Quoted Speech and Reported Speech

Ducks and Turtle

Two ducks who lived in a big lake have a friend, it is turtle. The ducks give some grass but the turtle said that the turtle didn’t like a grass. Six months there was a very little rain and the lake began to dry up. One of the ducks said to the other, “Soon, there will be no water in this lake. Let’s go and look for lake”. “Yes, let’s say good bye to our friend, the turtle” answered the second duck.

When they told the turtle they were going to leave, he said, “I’ll die here without any water and without any friends. Take me with you.” The first duck answered, “We can’t. We are going to fly, and you haven’t wings.” The turtle thought for a minute and then said “wait a minute”. Then he went away and found a strong and straight stick. He brought it back to his ducks, put the middle of it in his mouth and said, “Now if each of you takes me one end of the stick in his mouth, you can lift me up and carry me with you”. The second duck said “That is dangerous, if you try to talk while we’re carrying you through the air, you won’t be able to hold the stick, so you’ll fall down along way and break your shell”. The turtle said, “All right, I promise not to talk while we’re in the air”. So the ducks took the stick and flew away, with the turtle between them. All went well until they were flying over a town. Then some bird saw them and said, “Look! those ducks are carrying a cat!” The turtle got very angry, he said, “A cat? I’m not a …”, but he didn’t get any further, because when he opened his mouth, the stick came out of his mouth and the poor turtle fell to the ground.