The Fisherman and the Little Fish
A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A tiny fish begs a fisherman to toss it back into the sea, promising to return once it's grown big enough to be worth catching.
A Fisherman cast his net into the sea, and when he drew it up again it contained nothing but a single Sprat that begged to be put back into the water. "I'm only a little fish now," it said, "but I shall grow big one day, and then if you come and catch me again I shall be of some use to you." But the Fisherman replied, "Oh, no, I shall keep you now I've got you: if I put you back, should I ever see you again? Not likely!"
一个渔夫把网撒进大海，等他把网拉上来时，网里除了一条小鲱鱼之外什么也没有，那条小鱼恳求他把自己放回水里。“我现在只是一条小鱼，”它说，“可总有一天我会长大，到那时你要是再来捉我，我就能对你有些用处了。”可渔夫回答道：“哦，不行，既然抓到了你，我就要留着你：要是把你放回去，我还能再见到你吗？绝无可能！”
