Story Voice

The Flying Trunk Story

The Flying Trunk is a classic story from Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, for children aged 4–8. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 1 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 2 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

Andersen's tale of a merchant's son who spends everything, is given a trunk that flies, lands in Turkey and wins a princess with a story, until his own fireworks burn the trunk. In simple English with narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

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A narrator, and a voice of its own for each character: the merchant's son, the princess, the king, the queen

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Read The Flying Trunk

A rich merchant's son spent all his father's gold. Soon it was gone.

An old friend sent him a trunk. He had nothing to pack, so he sat in it. He pressed the lock. Whoosh! Up it flew into the clouds.

It flew to Turkey, where the princess lived high up in a palace and no one could visit her.

That night he flew in at her window. "Who are you?" she gasped. "I came from the sky," he said, "and I tell stories." She loved stories.

He told of boastful matches and a wise old pot that said work matters most. The king and queen listened. "Wonderful! Marry the princess," said the king. "And it has a lesson," said the queen.

To celebrate, he set off fireworks from his flying trunk. The whole city looked up.

But a spark burned the trunk, and it never flew again. He could not go back, so he told stories to children. Some say the wind carries them to the princess's window.

The Chinese version: 飞箱

从前有个商人，金币多得数不清。他的儿子却只会花钱，没几年就把钱花光了，只剩一双旧拖鞋和一件旧睡衣。

只有一个老朋友送来一只旧箱子，让他把东西装进去。可他什么也没有，就自己坐了进去。谁知他一按锁，箱子呼地飞了起来，一直飞上云端。

箱子飞呀飞，飞到了土耳其。他把箱子藏进树林，听说公主住在一座高高的宫殿顶上，谁也不许去看她。

晚上，他坐上飞箱，从窗户飞进了宫殿。公主吓了一跳：“你是谁？”“我从天上飞来，”他说，“我会讲故事。”公主最喜欢听故事了。

他讲了一个火柴的故事。一捆火柴吹牛说自己来自高高的松树，铁锅却说，把活干好才最了不起。公主咯咯直笑。国王和王后也来听。国王说：“讲得真好！明天就来娶公主吧。”王后点点头：“故事里还有道理呢。”

为了庆祝，他买了一大堆烟花，坐着飞箱在天上放。满城的人仰着头看，都说从没见过这么美的夜晚。

可是一颗火星落在箱子上，箱子烧着了，再也飞不起来。他回不到宫殿了。从此他走遍各地给孩子们讲故事。有人说，风会把他的故事吹进公主的窗口，公主一听就知道是他。

The Flying Trunk Story: the moral of the story

Money can run out, but a head full of stories is welcome everywhere. Just take care, when things are going well, not to lose what matters most.

Chinese words in The Flying Trunk

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

  • 商人shāng rén

    merchant

  • 箱子xiāng zi

    trunk, box

  • 飞fēi

    to fly

  • 公主gōng zhǔ

    princess

  • 宫殿gōng diàn

    palace

  • 火柴huǒ chái

    matches

  • 烟花yān huā

    fireworks

  • 讲故事jiǎng gù shi

    to tell a story

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 (4 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 The Flying Trunk learning pack: the Chinese story with pinyin over every character

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • Let your voice rise as the trunk takes off, and trace a slow arc in the air with your hand.
  • Tell the matches' story in a different storyteller's voice, like a story inside a story, and let your child do the princess's giggle.
  • Slow down at the end, blow softly for the wind that carries the stories, and turn out the light. In Chinese the flying trunk is 飞箱 (fēi xiāng).

Things to talk about afterwards

  • Why was the merchant's son left with only an old trunk?
  • How did the trunk fly, and where did it take him?
  • After the trunk burned, what could he still do? Do you think he was sad, and why?

Read this story to your child in your own voice

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The Flying Trunk Story: common questions

What is the moral of The Flying Trunk?
Money can be spent, but a gift like storytelling cannot be taken away, and it is welcome everywhere. When things go well, though, be careful not to lose what matters most, as the son loses his trunk to his own fireworks.
Who wrote The Flying Trunk?
The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published in 1839 and is one of his most playful tales.
Does the merchant's son get back to the princess in The Flying Trunk?
No. A spark from the fireworks burns the trunk, so he can never fly back to the palace. Andersen ends with him going from place to place telling stories; we added a line about the wind carrying them to the princess's window, so the story ends gently for bedtime.
Is there a Chinese version of The Flying Trunk?
Yes. In Chinese it is 飞箱 (fēi xiāng). 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, Den flyvende Kuffert, first published in 1839 and now in the public domain. Our retelling follows Andersen's plot and does not use any existing Chinese translation. In the original the merchant's son pretends to be the god of the Turks; here he only says he came from the sky. The long story about the matches that he tells the princess is cut to a sentence. The ending, where he cannot get back to the princess and goes on telling stories, is Andersen's; we added that the wind carries his stories to her window, so children can go to sleep easy.

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 The Flying Trunk 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