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The Game of Coins

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch this!"

The barber puts a five euros note in one hand and two euro coins in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?" The boy takes the coins and leaves.

"What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the boy coming out of the ice cream parlour. "Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the coins instead of the note?"

The boy licked his ice cream and replied: "Because no dia em que eu levar a nota, o jogo acaba!the day I take the note, the game is over!"

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The Plus version of this story

Um rapazinho entra numa barbearia e o barbeiro sussurra para o cliente: "Este é o miúdo mais estúpido do mundo. Veja isto!”O barbeiro põe uma nota de cinco euros numa mão e duas moedas de um euro na outra, depois chama o rapaz e pergunta-lhe: "Qual é que queres, filho?" O rapaz pega nas moedas e vai-se embora."O que é que eu lhe disse?" disse o barbeiro. "Esse miúdo nunca aprende!"Mais tarde, quando o cliente sai, vê o rapaz a sair da gelataria. "Olá, filho! Posso fazer-te uma pergunta? Porque é que levaste as moedas em vez da nota?"O rapaz lambeu o gelado e respondeu: "Porque no dia em que eu levar a nota, o jogo acaba!"

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch this!"The barber puts a five euros note in one hand and two euro coins in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?" The boy takes the coins and leaves."What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the boy coming out of the ice cream parlour. "Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the coins instead of the note?"The boy licked his ice cream and replied: "Because the day I take the note, the game is over!"

💬 Today's vocabulary

💈 Barbearia [femin. noun]: Barber shop💇🏿 Barbeiro [masc. noun]: Barber😶 Sussurrar: To whisper🧒 Miúdo [masc. noun]: Kid💶 Nota [femin. noun]: Note🪙 Moeda [femin. noun]: Coin🫳 Pegar: To grab, to take hold of🚶 Ir-se embora: To go away🍨 Gelataria [femin. noun]: Ice cream parlour😋 Lamber: To lick

There is a Plus version of this story

The same story, taken further, for DailyNata Plus members. This one works on indirect object pronouns.

  • The whole story in Portuguese, and its English
  • The words in it, explained, with examples
  • 2 more recordings
  • 2 interactive exercises

Written for level B1–B2. Every story has its own, anywhere from A1 to B2.