Dutch short stories – Learning Dutch through English short stories
Aesop’s Fables – De ezel en zijn schaduw
Once upon a time, there was a traveller who wanted to go from the village to the town. He hired an Ass from a merchant to carry his goods to the town. The merchant agreed to hire the donkey but he came along with the traveller as well.
TranslateEr was eens een reiziger die van het dorp naar de stad wilde. Hij huurde een ezel van een koopman om zijn goederen naar de stad te brengen. De koopman stemde ermee in om de ezel te huren, maar hij ging ook mee met de reiziger.
There was a small desert between the town and the village. The road was very hot and the sun was harsh. The traveller became tired and he thought that it would be a good idea to stop soon.
There were no trees visible for miles so they walked some more but soon they realised that they were only halfway through the desert and there would be no more trees along the way.
TranslateEr was een kleine woestijn tussen de stad en het dorp. De weg was erg heet en de zon was hard. De reiziger werd moe en hij dacht dat het een goed idee zou zijn om snel te stoppen.
Er waren kilometers ver geen bomen te zien, dus liepen ze nog wat maar al snel realiseerden ze zich dat ze pas halverwege de woestijn waren en dat er onderweg geen bomen meer zouden zijn.
The traveller became so tired that he decided that it would be good to take a break now. As there were no trees, there was no shadow. As there was no shadow, the traveller said, “I shall sit in the shadow of the Ass for some time. It is too hot and I need to rest.”
TranslateDe reiziger werd zo moe dat hij besloot dat het goed zou zijn om nu een pauze te nemen. Omdat er geen bomen waren, was er ook geen schaduw. Omdat er geen schaduw was, zei de reiziger: “Ik zal een tijdje in de schaduw van de ezel zitten. Het is te warm en ik moet rusten. “
The merchant was feeling very hot as well. He also wished to rest in the shade cast by the Ass. So he said to the traveller, “I have rented only the Ass to you. The shadow cast by the Ass was not paid for and belongs to me.”
TranslateDe koopman had het ook erg warm. Hij wilde ook rusten in de schaduw van de ezel. Dus zei hij tegen de reiziger: “Ik heb alleen de ezel aan jou verhuurd. De schaduw geworpen door de ezel is niet betaald en is van mij.”
Saying so, the merchant tried to push the traveller away. The traveller became very angry and soon the two of them began to fight.
The donkey panicked on seeing the two people fight and ran away. The merchant lost his donkey and the traveller lost his goods. They both sadly walked back to the village.
TranslateTerwijl hij dat zei, probeerde de koopman de reiziger weg te duwen. De reiziger werd erg boos en al snel begonnen de twee te vechten.
De ezel raakte in paniek toen hij de twee mensen zag vechten en rende weg. De koopman verloor zijn ezel en de reiziger verloor zijn goederen. Ze liepen allebei treurig terug naar het dorp.
Moral: “In quarrelling about the shadow we often lose the substance.”
TranslateMoraal: “Bij ruzie over de schaduw verliezen we vaak de inhoud.”
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About: Studying through Dual Language immersion is among the best techniques for learning a new language. The objective of this website is to teach yourself how to read and speak Dutch confidently using English as a base 🙂 These Dutch short stories are super cool to read for beginners and also for entertaining children. Aesop’s Fables are among the best stories that can be studied on a daily basis.
