Story Voice

Five Peas from One Pod Story

Five Peas from One Pod is a classic story from Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, for children aged 3–7. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 2 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 2 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

Andersen's gentle tale of five peas shot from a pea-shooter. The smallest lands in a crack by a poor girl's window, grows, and the sick girl gets better as she watches it. In simple English with narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

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Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.

A narrator, and a voice of its own for each character: the peas, the fifth pea, the girl, the mother

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Read Five Peas from One Pod

Five peas lived in a green pod, so they thought the whole world was green. Then the pod turned yellow. "Is the world turning yellow?" they asked.

A boy picked the pod and put the peas in his pea-shooter. "I'll fly into the wide world!" said one. "I'll fly to the sun!" said another. The smallest said, "I'll stay wherever I land."

Pop, pop! Away they flew. The smallest landed in a crack under a poor family's window, where a little moss grew. There it stayed.

A mother and her sick daughter lived there. The girl had been in bed all winter. One spring morning she cried, "Mother, look! Something green at the window!"

It was a tiny pea plant. The mother moved the bed to the window. "This is your little garden," she said. The girl watched it climb and grow.

Day by day her cheeks grew rosy. When the flower opened, she sat up and kissed it. "Thank you, little pea." Her mother smiled through happy tears.

The Chinese version: 一个豆荚里的五粒豆

一个豆荚里住着五粒豌豆。豆荚是绿的，豆子也是绿的，它们以为整个世界都是绿的。太阳一晒，豆荚和豆子都变黄了。“世界要变黄了吗？”它们问。

一天，豆荚被摘下来，啪的一声裂开，五粒豆滚进小男孩的手心里。男孩把它们装进豆子枪。第一粒说：“我要飞到大世界去！”第二粒说：“我要飞到太阳上去！”最小的第五粒说：“飞到哪儿，我就在哪儿住下。”

啪！啪！豆子一粒一粒飞了出去，有的落进水沟，有的落在屋顶上。最小的那粒飞进了穷人家窗下的裂缝里，缝里有点儿青苔和泥土，它就在那儿住下了。

小屋里住着一位妈妈和生病的女儿。女儿躺在床上很久了，瘦瘦的，脸白白的。春天的一个早晨，她忽然指着窗外说：“妈妈，你看，窗边有个绿绿的小东西！”

妈妈一看，是一棵小小的豌豆苗。她把床往窗边挪了挪，笑着说：“这是你的小花园。”女儿天天看着豆苗爬高，长出叶子，开出粉白的小花。

女儿的脸色一天比一天红润。豌豆开花那天，她自己坐了起来，亲了亲小花：“谢谢你，小豆子。”妈妈在旁边悄悄擦了擦眼睛。小小的一粒豆，让小屋装满了希望。

Five Peas from One Pod Story: the moral of the story

Even the smallest seed can bring hope. A little progress every day is how we get well and grow.

Chinese words in Five Peas from One Pod

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

  • 豌豆wān dòu

    pea

  • 豆荚dòu jiá

    pea pod

  • 裂缝liè fèng

    crack

  • 青苔qīng tái

    moss

  • 窗户chuāng hu

    window

  • 生病shēng bìng

    to be ill

  • 花园huā yuán

    garden

  • 希望xī wàng

    hope

For families learning Mandarin

Mandarin learning pack

Print the story, read it together, then listen and say it back. Made for heritage families and children learning Mandarin.

  • A printable PDF (3 pages): the Chinese story with pinyin over every character, the words to know, the English version, questions to talk about, and character writing practice.
  • Slow Mandarin audio (4 min): every sentence at a gentler pace, followed by a pause long enough to say it back.

Buy once, download again any time. The story itself stays free to read and hear. Try the free sample pack (The Tortoise and the Hare) first.

Page one of the Five Peas from One Pod learning pack: the Chinese story with pinyin over every character

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • Give the peas tiny voices, each a little different: the first proud, the second prouder, the smallest soft and slow.
  • Pause when the girl points at the window and ask, "What do you think she sees?" before you go on.
  • Clap on every "Pop!" Afterwards, plant a pea on the windowsill together. In Chinese a pea is 豌豆 (wān dòu).

Things to talk about afterwards

  • Why did the peas think the whole world was green?
  • Where did the smallest pea land, and what did it become?
  • Why did watching the pea plant help the girl get better? Is there something that makes you feel stronger when you look at it?

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Five Peas from One Pod Story: common questions

What is the moral of Five Peas from One Pod?
Small things can bring great hope. The boastful peas fly far and come to nothing, while the smallest one quietly takes root and gives a sick girl the strength to get well.
Who wrote Five Peas from One Pod?
The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published in 1852 and is one of his shortest and warmest tales.
Is Five Peas from One Pod a good bedtime story for young children?
Yes. There is just one little pea and one little girl, nothing frightening happens, and it ends with the girl sitting up and kissing the flower. Our retelling is written for ages 3–7.
Is there a Chinese version of Five Peas from One Pod?
Yes. In Chinese it is 一个豆荚里的五粒豆 (yí ge dòu jiá li de wǔ lì dòu). This page has our Chinese retelling with Mandarin narration next to the English one.

Source and how we retold it

By the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, Fem fra en Ærtebælg, first published in 1852 and now in the public domain. Our retelling follows Andersen's plot and does not use any existing Chinese translation. What happens to the first four peas (one is eaten by a pigeon, one swells up in a gutter and thinks itself very grand) is told in a sentence, so the story stays with the fifth pea and the girl. We left out how ill the girl is and her mother's fear for her, and simply let her get better. The ending is Andersen's.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by our narrator and the Chinese by our narrator. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked Five Peas from One Pod Story, there are more stories in Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.

More Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales