马棚里住着一匹小马和马妈妈。 listen
Măpéng lĭ zhù zhe yì pĭ xiăomă hé mă māma.
Once there lived a little horse and his mother in a stable.

有一天，马妈妈对小马说：“你已经长大了，能帮妈妈做点事吗”？ listen
Yŏu yì tiān, mă māma duì xiăomă shuō: "Nĭ yĭjīng zhăngdà le, néng bāng māma zuò diăn shì ma?"
One day, his mother said to him: "You are a big boy now. Can you help mother?"

小马连蹦带跳地说：“好啊！没问题”。 listen
Xiăomă liánbèngdàitiào de shuō: "Hăo ā! Méiwèntí."
The little horse said, while leaping and bounding: "Ok! No problem."

马妈妈高兴地说：“那好啊，你把这半袋麦子驮到磨坊去吧”。 listen
Mă māma gāoxìng de shuō: "Nà hăo ā, nĭ bă zhè bàn dài màizi tuó dào mòfáng qù ba."
His mother said happily: "Good! You can carry the half bag of wheat to the mill."

小马驮起口袋，飞快地往磨坊跑去。跑着跑着，一条小河挡住了去路，河水哗哗地流着。小马为难了，心想：我能不能过去呢？如果妈妈在身边，那该多好啊！可是已经离家很远了。 listen
Xiăomă tuó qĭ kŏudai, fēikuài de wăng mòfáng păo qù. Păozhe păozhe, yì tiáo xiăohé dăng zhù le qùlù, héshuĭ huāhuā de liúzhe. Xiăomă wéinán le, xīn xiăng: Wŏ néng bu néng guòqù ne? Rúguŏ māma zài shēnbiān, nà gāi duō hăo ā! Kěshì yĭjīng lí jiā hěn yuăn le.
The little horse carried the wheat and ran quickly to the mill. But a river blocked his way, so he didn't know what to do and thought: Can I cross? It would not be a problem if his mothers were here, but I am already far from home.

他向四周望望，看见一头老牛在河边吃草，小马跑过去问道：“牛伯伯，请您告诉我，这条河，我能过去吗”？ listen
Tā xiàng sìzhōu wàngwang, kànjiàn yì tóu lăoniú zài hébiān chīcăo, xiăomă păo guòqù wèn dào: "Niú bóbo, qĭng nín gàosu wŏ, zhè tiáo hé, wŏ néng guòqù ma?"
He looked around and saw an old bull grazing by the river, then he ran to the bull and asked: "Uncle Bull, please tell me whether I can go across the river."

老牛说：“水很浅，刚没小腿，能过去” 。 listen
Lăoniú shuō: "Shuĭ hěn qiăn, gāng mò xiăotuĭ, néng guòqù."
The bull said: "The water is shallow and just covers the calf. You can go across."

小马听了老牛的话，立刻跑到河边，刚准备过河。突然从树上跳下一只松鼠，拦住他大叫：“小马！别过河，别过河，河水会淹死你的”！ listen
Xiăomă tīng le lăoniú de huà, lìkè păodào hébiān, gāng zhŭnbèi guòhé. Tūrán cóng shùshàng tiàoxià yì zhī sōngshŭ, lánzhù tā dàjiào: "Xiăomă! Bié guòhé, bié guòhé, héshuĭ huì yānsĭ nĭ de."
After hearing the bull's words, the little horse ran to the riverside and was ready to cross the river. Suddenly a squirrel came from a tree and shouted to him: "Little horse! Don't go across. Don't go across. You will be drowning in the river."

生词(shēngcí) Vocabulary:  listen
连蹦带跳(liánbèngdàitiào): v to leap and bound  listen
磨坊(mòfáng): n mill   listen
准备(zhŭnbèi): adv readily  listen

(Want to know whether the little horse crossed the river? Stay tuned! Part II will be in the next issue.)