Ben's Language Lab

Tintin in: The Secret of the Unicorn #14

Tintin in: The Secret of the Unicorn

Episode 14

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Hi, my name is Ben. Welcome to Ben's Language Lab. Stories are one of the best methods to improve at a language and stories with pictures are even better. So today we're going to read a comic together. This one. This video is meant for beginner level English learners. If you need, there are subtitles available or the entire transcript is on benslanguagelab.com. Make sure you subscribe for more videos like this one. For now, just listen, watch, and enjoy. We're currently reading Tintin and the Secret of the Unicorn. If you haven't seen the other episodes, be sure to check out the link in the description to watch from the beginning. Let's get started. So remember to last episode where Tintin was running away from this dog. Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof. And he's in the forest. He's running away. Let's see what happens. He keeps running. He's very tired. You can see the sweat coming off of his face. He's running away and the dog is running after him. Woof, woof, woof, woof. and they're jumping and he's bounding. Bounding is when you're running fast like the dog, sorry. And then, the dog gets his leash caught on this random branch. And then he gets pulled back, back and away. And then Tintin says, saved, what luck? And then, smacks right into a tree. Oh, poor Tintin. He smacks right face first into the tree. But at least the dog isn't chasing him anymore. But then we hear, woof, woof, woof, woof. And then the dog is still trying to get at Tintin. And then, what shall I do? If I run, they'll let the dog go and I'll have to go back on my, and I'll have them back on my track. And so he's asking himself, what do I do? What do I do now? I don't know what to do. Because if he keeps going, he keeps running, they're just going to come and take this off the tree and the dog will also keep running after him and then they're going to be chasing him forever. But then he has an idea. He goes, oh, I have an idea. Yes, my mind's made up. I must risk everything. So he's going to take a risk, a gamble, a bet. He's going to try something that might not work, but it also might be brilliant. So then We see this man running by, and here we see the other one, and they're going around the tree. And then he says, we're nearly there. That barking isn't far off. Ho, ho, ho, ho. They can hear the barking just a little bit further. But it looks like Tintin turned around and went to them. Because then he takes the stick and whoops, bam. That's it, he says. I got you. He smacks him. He trips. And he lands on the ground, dropping his gun. Then Tintin goes for the gun and he grabs it. He grabs the gun first and then turns around with the gun in his hand and says, the joke's over you gangsters. Hands up. Put your hands in the air. So this one puts his two hands in the air, just like that. But the other one goes, he's on the ground still, but then he gets up as well. He's on his knees with his hands in the air. And then Tenzin says, now get up and start walking back to the house. We're going to turn around and we're going to go back to the house. We can have a nice, comfortable chat there while we wait for the police to arrive, he says. They're gonna wait for the police, and they're gonna just chat. Well, probably not, but that's what he's saying. It's a common thing to say that, we'll have a nice chat, but you're just gonna wait, really. But then we hear, we see the dog, woof, woof, woof, and then, crack, the branch breaks. This branch that was sticking off of the tree here is now broken into two pieces. What's the dog gonna do? What about Nestor? He'll have bolted the fool. And so now they're talking amongst themselves about the butler, Nestor. Nestor, old man. And then he asks him, what about Nestor? But then he'll have bolted. He'll have run away. He's afraid. And so he's going to run away. And then he bolted, the fool. Don't talk and keep moving, says Tintin. Shush, keep going. Then we hear woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, and the dog is running back towards them. And then he says, Brutus, get him. And then Tintin goes, huh? Right as Brutus jumps into the air and Tintin ducks out of the way as the dog goes, and smashes into the two men as they were standing on the other side of Tintin. They're both a little dazed. And then he says, hold your dog, hold them or it's you all shoot. And so he's saying that if they don't grab the dog like this, then he'll shoot them, not the dog, but he'll shoot them because that's more threatening to them. Mind you don't let him go. I repeat. It's you all shoot. He's not gonna shoot the dog. He'll shoot them So he's making sure that they'll hold on to him because they're afraid And so they have Brutus now they're holding on to him and Tintin has the gun and And then he says, this man says, Brutus, Brutus, be quiet for heaven's sake. Woof, woof, woof, woof. He keeps barking at Tintin. And he says, all right, get going. Back to the house. And then we see Nestor upstairs. He has not bolted. He's still there. They're coming back. They're coming back. Oh dear, oh dear. But he's taken them prisoner, he says. Because they're now his prisoner. He is Tintin and them is these two because he's now taken them prisoner because he has the gun, he has the power. But they are coming back. And so, oh where are they going? Oh I see, that little wretch is taking care to put Brutus back in his kennel. And so now he's calling Tintin a wretch. That's another sort of same thing as rascal or little boy, man, whatever you want to say. And they're taking Brutus, the dog, to put him in his kennel. That's where dogs live. It's called the kennel, doghouse, something like that. So a kennel is a specific place for animals, typically dogs, to go or to live for a while. So we hear Out here, in the kennel, we hear woof woof, woof woof. That's that. And now, gentlemen, we'll go to the police station. We're gonna go talk to the police, he says. They're coming back this way. They'll pass under the window. They'll pass under the ground floor windows. Perhaps there's some way. And so now Nestor is trying to help the masters, these two men. He wants to help them in some way. And so he sees them. They're coming this direction. and they'll pass under the ground floor windows. So if you think of a large building, right, let's say there's the door here, and then there's a window, let's say here, but then you see like windows up here or up here, that's because there are different floors on a building. So this would be called as the first floor, second floor, third floor, or this is also the ground floor. ground like that and so they're gonna pass under the ground floor windows they're gonna walk by here and so the windows might be a little bit higher right so maybe they're like this and then they pass under the windows like that as they're going by and so he's thinking what can I do and then he says keep cool Nesta keep cool don't worry Stay calm, he says. And they're walking by. He's got the gun, they're marching by. Here they come, careful don't miss. And he has a bat in his hands. And then, whap! And then, Nesta! He yells as Tintin drops the gun. Oh dear, I didn't hit him hard enough. And so then, but this man is going for the other gun. What now then, once more? Oh dear! And he hits the other man right on the head as he grabs Tintin around the neck. And then he gets knocked right in the head. Right in the noggin. And then he grabs the gun and says, got you this time, my young friend. As he now has the gun and is pointing it at Tintin. who's on the ground after being walloped in the head by Nestor and his bat. And then he says to Nestor, come out here, Nestor, and bring some strong cord with you. Cord is like string or wire, and he's going to tie up Tintin so that he can't move. You walk in front, I don't have to tell you. One false move and I'll shoot you like a dog, he says. Because if Tintin tries to turn around or run away, he'll shoot him right away. And he tells him to walk in front, right? So here he is in front and there behind because it wouldn't make sense to have Tintin in the back, right? So he says, walk in front, I don't have to tell you. One false move and I'll shoot you. Speaking of dogs though, Snowy jumps in and bites the man right on his wrist. So he comes in and smacks the man right in the face and then hits him with his left hook. So this is his left arm, and this is his right arm. Right, left, well for me, I think it's reversed in the video, but this is my right arm, left arm, so he goes right, and then the left hook comes from outside, whabam, and smacks him right in the chin. Snowy, good old Snowy, you managed to find me. Hands up. Again, he says, as he hears from around the corner, somebody say, hands up. But Snowy managed to find him and help him. But then, oh, great snakes. That sounds like the two Thompsons. Hands up, I say. And so then he turns around, and there's Captain Haddock. Hooray. He's saved. He jumps up and says, yippee. Haha, bully! Haha, pirate! Pickled herring! And so the captain is still a little bit drunk and so he comes running, he has his bottle and says, Ernie raises it above his head and Tintin goes, Captain, look out, Captain! What are you doing? He doesn't know what he's, what is the captain doing? He's acting like a maniac. And then he comes around and goes, and he throws the bottle saying, that's one for you sycophant. I don't really know what a sycophant is. It's, it's somebody who's doing something bad or whatever, because the man had gotten the gun. He had just grabbed it and then was smacked in the head by Captain Haddock's bottle. And then he says to Tintin, that thug had come round and he was just going to shoot you. He was going to shoot you right in the head. And so Haddock is angry at him. He stopped him from doing that. Let me go. I keep telling you it's all a mistake. I'm not the one to arrest. And we hear Lester from around the corner as Thompson and Thompson come around with him. Ah, and here come Thompson and Thompson. Hello. This little ruffian, this little wretch, who broke into my house and terrorized my masters, he's a real gangster, Mr. Detective. So now we have to hear, um... Nestor, that's his name, Nestor talking to Thompson and saying that it was Tintin, he's a little ruffian, the little wretch who broke into their house and terrorized his masters, which are these two men up here. And he's saying that it's Tintin, Tintin did everything, it's Tintin's fault, nobody else. It's true. Nestor acted in good faith. I heard his master say I was a criminal. Nestor believed it. And so now Tintin is sticking up for Nestor because Nestor thinks that Tintin is a bad person and he doesn't know anything about these two men. He's just the butler. And so he's telling Thompson that it's okay. Nestor was just trying to help. He was acting in good faith. When you act in good faith, it's when you do something that's maybe a little wrong, but you meant to do good. You didn't mean to do wrong. So in the case of Nestor, when he whacked Tintin on the head with this stick, he thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was helping because he thinks that these guys are good, but they're actually And so he was acting in good faith. The master said that Tintin was a criminal, Nestor believed him, and so he was just trying to help. Then look what masters are the criminals! Look what's left of my bottle of three-star brandy! It's their fault! They're gangsters! Dissards baboons! And so now Haddock is saying that they are criminals because they destroyed his bottle of three-star brandy. His booze, his drink is what they destroyed. And then he adds, and what's more, we have a warrant for their arrest. And then he looks through his pocket and says, my wallet, my wallet, it's incredible. But your wallet's there. You have your wallet. That's just what's incredible. No one has stolen it. Thank you. So finally, no one has stolen his wallet. He actually has it for once. And they're going to arrest them. But then Tintin asks, oh, by the way, what about that pickpocket? Have you managed to lay hands on him? Have you managed to find him, to catch him? Because remember a couple episodes ago, they were looking for the pickpocket with the clue that was found in his jacket, right? In the jacket of the pickpocket that they had. Not yet, but it won't be long now. So they haven't quite found him, but they're still looking. It shouldn't be long. We've got his name from the Stellar Cleaners. And that's that place they went to look with the clue. He's called Aristeid Silk. What a name, huh? His name, he's called Aristeid Silk. We were just about to pull him in when we were ordered to arrest the Bird Brothers, and here we are. And so these are the Bird Brothers. And so they were told to come arrest them. So they're going to go back to find Aristeid's silk, but first they had to come here, number one. But then Haddock shouts, quiet, quiet, listen to me. They all go, huh? What's up with you? What's wrong, Haddock? Gentlemen, this has been a miscarriage of justice. This man is innocent. As Tintin said, won't you take off these handcuffs and let him go and fetch me another bottle of brandy? And so, of course, Haddock still wants more brandy. He wants more drink. And he's saying that this has been a miscarriage of justice. This man is innocent. Like Tintin said, take off these handcuffs. These are his handcuffs. Let him and go and get me a bottle of brandy. So he wants him to go inside and get a brandy and bring it out. That's actually why he wants him released. But he's saying that it's a miscarriage of justice. Justice is when somebody gets what's deserved. So if they commit a crime, they have to pay the price, the penalty, maybe a fine or go to prison, something like that. But a miscarriage of justice is when the wrong price is paid. So Nestor didn't do anything. He didn't actually do anything wrong. He was acting in good faith. And so having him in handcuffs might be a miscarriage of justice. He didn't do it. He's innocent. And then they say, there, my man, now you're free. We'll use these handcuffs for your masters. And so he unlocks the handcuffs and let him go. We'll follow you, Nestor. Don't forget, it's to be three star. He specifically wants a kind of brandy which is better, which is a higher quality brandy, three star. And so he's saying, right behind you, Nestor. You're doing great. Go get that brandy. But now, they're gonna talk a little bit because Tintin asks, now, Captain, tell me how you came to be here. Oh, yes, well, right. Just after your telephone call, and I didn't understand a word of that, someone rang up from the hospital. So remember when he was talking on the phone, Haddock didn't understand him. What was that? I can't understand you. That was sort of what was going on when they were talking before. But then he, somebody called him, somebody rang him up. Hello? From the hospital. where they still had these three birdsman, the little birdsman, the guy who was shot and pointed to the birds. After hovering between life and death, he'd come around and identified his attackers. He told me who his attackers were, or rather he told the doctors who the attackers were. He identified them. The bird brothers, the bird brothers did this to me. They shot me. And he called them the Bird Brothers, antique dealers of Marlon Spike Hall. It was only when I heard that name that he remembered what Tintin said. And so he figured out what it was. At least that's what we think. that I understood what you meant on the telephone. There was no time to lose. I warned the police at once, and we rushed over here. He told them right away, at once, because there was no time to lose. Let's do it right now. No time to lose. Let's get going. And then we rushed here. And then, uh-oh, wham, oh, ow, whoosh. We hear something from around the corner. Oops. As Tintin and Haddock go, oh no, we shouldn't have left those two police or the police with those two gangsters. They must have woken up and boo boo boo or something like that. But we're going to have to figure out in the next episode. We're going to leave it there for today. Thank you so much for watching and enjoying and make sure to comment with how it went and subscribe while you're down there. Remember, transcripts for all episodes are available on benslanguagelab.com. I'll see you next time. Bye!


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