{"id":7853,"date":"2019-10-06T00:31:43","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T00:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-reading\/my-gluttonous-elder-brother\/"},"modified":"2019-10-06T00:31:43","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T00:31:43","slug":"my-gluttonous-elder-brother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/de\/my-gluttonous-elder-brother\/","title":{"rendered":"My Gluttonous Elder brother"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chinese Title: \u8d2a\u5403\u7684\u54e5\u54e5
Hah! I set out to do a beginner post since I haven’t done one in a while, but no joy, I think I have to classify this as intermediate. Beginners are welcome to try this out, as most of the words are simple and the subject matter is a bit immature (so of course it totally cracked me up), but the issue is that this essay is written by a kid making fun of her older brother for eating too much, and the sentence structure reads like a playground taunt – it sounds like the author used this essay assignment as an opportunity to get back at her brother for something. So it’s very casually written and the sentence structure isn’t book-formal enough to be smooth reading for newbies. Still, if you can get most of the words, which aren’t too hard, you’ll get the drift.
Intermediate Chinese Essays for Children An example of just such an easy-to-figure-out colloquialism is “\u4e0d\u561b,” which means something along the lines of “Nuh-uh!” or “No!” (as in the way a child starts off an argumentative sentence with “No it’s not!” or “No it isn’t!”)
A few things I should cover right out the gate: \u7ea2\u70e7\u6392\u9aa8\u548c\u732a\u8e44 is the name of a dish. \u7ea2\u70e7 is a way of cooking a dish wher food is slowly simmered in an oily red sauce. On Chinese menus you’ll often see \u7ea2\u70e7 followed by many different things. One of my favorites is \u7ea2\u70e7\u8304\u5b50 – Eggplant Simmered in Red Sauce. So this dish, \u7ea2\u70e7\u6392\u9aa8\u548c\u732a\u8e44, is spare ribs (\u6392\u9aa8) and pig feet (\u732a\u8e44) simmered in red sauce (\u7ea2\u70e7).
One of the more difficult sentences here is \u8981\u662f\u6362\u6210\u6211\u5403\u90a3\u4e48\u591a\u7684\u8bdd\uff0c\u73b0\u5728\u5199\u4f5c\u6587\u7684\u65e9\u5c31\u662f\u4e2a\u9971\u6b7b\u9b3c\u4e86 – there are multiple points of difficulty here.
Let’s break this one down a bit. In the previous sentence, the author is talking a<\/em>bout how much her brother can eat. Then she says, \u8981\u662f\u6362\u6210\u6211\u5403\u90a3\u4e48\u591a\u7684\u8bdd – the hard part of this is \u6362\u6210, which means “to switch”, or in this case “to switch positions with someone”. In other words “If (\u8981\u662f) I switched positions (\u6362\u6210) with my brother (‘with my brother’ is implied, not said), and it was me that ate so much (\u6211\u5403\u90a3\u4e48\u591a)”…
The sentence continues: \u73b0\u5728\u5199\u4f5c\u6587\u7684\u65e9\u5c31\u662f\u4e2a\u9971\u6b7b\u9b3c\u4e86. I think the hard part of this is the way \u7684 is used. Beginning readers expect \u7684 to either follow a word to make it possessive (\u6211\u7684, \u4ed6\u7684\uff09, or to show that something’s being described (“\u7ea2\u8272\u7684\u7bb1\u5b50”). In this case, the author actually left out the word being described, which is \u4eba. This part could also be written \u73b0\u5728\u5199\u4f5c\u6587\u7684\u4eba: or in other words “the person writing this essay right now…” This is a very informal way of talking. We continue: \u65e9\u5c31\u662f\u4e2a\u9971\u6b7b\u9b3c\u4e86 “Long ago (\u65e9) would have become (\u5c31\u662f\u4e2a…\u4e86) a full devil (\u9971\u6b7b\u9b3c – someone who has eaten until they are overstuffed – google image result for \u9971\u6b7b\u9b3c gets us this).
So all together: “If I was the one who’d eaten that much, the person writing this essay [me] would have long ago become overstuffed.”
And one last thing: the older brother at one point calls the author \u81ed\u4e50\u4e50. I understand this translates to “Stinky Lele!”, so we can assume here that “Lele” is the author’s name. This is probably a girl’s name, so we assume the author is female.
Click to Listen
\u8d2a\u5403 – t\u0101n ch\u012b – Gluttonous
\u55ef – \u0113n – A groaning sound, in this case because food is good, like “mmm, mmm”
\u6cb9\u5634\u6ed1\u820c – yóu zu\u01d0 huá shé – Smooth-talking, oily-mouthed
\u6210 – chéng – To turn into
\u5c31\u7b97 – jiù suàn – Even if
\u5c0f\u83dc\u4e00\u789f – xi\u01ceo cài y\u012b dié – Small appetizer
\u62a2 – qi\u01ceng – Snatch
\u55dd – gé – To burp
\u60b2\u5267 – b\u0113i jù – Tragedy
\u6539\u6389- g\u01cei diào – dro a bad habit
“\u55ef\uff0c\u597d\u5403\uff0c\u771f\u597d\u5403\uff01\u59e5\u59e5\uff0c\u518d\u6765\u4e00\u76d8\u9e21\u817f\u3002”
“\u6d0b\u6d0b\uff0c\u4f60\u90fd\u90a3\u4e48\u80d6\u4e86\uff0c\u5c11\u5403\u4e00\u70b9\u5427\uff01”
“\u4e0d\u561b\uff0c\u6211\u5403\u5f97\u591a\u8bc1\u660e\u4f60\u83dc\u505a\u5f97\u597d\u5403\uff0c\u8fd9\u662f\u7ed9\u4f60\u9762\u5b50\u554a\uff01” \u77a7\uff0c\u6211\u90a3\u8d2a\u5403\u7684\u54e5\u54e5\u53c8\u5f00\u59cb\u6cb9\u5634\u6ed1\u820c\u4e86\u3002
“\u59e5\u59e5\uff0c\u6211\u660e\u5929\u8981\u5403\u7ea2\u70e7\u6392\u9aa8\u548c\u732a\u8e44\uff01”\u54e5\u54e5\u5927\u58f0\u8bf4\u3002
“\u59e5\u59e5\uff0c\u522b\u542c\u54e5\u54e5\u7684\u3002\u4ed6\u6574\u5929\u5c31\u77e5\u9053\u5403\uff0c\u90fd\u5feb\u6210\u732a\u4e86\u3002”\u6211\u8bf4\u3002
“\u81ed\u4e50\u4e50\uff0c\u8bf4\u6211\u5feb\u6210\u732a\u4e86\uff0c\u4f60\u4e0d\u6015\u6211\u6559\u8bad\u4f60\uff1f”\u54e5\u54e5\u751f\u6c14\u5730\u8bf4\u3002
\u4e0d\u597d\uff0c\u628a\u54e5\u54e5\u60f9\u6025\u4e86\u540e\u679c\u53ef\u4e0d\u582a\u8bbe\u60f3\u3002\u6211\u8d77\u8eab\u5c31\u8dd1\uff0c\u54e5\u54e5\u6492\u817f\u5c31\u8ffd\uff0c\u597d\u5728\u4ed6\u592a\u80d6\uff0c\u6839\u672c\u8dd1\u4e0d\u52a8\uff0c\u6211\u5f88\u5feb\u5c31\u628a\u4ed6\u7529\u6389\u4e86\u3002
\u5728\u6211\u7761\u89c9\u524d\uff0c\u5988\u5988\u5e38\u8ddf\u6211\u8bb2\u54e5\u54e5\u662f\u600e\u4e48\u8d2a\u5403\u7684\u3002\u6709\u4e00\u6b21\uff0c\u5976\u5976\u8ddf\u6211\u8bb2\uff0c\u54e5\u54e5\u4e00\u987f\u996d\u5c31\u80fd\u5403\u56db\u4e2a\u4eba\u7684\u996d\u3002\u4ed6\u5c0f\u65f6\u5019\u4e00\u987f\u5403\u4e24\u7897\u9e21\u86cb\u7cd5\u662f\u7edd\u5bf9\u6ca1\u6709\u95ee\u9898\u7684\uff0c\u5c31\u7b97\u4e09\u7897\u5bf9\u4ed6\u6765\u8bf4\u4e5f\u662f\u5c0f\u83dc\u4e00\u789f\u3002\u8981\u662f\u6362\u6210\u6211\u5403\u90a3\u4e48\u591a\u7684\u8bdd\uff0c\u73b0\u5728\u5199\u4f5c\u6587\u7684\u65e9\u5c31\u662f\u4e2a\u9971\u6b7b\u9b3c\u4e86\u3002
\u54e5\u54e5\u603b\u62a2\u6211\u7684\u996d\u5403\u3002\u6709\u4e00\u6b21\uff0c\u6211\u6b63\u5728\u6d17\u6fa1\uff0c\u5988\u5988\u8ba9\u5976\u5976\u4ed6\u4eec\u5148\u5403\u3002\u53ef\u7b49\u6211\u6d17\u5b8c\u6fa1\u540e\uff0c\u53d1\u73b0\u7897\u91cc\u7684\u996d\u65e9\u6ca1\u4e86\u8e2a\u5f71\uff0c\u54e5\u54e5\u5374\u5728\u4e00\u65c1\u76f4\u6253\u9971\u55dd\uff0c\u539f\u6765\uff0c\u662f\u54e5\u54e5\u628a\u6211\u7684\u996d\u7ed9\u5077\u5403\u4e86\u3002\u6211\u5fc3\u91cc\u8fd9\u4e2a\u6c14\u554a\uff0c\u53ef\u8fd8\u53ea\u80fd\u5fcd\uff0c\u60b2\u5267\u554a\uff01\u5929\u54ea\uff0c\u54e5\u54e5\u5565\u65f6\u624d\u80fd\u6539\u6389\u8d2a\u5403\u7684\u6bdb\u75c5\u554a\uff1f
\u4e0d\u597d\uff0c\u54e5\u54e5\u53c8\u8981\u62a2\u6211\u7684\u996d\u4e86\uff0c\u4e0d\u5199\u4e86\uff0c\u8d76\u7d27\u4fdd\u62a4\u6211\u7684\u996d\u53bb\u554a\uff01
Hide English »
“Mmm, delicious, really delicious! [Maternal] grandma, give me another plate of chicken drumsticks!”
“YangYang, you’re already that fat, you should eat less!”
“Nuh uh, [the fact that] I eat a lot o<\/em>nly proves that you’re a good cook, this gives you face!” Oh look, there goes my glutto<\/em>nous older brother smooth-talking again.
“Grandma, tomorrow I want to eat Spare Ribs and Pig Trotters Simmered in Red Sauce!” older brother says loudly.
“Grandma, don’t listen to older brother. All he thinks a<\/em>bout all day is eating, he’ll soon turn into a pig,” I say.
“Stinky LeLe, saying I’ll turn into a pig. Aren’t you afraid I’ll teach you a lesson?” older brother says angrily.
Not good, I can’t bear to imagine the co<\/em>nsequences of provoking older brother. I get up and run, and older brother scrambles up to chase me, luckily he’s too fat, he can’t run at all, so I quickly lose him.
Before I go to sleep, mother often talks with me a<\/em>bout how glutto<\/em>nous my brother is. One time, [paternal] grandmother was talking with me, saying that older brother eats enough for four people in a single sitting. When he was small it was absolutely no problem for him to polish off two bowls of egg cake in a sitting, even three bowls is just a small appetizer to him. If it was me that ate that much, the person writing this essay would have long ago become a “stuffed devil”.
Older brother is always snatching my food and eating it. One time, when I was in the shower, mother allowed grandmother and all them start eating first. When I was done showering, I found that there wasn’t a trace [of food] left in my bowl, but my brother was off to one side burping with satisfaction, turns out my brother stole my food and ate it. I was so mad, but all I could do is endure it, what a tragedy! God, when is older brother finally going to fix this glutto<\/em>nous defect?
Not good, older brother just snatched my food again, I’ve got to stop writing, and quickly go protect my meal!
<\/div>\n