Aesop's Fables · chapter 4 of 6
The Lion and the Mouse
狮子和老鼠
Grandpa Owl promises not to eat tonight's mouse. In the story, a tiny mouse wakes up a hungry lion, then makes him a promise that sounds much too big to keep.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第四天晚上，两个小朋友很早就来了。
Dì sì tiān wǎnshang, liǎng gè xiǎopéngyǒu hěn zǎo jiù lái le.
On the fourth evening, the two friends arrived early.
- Little Squirrel 爷爷，今天故事里的老鼠，您不会吃吧？
Yéye, jīntiān gùshi lǐ de lǎoshǔ, nín bú huì chī ba?
Grandpa, the mouse in tonight's story… you won't eat her, will you?
- Grandpa Owl 咕咕，不会，不会！故事里的老鼠，爷爷只讲，不吃。
Gūgū, bú huì, bú huì! Gùshi lǐ de lǎoshǔ, yéye zhǐ jiǎng, bù chī.
Hoo-hoo, no, no! Mice in stories are for telling, not for eating.
- Little Rabbit 那您快讲吧！
Nà nín kuài jiǎng ba!
Then hurry up and tell it!
- Grandpa Owl 有一天，一只大狮子在树下睡觉。一只小老鼠跑了过来。
Yǒu yì tiān, yì zhī dà shīzi zài shù xià shuìjiào. Yì zhī xiǎo lǎoshǔ pǎo le guòlái.
One day, a big lion was sleeping under a tree. Along came a little mouse.
- The Mouse 这是什么？好大，好舒服！我去上边看看！
Zhè shì shénme? Hǎo dà, hǎo shūfu! Wǒ qù shàngbian kànkan!
What's this? So big and so cozy! I'll run up on top and have a look!
- The Lion 谁？！谁在我身上跑？别跑！
Shéi?! Shéi zài wǒ shēnshang pǎo? Bié pǎo!
Who's that?! Who's running all over me? Stop right there!
- The Mouse 狮子大王，对不起！请放了我吧！
Shīzi dàwáng, duìbuqǐ! Qǐng fàng le wǒ ba!
King Lion, I'm so sorry! Please let me go!
- The Lion 放了你？我正饿呢！
Fàng le nǐ? Wǒ zhèng è ne!
Let you go? I was just getting hungry!
- The Mouse 您放了我，以后我一定帮您！
Nín fàng le wǒ, yǐhòu wǒ yídìng bāng nín!
If you let me go, I promise I'll help you one day!
- The Lion 哈哈哈！你这么小，能帮我什么？
Hāhāhā! Nǐ zhème xiǎo, néng bāng wǒ shénme?
Ha ha ha! You're so tiny. How could you ever help me?
- The Lion 好吧，你真好笑。走吧，小老鼠！
Hǎo ba, nǐ zhēn hǎoxiào. Zǒu ba, xiǎo lǎoshǔ!
All right, you made me laugh. Off you go, little mouse!
- Little Squirrel 我知道！狮子说得对，老鼠太小了！
Wǒ zhīdào! Shīzi shuō de duì, lǎoshǔ tài xiǎo le!
I know! The lion's right. That mouse is much too small to help!
- Grandpa Owl 别急。过了几天，来了几个人。他们在树下放了一张大网。
Bié jí. Guò le jǐ tiān, lái le jǐ gè rén. Tāmen zài shù xià fàng le yì zhāng dà wǎng.
Not so fast. A few days later, some men came, and they set a big net under the tree.
- The Lion 这是什么？网！我出不去了！谁来帮帮我？
Zhè shì shénme? Wǎng! Wǒ chū bu qù le! Shéi lái bāngbang wǒ?
What's this? A net! I can't get out! Somebody help me!
- The Mouse 是狮子大王的声音！我来了！
Shì shīzi dàwáng de shēngyīn! Wǒ lái le!
That's King Lion's voice! I'm coming!
- The Lion 小老鼠？你这么小，能做什么？
Xiǎo lǎoshǔ? Nǐ zhème xiǎo, néng zuò shénme?
Little mouse? You're so small. What can you do?
- The Mouse 我很小，可是我会咬！您看着！
Wǒ hěn xiǎo, kěshì wǒ huì yǎo! Nín kànzhe!
I'm small, but I can bite! Just watch!
- Grandpa Owl 小老鼠咬啊咬，咬啊咬……
Xiǎo lǎoshǔ yǎo a yǎo, yǎo a yǎo…
The little mouse gnawed and gnawed, and gnawed and gnawed…
- The Mouse 好了！网开了！狮子大王，快出来！
Hǎo le! Wǎng kāi le! Shīzi dàwáng, kuài chūlái!
Done! The net's open! King Lion, come on out!
- The Lion 小老鼠，谢谢你！我笑你小……是我错了。
Xiǎo lǎoshǔ, xièxie nǐ! Wǒ xiào nǐ xiǎo… shì wǒ cuò le.
Little mouse, thank you! I laughed at you for being small… I was wrong.
- Little Rabbit 小老鼠真好！小的也能帮大的！
Xiǎo lǎoshǔ zhēn hǎo! Xiǎo de yě néng bāng dà de!
What a good little mouse! Little ones can help big ones too!
- Little Squirrel 好吧……这次我又说错了。
Hǎo ba… zhè cì wǒ yòu shuō cuò le.
Okay… so I was wrong again.
- Grandpa Owl 啊，我的眼镜！眼镜掉到草里了！
À, wǒ de yǎnjìng! Yǎnjìng diào dào cǎo lǐ le!
Oh, my glasses! My glasses fell into the grass!
- Little Rabbit 爷爷，别急！我们帮您找！
Yéye, bié jí! Wǒmen bāng nín zhǎo!
Don't worry, Grandpa! We'll help you look!
- Little Squirrel 找到了！爷爷，给您！
Zhǎo dào le! Yéye, gěi nín!
Found them! Here you go, Grandpa!
- Grandpa Owl 谢谢！你们两个，就是爷爷的小老鼠！
Xièxie! Nǐmen liǎng gè, jiù shì yéye de xiǎo lǎoshǔ!
Thank you! You two are Grandpa's little mice!
- Little Rabbit 小老鼠？爷爷，您不会吃我们吧？
Xiǎo lǎoshǔ? Yéye, nín bú huì chī wǒmen ba?
Little mice? Grandpa, you're not going to eat us, are you?
- Grandpa Owl 不会，不会！明天的故事里，有很多吃的，还有一个只想唱歌的朋友。
Bú huì, bú huì! Míngtiān de gùshi lǐ, yǒu hěn duō chī de, hái yǒu yí gè zhǐ xiǎng chànggē de péngyou.
No, no! Now, tomorrow's story has lots and lots of food in it, and a friend who only wants to sing.
- Little Squirrel 只想唱歌？那冬天来了，他吃什么？
Zhǐ xiǎng chànggē? Nà dōngtiān lái le, tā chī shénme?
Only wants to sing? Then when winter comes, what's he going to eat?
What changed in the story?
- Why does the lion wake up?
“谁在我身上跑？”
- What does the mouse promise the lion?
“您放了我，以后我一定帮您！”
- Why does the lion laugh at the mouse?
“你这么小，能帮我什么？”
- How does the mouse free the lion?
“我很小，可是我会咬！……小老鼠咬啊咬，咬啊咬”
- What happens to Grandpa Owl at the end of the night?
“眼镜掉到草里了！”