George and the dragon
Il 23 aprile in Inghilterra si celebra la festa del santo patrono, Saint George’s Day. Per l’occasione, a Londra, così come nel resto del Paese, si organizzano parate, festival gastronomici, spettacoli teatrali all’aperto, eventi musicali, laboratori artigianali per bambini e molto altro.
San Giorgio è uno dei santi più venerati non solo dagli inglesi. Oltre che dell’Inghilterra, è il santo patrono anche della Bulgaria, del Portogallo, dell’Etiopia, della Grecia e della Russia, ma è anche il protettore, tra gli altri, degli alabardieri, degli arcieri, dei cavalieri, degli schermidori, degli scout, dei contadini, dei mariti in difficoltà, è invocato contro la peste, la lebbra e i serpenti velenosi ed è onorato anche dai musulmani, che gli diedero l’appellativo di ‘profeta’.
Della sua vita di certo si sa pochissimo, solo che nacque in Cappadocia da nobili genitori cristiani verso il 280, che si trasferì in Palestina e che fu un valoroso soldato, tanto da riuscire a entrare a far parte della guardia del corpo di Diocleziano, sotto il quale subì il martirio nel 303.
Ma se i riscontri storici sono scarsi, sono, invece, numerosissime le leggende che avvolgono la sua figura. La più famosa è senza dubbio quella del drago e della fanciulla salvata proprio dal santo. Scopriamola insieme grazie a questo video realizzato per il British Council.
While you watch the video, try to catch the answers to these questions:
◊ Who was Saint George?
◊ Where did he come to one day?
◊ Who told him about the dragon?
◊ What did the people from the village give the dragon to stop him from attacking them?
◊ What did the dragon do?
◊ Did the army manage to capture the dragon? Why not?
◊ What did the king decide to do then?
◊ What did George do when he heard about this?
If you need help, here’s the transcript:
“Once upon a time there was a brave knight called George. George had lots of adventures as he travelled by horse across many lands.
One day he came to a small village and met a man who lived in a cave next to the village.
The hermit told the knight about the awful things that were happening there. A terrible dragon had come to live in the lake and attacked the village every day.
The villagers didn’t know what to do. First, they gave the dragon all their food, but the dragon just took the food and still attacked the village.
So then the villagers gave the dragon all the animals from their farms. The dragon took all the animals, but continued to attack the villagers.
So then they gave the dragon all their gold and jewels. The dragon took all their money, but still was not satisfied.
The king sent his army to try and capture the dragon, but the dragon was too strong and the knights of the army were too scared and they ran away.
With nothing left to give, the king could only think of one thing to help protect his people. He sent his only daughter, the princess, to the lake to wait for the dragon.
When George heard this he rode as fast as he could to the lake. Just then the dragon jumped out from the lake and was going to eat the princess.
George attacked the dragon. He fought very bravely, won the fight and killed the dragon. George and the princess returned to the village and everyone was very pleased that they would have no more problems with the dragon.
Today, the story of George’s bravery is remembered and George is known as the patron saint of many countries.”
You can also find the transcript here.
While, if you wish, you can find some activities for the story here.
And here are some of the words and expressions used in the video:
brave = having or showing courage
knight = (in the Middle Ages) a man who served under a lord or king and fought while riding a horse and usually wearing an armour
as = at the same time that = while = when
(to) come to = (to) arrive at a place
cave = a large hole that was formed by natural processes in the side of a cliff or hill or under the ground
hermit = a person who lives in solitude, especially for religious reasons
awful = extremely bad or unpleasant, terrible
still = in spite of that, nevertheless
too = very, extremely
only = alone in class or category
bravery = brave spirit or conduct, courage, valour
Se volete saperne di più su San Giorgio e sulla leggenda del drago, potete trovare altre informazioni qui. Intanto, auguro a tutti Happy St George’s Day!!! j
