The Oak and the Reeds
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 mighty Oak mocks the slender Reeds for bending before every storm — until a raging gale tests which of them really knows how to survive.
An Oak that grew on the bank of a river was uprooted by a severe gale of wind, and thrown across the stream. It fell among some Reeds growing by the water, and said to them, "How is it that you, who are so frail and slender, have managed to weather the storm, whereas I, with all my strength, have been torn up by the roots and hurled into the river?" "You were stubborn," came the reply, "and fought against the storm, which proved stronger than you: but we bow and yield to every breeze, and thus the gale passed harmlessly over our heads."
Um Carvalho que crescia à margem de um rio foi arrancado pela raiz por uma violenta rajada de vento e lançado através da correnteza. Caiu entre alguns Juncos que cresciam junto à água, e disse-lhes: "Como é que vocês, tão frágeis e delgados, conseguiram resistir à tempestade, enquanto eu, com toda a minha força, fui arrancado pelas raízes e atirado ao rio?" "Você foi teimoso", veio a resposta, "e lutou contra a tempestade, que se mostrou mais forte do que você; mas nós nos curvamos e cedemos a cada brisa, e assim o vendaval passou sobre nossas cabeças sem nos fazer mal."
