The Big Wooden Horse

Part One

For ten years, the Greeks waited by Troy. Its walls were very high. They could not get in.

Then a clever man named Odysseus had an idea. "Let us build a big wooden horse," he said.

The Greeks built the horse. It was as tall as a house. It had a little door in its side.

Odysseus and his men hid inside the horse. It was dark in there. They did not make a sound!

The other Greeks went to their ships. They sailed away. The beach was empty, but for the horse.

The people of Troy came out. "The Greeks have gone!" they said. Then they saw the big wooden horse.

"It must be a gift," they said. They pulled the horse into the city. They sang and danced all day.

A man named Laocoon shouted, "Do not trust it! It may be a trick!" No one listened.

That night, the people of Troy went to bed. The horse stood still in the square. It was quiet.

In the night, the little door opened. Odysseus and his men climbed out. The Greeks came out of the horse.

And so the war was over. It was a clever trick. A wooden horse had won it.

People still say, "Look twice at a gift." It might hold a trick!