小鸟喝水 · The Thirsty Bird
Xiǎo niǎo hē shuǐ — A classic Chinese fable — a clever bird solves a problem.
Read the story
Every word shows its pinyin above the characters. The English translation follows each line.
一只小鸟很渴。
A little bird was very thirsty.
它想喝水。
It wanted to drink water.
它看到一个瓶子。
It saw a bottle.
瓶子里有水,可是水很少。
There was water in the bottle, but very little.
小鸟喝不到水。
The bird could not reach the water.
它想了想,看到旁边有小石头。
It thought, and saw small stones nearby.
小鸟把石头一个一个放进瓶子里。
The bird dropped the stones into the bottle, one by one.
水慢慢升上来了。
The water slowly rose up.
最后,小鸟喝到了水。
At last, the bird drank the water.
小鸟真聪明!
The bird is very clever!
Vocabulary in this story (31 words)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一只 | yì zhī | a (one) |
| 小鸟 | xiǎo niǎo | little bird |
| 很 | hěn | very |
| 渴 | kě | thirsty |
| 它 | tā | it |
| 想 | xiǎng | wants to |
| 喝 | hē | drink |
| 水 | shuǐ | water |
| 看到 | kàndào | saw |
| 一个 | yí ge | a |
| 瓶子 | píngzi | bottle |
| 里 | lǐ | inside |
| 有 | yǒu | has |
| 可是 | kěshì | but |
| 少 | shǎo | little |
| 不到 | bú dào | cannot reach |
| 想了想 | xiǎng le xiǎng | thought for a moment |
| 旁边 | pángbiān | nearby |
| 小 | xiǎo | small |
| 石头 | shítou | stones |
| 把 | bǎ | (took) |
| 一个一个 | yí ge yí ge | one by one |
| 放进 | fàngjìn | put into |
| 慢慢 | mànmàn | slowly |
| 升 | shēng | rose |
| 上来 | shànglai | up |
| 了 | le | (past) |
| 最后 | zuìhòu | finally |
| 喝到 | hēdào | drank |
| 真 | zhēn | really |
| 聪明 | cōngmíng | clever |