{"id":7816,"date":"2019-10-04T12:17:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T12:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-reading\/the-little-bird-with-no-head\/"},"modified":"2019-10-04T12:17:19","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T12:17:19","slug":"the-little-bird-with-no-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/de\/the-little-bird-with-no-head\/","title":{"rendered":"The Little Bird with No head"},"content":{"rendered":"
I apologize for not posting a mo<\/em>nth or so, I’ve been in the process of – ta da – moving back to China, so life’s been exciting but busy. On the upside, looks like I’ll have some interesting new posts from here. But today, in place of something interesting, we’ve got a slightly insipid story for young children a<\/em>bout a bird who appears to have no head.
Childrens Beginner Chinese Reading Passage: The Little Bird with No HeadNot sure what the life lesson is in this story or if it’s supposed to have one at all. Maybe “don’t gossip”? Or “don’t make wild assumptions?” Not sure. I’d say the most interesting word in here is \u5929\u54ea, which means “My goodness!” This is used with relative frequency in China, and it’s a good interjection to use when you’re shocked or unpleasantly surprised a<\/em>bout something but don’t want to swear or be offensive. For example, if you walked into a room that smelled badly, or if you were jostled by a few dozen people coming off the subway, or if you found out that something you want to buy is outrageously expensive. It doesn’t always have negative connotations, though – this can be used neutrally as well, but I rarely hear it used in a super positive context. Because the word \u5929 “Tian” ends with an “n” and the word \u54ea “na” starts with one, this usually comes out sounding like “Tian ah!” rather than “Tian na”.
Another notable word here is \u5047\u5982 ji\u0101 rú, which means “if”. Thing is, in Chinese, there are quite a few ways to say “if”. There’s the most common, which is \u5982\u679c\uff0cthere’s \u8981\u662f\uff0cthere’s \u5047\u4f7f\uff0c\u82e5\u662f\uff0cand so on. At a loss for a good explanation myself, I found a site that does a great job of summing this up. In short:
1) expressing a fact: \u8981\u662f\u4f60\u6c34\u70e7\u5230\u6444\u6c0f\u4e00\u767e\u5ea6\u5c31\u4f1a\u6cb8\u817e, if you heat the water to 100 degrees celcius [then] it will boil.
2) talking a<\/em>bout a future result: \u5047\u5982\u4f60\u8ba4\u771f\u5b66\u5916\u8bed\u5c31\u4f1a\u8fdb\u6b65- if you study foreign language hard, it will improve.
3)an imagined situation: \u5047\u4f7f\u6211\u5f88\u6709\u94b1\uff0c\u6211\u5c31\u5e26\u5979\u53bb\u5f88\u591a\u5730\u65b9- If I were rich,I would take her to so many places.
4)if something didn’t happen: \u5982\u679c\u4f60\u6ca1\u8fdf\u5230\uff0c\u6211\u5c31\u4e0d\u4f1a\u90a3\u4e48\u751f\u6c14 (if you weren’t late, I wouldn’t of been so mad.
“ruguo” is more common than all of them. In a learning Chinese book you might o<\/em>nly see “ruguo” and you would hear “ruguo” in daily speech. They are all correct to say, and you can use them interchangeably. However, i’d like to note that \u8981\u662f can also be used negatively if you place \u4e0d in the middle, i.e. \u8981\u662f means “if” \u8981\u4e0d\u662f means “If not..” such as \u8981\u4e0d\u662f\u4f60\uff0c\u6211\u5c31\u4e0d\u4f1a\u6765- If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t come. wheras “ruguo” and the others cannot be used in that way.
Click to Listen
\u767d\u9e6d – bái lù – Egret
\u6d45\u6d45 – ji\u0101n ji\u0101n – Sound of running water
\u6c60 – chí – Pond
\u523a\u732c – cì wèi – Hedgehog
\u8111\u888b – n\u01ceo dài – Head, skull, brains
\u9f39\u9f20 – y\u01cen sh\u01d4 – Mole (animal)
\u5047\u5982 – ji\u01ce rú – If
\u7fc5\u8180 – chì b\u01ceng – Wing
\u4f38\u51fa – sh\u0113n ch\u016b – To stretch out
\u68b3\u7406 – sh\u016b l\u01d0 – To comb out, untangle
\u4e00\u53ea\u767d\u9e6d\u5728\u6d45\u6d45\u7684\u6c60\u6c34\u4e2d\u7ad9\u7740\u3002
\u4e00\u53ea\u5c0f\u523a\u732c\u8d70\u8fc7\uff0c\u4ed6\u8bf4: “\u5929\u54ea\uff0c\u8fd9\u53ea\u767d\u9e6d\u600e\u4e48\u6ca1\u6709\u8111\u888b\uff01”
“\u771f\u7684\uff01”\u4e00\u53ea\u5c0f\u9f39\u9f20\u4e5f\u53eb\u4e86\u8d77\u6765\uff0c“\u6ca1\u6709\u8111\u888b\u7684\u9e1f\uff0c\u6211\u7b2c\u4e00\u6b21\u770b\u5230!”
“\u5047\u5982\u6211\u6ca1\u6709\u4e86\u8111\u888b\u5c31\u4e0d\u80fd\u6d3b\u4e86\uff01”\u5c0f\u523a\u732c\u8bf4\u3002
“\u662f\u554a\uff0c\u53ef\u8fd9\u53ea\u9e1f\u8fd8\u80fd\u7ad9\u7740\u4e0d\u52a8\uff0c\u771f\u4e86\u4e0d\u8d77!”\u5c0f\u9f39\u9f20\u8bf4\u3002
\u8fd9\u65f6\uff0c\u767d\u9e6d\u4ece\u5979\u90a3\u7fc5\u8180\u5e95\u4e0b\uff0c\u4f38\u51fa\u4e86\u957f\u8116\u5b50\uff0c\u957f\u8116\u5b50\u4e0a\u957f\u7740\u4e00\u9897\u597d\u77ed\u77ed\u7684\u8111\u888b\u3002
\u767d\u9e6d\u7b11\u7740\u8bf4: “\u6211\u662f\u628a\u8111\u888b\u94bb\u8fdb\u7fc5\u8180\u5e95\u4e0b\uff0c\u68b3\u7406\u68b3\u7406\u7fbd\u6bdb\uff0c\u6211\u600e\u4e48\u662f\u6ca1\u6709\u8111\u888b\u7684\u9e1f\u5462?”
\u5c0f\u523a\u732c\u548c\u5c0f\u9f39\u9f20\u90fd\u7b11\u4e86\uff0c\u4ed6\u4eec\u8bf4:
“\u662f\u6211\u4eec\u6ca1\u6709\u7528\u8111\u888b\u597d\u597d\u60f3\u4e00\u60f3\uff0c\u5bf9\u4e0d\u8d77\uff0c\u767d\u9e6d\u59d0\u59d0\uff01”
Hide English »
An egret stood in the middle of a shallow pond.
A hedgehog walked up and said, “Goodness gracious! Somehow, that egret has no head!”
“Really!” a little mole also cried out, “This is the first time I’ve seen a bird without a head!”\u3000\u3000
“If I didn’t have a head, I wouldn’t be able to live!” the little hedgehog said.\u3000\u3000
“Yes, but this bird can still stand there not moving, how very impressive!”\u3000\u3000
At this time, from beneath her wing the egret stretched out a long neck, and on top of that long neck grew a very short head.\u3000\u3000
Smiling, the egret said, “I had my head tucked beneath my wing to comb out my feathers, how could I be a bird with no head?”\u3000\u3000
The little hedgehog and the little mole smiled, and they said:\u3000\u3000
“It was us that weren’t using our heads to think, sorry Sister Egret!”\u3000\u3000
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