Long ago, there was a clever man by the name of Bartelby O’Boyle. As a boy, he was kept as a slave by the royal family. He saw other children play, but he always had to work. This frustrated him very much. But he was not stupid, and he wanted to change things.
Then one day there was a struggle for authority in the kingdom. There was a division of the people, and one group fought against another group to see which would govern the kingdom. There was disorder in the kingdom. Bartelby ran away. He saw much fighting and destruction. Many people had nothing to eat; Bartelby decided to aid them. He would help them get food. But how?
Bartelby went to the capital to find an answer. There, he met a man named Gilliam. A group of men attempted to hurt Gilliam. Bartelby defended him. Then, he gave Gilliam some food to relieve his hunger. After that, the two became friends. They took food from the rich and gave it to the poor.
Soon, other people cooperated with them. Working together enabled them to take more food. But they only took food from people who had plenty, and they always gave it to those who had none. Because of this, Bartleby gained a reputation across the kingdom. Even today, many people admire him for helping the poor.
admire
To admire someone is to like them for what they do.
I admire my brother for his hard work.
aid
To aid someone is to help them when they need something.
The doctor aided the boy after his accident.
attempt
To attempt something is to try to do that thing.
I am attempting to learn English.
authority
Authority is the power that someone has because of their position.
The policeman has authority on the streets.
capital
A capital is an important city where a country’s leaders live and work.
We will visit the capital to learn about our government.
cooperate
To cooperate is to work together to do something.
The students cooperated to clean up the classroom.
defend
To defend someone or something is to protect them from attack.
The soldiers defended the town from the invaders.
destruction
Destruction is damage to something so bad that it can’t be fixed.
After the big fire, there was much destruction in the city.
disorder
The disorder is a lack of order or a complete mess.
The teacher’s desk had many papers in disorder.
division
A division is an act of making smaller groups out of a larger one.
The chart had six divisions which all had different colours.
enable
To enable a person is to make it possible for them to do something.
Having the key enabled us to open the door.
frustrate
To frustrate is to prevent someone from fulfilling their desire.
The machine frustrated me because I could not fix it.
govern
To govern is to control the public business of a country, state, or city.
The United States is governed by the White House.
plenty
To have plenty of something is to have more than you need.
The school had plenty of books for the students to read.
relieve
To relieve someone is to make them feel less pain.
The medicine relieved the sick boy.
reputation
Reputation is the opinion that people have about someone.
The doctor had a reputation for helping people.
royal
Royal describes something that belongs to a king or queen.
The king sat upon the royal throne.
slave
A slave is a person who is not free and must work for someone else.
The slave worked very hard all day long.
struggle
To struggle is to fight against someone or something.
The kids struggled with each other for the toy.
stupid
When someone is stupid, they lack intelligence.
He said something stupid that made everyone angry at him.