Stone Soup · chapter 1 of 3
Two Hungry Travelers
两个饿了的人
Two starving travelers are turned away from every door, until one of them says he can make soup from a stone. Can he really?
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Narrator 天黑了。杰克和本走进一个小村子。
Tiān hēi le. Jiékè hé Běn zǒu jìn yí gè xiǎo cūnzi.
It was getting dark. Jack and Ben walked into a small village.
- Ben 杰克，我好饿！我走不动了。
Jiékè, wǒ hǎo è! Wǒ zǒu bú dòng le.
Jack, I'm so hungry! I can't walk any more.
- Jack 别怕，本。前面有房子。我们去问问。
Bié pà, Běn. Qiánmiàn yǒu fángzi. Wǒmen qù wènwen.
Don't worry, Ben. There are houses ahead. Let's go ask.
- Ben 他们会给我们吃的吗？
Tāmen huì gěi wǒmen chī de ma?
Will they give us something to eat?
- Jack 会的。人们都很好。
Huì de. Rénmen dōu hěn hǎo.
Sure they will. People are kind.
- Ben 你看！那个人看到我们，就关门了。
Nǐ kàn! Nà ge rén kàndào wǒmen, jiù guān mén le.
Look! That man saw us and shut his door.
- Jack 没关系。我们再去问一家。
Méi guānxi. Wǒmen zài qù wèn yì jiā.
No matter. We'll try another house.
- Ben 好吧。我的肚子在叫了。
Hǎo ba. Wǒ de dùzi zài jiào le.
All right. My stomach is growling.
- Jack 你好！有人吗？我们又累又饿。
Nǐ hǎo! Yǒu rén ma? Wǒmen yòu lèi yòu è.
Hello! Is anyone home? We're tired and hungry.
- Mary 对不起，我家没有吃的。
Duìbuqǐ, wǒ jiā méiyǒu chī de.
Sorry, I have nothing to eat in my house.
- Jack 一点儿都没有吗？面包也没有？
Yìdiǎnr dōu méiyǒu ma? Miànbāo yě méiyǒu?
Nothing at all? Not even bread?
- Mary 没有！今年不下雨，什么都没有。
Méiyǒu! Jīnnián bú xià yǔ, shénme dōu méiyǒu.
None! It didn't rain this year, so we have nothing.
- Ben 太太，我们只想吃一点儿饭。
Tàitai, wǒmen zhǐ xiǎng chī yìdiǎnr fàn.
Ma'am, we only want a little food.
- Mary 真的没有。你们去别的地方吧。
Zhēn de méiyǒu. Nǐmen qù bié de dìfang ba.
Really, none. Go somewhere else.
- Jack 好的，太太。那我们自己做饭吧。
Hǎo de, tàitai. Nà wǒmen zìjǐ zuò fàn ba.
All right, ma'am. Then we'll cook for ourselves.
- Mary 你们自己做？你们有什么？
Nǐmen zìjǐ zuò? Nǐmen yǒu shénme?
Cook for yourselves? What do you have?
- Jack 我有一块石头。我们做石头汤！
Wǒ yǒu yí kuài shítou. Wǒmen zuò shítou tāng!
I have a stone. We'll make stone soup!
- Mary 石头汤？石头怎么能做汤？
Shítou tāng? Shítou zěnme néng zuò tāng?
Stone soup? How can you make soup from a stone?
- Ben 杰克，你说什么？
Jiékè, nǐ shuō shénme?
Jack, what are you saying?
- Jack 本，别说话。太太，你有大锅吗？
Běn, bié shuōhuà. Tàitai, nǐ yǒu dà guō ma?
Ben, hush. Ma'am, do you have a big pot?
- Mary 我叫玛丽。锅在这儿。我要看看石头汤！
Wǒ jiào Mǎlì. Guō zài zhèr. Wǒ yào kànkan shítou tāng!
I'm Mary. Here's the pot. I want to see this stone soup!
- Jack 谢谢，玛丽。请给我水，还有火。
Xièxie, Mǎlì. Qǐng gěi wǒ shuǐ, háiyǒu huǒ.
Thank you, Mary. Please give me some water, and a fire.
- Mary 水来了，火也有了。然后呢？
Shuǐ lái le, huǒ yě yǒu le. Ránhòu ne?
Here's the water, and there's the fire. Then what?
- Jack 然后，我把石头放进去。看！
Ránhòu, wǒ bǎ shítou fàng jìnqù. Kàn!
Then I put the stone in. Look!
- Mary 就这样？石头汤就这么做？
Jiù zhèyàng? Shítou tāng jiù zhème zuò?
That's it? That's how you make stone soup?
- Jack 还要等一会儿。汤要慢慢做。
Hái yào děng yíhuìr. Tāng yào mànman zuò.
We have to wait a while. Soup takes time.
- Jack 啊……真香！可是，要是有一个洋葱，汤就更好了！
À… zhēn xiāng! Kěshì, yàoshi yǒu yí gè yángcōng, tāng jiù gèng hǎo le!
Ah... it smells wonderful! But if we had an onion, the soup would be even better!
- Mary 洋葱？我有！你等着，我去拿。
Yángcōng? Wǒ yǒu! Nǐ děngzhe, wǒ qù ná.
An onion? I have one! Wait there, I'll get it.
- Ben 杰克……这块石头，真的能做汤吗？
Jiékè… zhè kuài shítou, zhēn de néng zuò tāng ma?
Jack... can this stone really make soup?
What changed in the story?
- Why do Jack and Ben go from house to house?
“我好饿！我走不动了。”
- What does Mary say when Jack first asks for food?
“我家没有吃的。”
- What does Jack say he will make?
“我有一块石头。我们做石头汤！”
- Why does Mary bring out her pot?
“锅在这儿。我要看看石头汤！”
- What does Jack say would make the soup better?
“要是有一个洋葱，汤就更好了！”