Short Stories in English for Beginners

stone bridge
. He arrived at the 
castle
 door. Then two
guards
 stopped him.
‘Who are you?’ asked one of the guards.
‘My name is Lars. I want to see the king.’
‘You can’t. Now leave.’
Lars looked at the guard. He took a few steps back. He put his 
bag
 down.
The bag contained many unusual items. Lars took an old 
scroll
from the
bag. He gave it to the guard.
‘Look at this scroll. It is from the king,’ said Lars.
The guard looked at the scroll. It looked official. It also had the king’s
mark.
‘Fine,’ the guard said. ‘Come in.’
The knight moved forward. He walked into a large room and waited. The
room was very big and beautiful. Several guards were there. They looked at
the knight 
suspiciously
. They wanted to know why he was there.
Soon, the king entered. His name was Andur. He was dressed completely
in purple. Purple was the colour of kings. He wore 
gold
 around his arms
and neck.
‘Are you Lars?’ King Andur asked.
‘I am,’ answered Lars. He held up the scroll. ‘I want to speak with you.’
‘Come with me,’ said the king.
King Andur and Lars went into a smaller room. Both men sat down. The
king offered Lars a cold drink. Lars accepted.
‘Thank you for coming,’ the king said to Lars. ‘I see you received my
message.’
‘Yes. I’ve also heard that you require help.’
‘What have you heard exactly?’
‘You need someone to carry a 
load
of gold. It must go to your brother
Arthuren. You need a man you can 
trust
. I am that man.’

---

The king thought for several minutes. At last he said, ‘And why should I
trust you?
‘I have helped you before. I will not 
betray
 you now.’
‘War and gold are different things. And this is a lot of gold.’
‘I don’t need gold. I have gold.’
‘Then why are you here?’
‘I like to travel and discover new things.’
King Andur thought for a moment. He looked suspicious. Lars smiled.
After a moment, the king said, ‘OK, Lars. Take the gold to my brother. I’ll
tell my guards.’
‘Thank you, King Andur.’
‘Don’t thank me yet. First I must hear from Arthuren that the gold has
arrived. Then you will get your own gold.’
Lars left the castle. He walked over to the guards. One of the guards
called. ‘So, you are back! We’ve just heard. You are taking the gold to
Arthuren’s kingdom?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, good travels!’ the guard laughed. ‘There are many 
dangers
on the
road. You’ll never make it!’ The other guards laughed as well. Then the
guard became serious. ‘Men,’ he called, ‘prepare the gold. It leaves
tomorrow.’
It was now evening. The knight returned to the market square. He found
the trader. ‘Do you have my potions?’ he asked.
‘Yes, here they are. It was not easy! And it was very costly. That will be
six pieces of gold.’
The knight looked up in surprise. He gave the trader the gold. The trader
handed him the potions. ‘Thank you, kind sir,’ said the trader. ‘Have a good
day.’
The knight simply walked away.
The next day, three guards came to Lars. They were joining the knight on
the