) - When? Well, how did the reaping go? (sentence 3) - Hoity-toity! This swarm is mine! (sentence 4) - Let's go to the Justice of Peace! (sentence 5) - I am very happy! (reply 6) - I want to put the bees into a beehive…dung beetles…Yuck! (sentence 7 with no reply) - Young Quimarro is a wizard! I promise myself that next year I will employ another reaper man and the payment will not matter. (sentence 8 with no reply) The Justice of Peace should say: - If you have found the bees in the woman's fields while working for her, young Quimarro, even if you are the reaper man who found them, the bees belong to her.
The reaping season In the agricultural cycle, the intensity of the work kept on varying along the year, and arrives to its culminating point during the crop. It is then when the reaping season arrives, peasants pick up the fruits (wheat) that they have been waiting for twelve months. In the case of cereals, this period corresponds to the harvesting. The wheat is cut with a sickle during the months of June and July. The reaping season or the grape harvest was a good moment to listen to tales, explained by one of the reaper men at nap time or in the twilight. Those tales were used to highlight the wit of the protagonist. The reaper man The peasant who is employed to gather the crops. Today, harvesting machines develop the hard job. The reaper men became a symbol of the Catalans and they are included in the Catalan national anthem. The Old scrooge woman is a traditional tale explained by the reaper men. They got to travel around the country looking for a job, and they used to explain it as if it was true, to avoid their bosses being stingy with their payments. The sickle It is a tool used by the reaper men for cutting grain crops. It has a short handle and a long curved blade. The reaper man holds the sickle with his main hand and, with the other hand, he holds a bunch of wheat ears. In this case, the sickle action goes towards him, but when used free, the sickle cuts to the opposite side. It became a symbol of the Catalans and was also included in the lyrics of the national anthem.
The wheat fields The wheat fields are the land extensions where wheat grows. Wheat is a cereal which is usually used to make bread. In Catalonia this cereal is known as “Morocco wheat” giving his origin
to the The Justice of the Peace A Justice of the Peace is a person who is not a lawyer but who can act as a judge in a local criminal law court. The abbreviation JP is also used. In some villages of Catalonia a Justice of the Peace is a wellbeing man of the nearby, appreciated and respected by the inhabitants of the small town who has been elected to solve minor cases that could affect the peace of the village. A pot of soup A pot is a deep round container used for cooking stews, soups and other food. Not only in Catalonia, the soup is a liquid food made by boiling meat, fish or vegetables in water. The nation of Catalonia has a very popular soup called “escudella”. It is a stew home-made with chickpeas or haricot beans, veal and pork meats and some vegetables. It is the most ancient recipe of the Catalan kitchen and it is commonly eaten in two phases: first you eat the soup and then you eat the meat and vegetables. Typical clothes of the Catalan peasant On his feet: he wore esparto grass cordage sandals called “espardenyes”. The esparto grass was used in the sole because of the comfort and freshness of the raw material. The cover was made of white cotton clothes and it only protected the toes and the heels. They were tied to the ankles with long black strips.
On his head: he wore a small red woollen beret, bag shaped, with a wide black stripe round the forehead. It is called “barretina”. This was a hand-made cap knitted mainly in red, but its colours and shapes were changing according to the profession, social class or civil state. It became a Catalan symbol.
On his body: he wore woollen or cotton trousers and a cotton white shirt under a dark waistcoat.
NB Further literature and language-based
activities can be found in |
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The NCRCL website is hosted by Roehampton University ncrcl January 2005 |
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