Interactive Reading

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Ola stopped at the smokehouse. He stuffed a large
sausage into his knapsack. Then he set out, following the
path that wound along the stream.
The path took Ola high into the mountains. It led to
the foot of a rushing waterfall.
Ola stood by the falls, listening. He heard music in
the tumbling water that sounded like notes played on a
harp. The sweet, mysterious music sang to the waterfall.
It danced in the silver spray. Ola had never heard anything
so beautiful in his life. There is magic in this place, he
thought.
“Grim!” he called. “Fosse-Grim, are you here?”
A curious creature emerged from the pool beneath the
falls. Its skin was mottled green, and it cradled a harp in its
arms. Strands of green, silky hair, like long threads of algae,
hung to its shoulders. It drew its fingers across the harp and
spoke in a voice like splashing water.
“What do you want, boy?”
“I need your help, Grim,” Ola said. “I want to play the
fiddle so badly.”
“Let me hear you.”
Ola took his fiddle from his knapsack. Tuning the
strings as best he could, he took up his bow and began
to play.
“Stop! Stop!” cried the grim. “You’re hurting my ears!
There is nothing I can teach you, boy. You want to play
badly. And you do!”
Underline the words in the
paragraph beginning at line
75 that personify the music—
that is, that describe the
music doing things that only
humans do.
In the paragraph beginning
at line 82, what similes does
the writer use to help you
imagine what the grim looks
like? Underline them.
Most folk tales have very
strong plot lines. Folk tales
focus more on the story than
they do on the characters. At
this point in the plot, what
does the main character
want? What problems does
he have getting what he
wants?
mottled (mät√¥ld) adj.:
streaked or spotted in
different colors or shades.
Algae (al√j≤) are microscopic
organisms found in damp
places.
Ola and the Grim 321