The Money Jar (A1 Reading Story)

A1 · BEGINNER Reading practice · ~1,300 words · 8-min read

This is a short, easy story for beginners. The sentences are simple. First, read the eight key words. Then read the story. At the end, there is a small quiz to check what you understand.

The story

1 · The fruit stall

Sami is nineteen years old. He works at a fruit stall in the big market. A stall is one small shop in a market — it is only a long table with a roof. Sami’s stall has apples, oranges, bananas, and sweet red grapes.

The market opens early. There are many stalls in the market. There is a fish stall, a bread stall, and a stall with old books. There are people everywhere. The market is loud, and Sami loves it.

Sami’s boss is Mr Bell. Mr Bell is a big man with a big voice. He shouts, “Apples! Sweet apples!” all day. But he is a good boss. Every Friday, he gives Sami his pay. Pay is the money you get for your work.

“Here is your pay, Sami,” Mr Bell says every Friday. “You work hard. Thank you.”

Sami’s pay is not big. But Sami has a plan. At home, he has a glass jar. Every Friday, he puts some money in the jar. He does not spend it. He saves it. To save means to keep your money and not spend it.

Why does Sami save his money? Because he wants a bicycle. His old bicycle is broken. So now Sami walks to the market every morning. He walks for one hour. In the rain, he walks. In the cold, he walks. His legs are tired every day.

A new bicycle costs one hundred pounds. Every night, Sami counts the money in his jar. He puts the coins in little towers on the table. “Fifty-two pounds,” he says one night. “Halfway there.”

Sami looks at the jar and smiles. “One day,” he says. “One day I ride to work.”

Sami lives with his mother in a small flat. His mother works too — she cleans offices at night. Money is not easy in their home. But every Friday, Sami gives some of his pay to his mother, and he puts some in the jar. “Little by little,” his mother always says. “Little by little, the jar gets full.”

2 · The wallet

It is Friday. The market is very busy today. There are hundreds of people. They want fruit for the weekend. Sami runs from the apples to the oranges and back. He weighs the fruit. He takes the money. He says, “Thank you! Have a nice weekend!” a hundred times.

At six o’clock, the market closes. The people go home. Mr Bell goes to buy tea for the two of them. Sami starts to clean.

He sweeps the ground under the stall. He picks up boxes and paper. Then he sees something under the table. It is small, brown, and flat.

It is a wallet.

Sami picks it up and opens it. His eyes go big. There is money inside — a lot of money. He counts it slowly. Two hundred pounds.

Two hundred pounds! That is two new bicycles. That is more money than the jar at home. That is more than Sami’s pay for many weeks.

Sami looks left. He looks right. The market is empty now. Nobody sees him. Nobody knows about the wallet. He can put it in his pocket, and the money is his.

He thinks about the new bicycle. He thinks about his tired legs and the long walk in the rain.

Then he looks in the wallet again. There is a photo inside. In the photo, there are two small children. They are laughing. And there is a white card with a name on it: Anna Green — Green’s Flower Shop, 14 High Street.

Sami looks at the photo for a long time. This money is not his money. It is Anna Green’s money. Maybe it is for her children. Maybe it is for her shop.

Sami is poor. But Sami is honest. An honest person does not take things from other people.

He puts the wallet in his bag, next to his old jacket. “High Street,” he says. “It is not far.”

3 · The flower shop

Green’s Flower Shop is small and pretty. There are flowers in every window — red, yellow, white, and pink. A little bell rings when Sami opens the door.

A woman stands behind the table. Her eyes are red. She looks very sad and very tired.

“I am sorry,” she says. “The shop is closed now. And today is a very bad day for me.”

“Are you Anna Green?” Sami asks.

“Yes,” she says. “Why?”

Sami opens his bag. He takes out the wallet. “I work at the fruit stall in the market,” he says. “This is under my table. I think it is yours.”

Anna Green looks at the wallet. Then she starts to cry.

“My wallet!” she says. “Thank you! Oh, thank you!” She opens it and counts the money. It is all there. Two hundred pounds.

“This money is the pay for my two workers,” she says. “Today is Friday. Without this money, I cannot pay them. All day I look for this wallet. I look in the shop, in the market, in the street. And now you are here, and you have it.”

She takes out twenty pounds. “Please,” she says. “This is for you.”

Sami thinks about his jar. Twenty pounds is a lot of money for him. But he shakes his head. “No, thank you,” he says. “It is your money. I am happy now. That is enough.”

Anna Green looks at him for a long moment. “What is your name?” she asks.

“Sami,” he says.

“Sami,” she says slowly, like she wants to remember it. “You are an honest young man. Honest people are gold.”

Sami walks home in the evening light. His legs are tired, and his jar at home is still only half full. But he feels rich. He thinks about the two children in the photo. He thinks about the two workers and their pay. Tonight, everybody sleeps well.

At home, his mother asks, “Why are you so happy today?” Sami tells her about the wallet, the money, and the flower shop. His mother smiles and puts her hand on his head, like when he is a little boy. “You are a good son,” she says. “Money comes and goes. A good name stays.”

4 · The envelope

One week later, it is Friday again. The market is busy. Sami weighs apples and oranges. Then he hears Mr Bell’s big voice.

“Sami! Someone is here for you!”

Sami turns. It is Anna Green. Today she is not sad. She is smiling, and she has flowers in her hand — and a white envelope.

“Hello, Sami,” she says. “These flowers are for your stall. And this is for you.”

She gives him the envelope. Sami’s name is on the front.

“What is it?” Sami asks.

“Not money,” she says. “Do not worry. It is something better. But do not open it here. Open it at home, tonight.”

Then she smiles at Mr Bell, says goodbye, and walks away into the busy market.

All day, Sami thinks about the envelope. It sits in his bag, and it feels heavy — but it is very light. What is better than money?

That night, at home, Sami sits at his table. The money jar is in front of him. The envelope is next to it. He opens it slowly.

Inside, there is a small silver key. And there is a note with only six words on it:

“Come to my shop on Sunday.”

Sami holds the little key in his hand. A key opens a door. But which door?

Check your understanding

Read each question. Think about your answer. Then click “Show answer” to check.

Words to remember

Here are the key words again, in new sentences. Say each one out loud.

• market — On Saturday, we buy fruit and fish at the market.
• stall — The bread stall is next to the fish stall.
• boss — My boss is kind. She says thank you every day.
• pay — I get my pay on Friday. Then I buy food for the week.
• save — I save five pounds every week for a holiday.
• jar — There is a jar of coins on my table.
• wallet — My wallet is in my bag, with my money and my cards.
• honest — An honest friend tells you the truth.

Talk about it · Write about it

Talk about it: You find a wallet with a lot of money. Nobody sees you. What do you do? Why?

Write about it: Write 5 simple sentences about money. Do you save money? What do you save it for? Use there is or there are in one sentence.

🎉 Well done — you read a whole story in English! That is a big step. And did you notice? You now know the eight new words too.

But wait — what does the little silver key open? And what is waiting for Sami at the flower shop on Sunday? You will find out in the next story…

Next story: Read another easy A1 story →

About this story: This is an original A1 graded reader (~1,300 words). It uses simple, controlled vocabulary and the present simple tense, so beginners can understand about 98% of the words. Any harder word is explained before the story and used again inside it.

Khamis Maiouf

I’m Khamis Maiouf. English is not my first language – I learned it as an adult in the UK, passed Functional Skills Level 2 in English, qualified in Hairdressing at Level 3, and I’m now studying Business at university. For over five years I’ve taught ESOL classes in my community and tutored students through GCSE English. I write every lesson on this site myself, for the learner I used to be.