yiCf/OC' Bterccr Emil and the Detectives ERICH KASTNER Level 3 Retold by Rod Smith Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, England and Associated Companies throughout the world. ISBN: 978-1-4058-6231-8 First published by Penguin Books 2000 This edition published 2008 3579 10 8642 Text copyright © Penguin Books Ltd 2000 This edition copyright © Pearson Education Ltd 2008 Illustrations by Madeleine Baker Typeset by Graphicraft Ltd, Hong Kong Set in 11/14pt Bembo Printed in China SWTC/02 All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers. Published by Pearson Education Ltd in association with Penguin Books Ltd, both companies being subsidiaries of Pearson Pic For a complete list of the titles available in the Penguin Readers series please write to your local Pearson Longman office or to: Penguin Readers Marketing Department, Pearson Education, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, England. Contents page Introduction V Chapter 1 Emil Goes to the City 1 Chapter 2 The Thief 5 Chapter 3 Emil Goes after the Thief 12 Chapter 4 Emils Friends Make a Plan 17 Chapter 5 Following the Thief 25 Chapter 6 The Thief Is Caught! 31 Chapter 7 Policemen and Reporters 38 Chapter 8 With Grandmother at Last! 44 Chapter 9 Emil’s Mother Goes to the City 47 Activities 52 Introduction Emil went to the washroom at the end of the carriage. He took the little bag out of his pocket and counted the money. It was still there, but how could he make it safer? Then he remembered: there was a pin in his jacket. He took out the pin and pushed it through the bag, the paper money and the cloth of his inside pocket. The money was safe now. Emil Fisher is a young schoolboy from a village in the country. He is travelling alone by train for the first time in his life to visit his grandmother in the city. He is carrying a lot of money for her from his mother. Emil tries very hard to keep the money safe. But then he falls asleep on the train. When he wakes up, the money has gone. He is alone in the carriage. What can he do? He has to get the money back. Emil’s adventures in the big city make an exciting and amusing story. This famous story was written in 1928 by Erich Kastner, a German writer. He was born in Dresden in 1899. At first he wanted to be a teacher, but during the First World War he had to be a soldier for a few years. After the war, life for the German people was very difficult. Erich could not be a teacher, but he began to write short pieces for newspapers and magazines. In 1927 he moved to Berlin and became a full-time writer. Emil and the Detectives was Kastner’s first book for children. It came out in German, then in English, and then in many other languages. The book made him famous. In 1931 it was made into a film in Germany, and in 1935 there was a British film. Since then Emil’s story has been on television many times, and in 1964 a popular film of it was made by Walt Disney. Kastner did not write stories only for children. He also wrote stories and poems for adults. His poems were important to him. v He put a lot of his ideas into his poems. They were simple and often funny, but the ideas in them were deep. They had a serious message for his readers. He saw the dangers of the changes in Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He understood that Germany was moving towards war in Europe. He attacked this movement in funny, clever poems. The Nazis realised that his poems against war were becoming popular. They called Kastner an enemy of the state and in 1933 they burned his books. His writings could not be printed in Germany. Many other writers were attacked at that time. Most of them left Germany for Switzerland or other, safer countries, but Kastner stayed in Berlin. Life was very hard for him, but he continued to write in secret and his books were printed in Switzerland. Sometimes he used different names. After the Second World War he became a famous writer in Germany again. Thousands of German children had no families or homes after the war. Kastner worked hard to give these children a new life and hope for the future. He always believed in the goodness of people. In his books most people are good, honest and helpful. Kastner always had a special feeling for children. He knew how they thought. He tried to stay a child in his heart all his life. The language of his childrens stories is simple and easy to understand. But it is never boring. His stories are full of excitement and fun. Kastner said, ‘Most people put away their younger days like an old hat. They forget them like a telephone number that is not used now. They were children; then they became adults. But what are they now? Real people are adults who are still children.’ Kaster continued writing all his life. He also became President of PEN, an international writers’ organisation, from 1952 to 1962. He became ill in 1961 and finally died in Munich in 1974. VI Children love Emil and the Detectives. It is an exciting story, and Emil and his detectives are all children. But the book continues to be popular with older readers too. Kastner describes people’s actions and speech very well. Each person is very different. The reader can picture and hear each person clearly. Grandmother, for example, always says things twice when she is worried. The Captain has a very loud voice because his father, a soldier, gives loud orders. Paul carries a car horn. Everyone knows him because of his horn. The people in Kastner’s book are like people that we know, like our friends or relatives. When Emil’s mother prepares him for his first visit to the city, she is like a real mother. And then there is Emil. He is a good boy, and a brave one. He is real to us because he behaves like other clever little boys. Adult readers like the children’s enjoyment of their adventure. Younger readers live the adventure with the children in the story, while older people watch it in their imaginations.They remember their own adventures, when they were children. Chapter 1 Emil Goes to the City ‘ Now, Emil,’ said his mother, ‘ get ready. Your clothes are on your bed. Get dressed, and then we’ll have our dinner.’ ‘ Yes, Mother.’ ‘ Wait a minute. Have I forgotten anything? Your other clothes are in your case. There’s some food for your journey. These flowers are for your aunt. I’ll give you the money for your grandmother after dinner. No, that’s all, I think.’ Emil left the room and Mrs Fisher turned to her neighbour, Mrs Martin. ‘My son’s going to the city for two or three weeks. At first he didn’t want to go. But what can he do here while his school’s closed ? My sister’s asked us again and again to visit her. I can’t go, because I have so much work. Emil’s never travelled alone before, but he’s old enough now. He’ll be all right: his grandmother’s going to meet him at the station.’ ‘ I think he’ll enjoy the city,’ said Mrs Martin. ‘All boys like it. There are so many things to see. I must go now, Mrs Fisher. Goodbye.’ Emil came back into the room and sat down at the table. His hair was tidy and he was wearing his best jacket. While he ate, he watched his mother. ‘ I mustn’t eat too much,’ he thought. ‘ She won’t like it when I’m going away for the first time.’ But his mother was thinking about other things. ‘ Don’t forget to write to me when you arrive,’ she said. ‘All right.’ ‘ Give my love to your aunt and your grandmother and your cousin Polly. Look after yourself. And be good. I don’t want anyone to say that you’re not a polite boy.’ ‘ I promise.’ After dinner Emil’s mother went to the sitting-room. There 1 was a tin box on one of the shelves. She took out some money and came back to the table. ‘ Here’s seventy pounds,’ she said. ‘ Five ten-pound notes and four five-pound notes. Give your grandmother sixty pounds. I couldn’t send the money to her before. But I’ve worked hard and I’ve saved it for her. The other ten pounds is for you.Your return journey will cost about three pounds. Use the other seven pounds when you go out. I’ll put the money in this little bag. Now don’t lose it! Where will you put it ? ’ Emil thought for a minute, then he put the bag into the pocket inside his jacket. ‘ It’ll be safe there,’ he said. His mother looked serious. ‘You mustn’t tell anyone on the train about the money.’ ‘ Of course not,’ said Emil. Some people think that seventy pounds is not a large amount of money. But it was a lot of money to Emil and his mother. Emil’s father was dead, so his mother worked hard all day. She paid for their food and clothes, and for her son’s books and his school. Emil realized that his mother worked hard. So he really tried to do well in class. She was always pleased when he got a good report from his teacher at the end of the year. ‘ Let’s go now,’ said Mrs Fisher. ‘ You mustn’t miss the train. If the bus comes along, we’ll take it.’ The country bus was very old and slow. Emil and his friends wanted modern buses in Newton. But other people in the town liked their old bus. They liked the driver, too. He always stopped at your house for you.You called out, and the driver stopped. But it was often quicker to walk. The bus came and Emil and his mother got on. They got off at the square in front of the station. Then they heard a deep voice behind them: ‘ Where are you going ? ’ It was Newton’s chief of police. 2 Emil’s mother said: ‘ My son’s going to visit his grandmother for two or three weeks.’ Emil felt silly. He was remembering something. In the centre of the station square there was a statue of a very famous judge. One day, after school, Emil and his friends climbed up and put an old cap on the statue’s head. Then Emil began to paint its nose red. Suddenly, the chief of police walked into the square. ‘ Oh no, he saw me,’ thought Emil, as he and his friends ran away. Now, a week later, Emil waited for the policeman to say:‘Emil Fisher, come with me.You are going to prison.’ But the policeman didn’t say anything as Emil carried his case into the station. Perhaps he was waiting until Emil came back from the city. ♦ Mrs Fisher bought a ticket for Emil. They only had to wait a few minutes for the train. ‘Don’t leave anything on the train. And don’t sit on the flowers. Someone will lift your case up for you. Don’t forget to say “please”.’ ‘ I can lift the case up,’ said Emil. ‘ I’m not a baby.’ ‘All right.’ His mother was looking serious again. ‘ You must get out at the right station in the city,’ she said. ‘It’s the East Station, not the West Station. Your grandmother will be by the ticket office.’ ‘ I’ll find her, Mother.’ ‘ Don’t throw paper on the floor of the carriage when you eat your food. And don’t lose the money.’ Emil opened his jacket and felt in his pocket. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said.‘It’s safe.’ The train came into the station. Emil kissed his mother and climbed into a carriage with his case. His mother gave him the flowers and food. 3