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B2 → C1 Lesson 2 of 3 · Great French Short Stories

Daudet, “Mr. Seguin’s Goat”

A little goat prefers freedom in the mountains to safety in the barn: a tale with two possible morals, and the imparfait and passé simple of storytelling.

14 min · 10 activities

In this lesson you will

  • Understand a tale and its moral
  • Separate imparfait (background) and passé simple (events)
  • Discuss two interpretations
QuizSortingConjugationMatching

Lesson summary

The key points to remember, for revision.

  • 1Imparfait = background and habits (il les perdait); passé simple = events (le loup apparut).
  • 2Être in the passé simple: je fus, il fut, nous fûmes, vous fûtes, ils furent.
  • 3A tale can have two readings: give both, then your opinion (d’un côté… de l’autre…).

Key vocabulary

la chèvregoat
le loupwolf
le moulinmill
l’aubedawn
ivre dedrunk with