2-1 A Bear's Birthday II
The huge piece of paper was a note that pronounced the birthday party of Big Bear. P
Everyone was excited and surprised that it was Big Bear's birthday. P
After reading the note, everyone went to Big Bear's home to wish him a Happy Birthday. P
One by one everyone said, "Happy Birthday, Big Bear!" P
Everyone then bowed their heads, since Big Bear was their elder. P
Raccoon was the first to go, and said, P
"Big Bear, I wish you a long and healthy life." P
As everyone recited their greetings, P
Big Bear responded with a large smile and said, "Thank you!" P
Even baby squirrel went and said, "Happy Birthday." P
Big Bear happily accepted his greetings, P
and patted baby squirrel on his head saying, "Thank You." P
2-2 The Sun and the Moon I
One day, the sun and the moon met and told stories to each other about the village where they lived. P
"Everything in the village is so lively and beautiful, P
and everyone works so hard, don't you think?" the sun said. P
"Even all the plants burst with colors and look so pretty." P
Confused by what the sun said, the moon responded, "No, they're not. P
All the plants shine silver, and the only thing the people do is sleep." P
The sun then asked, "People are sleeping? No, they're not. P
They are always busy working!" P
Neither of them realized that they see different things. P
So the sun couldn't understand what the moon was saying, P
nor did the moon understand what the sun was saying. P
2-3 The Sun and the Moon II
Not being able to come up with an answer, P
they decided to ask Grandfather Cloud. P
After hearing the stories from both the moon and the sun, P
Grandfather Cloud laughed, "Ha ha ha!" P
"You are both right! P
It's just that there is another world that each of you don't know about." P
Baffled the sun asked, "What do you mean?" P
"The problem here is that the sun tells the moon what it's like during the day, P
and the moon tells the sun what it's like during the night." P
Both the moon and the sun did not realize that more than one person can be right about the same thing. P
Grandfather Cloud then explained to both the sun and the moon that just because one's thoughts are correct, P
does not mean that the other thoughts are wrong. P
Realizing this, both the sun and the moon bowed to each other and accepted the truth of the other's words. P
2-4 The Mushroom's Laugh I
One day, an ant went on a journey, and soon, it began to rain. P
The ant tried to save himself from being washed away by holding onto a blade of grass. P
It looked like a safe place for him to hide from the rain. P
Then he saw a snail, just sitting outside in the rain. P
The ant was envious of the snail. P
At that moment, a mushroom called out to the ant from afar: P
"Hey ant, you should come over here and hide from the rain." P
The ant went and sat under the mushroom. P
The mushroom was like a big umbrella blocking the rain. P
2-5 The Mushroom's Laugh II
"Thank you. My body is so light that it gets washed away with just a little bit of rain. P
I wish I had a home on my back like the snail." P
The mushroom, comforted the ant and said, P
"Ant, don't be so envious of the snail. P
Everyone has something that others may be envious of." P
Though the ant knew that the mushroom was trying to comfort him, P
he didn't feel any better and still felt envious of the snail. P
A few days later, the ant visited the mushroom with its family. P
2-6 The Mushroom's Laugh III
The bright sunlight blinded the ants, so the mushroom shaded them. P
The ant family brought a picnic and ate it with the mushroom. P
Then, the snail, sweating a great deal, came towards them. P
The ant, knowing that the snail was very tired, offered some water to the snail. P
"Ant, thank you. You must be very happy that your body is so light. P
It's difficult for me to carry around this heavy house on my back." P
"Really? I was envious of you, but you envy me, too!" P
And everyone laughed together. P
2-7 King Sejong I
Early one morning, the king was walking around the palace. P
He spied a young scholar who had fallen asleep at his seat while studying until dawn. P
"He must be cold in this early morning air." P
The king took off his cloak and covered the young scholar. P
The king took care of his subjects the same way he took care of himself. P
The king watched very carefully how his people lived. P
He often went out of the palace to see if his people might be suffering, or need his help in any way. P
Because of his care, he accomplished many great things for his people. P
2-8 King Sejong II
During his reign, our country used Chinese characters to write. P
The Chinese characters were difficult for the common people to learn. P
The king felt sympathy for the people who had difficulty learning the Chinese characters. P
As the king pondered a way to change the Chinese characters, he said, P
"We need simpler letters. P
I should make letters that are easy for people to learn and write." P
Day and night, the king worked hard to create letters that would make the Korean language easy to write. P
Many scholars helped the king. P
The king continued to work hard on creating the letters, P
even when he was afflicted with an eye disease. P
The Hangul we use today is the set of letters that the king and his scholars created. P
2-9 Don't Give Up I
As Brian, Michael, and Justin left school through the school gates, Brian said to Michael, P
"Hey, Michael! Let's go biking in the park after lunch!" P
Michael then responded, "Alright." P
Justin, however, felt depressed after hearing that Brian and Michael wanted to go biking. P
Justin didn't know how to ride a bike. P
Knowing this, Michael asked Justin, P
"Hey! Why don't you try learning how to ride a bike today?" P
Michael didn't know that Justin gave up learning how to ride a bike last year. P
2-10 Don't Give Up II
Justin didn't want to learn to ride a bike because he was afraid. P
But Justin was also very determined, so when he got home, P
he took out his dusty bike, and then he tried to get on it. P
He tried to step on the pedals, but he and the bike both fell down together. P
As he got up, Justin scraped his knees and they started to bleed. P
They hurt so very much. P
Determined, Justin told himself not to give up! P
The faces of his friends Brian and Michael kept him going. P
2-11 Don't Give Up III
Justin felt that if he didn't learn how to ride a bike they would think of him as a coward. P
Fall after fall, Justin would just get up again, no matter how many times it happened. P
He began to sense that he might be able to ride better if someone helped hold the bike for him. P
Just then, Brian and Michael came along unexpectedly. P
"Are you learning how to ride a bike?" P
Michael asked with his eyes wide open. P
"Huh? No, no.…." P
Justin stuttered as his face reddened. P
"Well, why don't we hold it for you?" Michael offered. P
Brian ran to Justin and picked up his bike for him. P
Then Michael and Brian held the bike for him. P
2-12 Don't Give Up IV
Justin got on the bike carefully. P
He placed his feet on the bike pedals as his friends told him to do. P
The bike went forward smoothly without falling. P
But when his friends took their hands off the bike, he fell down again. P
He felt ashamed, but it seemed like he would feel more shame if he just gave up. P
On Saturday, the boys all met again. P
"Hey, Justin. You can ride a bike pretty well now, right?" P
Justin was not confident about it, but he got on his bike. P
2-13 Don't Give Up V
Justin kept telling himself to hold on tight and not let go. P
Brian knew that Justin was scared, and said, P
"It's ok. Don't worry. We'll hold on tight." P
When Brian and Michael realized that Justin was able to ride the bike alone, they let go of the bike. P
Thinking that his friends were still holding on to that bike, P
Justin pedaled the bike hard. P
Justin went forward on his bike, steadily, at a good speed. P
"Oh, Justin, you're doing great!" P
Shouted Brian and Michael. P
"Huh? I'm riding it all by myself? Hooray!" P
"Congratulations!" said Brian and Michael, smiling. P
2-14 To Chanho I
Hello! It's me, Carrie. P
At the last Children's Day celebration, P
we had the finals for the dodge ball tournament between our classes. P
While we were playing, P
I saw you get hit and fall down when the third grader Richard threw the ball at you. P
He threw the ball so fast, I thought it was impossible for you to catch it. P
Even the teacher thought so, and saw that you got hurt trying to catch the ball, P
so he told you to take a rest. P
I'm so glad you didn't let the pain take you out of the game, P
and saw that you got up immediately and got back in the game. P
I was happy to see you return to the game after you held up your fingers in the shape of a "V", P
or "peace sign" to show that you were ok. P
I can't believe that we won that game! P
I was scared, but you put up a good fight. P
2-15 To Chanho II
Because our class is divided into girls and boys, and we play and talk in separate groups, P
it's been really hard to talk with you. P
I wish we were all classmates in the same class. P
I don't understand why we have to be separated into girls and boys groups all the time. P
Don't you think school would be more enjoyable if we weren't separated into two groups? P
I think the other girls agree with me, but I think they're just not expressing their thoughts. P
And since you're in the boy's group, I was hoping that you would let them know my thoughts. P
Thanks for listening, and I truly am impressed by your courageous acts. P
I hope you'll be my friend after reading this. P
2-16 Spell Sky and Heaven I
A long time ago, in a small town, there was a boy named Samuel. P
Samuel could not read, even as he got older. P
As Samuel grew up, his father became worried that his son would never be able to learn how to read and write. P
Therefore, he decided to send his son to the village school. P
"My son, you should now go to the village school to learn how to read and write." P
Samuel asked, "But dad, how can I learn to read and write?" P
"Don't worry about how to read and write for now. P
You just need to follow what the teacher says." P
Samuel was astonished, and asked, P
"Can I really learn how to read and write just by listening to the teacher? P
I can't believe it is that easy! I should have gone to the village school earlier!" P
2-17 Spell Sky and Heaven II
The next day Samuel went to the village school to learn. P
At school, his teachers taught him how to write the characters of the 'Sky and Heaven.' P
The teacher told him "Just spell Sky and Heaven." P
When Samuel heard this, he thought of what his father had said. P
"Just follow what the teacher says." P
Then the schoolmaster said again, P
'Just spell Sky and Heaven' P
Remembering what his father said, P
Samuel began to copy the teacher's words exactly, and said, P
"Just spell Sky and Heaven." P
Every time the teacher said something, Samuel would repeat exactly what the teacher said. P
"Take out the second line." P
"Take out the second line." P
2-18 Spell Sky and Heaven III
As Samuel kept repeating the teacher’s words, the teacher began to get angry. P
"Spell Sky and Heaven!" P
"Spell Sky and Heaven!" P
The teacher became so angry that he yelled at Samuel, P
“Are you mocking me? Get out of this room immediately!” P
Then Samuel repeated after the teacher again. P
“Are you mocking me? Get out of this room immediately!” P
Then, Samuel's father came into the schoolhouse. P
He saw what was happening, and quickly dragged his son outside. P
"Why are you mocking the teacher? How could you be such a troublemaker?" P
"Why am I a troublemaker? I just followed what the teacher said! Just like you told me to.” P
2-19 Mother's Diary I
One day, while Jonathan was playing, he found his mother's diary from when he was a baby. P
Curious, Jonathan began reading the diary. P
The first page was a photograph of his footprint that was taken right when Jonathan was born. P
Looking at the feet in the diary, Jonathan realized how much he had grown, P
because he wasn't able to compare his own feet with the ones in the diary. P
Reading his mother's diary made Jonathan imagine what it was like when he was a baby. P
The first page read, P
The baby was born on June 23rd, at 11:22 PM, and it was raining heavily. P
The baby's height was 50 centimeters and its weight was a little over 3 kilograms. P
I named him Jonathan as we had decided beforehand. P
2-20 Mother's Diary II
6 Months, Day 1, Sunny P
It has been six months since Jonathan was born. P
Today, as I fed Jonathan, I looked inside his mouth. P
There were two lower teeth that came through like sprouts. P
12 Months, Day 1, Sunny P
It is Jonathan's first birthday. P
Jonathan walked three steps. P
It was so wonderful seeing Jonathan's first steps, P
but I couldn't take a picture because he stopped walking. P
He was so afraid to walk by himself. P