Page 4 - The Rule of E audio flipbook 8.5 x 5.5 March 31 2017_Neat

“You work me too hard grandfather. I don’t have the strength

for chopping wood. None of my friends are forced

to do this kind of labor. You should hire a
strapping young man with muscles to do this.”
“You are a disobedient, argogant girl!” her

grandfather cried, and he picked up a stick and
began to run around the room after her.

“Bide your time!” cried Swie, trying to calm
E down. “For one day you will find a way out of

your terrible situation, but only if you use your wits
and not your anger.”

All the grandfather heard was “BARK!
BARK! BARK!” because Swie didn’t love him. But E heard the

words and, taking a big breath, she did her grandfather’s bidding, for
she trusted Swie’s sage advice.

“Oh Swie,” she said when they got to the hen coop, “I hate
grandfather so. How will I ever get out from under his thumb? For he

named me E so I could never rename myself and get free. It was a
cunning move and now I’m trapped here until he dies, which could be

years and years. All my friends have renamed themselves, and left me
behind. But with a name like E, there is only one choice when it comes

to an anagram. And since it’s the same as my birth name, I can’t choose
it.”

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