The Ugly Duckling · chapter 3 of 5
The Cat and the Hen
猫和母鸡
The runaway duckling finds a warm little house, but the cat and the hen who rule it are sure the only skills worth having are their own.
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Read what you hear
- The Ugly Duckling 大狗……它在看我……它的嘴好大……
Dà gǒu… tā zài kàn wǒ… tā de zuǐ hǎo dà…
The big dog… it's looking at me… its mouth is so big…
- The Ugly Duckling 别吃我！别吃我！
Bié chī wǒ! Bié chī wǒ!
Don't eat me! Don't eat me!
- Narrator 大狗看了看他，就跑走了。
Dà gǒu kàn le kàn tā, jiù pǎozǒu le.
The big dog looked him over, and then it ran off.
- The Ugly Duckling 它走了？它不吃我？……我太丑了，狗也不想吃我！
Tā zǒu le? Tā bù chī wǒ?… Wǒ tài chǒu le, gǒu yě bù xiǎng chī wǒ!
It's gone? It didn't eat me? … I'm so ugly, even a dog doesn't want to eat me!
- Narrator 晚上，下大雨了。丑小鸭走到了一个小房子前边。
Wǎnshang, xià dà yǔ le. Chǒu Xiǎoyā zǒu dào le yí gè xiǎo fángzi qiánbian.
That evening a heavy rain came down, and the Ugly Duckling came to a little house.
- The Ugly Duckling 好冷……门开着一点儿。我能进去吗？
Hǎo lěng… Mén kāizhe yìdiǎnr. Wǒ néng jìnqù ma?
So cold… The door's open a crack. Can I go in?
- The Old Woman 一只大鸭子！太好了，以后我天天有蛋吃了！
Yì zhī dà yāzi! Tài hǎo le, yǐhòu wǒ tiāntiān yǒu dàn chī le!
Well, look at that! A big duck! Wonderful, now I'll have eggs every day!
- Narrator 老奶奶的眼睛不好。她的家里，还有猫和母鸡。
Lǎo nǎinai de yǎnjing bù hǎo. Tā de jiā lǐ, hái yǒu māo hé mǔjī.
The old woman's eyes were poor. A cat and a hen lived in her house too.
- The Hen 新来的，你会下蛋吗？
Xīn lái de, nǐ huì xiàdàn ma?
You there, new one! Can you lay eggs?
- The Ugly Duckling 下蛋？我……我不会。
Xiàdàn? Wǒ… wǒ bú huì.
Lay eggs? I… I can't.
- The Hen 不会下蛋？那你别说话！
Bú huì xiàdàn? Nà nǐ bié shuōhuà!
Can't lay eggs? Then don't talk!
- The Cat 你会这个吗？看，我的背，高高的，像一座小山！
Nǐ huì zhège ma? Kàn, wǒ de bèi, gāogāo de, xiàng yí zuò xiǎo shān!
Can you do this? Look, my back goes up high, like a little hill!
- The Ugly Duckling 我……我也不会。
Wǒ… wǒ yě bú huì.
I… I can't do that either.
- The Cat 不会？那你也别说话。
Bú huì? Nà nǐ yě bié shuōhuà.
No? Then you keep quiet too.
- Narrator 三个星期过去了。丑小鸭没有下蛋。
Sān gè xīngqī guòqù le. Chǒu Xiǎoyā méiyǒu xiàdàn.
Three weeks went by, and the Ugly Duckling laid no eggs.
- The Ugly Duckling 我好想水啊……我想在大大的水里，游啊，游啊……
Wǒ hǎo xiǎng shuǐ a… Wǒ xiǎng zài dàdà de shuǐ lǐ, yóu a, yóu a…
I miss the water so much… I want to be in big, wide water, swimming and swimming…
- The Hen 游泳？你去下个蛋吧！下了蛋，你就不想游泳了！
Yóuyǒng? Nǐ qù xià gè dàn ba! Xià le dàn, nǐ jiù bù xiǎng yóuyǒng le!
Swim? Go and lay an egg! Once you've laid an egg, you won't want to swim anymore!
- The Ugly Duckling 可是，在水里游泳，真的很舒服！
Kěshì, zài shuǐ lǐ yóuyǒng, zhēn de hěn shūfu!
But swimming in the water feels so good!
- The Hen 你问问猫！猫，你喜欢游泳吗？
Nǐ wènwen māo! Māo, nǐ xǐhuan yóuyǒng ma?
Ask the cat! Cat, do you like swimming?
- The Cat 我？游泳？不！水太可怕了！
Wǒ? Yóuyǒng? Bù! Shuǐ tài kěpà le!
Me? Swim? Never! Water is horrible!
- The Hen 你问问老奶奶！她想去水里游泳吗？
Nǐ wènwen lǎo nǎinai! Tā xiǎng qù shuǐ lǐ yóuyǒng ma?
Ask the old woman! Does she want to go swimming?
- The Ugly Duckling 你们……不懂我。
Nǐmen… bù dǒng wǒ.
You… you don't understand me.
- The Hen 我们不懂你？那谁懂你？
Wǒmen bù dǒng nǐ? Nà shéi dǒng nǐ?
We don't understand you? Then who does?
- The Ugly Duckling 我要走了。我要去找大大的水！
Wǒ yào zǒu le. Wǒ yào qù zhǎo dàdà de shuǐ!
I'm leaving. I'm going to find big, wide water!
- The Cat 去吧，去吧。外边很冷，你会想这里的！
Qù ba, qù ba. Wàibian hěn lěng, nǐ huì xiǎng zhèlǐ de!
Off you go, then. It's cold out there. You'll miss this place!
- The Ugly Duckling 大大的水，我找到了！可是……这里也没有朋友。
Dàdà de shuǐ, wǒ zhǎodào le! Kěshì… zhèlǐ yě méiyǒu péngyou.
Big, wide water! I found it! But… there are no friends here either.
- Narrator 秋天到了，风冷了。一天晚上，很多大白鸟从草里飞了起来。
Qiūtiān dào le, fēng lěng le. Yì tiān wǎnshang, hěn duō dà bái niǎo cóng cǎo lǐ fēi le qǐlái.
Autumn came, and the wind turned cold. One evening, a flock of big white birds rose up out of the reeds.
- The Ugly Duckling 好漂亮的鸟啊！白白的，脖子长长的……
Hǎo piàoliang de niǎo a! Báibái de, bózi chángcháng de…
What beautiful birds! So white, with such long necks…
- The Swan 飞吧，飞吧！去南方！南方很暖和！
Fēi ba, fēi ba! Qù nánfāng! Nánfāng hěn nuǎnhuo!
Fly on, fly on! To the south! It's warm in the south!
- The Ugly Duckling 等等我！你们是谁？我能跟你们一起飞吗？
Děngdeng wǒ! Nǐmen shì shéi? Wǒ néng gēn nǐmen yìqǐ fēi ma?
Wait for me! Who are you? Can I fly with you?
What changed in the story?
- Why does the duckling think the big dog left him alone?
“我太丑了，狗也不想吃我！”
- Why is the old woman so pleased to see him?
“一只大鸭子！太好了，以后我天天有蛋吃了！”
- What does the hen think everyone should be able to do?
“新来的，你会下蛋吗？……不会下蛋？那你别说话！”
- What does the cat think of swimming?
“我？游泳？不！水太可怕了！”
- What does the duckling see one autumn evening?
“很多大白鸟从草里飞了起来……去南方！”