Никоненко Тамара Петрівна

   Once upon a time in a small village there lived a young man. His name was Jack. He had a wife and old parents. The family was so poor that there were no nice things in the house. One day Jack went to town to look for a job. Some time passed and he came back with a box full of presents for everybody. He gave his mother a shawl, his father a warm cap and a shirt, his wife a beautiful dress. All of them liked the presents very much and were glad to have them.

   But Jack’s wife wanted to know what else there was in the box. So, when Jack went to see his friends, she opened the box and saw a beautiful young woman in it. She got very angry and began to cry. When her father-in law heard it, he asked why she was crying. She told him she was so angry because there was a young woman in the box. The old man thought it was strange and decided to look at the young woman. But when he opened the box, he saw no young woman there. An old man was looking at him from the box.

   Jack’s father told his daughter-in-law that there was an old man in the box and not a young woman. But she said Jack didn’t love her. When Jack’s mother heard the young woman’s story, she didn’t believe her either. She looked into the box and saw an old woman there.

   So they began to look into the box in turn and Jack’s wife saw a beautiful woman, Jack’s father saw an old man, and Jack’s mother saw an old woman there. Soon Jack returned home, and when he came into the room, he saw his wife, his mother and father at the box. He laughed at them because they didn’t know what they saw in the box.

  What was there in the box? Can you guess?