Ye Xian, the Chinese Cinderella · chapter 1 of 5
The Fish in the Pond
池塘里的鱼
Ye Xian works from dawn to dark for a stepmother who never smiles. Her only friend lives in a quiet pond in the hills, and it comes up for no one else.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Narrator 很久很久以前，南方的大山里，住着一个女孩，叫叶限。
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, nánfāng de dà shān lǐ, zhùzhe yí gè nǚhái, jiào Yè Xiàn.
Long, long ago, deep in the mountains of the south, there lived a girl named Ye Xian.
- Stepmother 叶限！水打了没有？衣服洗了没有？
Yè Xiàn! Shuǐ dǎ le méiyǒu? Yīfu xǐ le méiyǒu?
Ye Xian! Have you fetched the water yet? Have you done the washing?
- Ye Xian 打了，也洗了。我现在就去做饭。
Dǎ le, yě xǐ le. Wǒ xiànzài jiù qù zuò fàn.
Yes, and the washing's done. I'm going to make dinner now.
- Stepmother 快点儿！做事这么慢，今天晚上你只能吃半碗饭。
Kuài diǎnr! Zuò shì zhème màn, jīntiān wǎnshang nǐ zhǐ néng chī bàn wǎn fàn.
Hurry up! You're so slow, tonight you only get half a bowl of rice.
- Ye Xian 爸爸妈妈都不在了。后妈只会叫我做事，从来不对我笑。
Bàba māma dōu bú zài le. Hòumā zhǐ huì jiào wǒ zuò shì, cónglái bú duì wǒ xiào.
Father and Mother are both gone. My stepmother only ever gives me orders. She never smiles at me.
- Ye Xian 可是没关系，我还有一个好朋友。它在山上等我呢。
Kěshì méi guānxi, wǒ hái yǒu yí gè hǎo péngyou. Tā zài shān shang děng wǒ ne.
But that's all right. I still have one good friend, and it's waiting for me up in the hills.
- Narrator 那天晚上，叶限一口饭也没吃。她把那半碗米饭带上了山。
Nà tiān wǎnshang, Yè Xiàn yì kǒu fàn yě méi chī. Tā bǎ nà bàn wǎn mǐfàn dài shàng le shān.
That evening, Ye Xian didn't eat a single bite. She carried her half bowl of rice up into the hills.
- Ye Xian 小鱼，小鱼，我来了！快出来吧。
Xiǎo yú, xiǎo yú, wǒ lái le! Kuài chūlái ba.
Little fish, little fish, I'm here! Come on out.
- Narrator 水动了。一条金色的大鱼游了上来，它的眼睛也是金色的。
Shuǐ dòng le. Yì tiáo jīnsè de dà yú yóu le shànglái, tā de yǎnjing yě shì jīnsè de.
The water stirred. A big golden fish swam up to the surface, and its eyes were golden too.
- Ye Xian 你看你，又长大了！现在你比我还长呢。
Nǐ kàn nǐ, yòu zhǎngdà le! Xiànzài nǐ bǐ wǒ hái cháng ne.
Look at you, you've grown again! Now you're even longer than I am.
- Ye Xian 来，吃吧。只有半碗米饭，我们一人一半。
Lái, chī ba. Zhǐ yǒu bàn wǎn mǐfàn, wǒmen yì rén yíbàn.
Here, eat. There's only half a bowl of rice, so we'll share it.
- Ye Xian 你吃得真快！你也饿了，是不是？
Nǐ chī de zhēn kuài! Nǐ yě è le, shì bu shì?
You eat so fast! You're hungry too, aren't you?
- Ye Xian 你还记得吗？那时候你那么小，我把你放在一个碗里。
Nǐ hái jìde ma? Nà shíhou nǐ nàme xiǎo, wǒ bǎ nǐ fàng zài yí gè wǎn lǐ.
Do you remember? Back then you were so tiny that I kept you in a bowl.
- Ye Xian 后来碗太小了，我就把你带到了这个池塘。
Hòulái wǎn tài xiǎo le, wǒ jiù bǎ nǐ dài dào le zhège chítáng.
Then the bowl got too small, so I brought you here to this pond.
- Ye Xian 你只认识我，对不对？别人来了，你从来不出来。
Nǐ zhǐ rènshi wǒ, duì bu duì? Biérén lái le, nǐ cónglái bù chūlái.
You only know me, don't you? When anyone else comes, you never come up.
- Ye Xian 这是我们的秘密。要是后妈知道了……
Zhè shì wǒmen de mìmì. Yàoshi hòumā zhīdào le…
This is our secret. If my stepmother ever found out…
- Ye Xian 我不要金子，也不要漂亮的衣服。我只要你每天都在这里。
Wǒ bú yào jīnzi, yě bú yào piàoliang de yīfu. Wǒ zhǐ yào nǐ měi tiān dōu zài zhèlǐ.
I don't want gold, and I don't want pretty clothes. All I want is for you to be here every day.
- Narrator 天黑了，叶限走下山。她没有看见，大树后面还站着一个人。
Tiān hēi le, Yè Xiàn zǒu xià shān. Tā méiyǒu kànjiàn, dà shù hòumiàn hái zhànzhe yí gè rén.
When it grew dark, Ye Xian walked back down the hill. She didn't see that someone was standing behind a big tree.
- Stepmother 好大的一条鱼啊……原来她每天都来这里。
Hǎo dà de yì tiáo yú a… Yuánlái tā měi tiān dōu lái zhèlǐ.
What a big fish… So this is where she comes every day.
- Stepmother 这么大的鱼，一定很好吃。
Zhème dà de yú, yídìng hěn hǎochī.
A fish that big must taste delicious.
What changed in the story?
- How much rice does the stepmother say Ye Xian can eat tonight?
“今天晚上你只能吃半碗饭。”
- What does Ye Xian do with her rice that evening?
“叶限一口饭也没吃。她把那半碗米饭带上了山。”
- Where did Ye Xian keep the fish when it was tiny?
“那时候你那么小，我把你放在一个碗里。”
- What happens when anyone else comes to the pond?
“别人来了，你从来不出来。”
- What is the stepmother thinking at the end?
“这么大的鱼，一定很好吃。”