More Aesop's Fables · chapter 4 of 6
The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
下金蛋的鹅
Little Squirrel races to the tree for tonight's story: a poor farmer, his wife, and a goose that lays a golden egg every single morning.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第四天晚上，小松鼠第一个跑到了老树下。
Dì sì tiān wǎnshang, Xiǎo Sōngshǔ dì yī gè pǎo dào le lǎo shù xià.
On the fourth night, Little Squirrel was the first to reach the old tree.
- Little Squirrel 爷爷，快讲金蛋！有了金蛋，我要买一百个果子！
Yéye, kuài jiǎng jīndàn! Yǒu le jīndàn, wǒ yào mǎi yìbǎi gè guǒzi!
Grandpa, quick, tell us about the golden eggs! With golden eggs, I'm going to buy a hundred acorns!
- Little Rabbit 他第一次跑得比我快！
Tā dì yī cì pǎo de bǐ wǒ kuài!
For the first time ever, he ran faster than me!
Chapter 4 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of More Aesop's Fables is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Grandpa Owl 咕咕！好，坐好了，故事来了！
Gūgū! Hǎo, zuò hǎo le, gùshi lái le!
Hoo-hoo! All right, sit tight, here comes the story!
- Grandpa Owl 很久以前，有一个农夫和他的妻子。他们没有钱，家里有一只鹅。
Hěn jiǔ yǐqián, yǒu yí gè nóngfū hé tā de qīzi. Tāmen méiyǒu qián, jiā lǐ yǒu yì zhī é.
Long ago, there lived a farmer and his wife. They had no money, but they had a goose.
- The Goose 嘎嘎！嘎嘎！
Gāgā! Gāgā!
Honk honk! Honk honk!
- The Farmer 鹅，别叫了……这是什么？
É, bié jiào le… Zhè shì shénme?
Goose, stop that noise… Wait, what's this?
- The Farmer 快来看！一个金蛋！是金子的！
Kuài lái kàn! Yí gè jīndàn! Shì jīnzi de!
Come quick! A golden egg! It's made of real gold!
- The Farmer's Wife 天哪！金蛋！我们有钱了！
Tiān na! Jīndàn! Wǒmen yǒu qián le!
Good heavens! A golden egg! We're rich!
- Grandpa Owl 第二天早上，鹅又下了一个金蛋。第三天，也一样。
Dì èr tiān zǎoshang, é yòu xià le yí gè jīndàn. Dì sān tiān, yě yíyàng.
The next morning, the goose laid another golden egg. And the morning after that, the same.
- The Farmer's Wife 我们买新衣服，买大房子！
Wǒmen mǎi xīn yīfu, mǎi dà fángzi!
We'll buy new clothes! We'll buy a big house!
- Little Squirrel 还要买很多果子！
Hái yào mǎi hěn duō guǒzi!
And lots of acorns!
- The Farmer 一天一个，太慢了！我要很多很多金蛋，今天就要！
Yì tiān yí gè, tài màn le! Wǒ yào hěn duō hěn duō jīndàn, jīntiān jiù yào!
One a day is too slow! I want lots and lots of golden eggs, and I want them today!
- The Farmer's Wife 鹅的肚子里，一定有很多金蛋！
É de dùzi lǐ, yídìng yǒu hěn duō jīndàn!
The goose's belly must be full of golden eggs!
- The Farmer 对！打开它的肚子，金蛋就都是我们的了！
Duì! Dǎkāi tā de dùzi, jīndàn jiù dōu shì wǒmen de le!
Yes! We'll open up her belly, and all the golden eggs will be ours!
- Little Rabbit 不要！不要这样！
Bú yào! Bú yào zhèyàng!
No! Don't do that!
- Little Squirrel 农夫，一天一个，也很好啊！
Nóngfū, yì tiān yí gè, yě hěn hǎo a!
Farmer, one a day is plenty!
- Grandpa Owl 他们没有听。那天晚上，他们打开了鹅的肚子……
Tāmen méiyǒu tīng. Nà tiān wǎnshang, tāmen dǎkāi le é de dùzi…
They didn't listen. That night, they opened up the goose's belly…
- Little Rabbit 里边……有金蛋吗？
Lǐbian… yǒu jīndàn ma?
Were there… any golden eggs inside?
- Grandpa Owl 一个也没有。什么都没有。
Yí gè yě méiyǒu. Shénme dōu méiyǒu.
Not one. There was nothing inside at all.
- Little Squirrel 那只鹅呢？
Nà zhī é ne?
And the goose?
- Grandpa Owl 那只鹅……不会再下蛋了。
Nà zhī é… bú huì zài xià dàn le.
The goose… would never lay another egg.
- The Farmer 我的鹅！我的金蛋！我们什么都没有了！
Wǒ de é! Wǒ de jīndàn! Wǒmen shénme dōu méiyǒu le!
My goose! My golden eggs! Now we have nothing at all!
- Little Rabbit 天天都有金蛋，还不够。他们想要的太多了。
Tiāntiān dōu yǒu jīndàn, hái bú gòu. Tāmen xiǎng yào de tài duō le.
A golden egg every day, and it still wasn't enough. They just wanted too much.
- Little Squirrel 我不要一百个果子了。一个一个来，就很好！
Wǒ bú yào yìbǎi gè guǒzi le. Yí gè yí gè lái, jiù hěn hǎo!
I don't want a hundred acorns anymore. One at a time is just fine!
- Grandpa Owl 说得好！明天，那只狐狸又来了。
Shuō de hǎo! Míngtiān, nà zhī húli yòu lái le.
Well said! Tomorrow, that fox is back.
- Little Rabbit 吃不到葡萄的那只狐狸？
Chī bu dào pútao de nà zhī húli?
The fox who couldn't reach the grapes?
- Grandpa Owl 对，就是他！这次，他想要乌鸦嘴里的肉。
Duì, jiù shì tā! Zhè cì, tā xiǎng yào wūyā zuǐ lǐ de ròu.
That's him! This time, he wants the meat in a crow's beak.
- Little Squirrel 我知道！乌鸦很会想办法，乌鸦赢！
Wǒ zhīdào! Wūyā hěn huì xiǎng bànfǎ, wūyā yíng!
I know! Crows are great at figuring things out. The crow wins!
- Grandpa Owl 这只乌鸦啊……跟那只不一样。
Zhè zhī wūyā a… gēn nà zhī bù yíyàng.
Ah, but this crow… is not like that one.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Little Squirrel want to do with golden eggs?
“有了金蛋，我要买一百个果子！”
- What does the farmer find one morning?
“一个金蛋！是金子的！”
- Why isn't the farmer happy, even with a golden egg every day?
“一天一个，太慢了！”
- What does the farmer's wife think is inside the goose?
“鹅的肚子里，一定有很多金蛋！”
- What do they find inside the goose?
“一个也没有。什么都没有。”