A cow and a buffalo lived by a pond. They were neighbors.
cow - huang niu
buffalo - shui nui
pond - chi tang
neighbors - ling ju
The buffalo worked very hard on the farm every day.
The cow was very lazy. He always soaked himself in the pond for the whole day.
lazy - 懶惰的 (lan3 duo4)
When the buffalo was cultivating his land, the cow told him: “Brother buffalo, cultivation is such a tiring job! Why don't you soak yourself in water like me?”
“I have to prepare food for winter. You should start to prepare food too!” answered the buffalo.
The cow pretended not to hear him and swam away.
The cow thought aloud: “It's still early for winter! I can still be lazy for a while!”
The buffalo kept cultivating and the cow was still soaking himself in the pond every day.
Soon winter came!
When the buffalo was moving the food into his house, the cow started to cultivate his land.
The buffalo sat in his warm house and ate his hot food while it was snowing.