This week we have the inevitable Pratchett Christmas reading. I hope you enjoy. This is taken from The Last Hero, a book about Cohen The Barbarian (that'll be the hero!). In this excerpt I'm reading a conversation between him and his old friends as they make their way up a giant mountain in the centre of Discworld with the goal of returning fire to the Gods 'with interest'. I'll read today and then next week we'll do an analysis and look at the vocabulary. I think the only possible new vocabulary this week is 'to get jumped' which is another way to say you were ambushed or someone caught you by surprise with the intent to hurt or attack you. Cohen the Barbarian is a character based on Conan the Barbarian, and Terry extends his joke by adding other references to Arnold Schwarzenegger who played Conan in the 1982 film. If you don't get this reference check him out in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwdYd_RdLCQ In the story we meet a minstrel, there are several names for this job. One of the most recent and famous ones is The Bard, who we meet in The Witcher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9HW-Z3F7jo Hope you enjoy this. There's lots more reading episodes for you in the English Listening playlist on YouTube. #emmaseslenglish #englishreading #englishlisteningpractice