Kuli English Podcast

005 Trumpet of the Swan - No Voice, No Problem

• Chris • Season 1 • Episode 5

Share episode

In this episode, I retell The Trumpet of the Swan, one of my favorite childhood books, in my easy-to-understand Kuli English. Louis is a swan who can’t make any sound, but with the help of a trumpet, his super dad, and his human best friend Sam, he goes on a cute journey to find his voice, get a job, and maybe even find love.

Listen for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube: https://linktr.ee/cxjeng

Contents:

00:00 - Intro
01:55 - Story start 
04:07 - Meeting Sam
08:33 - Meeting the sexy swan
12:14 - Getting a job
14:55 - Going to the zoo
16:03 - The fateful storm
16:41 - Trumpet song
18:39 - One last thing to wrap up
22:35 - Question 1: favorite character
24:46 - Bird brain vs. galaxy brain
25:34 - Question 2: swan love
29:17 - Wrapping up

Hi everyone, and welcome back to episode 5 of Kuli English Podcast. So today I'm going to be telling you a story. And this is not a story that I wrote, it's not a story about my life, but it's actually a story from a book that I read when I was in the fourth grade.

So I was probably around 10 years old. And so I want to read this book to you, but books are really long. And if I were to read this book out loud right now, it's going to take four hours.

And not only is it long, but also it might be hard, especially if you're still studying English. So let's change that. What I'm going to do is I'm going to read this book, and instead of taking four hours, I'll do it in about 20 minutes.

And I'm going to be talking with my English, so what I call Kuli English level, basically the same level of all the other episodes in this podcast. And so that means I'll talk at this speed. And if there's any difficult words that come up, if there's any hard words that come up, then I'll do my best to explain it.

So this episode is going to be like a book reading episode. And by the way, this book is one of my absolute favorite books. It's called The Trumpet of the Swan.

So just a quick little explanation. A trumpet is like an instrument. It sounds like brr brr brr brr brr brr.

And a swan is a type of bird. So it's kind of like a big white duck. And this book, The Trumpet of the Swan, is about a swan who learns how to play the trumpet.

So this episode is going to be pretty long, because I'm going to be telling the whole story for the first part. And then in the second part, I'm going to talk a little bit about the story. So let's get started right after this.

Okay, let's get started with the story. So once upon a time, there was a swan family. So there's a mama swan and a papa swan.

And they lived at a lake. And they had some babies on the way. So that means they laid some eggs and those eggs are going to hatch into baby swans soon.

But one day, the swan family noticed that there's a human boy who comes every day. And the boy doesn't really do anything. He just comes to the lake to look at them.

Hurr hurr hurr, I see birds. And that's what they think of the boy. Okay, so the swans are scared of that boy, because humans are scary.

So they always stay away from that boy. Like if the boy's on one side of the lake, then the swans always stayed on the other side of the lake, stay far, far away. So every day, the mama swan does the exact same thing.

Okay, she just sits on the eggs and keeps them warm every day. So it's like a boring job. It's a tiring job.

And then one day, she wanted to go for a stretch. So, you know, she's been sitting on the eggs for so long. She wants to go for a walk and, ahh, stretch her legs.

And if you're listening to this, don't forget to stretch. But while the mama swan was stretching, suddenly a fox came. Okay, so the fox was going to eat their eggs.

Oh, no. Like if the eggs get eaten, then, you know, we're not going to have any babies. So this is really bad.

But then at the last second, so right when the fox almost reached the eggs, then the human boy came to the rescue. Tada! He came carrying a stick and he scared the fox away. He's like, mmm! Get away.

And then from that day on, the swans, they're forever thankful to him. So they're eternally thankful to him. And by the way, this boy is an 11-year-old boy.

His name is Sam. And so thanks to Sam, the whole swan family was saved. So a quick little summary.

The swan family now trusts Sam. The human boy, Sam, he's a really nice guy. And he saved them.

So anyways, eventually, the eggs hatched. And they all hatched into cute little baby swans. And they all became old enough to walk.

So the papa swan decided to take the whole family and go meet Sam. Come on, everybody, let's go meet Sam. So each of the little baby swans, they waddled up to Sam.

They walked up to Sam and they gave him a greeting. They all said hi in their own way, in their own swan way. So this is how swans say hello.

So that's how swans sound in real life. So just imagine that. And each of the little baby swans, they made a noise for Sam, the friendly human boy.

But then the smallest swan, whose name is Louie, he was different. He didn't make any noise. He just waddled up to Sam.

And then he pulled Sam's shoelaces. So like the little strings on his shoes. And then Sam and the papa swan, they looked at Louie and they were thinking, hmm, why isn't he making any noise? Like all the other swans were making noise.

And then they realized, aha, Louie was mute. And that means Louie can't talk. So Louie can't make noise.

That's just how he was born. So he looks like the other swans, but he can't make any noises like with his voice. And then the papa swan was worried because for a swan parent, you know, all they want in life is for their swan child to grow up healthy and then make a family of their own.

And it's not really different from human parents. Like there's always a joke stereotype where some parent is asking their kid, like, when are you going to get married? You need to study hard or no one wants to marry you. So this is like a stereotype joke of a parent who wants their kid to do two things.

Number one, study hard so that they can. Number two, get married. So anyways, let's get back to the story.

The papa swan is worried because he wants Louie to grow up and get married. And he's thinking, oh no, my son is mute. If he's mute, then how is he going to get a wife? How is he going to make a family? Oh no, what am I going to do? Aha, I'm going to send him to school.

So that's exactly what they did. And remember, Sam is a 11-year-old boy and he goes to school, like a human school. So they all decided, okay, we'll just send Louie with Sam and they can go to school together.

So Louie went home with Sam and together they went to school every day to learn how to read and write. And remember, Sam is a trusted friend. So, you know, we know he's going to protect his good swan friend, Louie.

And this actually reminds me of a high school story about Garrett and his pet chicken. But we already talked about that in a previous episode. So let's take a short little break here.

And then if you remember Garrett's chicken story, then maybe you can eat chicken nuggets if you want. Okay, so a quick little summary. Louie is a mute swan.

So he can't talk. He can't make noises. And he has his best friend, Sam, who's a human boy.

And they go to school together every day. So these two, you know, they go to school every day and they learn how to read and write. And of course, at first it was really weird.

Okay, so a normal school is meant for humans, not swans. So at first when a swan came to school, people were weirded out. Okay, they thought it was weird.

And then eventually they got used to it, you know. And Louie can't speak, but he always carried around a chalkboard around his neck. That way he can communicate by writing on it.

And so Louie was able to make human friends too. And everyone thought it was so cool that a swan can read and write. And then after the school year was over, Louie went back to the lake to meet with the swan family.

So in the U.S., you call it a summer break. There's no school in the summer. So you can go home and do whatever you want.

And in Japan, the time off from school is a little bit different. Instead of summer break, it's like spring break. But anyways, the swans, they had a family reunion.

So they reunited as a family. So then the mama swan and the papa swan were like, oh Louie, how's school? Did you make friends? How's Sam? Are you happy to be back? And then what does Louie say? Louie says... So remember, Louie is mute. So he can't say anything, okay.

But he can write. So he has his chalkboard with him and he can write messages on it. But remember, no other swans can read.

So Louie actually had no friends. And he also felt like a little lonely and a little sad. And then suddenly, he saw a super sexy swan, okay.

And he's like, whoa, who's that sexy chick? That's my future wife. But Louie's mute. So he doesn't actually say anything.

And then Louie's dad, he sees this and he understands. He's thinking, oh, my boy likes that girl. No problem.

I'm gonna help him out. So the dad goes to town. He breaks into a store and he steals a trumpet.

And then he comes back and he gives that trumpet to Louie. And he tells his son, Louie, get in there and go play that trumpet. And get yourself a girlfriend right now.

But it was too late. The sexy swan, she already left. So Louie missed his chance.

So he's sad. And now he has no friends, no girlfriend. All he has is this stolen trumpet.

But don't worry, it's a children's story. So there's gonna be a happy ending. And since Louie was feeling sad, he went to go talk to his best friend, Sam.

And Sam said, bro, tell me everything. And so Louie told Sam. And by the way, all of this communication is happening by writing.

So I'm gonna read that out loud. And what Louie wrote is, Sam, my best friend, let me tell you what happened. I went home to the lakes and I saw the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

Her feathers were so white and her beak was so orange. And I knew I wanted her to be my wife. I knew immediately that she was the one.

But you know me, I'm mute. So she doesn't know that I exist. And my dad told me, son, if you want to get a girl to like you, you got to make loud noises.

And then he went and stole a trumpet for me. So now I have this trumpet, which I like and I want to keep it. But I feel bad for the shop owners since we didn't pay for it.

What do you think I should do? And then Sam said, Louie, my best friend, I'm so sorry to hear that. You must be having a rough time. But it's okay.

You don't know what the future holds for you. Maybe you guys will meet again. But for now, maybe you could get a job to earn money.

So let's take a short little break here. Okay, so just to recap here, the two best friends talked. And Louie told Sam about how he wanted a swan girlfriend.

And he wanted money so that he could pay back the shop owner. And Sam basically said, well, why don't you get a job? And by the way, when I was reviewing the story to prepare this podcast episode, I thought this part was just so funny. Like it feels a lot like advice that like men give other men.

So it's kind of like Louie saying, aww man, I want a girlfriend. What should I do? And then the dad says, son, I know what you got to do. You got to go to school and study hard.

And also play this trumpet. And then you'll get a girlfriend. Thumbs up.

And then Louie says, okay, thanks, dad. I'll do that. And then later he goes to his best friend and he says, hey, dude.

So I went to school and I studied hard. And then I also learned how to play this trumpet. But I still don't have a girlfriend.

What should I do? And then the best friend says, Louie, I know what you got to do. You got to get a job so you're not broke. And also so you can pay for the trumpet because your dad stole that trumpet.

And I thought this was so funny. It sounds like three guys working so hard. And they're working together to try to figure out how to get a girlfriend.

They're like, play the trumpet, get a job, work out your wings so you can become alpha, become a manly swan. Grr. And don't forget to study hard! Okay, sorry.

Let's continue. So okay, so let's get back to the story. So they decided to get Louie a job.

And then Sam had an idea. Louie can work at the summer camp that Sam goes to. And so Sam gave Louie a referral.

He recommended Louie for the job at the summer camp. And so Louie started working his job. And this job was basically like to be a trumpet guy.

So when breakfast is ready, he plays something on the trumpet. And when lunch is ready, he plays something on the trumpet. And then, of course, when dinner is ready, he plays a different thing on the trumpet.

I don't know. By the way, sorry if these trumpet noises are weird. Also, trumpet guy isn't a real phrase.

I just made that up because I didn't want to say a harder word. Anyways, so at this camp, Louie worked hard every day. And the best part was his best friend Sam was also at this camp.

So these two, they could meet and they could chat anytime. And one day, Louie told Sam, Hey, Sam, to be honest, I'm having a little trouble playing the trumpet because of my webbed feet. So webbed feet is how you describe the feet for ducks and swans and a lot of birds.

Like their toes are attached together, which is good for swimming. But it's not actually good for playing the trumpet. To play the trumpet, you want like three fingers that can move.

And then so Sam was like, hmm, aha. And Sam had a good idea. And they decided to use a knife to cut apart one of Louie's webbed feet.

So they basically did like a little surgery. And then now after cutting them apart, then Louie has three fingers on one of his feet. And the other foot, you know, they left it.

So that way he can use it for swimming. And this turned out to be a great idea. So Louie started getting really good at playing the trumpet.

He got so good that he started getting job offers from other places. And all of these job offers, they offered him more and more money. So Louie started traveling a lot and playing in clubs, orchestras, jazz bands, and more.

And Louie was starting to make a lot of money. And then one day, Louie got a job offer in Philadelphia, where he's never been before. And if you haven't heard of Philadelphia, it's like a big city in Pennsylvania, close to New York.

So Louie packed up all of his stuff and he flew to Philadelphia. Philadelphia, yeah. And then he didn't have an apartment yet.

So he thought, why don't I just try staying in the local zoo? And then he goes to the zoo. Okay, so to recap a little bit, Louie got a job as a trumpet player. And then he got good at playing the trumpet.

And then he got a lot of job offers. So now he's in Philadelphia and he wants to stay in the zoo for a little bit. So at the zoo, Louie's really famous.

So the zookeeper made him a promise. He said, normally all swans that come to the zoo, they get their wings clipped. So what does that mean? When a bird has their wings clipped, that means they do something to remove something from their wings so that they can't fly anymore.

And they do this in the zoo so that like the birds in the zoo don't fly away and escape. But since Louie was a special guest, Louie's also kind of famous. They promised not to clip his wings.

They're like, Louie, we promise we're not going to clip your wings. And then, you know, that was a pretty good deal. So Louie stayed in the zoo for a few days.

He stayed with the other swans that were also in the zoo. But remember, Louie is mute and the other swans can't read or write. So as always, Louie kind of had trouble getting along with the other swans and he kind of felt lonely.

But he's used to it. So he's, you know, getting ready to sleep. But then that night, there was a big storm and the winds were really strong.

And then during the storm, something fell from the sky. What was it? Is it a rock? No, no, no. It looks kind of like a bird.

Oh, it's a big bird. Oh, it's a swan. And you'll never guess who it was.

It was the same sexy swan from before. The one that Louie loved. And she got caught up in the storm somehow.

And when she fell, she was so lucky that she fell right onto the grass in the zoo, right next to Louie. And this time, Louie wasted no time. So he played a beautiful trumpet song.

And it was so beautiful that she fell in love immediately. Now let's go ahead and listen to this sexy trumpet song. And so with this serenade, with this love song, the two swans became a couple.

And they got married immediately, right there in that zoo. The trumpet song was just too good. But then things started to get dangerous.

The next day, people at the zoo noticed, hmm, is that a new swan? I think there's a new swan. And this new swan didn't have her wings clipped yet. So they needed to clip her wings before she flies away.

And then all the zookeepers, all the employees, they came. They got their tools ready. They got their knives.

They're ready to clip her wings. And Louie was like, oh no, that's my wife. I gotta save her.

So he wrote on his chalkboard, WAIT, in all caps, WAIT. And then he flew in front of his wife, and he opened his wings to protect her. And then he worked out a deal with the zookeeper.

He said, if you let us go, then we promise to send you back one of our eggs later. And the zookeeper said, sure. And then, there you go.

There, she's saved. And she didn't really understand what had happened. But she knew what was important, which was that Louie saved her.

And then so Louie took his new wife, and they decided to fly back to the lake together to start a family. And so Louie retired from being a trumpet player to focus on his new family. Now, let's take a break and give them some privacy, and then we'll continue.

OK, so now Louie and his new wife are back at the lake, and they want to start a family. But there's still one more thing to wrap up. Do you guys remember where the trumpet came from? Well, yeah, the dad stole it from a store owner a long time ago.

So to make things right, Louie gave all of his money and also a written message on his chalkboard, and he gave it to his dad. And he said, dad, deliver this back to the shop owner to make things right. And the dad said, sure, son, I can do that for you.

And then he flies to town with over $8,000 in cash to pay the shop owner back. Now, that's the price of a used car. But when he got close to the shop, he got shot with a gun.

Oof! Urg! America! And then he fell down to the ground, and all the money fell on the ground. And he was bleeding from his shoulder. And the dad was thinking, why'd you shoot me? I was coming to pay you back.

And the answer is, the shopkeeper was thinking, the last time I saw one of your kind come here, they broke my window and stole the trumpet. And then he read the written message. He picked it up, and he looked at it, and it says, dear shopkeeper, sir, a few years ago, we broke your window and stole a trumpet.

We are so sorry for doing this. Here is $8,000 in cash. From, Louie and Louie's dad. And then the shopkeeper was thinking, wait a second, $8,000? That's not one trumpet.

That's like more than 10 trumpets. And then he looked down, and he saw the bleeding swan. And the bleeding swan was still alive.

And he was like, oh, my God, what have I done? I got to get the swan to the vet. So he took Louie's dad to the animal hospital. And of course, he also picked up all the money.

And now you might be wondering, did Louie's dad die? Is he going to make it home? Is he going to be able to fly again? And I'll give you a hint. This is a children's story. So of course, Louie's dad made a full recovery.

He flew back to the lake to be with his family. And now it's not just his original family, but there's also Louie's new family too. And they all lived happily ever after in this lake.

And some say, if you visit the lake sometimes, if you're really lucky, you'll hear the trumpet of a swan. The end. Okay, so that's the end of the story.

What did you think of that story? Let's take a short little break here. All right, so we made it to the end. I hope you enjoyed the story.

I loved the story when I was a kid. I thought it was so cool that they made a bunch of money. Anyways, so I want to try asking you a few questions about the story.

Because, you know, like we read the story together and it kind of feels like we watched a movie together. And what's the best thing to do when you watch a movie together? You talk about it afterwards. So let's talk about the story.

I'm going to start with question one. By the way, there's no right or wrong answers. It's just your opinion.

But who was your favorite character? And I'm actually going to give you a couple seconds of silence so that you can think about it if you want to. Okay, so let me tell you about my favorite character. My favorite character, it's a super, super easy choice.

It's the dad. Okay, so the swan dad, I feel like he's not just a normal dad. He's like a super dad.

Okay, so at first, he's scared of humans, right? Like all swans are scared of humans. And then in the beginning, Sam would come to the lake and the dad's like, ew no, let's go to the other side. And then, you know, you don't want to be near the human because humans are dangerous.

They're scary. But then after some experiences, then the dad's like, oh, wait a minute, not all humans are dangerous. Like maybe this human is good.

And then he starts trusting this human. And he even sends his son to go with this human. So it really feels like this dad, he kind of grew as a person.

Well, not as a person because, you know, he's a swan. But whatever, I like the dad. And also, number two, the dad is always thinking about what's good for his son.

For example, when he realized that his son was mute, he was like, oh, no, my son's mute. And it's pretty sad. But, you know, remember, this is super dad.

So super dad's always got an idea. And super dad says, okay, I got an idea. Let's send him to human school.

And then he can learn how to read and write. And then he can communicate. And it's like, oh, wow, that's actually, yeah, that's really good.

So it ended up being super good for Louie. Like if Louie did not learn how to read or write, he probably would have had like a terrible life. He would have spent his whole life being lonely at the lake because, you know, he can't communicate with the other swans.

And then, you know, like because he can't make noises, then he can't go like hit on girl swans. And then he'd just be lonely forever. But because also because the dad introduced Louie to Sam, then Louie met his best friend.

And so, you know, the dad sent him to school too. And then Louie got smart and famous. So, you know, this is definitely super dad.

Okay, super dad's always doing really good stuff. And lastly, number three, I also like how the dad is just so silly. Like he's always doing goofy stuff.

And it's really easy to kind of imagine like a goofy dad swan. For example, when he saw that Louie was trying to impress the girl swan, this is what the dad did. He was like, oh, I see what you're trying to do.

You're trying to get with that girl. No problem. I'm going to help you out.

And then he like flies to town and he gets a trumpet. And then he, number one, he stole the trumpet. Okay, like he goes to like a dangerous area to get a trumpet.

And I don't even know how he knew what a trumpet is. He's a bird. He's a swan.

But he gets the trumpet and he gives it to Louie. And then what happens? Louie becomes a world famous trumpet player. And he also gets like the girl of his dreams.

So like really well done, super dad. So there's this English phrase called bird brain. And it basically means stupid.

Okay, so like it means someone's brain is really small. The size of a bird's brain. And that's really small.

So they're stupid. And then does the dad from the story have a bird brain? No, no, he's the opposite. Okay, he's a genius.

So in slang, you can call it a galaxy brain. So it means someone's brain is so smart. It's so big.

It's bigger than the earth. It's bigger than the sun. It's the size of a galaxy.

Okay, so it's the size of like the Milky Way galaxy. So in Japanese, like Amanogawa Ginga. So it's like that big.

So when this dad stole a trumpet, that was a galaxy brain move. Easily my favorite character. This guy's a super dad.

Okay, so this episode is already kind of long. So let me just ask one more question. What do you think about the love part of the story? In particular, the love between Louis and his girlfriend, Swan.

So remember, you know, they met at the lake. And then they met again at the zoo. And then he played the trumpet for her.

And then they fall in love. And then he also saved her from getting her wings clipped. Let me actually give you a little bit of time to think about it.

Okay, so for me, I have sort of mixed feelings about this. So I kind of like it. And I kind of don't like it.

So from the story, we know that Louis loved the sexy Swan from the very beginning. From the very first moment that he saw her. He's like, oh, wow, she's so pretty.

I love her. But you know, she doesn't notice Louis in the beginning. And also, we need to remember that swans, they make girlfriends and boyfriends differently than the way humans make girlfriends and boyfriends.

So let's talk about humans for a little bit. Okay, so if a man is trying to hit on a woman, they might say something like, oh, baby, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life. You're so fine.

You're so sexy. I'm gonna love you forever. I'm gonna love you until the day I die.

Okay, so that's for humans, right? But for swans, they don't do that. Okay, if a swan is trying to get a girlfriend, it's more like, huh huh huh huh huh? Which is like, hey, I want to show you my voice. I want to show you that I'm healthy.

So I have good genes. I have good genetics. Do you want to make eggs together? And this is true for most birds, not just swans.

But, you know, that's why Louis's dad got him a trumpet. Because Louis is mute, right? So he can't make noises with his voice. So he can't say like the, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh.

So, but with the trumpet, now he can make noises, right? So he like plays the trumpet stuff. And then when the girlfriend swan heard him play the trumpet, then she's like, oh my God, that's the sexiest, strongest, like sound I've ever heard. And then bam, they're married.

Okay, but there was like a part that I didn't really like that much. And so like, we all know that Louis did a lot of things in life, right? So he was mute, but then he learned how to play the trumpet. And he made a human friend.

And he learned how to read and write. And he got surgery on one of his feet so that he can play the trumpet better. Like, dude, Louis did a lot of stuff.

Okay, this is a rock star. He's a rock star. And then what does he have in common with the girl swan? And, you know, let's think about it.

The girl swan is like a normal swan. So, you know, she can't read or write. She doesn't play the trumpet.

And how do they communicate? Well, Louis, you know, he has to write. He writes on his chalkboard. And then, you know, that's... And then, like, you know, he actually even comes back from school and goes back to the lake.

And the story says that, oh, no, like, no one else can read or write. So, like, Louis can't actually communicate with any other swans. And, you know, like, the girlfriend is like a normal swan and can't read.

So I don't know how they communicate. Like, maybe they just don't. They just know what they're gonna do.

I don't know. I mean, it's a kid's story. But, you know, at least the girlfriend is pretty.

And I guess to some people, that's all that matters. But, come on, there's more to love than just being good-looking. But, you know, it's a children's story.

So we don't need to think too deeply. And they're animals. So even though sometimes the book, you know, talks about their thoughts and feelings, like, animals are just animals.

Like, maybe they can't talk. And it's fine. Just let them be animals.

All right. So let's take a short little break and we'll wrap up.

Okay, so this episode is pretty long, but we also talked about a full story. So again, this book was called The Trumpet of the Swan. And if you really want to, there's an audiobook for it.

So basically like a 4 hour and 20 minute audiobook where the original author reads the book for you, word for word. So it's different from like me reading it. Me reading it is like my version and I kind of add in jokes and random stuff like that.

I also changed the story a tiny bit. But what I recommend is that you read the Wikipedia page. So my version is a little bit different.

I had to change it so that it can be shorter. But if you read the Wikipedia page for this book, it's a pretty quick read. It's just like one page.

And you'll probably also notice what I'm talking about. And you can see, oh, Chris had to change that for the podcast. Okay.

So anyways, thank you so much for listening all the way to the end. And as always, if you like this podcast, feel free to share an episode with a friend. It takes me somewhere between like 10 to 30 hours to make an episode from start to finish.

So and it's also free for everybody. So I want it to be helpful to as many people as possible. Thanks again.

And I hope to see you next time on Kuli English Podcast.