Jack and the Beanstalk · chapter 1 of 5
Five Magic Beans
五个魔豆
Jack is sent to market to sell the family cow, but a funny old man with a riddle offers him something much stranger than money: five magic beans.
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Read what you hear
- Narrator 很久很久以前，杰克和妈妈住在一个小房子里。
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, Jiékè hé māma zhù zài yí gè xiǎo fángzi lǐ.
Long, long ago, Jack and his mother lived in a little cottage.
- Jack's Mother 杰克，家里没有钱了。小白也没有牛奶了……
Jiékè, jiā lǐ méiyǒu qián le. Xiǎobái yě méiyǒu niúnǎi le…
Jack, we're out of money. And Milky-white has stopped giving milk…
- Jack 放心吧，妈妈！我去找工作！
Fàngxīn ba, māma! Wǒ qù zhǎo gōngzuò!
Don't worry, Mother! I'll go and find work!
- Jack's Mother 你？上次你去干活，一个人吃了三个人的饭！
Nǐ? Shàng cì nǐ qù gànhuó, yí gè rén chī le sān gè rén de fàn!
You? The last time you went out to work, you ate enough for three!
- Jack 那……那是他们的饭太好吃了！
Nà… nà shì tāmen de fàn tài hǎochī le!
Well… that's because their food was so good!
- Jack's Mother 家里还有小白，还有爸爸的斧子。斧子不能卖，你去卖小白吧。
Jiā lǐ hái yǒu Xiǎobái, hái yǒu bàba de fǔzi. Fǔzi bù néng mài, nǐ qù mài Xiǎobái ba.
All we have left is Milky-white and your father's axe. We can't sell the axe, so you'll have to sell Milky-white.
- Jack 小白，对不起……妈妈，放心吧，我会拿很多钱回来！
Xiǎobái, duìbuqǐ… Māma, fàngxīn ba, wǒ huì ná hěn duō qián huílái!
I'm sorry, Milky-white… Don't worry, Mother. I'll bring home lots of money!
- Narrator 第二天早上，杰克带着小白走了。
Dì èr tiān zǎoshang, Jiékè dàizhe Xiǎobái zǒu le.
The next morning, Jack set off with Milky-white.
- The Old Man 早上好，小孩！你和你的牛，要去哪儿？
Zǎoshang hǎo, xiǎohái! Nǐ hé nǐ de niú, yào qù nǎr?
Good morning, young fellow! And where are you and your cow off to?
- Jack 老爷爷好！我去卖牛。
Lǎo yéye hǎo! Wǒ qù mài niú.
Good morning, sir! I'm taking her to market to sell.
- The Old Man 我先问你：五个豆子，一只手只能拿两个，怎么拿？
Wǒ xiān wèn nǐ: wǔ gè dòuzi, yì zhī shǒu zhǐ néng ná liǎng gè, zěnme ná?
First, a riddle: five beans, and each hand can hold only two. How do you carry them all?
- Jack 这个我会！一只手两个，一只手两个，还有一个……放在嘴里！
Zhège wǒ huì! Yì zhī shǒu liǎng gè, yì zhī shǒu liǎng gè, hái yǒu yí gè… fàng zài zuǐ lǐ!
I know this one! Two in one hand, two in the other, and the last one… goes in your mouth!
- The Old Man 对了！你真行！你看，这是五个魔豆。
Duì le! Nǐ zhēn xíng! Nǐ kàn, zhè shì wǔ gè módòu.
Right! You're a sharp one! Now look, here are five magic beans.
- The Old Man 晚上种在地里，明天早上，就能长到天上！
Wǎnshang zhòng zài dì lǐ, míngtiān zǎoshang, jiù néng zhǎng dào tiānshàng!
Plant them tonight, and by tomorrow morning they'll grow all the way up to the sky!
- Jack 长到天上？真的吗？
Zhǎng dào tiānshàng? Zhēn de ma?
Up to the sky? Really?
- The Old Man 真的！你的牛换我的魔豆，好不好？
Zhēn de! Nǐ de niú huàn wǒ de módòu, hǎo bù hǎo?
Really! Your cow for my magic beans. What do you say?
- Jack 好！换！妈妈一定会很高兴！
Hǎo! Huàn! Māma yídìng huì hěn gāoxìng!
Deal! Mother will be so pleased!
- Jack's Mother 杰克，你回来了！小白卖了多少钱？
Jiékè, nǐ huílái le! Xiǎobái mài le duōshao qián?
Jack, you're back! How much did you get for Milky-white?
- Jack 妈妈你看！五个魔豆！
Māma nǐ kàn! Wǔ gè módòu!
Look, Mother! Five magic beans!
- Jack's Mother 我的天啊！你用小白换了五个豆子？！
Wǒ de tiān a! Nǐ yòng Xiǎobái huàn le wǔ gè dòuzi?!
Oh my heavens! You swapped Milky-white for five beans?!
- Jack's Mother 什么魔豆！今天晚上，你别吃饭了！
Shénme módòu! Jīntiān wǎnshang, nǐ bié chīfàn le!
Magic beans, my foot! No supper for you tonight!
- Narrator 妈妈生气地把豆子丢到了外边。杰克没吃晚饭就睡了。
Māma shēngqì de bǎ dòuzi diū dào le wàibian. Jiékè méi chī wǎnfàn jiù shuì le.
Mother angrily threw the beans outside, and Jack went to bed without any supper.
- Jack 我好饿……老爷爷说的，是真的吗？
Wǒ hǎo è… lǎo yéye shuō de, shì zhēn de ma?
I'm so hungry… Was the old man telling the truth?
- Narrator 第二天早上，杰克的房间很黑。
Dì èr tiān zǎoshang, Jiékè de fángjiān hěn hēi.
The next morning, Jack's room was very dark.
- Jack 怎么了？外边是什么？……是魔豆！妈妈，快来看！
Zěnme le? Wàibian shì shénme? … Shì módòu! Māma, kuài lái kàn!
What's going on? What's that outside? … It's the magic beans! Mother, come and look, quick!
- Jack's Mother 我的天啊！是魔豆……真的是魔豆！
Wǒ de tiān a! Shì módòu… zhēn de shì módòu!
Oh my heavens! The beans… they really were magic!
- Jack 我说了吧！天上有什么呢？我要爬上去看看！
Wǒ shuō le ba! Tiānshàng yǒu shénme ne? Wǒ yào pá shàngqù kànkan!
I told you so! What's up there in the sky, I wonder? I'm going to climb up and see!
- Jack's Mother 杰克，不行！太高了！
Jiékè, bù xíng! Tài gāo le!
Jack, no! It's much too high!
- Narrator 杰克不知道，云上边住着一个巨人……
Jiékè bù zhīdào, yún shàngbian zhùzhe yí gè jùrén…
What Jack didn't know was that high above the clouds, there lived a giant…
- Jack 放心吧，妈妈！我马上回来！
Fàngxīn ba, māma! Wǒ mǎshàng huílái!
Don't worry, Mother! I'll be right back!
What changed in the story?
- Why does Mother decide to sell Milky-white?
“家里没有钱了。小白也没有牛奶了……”
- How does Jack answer the old man's riddle?
“一只手两个，一只手两个，还有一个……放在嘴里！”
- What does the old man say the beans will do?
“晚上种在地里，明天早上，就能长到天上！”
- What does Mother do about the beans?
“今天晚上，你别吃饭了！”……“妈妈生气地把豆子丢到了外边。”
- Why is Jack's room so dark the next morning?
“外边是什么？……是魔豆！”……“真的是魔豆！”