story – Ringo Lingo https://ringolingo.com Free ESL English Dictations and Tools for English Learners Tue, 19 Oct 2021 09:58:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://i0.wp.com/ringolingo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/cropped-icon-r.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 story – Ringo Lingo https://ringolingo.com 32 32 200435589 The History of the Jack O Lantern https://ringolingo.com/dictation/the-history-of-the-jack-o-lantern/ Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:49:43 +0000 https://ringolingo.com/?post_type=dictation&p=104 The Jack O Lantern is the traditional? Halloween decoration.? Largely due to the efforts of the Irish missionary,? legend has it that in 8th century AD Ireland,? a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunk? and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree.? Jack then carved an image of a cross in the? tree’s trunk, trapping the devil up the tree.? Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never? tempt him again, he would let him down the tree.? Jack made the devil promise not to take his soul? when he died, and to never claim his soul, either.?

When Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven because of? his evil ways, and was forced to walk the earth for eternity? with only a burning coal from Hell to warm him.? As he walked, he would toss his glowing coal into? a hollowed out turnip or potato.? This was to frighten away evil spirits? that were attempting to follow him.?

The Irish began to refer to this eerie light? as a “Jack O Lantern” and eventually began? carving scary faces into their own turnips and? potatoes to frighten away their own evil spirits.?

To this day, Halloween lanterns are carved out of pumpkins? in Ireland, but the original 8th century? Jack O Lanterns were carved out of turnips.

]]> 104 The Ant and the Grasshopper https://ringolingo.com/dictation/the-ant-and-the-grasshopper/ Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:38:55 +0000 https://ringolingo.com/?post_type=dictation&p=102 The story of the ant and the grasshopper? is about two very different creatures.? The ant worked hard all summer to save food for the cold? winter months while the grasshopper just enjoyed himself? and lived his life like there was no tomorrow.? Come winter, the ant had a supply of food to last? all winter, but the grasshopper had no food to eat.? The ant was able to survive the winter? season while the grasshopper starved.?

The story tells us that there’s a? time for work and a time for pleasure.? We want to be like the ant and not like the grasshopper!

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