World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
The Fisherman and the Golden Fish
渔夫和金鱼
The Fisherman and the Golden Fish (渔夫和金鱼, Yúfū hé jīnyú) is a fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin, retold in simple Mandarin as a 4-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
Retold from Alexander Pushkin's fairy tale: a poor old fisherman frees a talking golden fish, and his wife keeps sending him back to the sea to ask for more.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — A warm storyteller who sets the scene.
- The Old Fisherman · 老渔夫 — A gentle, poor old man who cannot say no to his wife.
- The Golden Fish · 金鱼 — A shining, talking fish that grants wishes until the wishes grow too greedy.
- The Old Wife · 老太太 — The fisherman's sharp-tongued wife who always wants more.
- The Noblewoman · 贵妇人 — The wife after her first wish, proud and bossy.
- The Queen · 女王 — The wife as queen, ruled by greed.
- The Servant · 仆人 — A nervous servant who hurries to obey.
4 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Golden Fish
金鱼说话了
A poor old fisherman catches a golden fish that can talk, and lets it go for free. His wife has other ideas.
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Chapter 2: The New Washtub
新木盆
The fisherman asks the golden fish for a washtub. It is only the start of his wife's wishes, and the sea is changing.
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Chapter 3: The Noblewoman
贵妇人
The wife has a big house, but she does not want to be an old woman anymore. What will the sea say now?
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Chapter 4: The Dark Sea
黑色的海
The queen wants more than a kingdom. When the fisherman calls the fish this time, the sea is black.
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Key words in The Fisherman and the Golden Fish
Behind the story
This tale comes from Alexander Pushkin, the great Russian poet, who wrote it as a poem in 1833. He based it on a folk tale about a greedy wife who asks for more and more, until she loses everything.
Chinese readers know it as 渔夫和金鱼, and it has long been a favorite in Chinese translation for young readers. Its lesson, that greed can take away what you already have, fits well with Chinese sayings about being content.
Did you know?
- Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) is often called the founder of modern Russian literature.
- Pushkin wrote this poem in the autumn of 1833, at his family's country estate in Boldino.
- The story's pattern of asking again and again, with the sea getting darker each time, is what makes it so easy to remember.