Short Stories in English for Beginners

had a feeling
.’
‘You had a feeling?’ Thoric looked at Eskol in surprise. ‘Niels’ father
died because you had a feeling? Because you took a 
risk
?’ Thoric looked at
Eskol closely. ‘If Niels finds out, he’ll never 
forgive
you.’
Chief Eskol took Thoric by the arm. ‘You cannot tell Niels. Niels is the
best explorer we have. He is nearly as good as his father. He can’t be
distracted
 now. We need him.’
Thoric nodded. ‘Understood.’
‘Now, go back to the men,’ said the Chief. ‘Do not speak of this again.’
A short while later, the men picked up their weapons. They crossed the
beach and entered the woods. They were ready for action. Niels led the
group.
They walked for hours. Then, below a hill, they saw something. It was a
small community. You could even say it was a village. Niels waved his
hand. The expedition stopped immediately.
Niels, Eskol and Thoric looked closely. The village was strange to them.
The houses seemed strange. The men, women and children were a darker
colour. They were wearing strange clothes. They were speaking a very
strange 
language
. The men didn’t know what to think.
Chief Eskol went towards the village first. The rest of the group
followed. At first many people were frightened. Some ran off towards their

---

houses. Chief Eskol 
gestured
 calmly. ‘We won’t hurt you!’ he said in a low
voice. Eskol said the words a few times. He did simple gestures each time.
After some time, the village chief appeared before Eskol. He offered
Chief Eskol a drink. Eskol looked at the drink. Then the village chief said
‘water’ in the Viking language. Eskol looked at him in surprise. The man
knew their language!
Chief Eskol talked to the village chief for several hours. The chief
explained many things. He had learned the Viking language from the first
expedition. He had spoken with them!
The village chief then explained what happened to the men. The local
people had not killed the men. They had tried to help them. The men did not
accept their help and died. Some were killed by animals. Some died
because they ate the wrong foods. Some died from 
disease
.
After speaking with the village chief, Chief Eskol called his men
together. He said to them: ‘Gentlemen, I have learned many things. Most
importantly, there were Vikings here previously. They did not listen to the
local people. And they died.’ He looked around at his men. He was very
serious.
Eskol continued, ‘The village chief tells me some of those Vikings left.
They tried to go back to their homeland.’ He paused. ‘I have met those
men,’ he continued. ‘They told me about this land. They, too, are dead.
They died from exhaustion after the trip.’
The men looked at each other. So that’s how Eskol knew about the lands
in the west.
Eskol was not finished. He became very quiet. Then he said, ‘We must
make a decision. We don’t know where we are. The storm took us too far
off course.’ The Viking explorers were quiet for several minutes.
Then Chief Eskol carried on talking: ‘We must now decide. Do we stay
here? Do we learn to live in this 
society
? If we do, the people of this
community will help us. They will provide food. They will teach us.’ He
looked around at the men. ‘Or is our aim to get home? And risk exhaustion
and death.’

---

Chief Eskol looked at the people of the village. ‘These are good people,’
he began. ‘They know the land. They can farm it. They can hunt on it. They
have asked us to stay. For me, the choice is clear. I will stay.’
The men looked at Chief Eskol. One man called, ‘So we’re just going to
leave our families? Never see our friends again? We can’t do that!’
Another man shouted, ‘Look at the shape our ships are in! The storm
damaged
 them badly! We can’t get back home safely. I vote we stay.’
Chief Eskol looked at his men. ‘Both of you may be right. That is why I
can offer no advice. We will each make the choice as an individual. If you
want to leave, you are free to go. I will not force you to stay. If you choose
to stay, you are welcome. But from this point on, I am not your chief. I am
just a man.’
In the following days, two groups formed. One group planned to stay in
the new lands. They would