Japanese Graded Readers: Fairy Tales and Short Stories with Read-aloud Method
Lesson 3-3: ツルの恩返し / The Crane of Gratitude
Japanese Script
二人はとても幸せでした。しかし、男はお金を持っていません。ごはんを食べられない日がたまにありました。すると、女は言いました。「私はきれいな布を作ることができます。その布を街で売ったらどうですか？」女が布を作ると、男はおどろきました。今までに見たことがない、とてもきれいな布だったのです。男はすぐ街に行きました。街に着くと、男は店の人に聞きました。「この布はいくらで売れますか？」すると、店の人もおどろきました。「こんなきれいな布は見たことがない。よし、１００万円はらいましょう。」男はまたおどろきました。男はいつも木を１万円で売っていたからです。
English Translation
They were very happy. However, the man didn’t have money. Once in a while, there were days when they could not eat meals. Then, the woman said, “I can make beautiful cloth. How about selling the cloth in a town?” When the woman made the cloth, the man was surprised because it was the most beautiful cloth that he had ever seen. The man went to the town quickly. When the man arrived at the town, he asked a person in a shop, “How much can I sell this cloth for?” Then, the person in the shop was also surprised, “I have never seen such beautiful cloth. Well, I will pay one million yen for this.” The man was surprised again because he usually sold a tree for 10.000 yen.
Vocabulary
| Words | Types | Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| たまに | adverb | occasionally, once in a while |
| すると | conjunction | and, then, thereupon, hereupon |
| 布 | noun | cloth |
| 街 | noun | town, block |
| ...ことが ある / ない | expression | expressing experience |
| すぐ | na-adjective, adverb | immediately, at once, directly |
| 万 | numeric | ten thousand |
| 円 | noun | Japanese monetary unit |
| また | adverb, conjunction | again, and, also, still (doing something) |