Dutch · Intermediate
Adapted from Thumbelina
A tiny girl is carried far from home and meets creatures who want to decide her future.
Read and listen in Dutch, with English alongside.
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Scene 1 · Intermediate
Er was eens een vrouw die niets liever wilde dan een kindje, maar hoe vurig ze het ook wenste, haar wens kwam niet uit. Uiteindelijk ging ze naar een fee.
There once was a woman who wanted nothing more than a child, but however fervently she wished for one, her wish did not come true. At last, she went to a fairy.
‘Ik zou zo graag een kindje willen hebben’, zei ze. ‘Kunt u me vertellen waar ik er een kan vinden?’
“I would so love to have a child,” she said. “Can you tell me where I can find one?”
‘Dat is gemakkelijk te regelen’, antwoordde de fee. ‘Hier heb je een gerstekorrel. Het is geen gewone korrel, zoals die op de akkers groeit en door de kippen wordt gegeten. Stop hem in een bloempot en kijk wat er gebeurt.’
“That’s easy to arrange,” replied the fairy. “Here, take a barley grain. It isn’t an ordinary grain, like the ones that grow in fields and are eaten by chickens. Plant it in a flowerpot and see what happens.”
De vrouw bedankte de fee en betaalde twaalf shilling voor de bijzondere korrel.
The woman thanked the fairy and paid twelve shillings for the special grain.
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