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指蜜鸟的复仇 The Honeyguide's revenge

Written by Zulu folktale

Illustrated by Wiehan de Jager

Translated by Vicky Liu

Read by Zhuo Sun

Language Chinese (Mandarin)

Level Level 4

Narrate full story

Reading speed

Autoplay story


这是一个关于指蜜鸟奈吉和贪婪的年轻人青其儿的故事。有一天,青其儿外出打猎,忽然,他听到了奈吉的叫声。青其儿一想到跟着指蜜鸟就能找到美味的蜂蜜,口水就忍不住流了出来。他停下来,仔细地听着,四处找寻,直到他在头上的树枝里看到了指蜜鸟。小鸟啾啾啾地叫着,从一根树枝飞到另一个树枝。指蜜鸟一边飞一边叫,让青其儿能跟上它。

This is the story of Ngede, the Honeyguide, and a greedy young man named Gingile. One day while Gingile was out hunting he heard the call of Ngede. Gingile’s mouth began to water at the thought of honey. He stopped and listened carefully, searching until he saw the bird in the branches above his head. “Chitik-chitik-chitik,” the little bird rattled, as he flew to the next tree, and the next. “Chitik, chitik, chitik,” he called, stopping from time to time to be sure that Gingile followed.


过了大概半个小时,他们到了一棵巨大的野无花果树下。奈吉在树枝间跳来跳去,然后在其中一根树枝上停了下来,它朝青其儿伸出脑袋,好像在说:“就是这儿!快来!别磨磨蹭蹭的。”青其儿站在树下,看不到一只蜜蜂,但是他相信奈吉不会骗他。

After half an hour, they reached a huge wild fig tree. Ngede hopped about madly among the branches. He then settled on one branch and cocked his head at Gingile as if to say, “Here it is! Come now! What is taking you so long?” Gingile couldn’t see any bees from under the tree, but he trusted Ngede.


青其儿把他打猎的矛搁在树下,搜集了一些干枯的小树枝,点了一堆火。当火慢慢旺起来的时候,他拿了一根又长又干的树枝,伸向火堆中心。这种木头烧起来的时候,会释放出很多烟。青其儿一手拿着树枝的另一头,另一只手抓着树干,开始爬树。

So Gingile put down his hunting spear under the tree, gathered some dry twigs and made a small fire. When the fire was burning well, he put a long dry stick into the heart of the fire. This wood was especially known to make lots of smoke while it burned. He began climbing, holding the cool end of the smoking stick in his teeth.


不久青其儿就听到了蜜蜂飞来飞去的嗡嗡声。它们在树干里筑了一个巢,正忙着飞进去飞出来。当青其儿爬到蜂巢附近的时候,他把树枝燃烧的一端猛地戳到蜂巢里。蜜蜂们害怕灰烟,它们都吓坏了,赶紧全都飞出来,但它们没忘记给青其儿脸上、身上狠狠地叮上几口。

Soon he could hear the loud buzzing of the busy bees. They were coming in and out of a hollow in the tree trunk – their hive. When Gingile reached the hive he pushed the smoking end of the stick into the hollow. The bees came rushing out, angry and mean. They flew away because they didn’t like the smoke – but not before they had given Gingile some painful stings!


蜜蜂全都飞出来了,青其儿把手伸进蜂巢里,他挖到了好多蜜块,又甜又香的蜂蜜从蜜块上滴下来,看起来美味极了。他小心翼翼地把蜂蜜块放进肩膀上的袋子里,慢慢地从树上爬下来。

When the bees were out, Gingile pushed his hands into the nest. He took out handfuls of the heavy comb, dripping with rich honey and full of fat, white grubs. He put the comb carefully in the pouch he carried on his shoulder, and started to climb down the tree.


奈吉迫不及待地看着青其儿做这些事情,它等着青其儿能送它一小块蜂蜜,作为给他引路的谢礼。青其儿在树枝间轻快地跳来跳去,离地面越来越近。终于青其儿稳稳地落地,奈吉落在他附近的一块石头上,等着青其儿给他的礼物。

Ngede eagerly watched everything that Gingile was doing. He was waiting for him to leave a fat piece of honeycomb as a thank-you offering to the Honeyguide. Ngede flittered from branch to branch, closer and closer to the ground. Finally Gingile reached the bottom of the tree. Ngede perched on a rock near the boy and waited for his reward.


但是青其儿把火灭了,拎起他的矛,开始向家里走去,装作看不见奈吉的样子。奈吉生气地叫着:“给我蜂蜜!给我蜂蜜!”青其儿停下来,盯着小鸟,大笑说:“我的朋友,你也想要蜂蜜,是吗?哈哈,我做了这么多事,被叮了那么多包!我为什么要跟你分享这蜂蜜?”说完,青其儿就走远了。奈吉气极了,他可从来没有被这样对待过!等着吧,它会报仇的。

But, Gingile put out the fire, picked up his spear and started walking home, ignoring the bird. Ngede called out angrily, “VIC-torr! VIC-torrr!” Gingile stopped, stared at the little bird and laughed aloud. “You want some honey, do you, my friend? Ha! But I did all the work, and got all the stings. Why should I share any of this lovely honey with you?” Then he walked off. Ngede was furious! This was no way to treat him! But he would get his revenge.


过了几个星期,青其儿又听到了奈吉的叫声。他想起来美味的蜂蜜,迫不及待地跟着指蜜鸟走了。奈吉领着青其儿走到森林边上,在一棵大树冠上停了下来。青其儿心想:“哈哈,树上肯定有蜂巢。”他迅速地生了一小堆火,拿着燃烧的树枝开始爬树。奈吉停在那儿看着这一切。

One day several weeks later Gingile again heard the honey call of Ngede. He remembered the delicious honey, and eagerly followed the bird once again. After leading Gingile along the edge of the forest, Ngede stopped to rest in a great umbrella thorn. “Ahh,” thought Gingile. “The hive must be in this tree.” He quickly made his small fire and began to climb, the smoking branch in his teeth. Ngede sat and watched.


青其儿爬着爬着,心里觉得奇怪,怎么他没有听到嗡嗡声呢?他想,蜂巢一定在树冠很深的地方。他拉着树枝,跳上树:没有蜂巢,他看到了一只豹子!豹子非常生气,因为青其儿打扰了它的美梦。豹子眯着眼睛,张开血盆大口,露出了又白又尖的牙齿。

Gingile climbed, wondering why he didn’t hear the usual buzzing. “Perhaps the hive is deep in the tree,” he thought to himself. He pulled himself up another branch. But instead of the hive, he was staring into the face of a leopard! Leopard was very angry at having her sleep so rudely interrupted. She narrowed her eyes, opened her mouth to reveal her very large and very sharp teeth.


青其儿没等到豹子扑向他,就飞快地爬下树。可他爬得太匆忙了,一脚没踩稳,重重地摔在地上,扭到了脚踝。他一瘸一拐地跑走了。幸好豹子还没睡醒,没有追青其儿。指蜜鸟奈吉报了仇,青其儿也学到了教训。

Before Leopard could take a swipe at Gingile, he rushed down the tree. In his hurry he missed a branch, and landed with a heavy thud on the ground twisting his ankle. He hobbled off as fast as he could. Luckily for him, Leopard was still too sleepy to chase him. Ngede, the Honeyguide, had his revenge. And Gingile learned his lesson.


从此以后,青其儿的孩子们都听说了奈吉的故事,都非常尊重这只小鸟。他们每次收获蜂蜜的时候,都会把最大的一块留给指蜜鸟。

And so, when the children of Gingile hear the story of Ngede they have respect for the little bird. Whenever they harvest honey, they make sure to leave the biggest part of the comb for Honeyguide!


Written by: Zulu folktale
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: Vicky Liu
Read by: Zhuo Sun
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Level: Level 4
Source: The Honeyguide's revenge from African Storybook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.
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