Fifty Euros Is Fifty Euros
Disclaimer: this one is dark humour, and someone dies.
Every year Miguel and his wife Sara would go to the same event and Miguel would say, "Sara, I'd like to ride on that plane."
Sara always replied, "I know, Miguel, but that airplane ride costs fifty euros, and fifty euros is fifty euros."
One year Miguel and Sara went to the event, and Miguel said, "Sara, I'm eighty-five years old. If I don't ride that airplane, I might never get another chance."
Sara replied, "Miguel, that ride costs fifty euros, and fifty euros is fifty euros."
The pilot overheard them and said, "Folks, I'll make you a deal. I'll take you both up for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say one word, I won't charge you; but if you say one word, it's fifty euros."
Miguel and Sara agreed. The pilot did all kinds of twists and turns, but not a word was spoken. When they landed, the pilot said, "My, my, I did everything I could think of to get you to yell out."
Miguel replied, “Eu ia dizer alguma coisa quando a Sara caiu.I was gonna say something when Sara fell out. But fifty euros is fifty euros.”
Click to reveal translation
Click the sentence again to see the Portuguese
The Plus version of this story
Todos os anos o Miguel e a sua esposa Sara iam ao mesmo evento e o Miguel dizia: "Sara, eu gostava de andar* naquele avião."Sara* respondia sempre: "Eu sei, Miguel, mas essa viagem custa cinquenta euros, e cinquenta euros são cinquenta euros."Um ano o Miguel e a Sara foram ao evento, e o Miguel disse: "Sara, tenho oitenta e cinco anos. Se eu não andar naquele avião, posso nunca mais* ter outra oportunidade."Sara respondeu: "Miguel, essa viagem custa cinquenta euros, e cinquenta euros são cinquenta euros."O piloto ouviu-os e disse: "Pessoal*, vou propor-vos um acordo. Vou levar ambos a dar uma volta*. Se conseguirem ficar calados* durante toda a viagem, não vos cobrarei*; mas se disserem uma palavra, são cinquenta euros."O Miguel e a Sara* concordaram. O piloto deu todo o tipo de voltas e reviravoltas*, mas nem uma palavra foi dita. Quando aterraram, o piloto disse: "Bem, fiz tudo o que pude para vos fazer gritar*."O Miguel disse, “Eu ia dizer alguma coisa quando a Sara caiu. Mas cinquenta euros são cinquenta euros."Every year Miguel and his wife Sara would go to the same event and Miguel would say, "Sara, I'd like to ride on that plane."Sara always replied, "I know, Miguel, but that airplane ride costs fifty euros, and fifty euros is fifty euros."One year Miguel and Sara went to the event, and Miguel said, "Sara, I'm eighty-five years old. If I don't ride that airplane, I might never get another chance."Sara replied, "Miguel, that ride costs fifty euros, and fifty euros is fifty euros."The pilot overheard them and said, "Folks, I'll make you a deal. I'll take you both up for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say one word, I won't charge you; but if you say one word, it's fifty euros."Miguel and Sara agreed. The pilot did all kinds of twists and turns, but not a word was spoken. When they landed, the pilot said, "My, my, I did everything I could think of to get you to yell out."Miguel said, “I was gonna say something when Sara fell out, but fifty euros is fifty euros.”
🔎 Words in this story
✴️ Andar (to ride)
The verb “andar” not only means “to walk” but is also used with the following meanings:
- To move about with a means of transport, such as “andar de carro (to ride by car);
- To be accompanied by somebody. There is a Portuguese saying with this meaning: “Diz-me com quem andas, dir-te-ei quem és” (Tell me with whom you hang out and I will tell you who you are);
- To be engaged in a regular activity. For example, “Ela anda nas explicações” (She goes to private lessons).
The verb “andar” is also used as an auxiliary verb instead of the verb “estar” (to be), to say that the action has started at some point in the past and is still in progress. For example, when we say “ando a estudar português” it means “I have been studying Portuguese” instead of “estou a estudar português” (I am studying Portuguese).
💡Language tip:Dir-te-ei: When the verb is conjugated in the future or the conditional, the object pronoun is placed between the verb stem (in this case, “dir-”) and the ending of the verb (in this case, “-ei”), separated by two hyphens.
There is a Plus version of this story
The same story, taken further, for DailyNata Plus members. This one works on idioms and expressions.
- The whole story in Portuguese, and its English
- The words in it, explained, with examples
- 2 interactive exercises
Written for level A2–B1. Every story has its own, anywhere from A1 to B2.