Dutch short stories – Learning Dutch through English short stories
Aesop’s Fables – De leeuw, de ezel en de vos
Once upon a time, there was a Lion who was very strong. He could hunt well but of course as we know, a lion never hunts alone. Two or three lions could even kill an elephant.
Seeing that the Lion was alone, two animals thought that they should become friends with him. They were an Ass and a fox. The fox was very smart and did not want to become an enemy to the Lion. The Ass was very friendly and thought all three were equals.
TranslateEr was eens een leeuw die erg sterk was. Hij kon goed jagen, maar zoals we weten jaagt een leeuw nooit alleen. Twee of drie leeuwen kunnen zelfs een olifant doden.
Toen ze zagen dat de leeuw alleen was, dachten twee dieren dat ze vrienden met hem moesten worden. Ze waren een ezel en een vos. De vos was erg slim en wilde geen vijand van de leeuw worden. De ezel was erg vriendelijk en dacht dat ze alle drie gelijk waren.
They thought, “If we were to become friends with the Lion, we could hunt huge animals. We could eat elephants and camels. We could eat deer and antelopes. We are going to never be hungry again.”
The Lion agreed to go hunting with the two of them and said, “Let us share equally whatever we hunt equally amongst the three of us.”
TranslateZe dachten: “Als we vrienden zouden worden met de leeuw, zouden we op enorme dieren kunnen jagen. We konden olifanten en kamelen eten. We konden herten en antilopen eten. We zullen nooit meer honger hebben.”
De Leeuw stemde ermee in om met hen tweeën te gaan jagen en zei: “Laten we alles wat we jagen gelijk verdelen onder ons drieën.”
They managed to find a large amount of food. The Lion said, “Ass, you divide the food amongst the three of us.”
The Ass carefully split the food into three equal portions. The Fox was happy but the Lion became very angry. He struck the Ass with his huge paw and killed the Ass.
TranslateZe slaagden erin een grote hoeveelheid voedsel te vinden. De Leeuw zei: “Ezel, jij verdeelt het eten onder ons drieën.”
De ezel verdeelt het eten voorzichtig in drie gelijke porties. De Vos was blij, maar de Leeuw werd erg boos. Hij sloeg de ezel met zijn enorme poot en doodde de ezel.
The Lion again said, “Fox, you divide the food equally amongst the two of us.”
The fox piled all the food into one huge heap. He took the horns, the ears, the hoofs and other undesirable bits which the lion would not eat. Everything else he added into the Lion’s share.
TranslateDe leeuw zei opnieuw: “Vos, verdeel het eten gelijkelijk over ons tweeën.”
De vos stapelde al het voedsel op één grote hoop. Hij nam de horens, de oren, de hoeven en andere ongewenste stukjes die de leeuw niet wilde eten. Al het andere voegde hij toe aan het aandeel van de leeuw.
The Lion immediately became very happy and said, “I am very happy. You have fairly divided the food amongst the two of us.”
The Fox said, “I learn from experience of others.”
Saying so, the fox ran away with his share of the food. He would never trust the Lion again.
TranslateDe leeuw werd meteen heel blij en zei: “Ik ben heel blij. Je hebt het eten eerlijk onder ons tweeën verdeeld.”
De Vos zei: “Ik leer van ervaringen van anderen.”
Terwijl hij dat zei, rende de vos weg met zijn deel van het voedsel. Hij zou de Leeuw nooit meer vertrouwen.
Moral: “Learn from the misfortunes of others.”
TranslateMoraal: “Leer van de tegenslagen van anderen.”
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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.
