A boy alone at home. A man who needs to hide. A silver watch that is too beautiful.
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First, let's learn eight words. Read each word and its sentence, guess the meaning, then click Reveal to check. Say each word out loud.
Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one.
This story happens on the island of Corsica, two hundred years ago. Near the village there is the maquis — a wild land of thick bushes. Men who run from the law hide there.
Mateo Falcone lives near the maquis with his wife Giuseppa and his son Fortunato. Mateo is famous for two things: he never misses with his gun, and he always keeps his word. Fortunato is ten years old.
One morning, Mateo and Giuseppa go out to see their animals. Fortunato stays at home alone. Suddenly he hears guns. A man comes up the path. His leg is hurt, and he can hardly walk. It is Gianetto, a bandit. Soldiers are hunting him.
"Hide me!" says Gianetto. "The soldiers are coming!" Fortunato is not afraid. "What will you give me if I hide you?" he asks. Gianetto gives him a silver coin — five francs. Then Fortunato hides him in the haystack. He puts a cat on top of the hay. Now it looks like nobody is there.
1. Who is Gianetto, and why does he come to the house?
2. What does Fortunato ask for before he hides him?
1. Gianetto is a bandit. His leg is hurt, and soldiers are hunting him. He needs a place to hide.
2. He asks, "What will you give me?" Gianetto gives him a silver coin — five francs — and then the boy hides him in the haystack.
Soon six soldiers arrive. Their leader is Sergeant Gamba — a cousin of the Falcone family. "Did a man come this way?" he asks. "I saw nobody," says Fortunato. The soldiers look in the house. They find nothing.
Gamba gets angry. "If you don't tell me the truth, you will go to prison!" he says. Fortunato laughs. "My father is Mateo Falcone!" He is not afraid of threats.
Then Gamba has an idea. He takes out a beautiful silver watch. "Do you want it?" he says. "If you tell me where the man is, I will give you this watch." Fortunato looks at the watch. He wants it very, very much. His hand comes up slowly… He takes the watch — and points at the haystack.
The soldiers pull Gianetto out of the hay and tie him. Gianetto looks at the boy with cold eyes. Fortunato throws the five-franc coin back to him. Gianetto spits at the door of the house. "House of a traitor!" he says.
1. Why is Fortunato not afraid of Gamba's threats?
2. How does Gamba get the truth from the boy?
1. Because his father is Mateo Falcone. Nobody can touch the son of such a famous man — and the boy knows it.
2. Not with threats — with a promise. He shows the beautiful silver watch and says: "If you tell me where the man is, I will give you this watch." Fortunato takes it and points at the haystack.
Then Mateo and Giuseppa come home. Gamba tells them everything: "We caught Gianetto — thanks to your son! He showed us the hiding place." Mateo says nothing. His face is like stone.
The soldiers leave. Mateo looks at the watch in his son's hand. "Who gave you that?" — "My cousin, the sergeant." Mateo takes the watch and smashes it on a stone. "Wife," he says, "is this child mine? He is the first of our family to betray."
Fortunato cries. Giuseppa begs: "He is your son!" — "Leave me. I am his father."
Mateo walks with his son to a small valley. "Say your prayers," he says. Fortunato says his prayers and begs: "Father, forgive me! I will never do it again!" Mateo raises his gun. "May God forgive you," he says. He shoots. Fortunato falls dead.
Giuseppa runs to them. "What have you done?" — "Justice," says Mateo. "He died a Christian. I will have a mass sung for him."
1. What does Mateo do with the watch?
2. What are Mateo's last words in the story?
1. He smashes it on a stone. For him, the watch is the price of betrayal.
2. "He died a Christian. I will have a mass sung for him." Before that, when Giuseppa asks what he has done, he says one word: "Justice."
This story is full of promises and warnings. In English, we make them with if + will.
One gap needs the present simple, the other needs will + verb. Verb pairs, in order: hide → give · tell → get · say → find · take → be.
1. "If you me, I you five francs," says Gianetto.
2. "If you me the truth, you this watch," says Gamba.
3. "If I nothing, the soldiers nothing," thinks Fortunato.
4. "If I the watch, I the happiest boy in Corsica," he thinks.
1. If you hide me, I will give you five francs.
2. If you tell me the truth, you will get this watch.
3. If I say nothing, the soldiers will find nothing.
4. If I take the watch, I will be the happiest boy in Corsica.
Finish the second sentence so it means the same as the first.
1. "Hide me, and I will pay you." → If you
2. "Tell me the truth, and the watch is yours." → If you
3. "Lie to me, and you will go to prison." → If you
1. If you hide me, I will pay you.
2. If you tell me the truth, I will give you the watch.
3. If you lie to me, you will go to prison.
Put each verb in the right form — present simple after if, will + verb in the other half. Verbs, in order: hide · give · tell · give · betray · lose. Then read the little story out loud.
Gianetto is hurt. He says: "If you me, I you a silver coin." The boy agrees. Then the sergeant comes with a watch: "If you me where the man is, I you this watch." Fortunato takes it. But he learns a hard lesson: if you a person who trusts you, you much more than a watch.
hide · will give · tell · will give · betray · will lose
Every promise in this story is kept — and that is the tragedy.
Now take the story's ideas into the real world. Talk about each one out loud. There are no right answers — say what you think, and say why.
Gianetto keeps his promise: he pays the coin. Gamba keeps his promise: he gives the watch. But both promises lead to something bad. Can keeping a promise be wrong? When is it better to break a promise?
The watch was too beautiful for Fortunato. Imagine this: someone offers a child a wonderful present — but the child must break an important rule to get it. What can the child do? What helps people say no to things they really want?
In the story, the people of Corsica think it is shameful to help the police against a neighbour. Why do they think this? Is it the same in the world today? Who should people help — the law, or the person who is running from it?
The story is from 1829. In it, a father thinks his family's honour is more important than anything — even his son. Could this story happen today? What has changed in two hundred years, and why?
This is the most important part of the lesson — do all of it out loud. Use the timer, and try to speak for the whole time.
Tell the whole story in your own words: Fortunato alone at home → the hurt man → the coin → the haystack → the soldiers → the watch → the betrayal → the father comes home → the sad end.
Say the story's two big promises with if + will, and use five of today's words.
Roleplay! First, you are Gianetto at the door: make three promises to the boy with if + will ("If you hide me, I will…"). Then you are Sergeant Gamba: make one warning and one promise with if + will. Which offer is the strongest? Why?
Imagine Fortunato says no to the watch. Tell the new story. What does Gamba do next? What happens to Gianetto? What does Mateo say when he comes home? Start like this: "Fortunato looks at the watch, but he says no, because…"