« The Emerald Isle », ou « l’Ile Émeraude » … ce petit bout de terre qui est le merveilleux pays de la République d’Irlande. Un pays de légendes et de créatures magiques, tels les Leprechauns, ou les Changelings, ou encore les Pookas et les Banshees… mais qui sont-elles ?
Ce projet est avant tout un voyage (sans bouger de la salle de classe) dans un temps lointain, pour découvrir des créatures magiques, espiègles et, disons-le, capricieuses, qui habitaient les contrées Irlandaises aux côtés des êtres humains.
Ce projet est également un projet d’écriture, qui s’inscrit dans l’atelier que j’ai appelé « Creative Writing », où les élèves de la section européenne anglais s’essayent, par groupe de trois ou quatre, à la rédaction d’un conte ou d’une légende, sortie tout droit de leur imagination, mais calquée sur les légendes Irlandaises étudiées pendant les séances qui précèdent l’atelier.
Le but du projet est de permettre aux élèves de manipuler la langue anglaise, de se confronter à la structure de la rédaction, du sens de la phrase et du conte dans son ensemble, tout en respectant le cadre donné. Mais c’est aussi une manière de prendre plaisir à l’écriture et à la rédaction d’un conte par soi-même … d’être écrivain d’un jour !
C’est un projet que les élèves aiment ! Ils s’amusent à créer, à imaginer et réalisent de belles productions dignes d’un recueil !
Venez ! Laissez-vous vous guider dans les recoins cachés de l’Irlande de jadis et partez à la rencontre d’êtres magiques qui ont plus d’un tour dans leur sac !
Jolynn HAGWOOD
Once upon a time, a good-looking prince was looking for a woman to marry. He was going to reign over the kingdom of Suva, where there was a huge, green forest that had no troubles.
He made a thousand of suitors come and one stood out.
Her name was Astrid, she was blonde, tall, and her eyes were as blue as the Hawaiian sea and she had an angel’s face.
The future married couple prepared their marriage together.
The kingdom of Suva was starting to get anxious because of the huge forest near the castle.
The forest was getting darker and darker, the clouds were crying non-stop above it, the trees were losing their leaves and the wind blew harder and harder.
A large group of peasants were going to explore and report the situation in the forest. But not one of them came back.
The king decided to send soldiers by groups with different intervals to succeed in being able to report. In the next three days nothing happened and the bodies of the dead soldiers were found.
That forest was beginning to seriously worry the population.
The prince wanted to go but his mother didn’t want to let him because he was going to get married in two months. The kingdom made the best apothecary in the world come: Nostradamus. He made advanced research for an entire month but still nothing.
At night the prince sneaked out of the castle, took a horse from the stables and charged off into the forest. The only person who knew about this was the prince’s brother; he would have to search for his sibling if he didn’t come back the next midday.
The prince didn’t come back the next midday, his brother, scared rushed with his horse into the forest, where he found the prince into a statue of stone but the most strange thing was that the trees were getting back their leaves, rays of sunshine would start to penetrate through the darkness of the woods and the clouds were slowly pushed aside. The curse had been lifted but the prince was still of stone. The brother sped back to the castle to speak to Nostradamus to tale him everything.
Nostradamus told him that he had already seen this before and told him an old legend of a sly creature named the Pookas :” In every quiet forest there is a Pookas to be found, a mischievous creature, as devious as a fox. Legend has it that it can turn into anything it wants at any time. If it finds a person that does not do what it demands, it will turn that person into stone and only the victim’s lover must deliver a kiss to make them live again…”
The brother ran as fast as he could to find Astrid and told her to mount her horse. The two charged into the woods to save the prince. The brother told Astrid what to do, and once they found the prince, Astrid kissed him with all of her love. The prince clothes and skin found their original texture and colour.
The prince told Astrid and his brother his disturbing adventure: “I saw a cold woman with dark night hair and bewitching eyes. She looked so evil and dark and evil that I fell off my horse; before I could do anything she turned me into a statue of stone. Oh thank you thank you for saving me from this curse.”
The two lovers and the brother went back merrily to the castle. The future married couple finished the marriage preparations with a secret that would be engraved in there loving minds…
After their marriage, the prince and the princess Astrid had lots of children and lived happily ever after.
Paul PRATT, Pernelle KESSLER, Matthias LAPP, Nathan GERARD et Lany NGUYEN, élèves de 3e
No one remembers what happened, but this is the story we hope you can appreciate… Let’s go back in time very far away.
Alice and Charles were two children coming from a middle class family. They were sister and brother. Alice was 10 years old and Charles was the eldest, he was 15 years old.
Their mother, Jeanne JACOB, had disappeared and nobody knew why and where she was… They missed their mum because she was so nice and so sweet. Definitely, she was for them the best MUM EVER! In contrast, their father was nasty with them; he never took care of them.
After the mysterious disappearance of Jeanne, Marc, the father, decided to move out in a little town named Far Far Away, in Ireland. Marc had been crazy about this place for a long time, and had always dreamt of living there but Jeanne had never wanted to. So when she disappeared, he thought it was a good opportunity. Charles and Alice were not so excited to move there. Alice found this town too empty, with no life, but fortunately, Charles was there to reassure her.
So, all the family, Marc, Alice and Charles, prepared their personal belongings, but Marc didn’t help the kids. He just set up his own boxes without taking care of his kids. In fact, Charles knew that his father was not happy to have kids; that’s why Charles was so helpful with his sister. Alice loved Charles; he was a very good brother to her.
During the journey to Far Far Away, Marc came across an old man, and by accident he dropped a box on his feet. Even the old man was really furious, Marc shouted after him and tried to hit him…Fortunately, Charles arrived at this moment and stopped his dad. Furious, he left to rest a bit and the two kids had to continue with the moving by themselves. Unfortunately, they get lost to go to Far Far Away village. The old man showed up again and insisted on showing them a short cut. Charles was really suspicious and said “no thank you”. When the night came the two kids were exhausted and finally decided to follow the short cut to go faster to their new place without waiting for their father. They had to walk in a terrifying forest for hours and hours and they had the feeling that they were walking in circles; Charles started to panic but suddenly Alice saw a tower covered with vegetation…
Getting closer, they could see in this mysterious tower a light. They were so excited to have found a place to sleep in. This door was probably the funniest door they’d ever seen. It was a green door dominated by a big statue, and with a witch and some magical and terrifying creatures painted on it. Charles was brave: he knocked at the door, and the door opened by itself…Even if they were scared and excited at the same time, they finally decided to enter. Just behind them, the door closed by itself… Inside, it was gorgeous! The kids couldn’t stop looking at all the decorations on the walls, the gigantic chimneys, the wonderful statues, the silverware and the big big rooms… They were amazed!
In the middle of the tower, there was the dining room and the table was set up. There was a traditional Irish meal: stobhach Gaelash, a stew with different vegetables like potatoes or carrots with lamb.
Nobody was there and the kids were too hungry not to enjoy this meal. So they took place at the table and had dinner. It was delicious! After this good time, Alice suggested they visit the rest of the tower. On the ground floor, there was a big kitchen with a lot of food, the dining room where they had dinner and a big living room. On the 1st floor, there were three rooms, two bathrooms, and another living room. The tower was probably more than 100 years old. They were tired, and the bed was so big and welcoming, that they thought it wouldn’t be too bad to sleep a little bit. And it didn’t matter because apparently there was nobody in this tower! That night was definitely the best night ever. The bed was comfortable, and they dreamt of their mum coming back home. Around 4 am, Charles woke up. He had the feeling that they were not alone in the tower anymore! Charles thought it was too dangerous to stay there, and he decided to wake up his sister and get out of the tower. But all the doors and the windows were locked, they couldn’t find any issues. Once again, Charles started to panic. Alice thought they were safe when she found a small back door in the kitchen, but unfortunately, this one was also closed. Then, she was terrified, went to isolate herself in a corner and cried a lot. Suddenly, she heard a voice, a sweet and pretty voice… It was a female voice. The voice said: “don’t cry my pretty baby, it’s me…” Alice recognized this voice but she was not sure…she said “my brother and me are trapped in this terrifying tower, please help us”. The voice was calm and said, “Don’t worry, call your brother, he can’t hear me. You are the only one and follow my voice”. The voice led them to a tunnel. They were confident and continued walking through the tunnel. But they realized that they were followed by someone, but WHO? They started to run faster and faster and arrived in front of a huge tree. It was an old and magical tree, occupied by a lot of fireflies. They were maybe a million and the tree was illuminated like the sun. Alice heard again the same nice voice but more clearly and she said to Charles: “Charles, I’m hearing the voice again. She said that you should take my hand… DO IT, now!”. Charles did it and they instantly had a vision of the past; there were younger and they saw their mum talking about her childhood. This moment was pleasant and so calming. Then the voice said “I will always be with you”. Alice realized it was the voice of their mum. She was there from the beginning, to help them, to protect them. Alice and Charles could be reassured. The voice advised them to follow the fireflies: “they will guide you back home”. Finally they followed the fireflies and arrived at home. Even if Marc was still sleeping and couldn’t realize the kids had disappeared, they were so happy to be back with him.
Legend has it that their mum was reincarnated in the Good Spirit of Nature protecting them from the POOKA, an evil spirit who was the old man and who wanted to transform kids into fireflies.
Even if Charles could not hear his mother; Alice and Charles knew she would always be there for them, making sure that everything would be alright in their life.
They lived happily enjoying their life near their father. Even if he was not perfect, at least they were together as a family, overwatched by Jeanne.
But don’t forget to teach your kids not to follow an old man that they don’t know…they could be transformed in fireflies…and who knows if the Good Spirit of Nature really exists…
Flore GARCIA, Florine SANTORO, Arthur GAUDISSARD et Elouann JORDAN, élèves de 3e
