World classic, retold in simple Mandarin
The Golden Goose
金鹅
The Golden Goose (金鹅, Jīn é) is a fairy tale by Brothers Grimm, retold in simple Mandarin as a 3-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
Retold from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale: a kind boy shares his lunch, wins a golden goose that sticks to everyone who touches it, and makes a sad princess laugh.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — The warm storyteller.
- Hans · 汉斯 — A kind country boy who shares his bread and wins a golden goose.
- Big Brother · 大哥 — Hans's proud older brother who will not share his cake.
- Mother · 妈妈 — The boys' mother, heard sending them off.
- The Little Grey Man · 灰衣人 — A tiny hungry old man who rewards kindness with magic.
- The Golden Goose · 金鹅 — A goose with golden feathers that sticks to anyone who touches it.
- Anna · 安娜 — The innkeeper's eldest daughter who wants a golden feather.
- Mary · 玛丽 — Anna's younger sister who tries to help and gets stuck.
- The Doctor · 医生 — A plump, fussy town doctor.
- The Farmer · 农夫 — A tall, curious farmer.
- The King · 国王 — A kindly but stubborn king who wants his daughter to smile.
- The Princess · 公主 — A sad princess who has not laughed in three years.
3 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: The Kind Boy
好心的汉斯
Hans shares his plain bread with a hungry little grey man and wins a golden goose. But someone at the inn wants a golden feather.
Free to read
Chapter 2: The Long Line
长长的一排
Everyone who touches the golden goose gets stuck, and the line grows longer as Hans marches to a city where a sad princess never laughs.
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Chapter 3: The Princess Laughs
公主笑了
The stuck parade marches into the castle and the princess laughs at last. But the king wants Hans to earn her hand with two impossible tasks.
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Key words in The Golden Goose
Behind the story
The Golden Goose is a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, two German scholars who published their Children's and Household Tales starting in 1812. It is tale number 64 in their collection. In German the hero is often called a simpleton, but the tale rewards him for his kindness, not for being clever.
Chinese readers know the Grimm tales as 格林童话 and read them in children's books and school reading lists. The idea of a princess who never laughs, and a hero who finally makes her laugh, is a folk motif told in many countries.
Did you know?
- The Brothers Grimm were named Jacob and Wilhelm, and they collected many of their tales from people who told them aloud.
- In the old story, everyone who touches the golden goose gets stuck to it, and the line grows longer and longer.
- Sharing food with a stranger who turns out to be magical is a very common theme in fairy tales around the world.