Pirate Treasure
As the big monstrous ship sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, Peg-Leg Bozher shouted his orders. He scanned the waters - gazing back and forth - then he saw it! “Land ho! Land ho!” He saw the most unusual vision that he had seen in a long time. The majestic palms reached to the skies. The sand was like silver shining in the noonday sun. “This is where I will find my treasure,” said Peg-Leg Bozher. “It looks like Pleasure Island.” The great ship, with its skull and cross bones fluttering furiously in the breeze, dropped anchor. “Take to the boats!” he shouted. The pirates lowered the boats into the water. They entered the boats and started rowing. They rowed and rowed until they came to the land where Peg-Leg Bozher would find his treasure. “Everyone out of the boats!” He pulled his treasure map from his pocket. It said 17 paces north of the tree stump. After finding the tree stump, he measured the paces in the usual way. He took seventeen giant steps north from the tree stump. The map said four paces east, passing over coral rock. He measured four paces east. ‘X’ marked the spot on the treasure map. The Pirates started digging. They dug and dug and dug. One shovel struck something! They started digging faster. There lay the treasure! In all the confusion, they had visions of diamonds, rubies, pearls, gold, and silver. Peg-Leg Bozher had to make a decision. He was very mean. He said to himself, “Should I share the treasure with all the men, or should I keep it for myself?” Then he thought, “Well, I will make the decision after I see what is in the treasure chest.” The lock was opened, the hinges were creaking - the heavy lid was opening slowly - it opened wider - and wider. The pirates stood with their eyes wide and their mouths gaping open! There it was - the treasure! What do you think the treasure was?
by Author Unknown: as published in “Speech Improvement and Language Development for Level Two” (Broward County Board of Public Instruction, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (1969)), pages 20 and 21
The “Pirate Treasure” story above can be read aloud for practicing and gaining familiarity with the spoken English ‘zh’ sound, which may be helpful for children and adults, professional speakers, and persons with speech impediments. Note that the words with the ‘zh’ sound are underlined.
As the big monstrous ship sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, Peg-Leg Bozher shouted his orders. He scanned the waters - gazing back and forth - then he saw it! “Land ho! Land ho!” He saw the most unusual vision that he had seen in a long time. The majestic palms reached to the skies. The sand was like silver shining in the noonday sun. “This is where I will find my treasure,” said Peg-Leg Bozher. “It looks like Pleasure Island.” The great ship, with its skull and cross bones fluttering furiously in the breeze, dropped anchor. “Take to the boats!” he shouted. The pirates lowered the boats into the water. They entered the boats and started rowing. They rowed and rowed until they came to the land where Peg-Leg Bozher would find his treasure. “Everyone out of the boats!” He pulled his treasure map from his pocket. It said 17 paces north of the tree stump. After finding the tree stump, he measured the paces in the usual way. He took seventeen giant steps north from the tree stump. The map said four paces east, passing over coral rock. He measured four paces east. ‘X’ marked the spot on the treasure map. The Pirates started digging. They dug and dug and dug. One shovel struck something! They started digging faster. There lay the treasure! In all the confusion, they had visions of diamonds, rubies, pearls, gold, and silver. Peg-Leg Bozher had to make a decision. He was very mean. He said to himself, “Should I share the treasure with all the men, or should I keep it for myself?” Then he thought, “Well, I will make the decision after I see what is in the treasure chest.” The lock was opened, the hinges were creaking - the heavy lid was opening slowly - it opened wider - and wider. The pirates stood with their eyes wide and their mouths gaping open! There it was - the treasure! What do you think the treasure was?
by Author Unknown: as published in “Speech Improvement and Language Development for Level Two” (Broward County Board of Public Instruction, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (1969)), pages 20 and 21
The “Pirate Treasure” story above can be read aloud for practicing and gaining familiarity with the spoken English ‘zh’ sound, which may be helpful for children and adults, professional speakers, and persons with speech impediments. Note that the words with the ‘zh’ sound are underlined.
