23. The happy chicken farmer

The happy chicken farmer/ ðə  ˈhæpi   ˈtʃɪkɪn     ˈfɑːrmər/

    Slowly Sui-ming chicken farm improved.

    ˈsloʊli     suɪmɪng     ˈtʃɪkɪn      fɑːrm      ɪmˈpruːv  

  Some of the village people sold their chickens to him

      smɔːl    ʌv   ðə   ˈvɪlɪdʒ    ˈpiːpl     soʊld      ðer   ˈtʃɪkɪnz    tuː    hɪm

and Sui-ming changed his old bicycle

  ænd   suɪmɪng     tʃeɪndʒd     hɪz    oʊl    ˈbaɪsɪkl

 for ten more chickens.

   fɔːr    ten   mɔːr    ˈtʃɪkɪnz 

He fed them all with the best food.

  hiː   fed   ðəm    ɔːl     wɪθ    ðə    best    fuːd  

After one month the chickens

  ˈæftər   wʌn     mʌnθ    ðə      ˈtʃɪkɪnz  

were laying much bigger eggs.

   wɜːr   leɪŋ    mʌtʃ     bɪɡər   eɡz

  ‘These are good, big eggs’,the shop-owner told him.

     ðiːz    ɑːr    ɡʊd     bɪɡ    eɡz    ðə    ʃɑːp    ˈoʊnər    tʊk    hɪm

 ‘I’ll buy all the eggs you bring me’.

      aɪl   baɪ    ɔːl    ðə    eɡz     juː   brɪŋ    miː

    After three months, Sui-ming went to the airport

      ˈæftər    θriː    mʌnθz   suɪmɪng   went    tuː    ðə    ˈerpɔːrt

and collected three big boxes.

      ænd   kəˈlektɪd     θriː   bɪɡ     bɑːksɪz

On the side of each box was written ‘Best Chickens’.

  ɔːn    ðə   saɪd     ʌv       iːtʃ    bɑːks    wəz     ˈrɪtn     best    ˈtʃɪkɪnz

Sui-ming proudly carried them back to his farm.

  suɪmɪng   ˈpraʊdli    ˈkærid      ðəm    bæk    tuː   hɪz     fɑːrm

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Now Sui-ming had enough eggs

   naʊ     suɪmɪng    hæd    ɪˈnʌf      eɡz  

 to take to the shops in town every day.

    tuː    teɪk    tuː    ðə     ʃɑːps    ɪn    taʊn     ˈevri     deɪ  

He also had to carry food back

   hiː    ˈɔːlsoʊ    hæd    tuː   ˈkæri     fuːd     bæk

to the farm for the chickens.

   tuː     ðə     fɑːrm    fɔːr     ðə     ˈtʃɪkɪnz

So, after a year, s

  oʊ   ˈæftər     ə     jɪr

he decided to buy a new bicycle.

  hiː   dɪˈsaɪdɪd    tuː    baɪ   ə     nuː  ˈbaɪsɪkl  

One day, as he cycled to town

   wʌn deɪ     æz    hiː    ˈsaɪkl    tuː    taʊn  

 with four boxes full of large fresh eggs,

     wɪθ    fɔːr    bɑːksɪz    fʊl   ʌv     lɑːrdʒ    freʃ   eɡz  

he suddenly remembered the day he left school.

  hiː     ˈsʌdənli      rɪˈmembərd     ðə     deɪ    hiː     left   skuːl  

He had been so unhappy then.

  hiː    hæd     bɪn     soʊ   ʌnˈhæpi      ðen

He wasn’t unhappy now.

   hiː   ˈwʌznt    ʌnˈhæpi    naʊ  

 He didn’t have time to be!

  hiː  ˈdɪdnt    həv    taɪm  t uː  biː

  Sui-ming smiled to himself and began to whistle cheerfully.

   smaɪld   tuː   hɪm  ˈself   ænd   bɪˈɡæn    tuː  ˈwɪsl        ˈtʃɪrfəli/