Invata engleza citind, nivelul recomandat A2 Elementary.
During the last part of the eighteenth century there lived a man of science. One day he left his laboratory because he had found a beautiful young woman who became his wife. Aylmer loved his young wife very much, but his real passion was science and the mysteries of Nature. One day, very soon after their marriage, Aylmer stared at his wife with a worried expression. "Georgiana," he said, "did you know that the mark on your cheek can be eliminated?" "No, I didn't," she said smiling. "People have called it a charm, and I believed it." "Perhaps on another face it could be a charm, but not on yours. No, dearest Georgiana, your beauty is almost perfect. But I hate that birthmark." "You hate it!" exclaimed Georgiana, who started crying. "Then why did you marry me? You cannot love me if you hate my birthmark!" In the center of Georgiana's left cheek there was a strange red mark. It had the shape of a very tiny human hand. In the past young men had liked the tiny hand. They said a fairy had put her tiny hand on her beautiful cheek. Some envious young women said that it destroyed Georgiana's beauty. Before their marriage Aylmer did not think about the birthmark. But now it had become a frightening obsession. Georgiana's beauty was almost perfect and he could not tolerate this defect. It was an imperfection of Nature. It was Nature's way of showing that we are only mortals. Their happiness was ruined by this birthmark. When Aylmer woke up in the morning and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Georgiana's crimson mark. When they sat together by the fire in the evening, his eyes always looked at the birthmark on Georgiana's cheek. It was the mark of her imperfection. Georgiana shuddered when Aylmer looked at her. And the pink color of her cheeks turned white and the little red hand became more evident. It looked like a red ruby on a white stone. Late one night Georgiana said, "My dear Aylmer, do you remember anything about a dream you had last night " a dream about this horrible little hand?"