illustrated Everyday Expressions with Stories 1 » Lesson 9 - The Seal's Skin
| 1. heard of | a. to try to find something |
| 2. help yourself to | b. while waiting for something to occur |
| 3. hold on | c. to be familiar with |
| 4. in search of | d. to get something without assistance |
| 5. in the meantime | e. to be patient for something to happen |
Have you heard of the story about the man who got married to a seal? He lived alone in his house by the sea, fishing and dreaming of the day he would get married. However, he had trouble with women. In general, he was very shy in front of women. In fact, if any woman talked to him, he would sweat and he could not speak.
One day, the man was walking on the beach in search of a good place to fish. Then he saw a cave. In front of the cave there was a pile of seal skins. The man heard the sound of laughing and singing inside the cave. He had an idea. A seal's skin would be good to wear in case of snow. He helped himself to one of the skins, ran home, and put it in a large box. Then he locked the box with a key.
In the meantime, a naked woman stood outside the cave crying. She could not find her seal skin, and all of her friends and family had left her there.
The man returned to the cave and found the woman crying. He asked her, "Why are you crying?" but she did not say anything. She was very cold.
The man said, "Hold on. I have a blanket. You can wear it to keep yourself warm. Here you are." He gave the woman the blanket. Then the man told the woman that she could stay at his house. They walked back along the beach to his house in silence.
Because the woman did not talk much, the man was very comfortable around her. Soon they fell in love. They got married and lived in harmony with each other for many years.
One day the man was getting ready to go to church in honor of a special holiday. "Hurry up!" he called to his wife.
However, his wife did not feel well. She said, "I want to lie down. You go now. I will catch up with you in just a minute."
The man left. The wife's headache became worse, so she began looking for some medicine. While she was looking, she found the key to the box. Because the man was in a hurry to leave for church, he forgot the key at home. The wife opened the large box. There was her lost seal skin! She held up the skin and cried with happiness.
She ran to the beach, put on her skin, and jumped into the sea. In a moment she was with her seal family again. The man never heard from her again. However, every time the man would go out fishing, a seal would always swim around the boat watching him.
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