The Golden Key
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
While gathering firewood in the snow, a poor boy finds a golden key and, buried nearby, a mysterious locked chest — but you'll have to wait to find out what's inside.
It was winter, and a little lad had gone out into the forest to gather wood to keep the fire going at home. As there was snow upon the ground he took his little sledge with him, for he could carry home a larger load on the sledge than on his back.
那是冬天，一个小男孩到森林里去捡柴火，好让家里的炉火一直烧着。因为地上积了雪，他便带上了自己的小雪橇，因为用雪橇拉，能比背在背上运回家更多的柴火。
He gathered together a heap of fallen branches, and then piled them neatly on the sledge, putting the larger pieces at the bottom. Before he had finished the task his fingers were almost frozen, for he had no mittens. “Before I start to drag my sled home,” said he to himself, “I will build a fire and warm my hands a bit.”
他捡起一堆掉落的树枝，把它们整整齐齐地堆在雪橇上，把大块的木头放在最下面。还没等他干完活，他的手指就快冻僵了，因为他没戴手套。“我拖着雪橇回家之前，”他自言自语道，“我要先生个火，把手暖一暖。”
He took a stick, and cleared away some of the snow, so as to have a place to build the fire. When he had done this he saw a little golden key lying there on the ground. The little lad picked it up, wondering. “Wherever there is a key, there must be a lock,” he said.
他拿起一根木棍，把一些雪清理开，好腾出个地方生火。清理完之后，他看见地上躺着一把小小的金钥匙。这个小男孩把它捡了起来，心里觉得很纳闷。“不管在哪儿，有钥匙的地方，就一定有锁，”他说道。
He began to scrape away the earth, and presently he found a curious looking chest made of iron inlaid with silver. There were words written on the lid of the chest, but the little boy could not read them.
他开始把泥土刮开，不一会儿就发现了一个模样古怪的箱子，是铁做的，上面镶嵌着银饰。箱盖上写着几个字，可这个小男孩不认得。
He lifted the chest out from the earth, and it seemed to him that something was stirring inside of it. Then a little thin voice, as thin as a thread, cried to him. “Let me out! Let me out, and I will make your fortune.”
他把箱子从土里抬了出来，觉得箱子里好像有什么东西在动。接着一个细细的声音，细得像一根丝线，朝他喊道：“放我出来！放我出来，我会让你发大财的。”
The little boy was very much surprised. The chest seemed too small for any living being to be in it.
小男孩感到十分惊讶。这个箱子看起来太小了，似乎装不下任何活着的生物。
“Who are you?” he asked.
“你是谁？”他问道。
“Open the chest and see. If you will only let me out you will never be sorry.”
“打开箱子看看吧。只要你肯放我出来，你绝不会后悔的。”
The little boy put the golden key in the lock and it fitted exactly. He turned it round and the lock flew back. But as to what was in the chest you will have to wait until he lifts the lid before you can see.
小男孩把那把金钥匙插进锁孔，竟不偏不倚正好合适。他一转钥匙，锁便弹开了。可箱子里到底是什么，你得等他掀开盖子才能看见。
