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Illustration for The Ugly Duckling

Romanian · Intermediate

Rățușca cea urâtă

Adapted from The Ugly Duckling

By Hans Christian Andersen

A young bird is rejected by the farmyard before discovering where he belongs.

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Intermediate sample in Romanian

Scene 1

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Illustration for the scene “A duck waiting on her nest”

Scene 1 · Intermediate

O rață așteaptă pe cuib

A duck waiting on her nest

Romanian

Era o vară frumoasă la țară. Grânele aurii, ovăzul încă verde și căpițele de fân de pe pajiști alcătuiau o priveliște minunată. Un mascul de barză se plimba pe picioarele lui lungi și roșii, clămpănind în limba egipteană, pe care o învățase de la mama lui. În jurul câmpurilor se întindeau păduri mari, cu bălți adânci ascunse în mijlocul lor.

English translation

It was a beautiful summer in the countryside. The golden grain, the still-green oats, and the haystacks in the meadows made a wonderful sight. A male stork strolled on his long red legs, clattering away in Egyptian, which he had learned from his mother. Great forests stretched around the fields, with deep ponds hidden in their midst.

Romanian

Era o adevărată plăcere să te plimbi prin acele locuri.

English translation

It was a real pleasure to walk through those places.

Romanian

Lângă un râu adânc se afla o casă veche și primitoare de fermă, scăldată în soare. Între casă și apă creșteau brusturi cu frunze atât de mari, încât un copilaș ar fi putut sta în picioare sub ele. Locul părea la fel de sălbatic ca o pădure deasă.

English translation

Beside a deep river stood an old, welcoming farmhouse, bathed in sunlight. Between the house and the water grew burdock plants with leaves so large that a small child could stand beneath them. The place seemed as wild as a dense forest.

Romanian

Acolo, la adăpostul frunzelor, o rață stătea pe cuib și aștepta să-i iasă puii din ouă. Începuse să-și piardă răbdarea: puii întârziau, iar celelalte rațe o vizitau rar. Ele preferau să înoate pe râu, în loc să urce malul alunecos și să stea de vorbă cu ea sub o frunză de brusture.

English translation

There, sheltered by the leaves, a duck sat on her nest, waiting for her ducklings to hatch. She was beginning to lose patience: the ducklings were late, and the other ducks rarely visited her. They preferred to swim in the river instead of climbing the slippery bank to chat with her beneath a burdock leaf.

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