The North Wind and the Sun
British English version as spoken by John Underwood *.
*born, raised and educated in various parts of South East England where he is currently the conductor of the Prommers' Orchestra & Chorus. His RP accent has S.E. regional influences.


1. Listen without reading.
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2. Read the text without listening.
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3. Listen without reading again and note characteristics.
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4. Read the text while listening.
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Finally, compare the G.A. and R.P. texts sylistically.
Click here for the G.A. text.

From: Dennis Freeborn, Varieties of English, 1993






















































































































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British English version as spoken by John Underwood

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which of them was stronger, when a traveller came along wrapped in a warm cloak. They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveller take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other.

Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew, the more closely did the traveller fold his cloak around him; and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt.

Then the Sun shone out warmly, and immediately the traveller took off his cloak. And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.

Note the differences with the text in General American English: not just lexico-grammatical, but also pragmatic, textual, stylistic... Click here for the G.A. text.


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