Transcript

You can get today’s story, as well as nine others, in a beautiful physical format by buying my book, Easy Stories in English. These stories are available in all four levels, so if you find today’s version too easy, you can buy the intermediate or advanced level and really challenge yourself.

Go to EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Book to get your copy of the book.

OK, let’s start the episode!

[introduction music]

Welcome to Easy Stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from OK to Good, and from Good to Great.

I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show. Today’s story is for beginners. The name of the story is One-Eyed, Two-Eyed, Three-Eyed. You can find a transcript of the episode at EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/EyeL1. That’s EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/EyeL1. So ‘eye’, like the thing on your face, then L and the number 1. This is a levelled-down version of a pre-intermediate story. You can listen to the pre-intermediate version of One-Eyed, Two-Eyed, Three-Eyed at EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Eye.

OK, I’ll just explain some words that are in today’s story.

Work hard means to work a lot. After a day of working hard, it is important to relax.

A fringe is a piece of hair that goes over your forehead. In America, they say “bangs”. You have to cut the front part of your hair short so that it becomes a fringe. If your fringe grows too long, it gets into your eyes and is annoying.

Marry means to get married to someone, to join your life with someone because you love them. When you really love someone, you might go down on one knee and ask them, ‘Will you marry me?’ When people marry each other, they get special gold rings and put them on their fingers, and they have a big party. In the old days, mothers often wanted to marry their daughters to rich men.

Skin is the outside part of the body. Humans can have dark skin or light skin. Some people have lots of hair on their skin, but others don’t. If your skin is hard or rough, you can use moisturiser to make it nice and smooth. Personally, I have quite dry skin and I often have to put cream on my hands.

Goats are a short, white animal that go ‘Meeeh!’. Goats are very good at climbing mountains. Goats can be used to make milk, cheese and meat.

When someone is sleeping, they are asleep. When you are asleep, you often dream.

When you are not asleep, you are awake. For some people, it is very hard to stay awake. Maybe you are in a boring class at school, and you can’t stay awake.

A hoof, and the plural is hooves, is the foot of a cow, a pig, a goat, and so on. Basically, these animals don’t have feet like us. Their feet are very hard, and when they walk it sounds like clop clop. To protect horse’s hooves, people put horseshoes on them.

A horn is a sharp bone that some animals have on their heads. For example, bulls, goats and rhinoceroses all have horns. Usually, horns are used to fight. For example, male deer, or stags, have very complicated horns that they use to fight each other.

When you want to put something underground, you need to dig. The past tense is dug. You dig using a wide tool called a shovel, but you can also dig with your hands. When you dig, you make a hole, an empty space in the ground. Dogs often dig with their hands and hide bones in the hole. In crime films, people often dig holes and hide dead bodies in them.

When you take fruit from a tree, you pick it. Sometimes, it can be fun to go to the forest and pick fruit. If you don’t pick fruit from a tree, it will fall on the ground and go bad.

We have a new Patreon supporter today, Maurizio Vesce. Thank you so much, Maurizio. If you want to get exercises with each podcast episode, plus hear about all the crazy thoughts that are on my mind—and I do have a lot of strange thoughts—then you can go over and support me at Patreon.com/EasyStoriesInEnglish.

OK, so listen and enjoy!

One-Eyed, Two-Eyed, Three Eyed

There was once an old woman who had three daughters. The oldest daughter had three eyes, so she was called Three-Eyed. The youngest daughter had one eye, so she was called One-Eyed. The middle daughter had two eyes, so she was called Two-Eyed.

Three-Eyed was beautiful, and One-Eyed was very clever, but Two-Eyed was not clever or beautiful. However, she did work very hard. Her sisters hated her because she had two eyes like normal people, and her mother hated her because she was not special like her sisters.

One day, the mother decided that it was time for her daughters to get married.

‘Three-Eyed will get married to a rich businessman, because she is so beautiful. One-Eyed will get married to a doctor, because she is so clever.’

‘And who will I get married to, Mother?’ asked Two-Eyed.

‘Nobody!’ she cried. ‘You will not get married to anyone. You will stay at home and look after your mother.’

So the old woman prepared her oldest and youngest daughters to get married. She painted a second eye on One-Eyed’s face, so that she had two eyes. Then she took some horse hair and made a fringe to put on Three-Eyed’s head, so that people could not see her third eye.

‘There!’ she said. ‘Now everyone will want to marry you!’

A few days later, a man came round looking for a wife.

‘Come in, come in!’ said the old woman. ‘Perhaps you would like to marry my oldest daughter, who is very pretty?’

The man looked at Three-Eyed and said, ‘Hmm, I think not.’

‘Well, perhaps you would prefer my youngest daughter? She is very clever.’

The man saw One-Eyed and said, ‘No, I do not like her. Where is the middle daughter?’

‘Oh no, she is not beautiful or clever. You do not want to marry her.’

Two-Eyed was in the next room. She had seen the man through the window, and he looked very nice. So she walked into the room.

‘Hello,’ she said.

‘Ah! This is the daughter I want to marry.’

‘No, no!’ said the mother. ‘She does not want to get married.’

‘But Mother, I—’

‘Goodbye!’

And the mother pushed the man out of the door and shut it. Suddenly, the old woman, Three-Eyed and One-Eyed all turned on Two-Eyed.

‘You think you are so clever, don’t you?’ said the mother. ‘You cannot get married. I already told you.’

‘You are not beautiful!’ said Three-Eyed.

‘Or clever!’ said One-Eyed.

Two-Eyed started crying, and ran to her bed.

The mother and the two favourite daughters thought about what to do. They needed to make sure that no man wanted to marry Two-Eyed.

‘I have an idea!’ said the mother. ‘We will give her less food and make her work hard in the fields. She will be hungry and sad. She will get thin, and her skin will go hard. Nobody will want to marry her!’

So early the next day, Three-Eyed and One-Eyed pulled Two-Eyed out of bed, and told her she had to work in the fields.

‘What about breakfast?’ she asked.

‘No breakfast for you, lazy!’ said Three-Eyed.

So the girl went to the field and started working. It was a beautiful day, and she did not mind working hard, because her lunch would be even better afterwards.

A few hours later, a goat came to her.

‘Meeeh! Good day, Two-Eyed.’

‘How do you know my name?’ the girl asked. ‘And, oh! How can you talk?’

‘I am not a normal goat and you are not a normal girl.’

‘Oh, but I am normal. I am not beautiful like my older sister, and I am not clever like my younger sister. And I only have two eyes, just like you and most people.’

‘Oh no, you are special. You just do not know it yet. But that is not important. I think you are hungry.’

‘Yes, I am quite hungry. But when I finish working, we will have lunch, I am sure.’

‘No!’ said the goat. ‘They will give you very little food. They made a plan last night. They will give you very little food, so that you get thin and your skin goes hard.’

‘Oh!’ said the girl.

‘But do not worry. As I said, I am not a normal goat. Say these magic words and I will help you: “Little goat, little goat, it’s time to eat.” When you are done, say, “Little goat, little goat, it’s time to go.” ’

So the girl said, ‘Little goat, little goat, it’s time to eat.’

Suddenly, the goat started changing. It grew long and square, and became a big white table. And on the table were all kinds of food: bread, cheeses, jams, pickles, tomatoes, olives, and so on. The girl was hungry from the work, so she ate lots and lots of food, and when she was done, she said, ‘Little goat, little goat, it’s time to go.’

The table became a goat again.

‘See you tomorrow, Two-Eyed!’ he said, and ran away.

When Two-Eyed finished her work and came home, lunch was ready.

‘I suppose you want to eat?’ said the mother.

‘No, thank you!’ said Two-Eyed. ‘I ate lots of food yesterday.’

For several days, the mother and her two favourite daughters sent Two-Eyed into the fields to work, and she ate food from the goat’s table, and she ate no food at home. The three horrible women thought and thought. Why did she not eat? Why was she not thin?

Finally, the mother said, ‘Enough! Tomorrow, One-Eyed, you will go with your sister into the field and find out what is happening. I am sure she is stealing that food from somewhere.’

So the next day, One-Eyed went with Two-Eyed to the fields. But the younger sister did not want to work with Two-Eyed, so they sat down together and watched the sky.

‘Sister, sing me a song,’ said One-Eyed.

So Two-Eyed started to sing.

‘Sister, sister, are you asleep?

Or are you awake? Tell me, tell me.’

‘I am awake,’ said One-Eyed.

‘Sister, sister, are you asleep?

Or are you awake? Tell me, tell me.’

‘I am awake,’ said One-Eyed.

Two-Eyed sang more quietly. Finally, One-Eyed’s eye closed and she fell asleep. Then, Two-Eyed got up, went and found the goat.

‘Little goat, little goat, it’s time to eat!’

The goat became a table, and the girl ate and ate, while her sister slept and slept. Then she said, ‘Little goat, little goat, it’s time to go!’

The goat went away, and Two-Eyed went and woke up her sister.

‘Come on, sister! It is time to go home.’

‘Oh!’ said One-Eyed. ‘Did I sleep for that long?’

That evening, their mother and Three-Eyed asked One-Eyed what she saw, but the girl told them that she slept and saw nothing.

‘That was not the plan!’ said her mother.

‘Actually, I did see one thing!’ One-Eyed said. ‘When she woke me up, she had some cheese on her mouth.’

‘Hmm,’ said the mother. ‘Tomorrow, Three-Eyed, you will go with her to the fields. And you must be more careful than your sister!’

So the next day, Two-Eyed and Three-Eyed went to the fields.

‘Sister, sing me a song,’ said Three-Eyed.

So they sat down, and Two-Eyed started to sing.

‘Sister, sister, are you asleep?

Or are you awake? Tell me, tell me.’

‘I am awake,’ said Three-Eyed.

‘Sister, sister, are you asleep?

Or are you awake? Tell me, tell me.’

‘I am awake,’ said Three-Eyed.

Two-Eyed sang more quietly. Finally, Three-Eyed’s eyes closed. Then, Two-Eyed carefully got up, went and found the goat.

But Three-Eyed was not asleep. Her two lower eyes were closed, but under her fringe, her third eye was open. Carefully, she moved the fringe and watched what Two-Eyed was doing.

‘Little goat, little goat, it’s time to eat!’

Three-Eyed saw the goat become a table, and she saw Two-Eyed eat her meal. Then the girl said, ‘Little goat, little goat, it’s time to go!’

That evening, Three-Eyed told her mother and sister everything that had happened. Her mother had never looked so happy before.

‘I have an idea,’ she said. ‘Tonight, we will have goat for supper.’

‘Yes,’ said Three-Eyed, ‘but what about the magic goat?’

‘We are going to eat the magic goat.’

‘Oh.’

When Two-Eyed heard this, she started crying, and she cried and cried all day. Then she slept in her room, and had a strange dream.

In the dream, she was working in the fields, but the goat did not come to her. Instead, an old man visited.

‘They are going to eat the goat,’ he said.

‘What can I do?’ said Two-Eyed.

‘After the meal is finished, take the goat’s hooves and horns. Dig a hole behind the door and put them in the hole. But make sure that nobody sees.’

So that evening, the mother and her two favourite daughters ate goat curry for supper. Two-Eyed sat outside and watched them through the window, but the girl did not cry.

After the meal was finished, the old woman said, ‘Two-Eyed, clean up the hooves and horns.’

Two-Eyed waited until they were in bed, then she dug a hole and planted the hooves and horns inside. After that, she was very tired and went to bed.

The next day, a beautiful apple tree had grown by the door. And it was no normal apple tree; the apples were made of gold!

‘Daughters, daughters!’ said the mother. ‘Look, it’s amazing!’

But when she tried to pick the apples, the tree moved away, and she could not pick them. As Three-Eyed was the tallest, her mother told her to pick them, but again, the tree moved away and Three-Eyed could not pick the apples. So One-Eyed stood on Three-Eyed’s head, but the same thing happened—the tree moved away—and they both fell.

‘I hate this!’ said One-Eyed. ‘Those are our golden apples!’

The mother looked at Two-Eyed and said, ‘Don’t think about picking any of these apples. They are my apples, not yours.’

But when they were not looking, Two-Eyed tried picking an apple. The tree moved down to her, and she easily picked one of the beautiful golden apples. She put it in her dress and went back to work.

A few days later, the man from before came round again.

‘I still want to marry your third daughter,’ he said. ‘Are you sure that she does not want to get married?’

‘Yes, yes!’ said the mother. ‘But it does not matter. The horrible little girl ran away.’

Actually, Two-Eyed was under the bed, because her mother had told her to go there. She did not want the man to see her.

‘Oh, what a beautiful tree you have! These apples are amazing,’ said the man.

He thought for a moment, and decided that Three-Eyed and One-Eyed could be good wives, but they had to work hard.

‘Can your lovely daughters pick me some apples?’

So the mother sent Three-Eyed and One-Eyed to the tree, but they could not pick any apples.

‘How funny,’ the man said. He did not sound happy.

Two-Eyed knew she had to do something. So she waited until the man was inside again, and then she threw the golden apple from under the bed. The man looked down and saw it.

‘Oh! Here is one of the apples.’ He picked it up. ‘But where did it come from…?’

‘I don’t know!’ said the mother. ‘I suppose Three-Eyed picked it earlier.’

The man looked around, and he saw some eyes under the bed. He went down and pulled out Two-Eyed.

‘Ah, your daughter has not run away!’ he said. ‘Your mother says that you do not want to get married. Is this true?’

‘No, no!’ said Two-Eyed. ‘I would love to marry you.’

‘Wonderful!’ said the man. ‘Let’s go and get married right now.’

‘No, you can’t go!’ said the mother. ‘That was not the plan!’

But Two-Eyed and her new husband did not hear her, and walked out of the house. They stopped in the garden.

‘I suppose you want me to pick you some apples?’ said Two-Eyed. She wanted to show him that she could work hard.

‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘You are the perfect wife. I just know it.’

So they went and got married, and lived happily together. And the mother and her two favourite daughters never picked an apple from the tree.

THE END

I hope you enjoyed the story. You might already know the story if you listened to the pre-intermediate version of it.

You probably have noticed that recently I have been doing more relevels. So I have been levelling up some episodes and levelling down others, like this one.

This is something new that I am trying and I would be interested to hear your thoughts. You can come and leave a comment at EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/EyeL1. Or you can message me on Telegram @ArielGoodbody. Or you can send me an email at .

If you have been listening to the podcast for a while, you might have listened to the same story several times at different levels. Or, if you’re new to the podcast, you might want to try this. It can be really useful if you want to listen to an intermediate or advanced-level story, to listen to the beginner level or the pre-intermediate level first.

So first, you listen to the easier version of the story, and then you listen to the harder version. Have you tried this? Please do tell me. I want to know if you find this useful.

I use a similar technique, a similar method, when I am learning a foreign language. For example, at the moment I am listening to an audiobook in German. The audiobook is Der Weg der Könige, or in English, The Way of Kings, and it is a fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson.

It is a very long book and it has a lot of difficult language in it, so what I do is, before I listen to each chapter, I read the chapter summary, I read what the chapter is about, first in English. That way, I already know what’s going to happen in the chapter, so I can focus more on the language and understand it more easily. It also means I don’t miss any important information in the story.

I recommend this method to you as well, and of course you can listen to the relevelled episodes of the podcast, or buy my book at EasyStoriesInEnglish.com/Book.

Thanks again for listening. If you’re feeling generous, you can go over to EasyStoriesInEnglish.com, click Buy me a coffee! and send me a few dollars. I promise I won’t use it to buy a talking goat who turns into a table, although that would save me some grocery money…

Anyway, see you next week!