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The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Other Animal Tales

by Norwegian folk tales, tr. George Webbe Dasent · graded reader

  • 4 chapters
  • 1,620 words
  • about 12 min
  • folk tales

Three hungry goats must cross a bridge where an ugly troll lives. A clever fox teaches a bear to fish with his tail. A big white bear frightens a house full of trolls, and a cross husband learns that housework is not easy. Four funny tales from Norway.

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Once upon a time there are three billy goats. Their family name is Gruff. They live in a valley, and they are very hungry.

On the hill there is a lot of green grass. "Let's go up the hill," say the goats. "We can eat the grass and get fat."

But on the way there is a river, and over the river there is a bridge. Under the bridge lives a big, ugly troll. His eyes are as big as plates, and his nose is very, very long.

First the youngest billy goat Gruff comes to the bridge. He is very small.

"Trip, trap! Trip, trap!" goes the bridge.

"Who is that on my bridge?" shouts the troll.

"Oh, it is only me, the smallest billy goat Gruff," says the goat in a small voice. "I am going up the hill to eat grass and get fat."

"Now I am coming to eat you up!" says the troll.

Words you will learn

Common A1 words in this book. Tap one for its note and the sentence it comes from.

Chapters

  1. The Three Billy Goats Gruff · 3 min
  2. Why the Bear Has a Short Tail · 2 min
  3. The Cat on the Mountain · 3 min
  4. The Husband Who Kept House · 4 min

Translations

Word notes in Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Hindi. Paragraph translations in Turkish and Spanish. More languages are being added.

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