Practice Phrasing: “Rachel the Clever”

Phrasing is how you use your voice to group words together. Use this passage to practice reading with proper phrasing. Print a copy of this passage from InsideNG.com to help you monitor your progress.

Now, one day the king stopped at an inn. There he heard the innkeeper boasting about his daughter, Rachel, who was so clever she could solve any riddle. The king frowned.

“I don’t like liars,” he told the innkeeper. “I will ask you three riddles. If your daughter can solve them, you will be rewarded. But if she fails, you shall lose your inn. First, what is the fastest thing? Second, what is the richest thing? Third, what is the dearest thing?”

Sadly, the innkeeper went home to his daughter, Rachel, and told her what the king had said. Rachel smiled. “You won’t lose the inn, Father. Go to the king and tell him that Thought is the fastest thing. Life-giving Earth is the richest thing. And Love is the dearest thing.”

When the king heard these answers, he frowned again. He had vowed to wed only a woman as clever as he. Could that woman be Rachel, a common innkeeper’s daughter?