O carvão da Befana (The Befana's coal)
QECR A2124 palavras
When I was small, in my town near Bologna, the sixth of January was more important than Christmas. That is the day of the Befana. She is an old woman with a broom, and she leaves sweets in the socks of good children and black sugar coal in the socks of the bad ones.
One year I got only coal. I was six, and I cried in the kitchen for half an hour. My mother said nothing.
Then my grandmother arrived, ate a piece of my coal and told me it was sugar. It was the best thing I ate that winter.
Now I fill the socks for my brother's children. And every year I put a small piece of coal in each one.
Palavras que talvez não conheças
- broomvassoura
- socksmeias
- coalcarvão
- sweetsdoces, rebuçados
Perguntas
Respondem-se com o texto à frente. Não é memória: é perceber.
When is the day of the Befana?
The sixth of January — The sixth of January, e o texto diz que na sua terra era mais importante do que o Natal.
The Befana brings the same thing to all children.
False — Falso: doces para os bons e carvão de açúcar preto para os maus.
The writer was ___ years old the year of the coal.
six — I was six: seis anos. Não confundir com o dia seis de janeiro.
Why did the grandmother eat a piece of the coal?
To show the child that it was only sugar — O texto não diz para quê: come-o e diz-lhe que é açúcar. Com uma criança a chorar, comer o castigo à frente dela é a maneira de lhe mostrar que não o é.
What was 'the best thing' the writer ate that winter?
The sugar coal — O carvão, que era de açúcar. O que parecia um castigo acaba por ser o melhor do inverno.
Why does the writer put a piece of coal in every sock now?
Because of that day with the grandmother — Em EVERY sock, incluindo as de quem se portou bem: se o carvão fosse um castigo, não o punha em todas. Põe-no pelo que aprendeu aos seis anos.