{"id":7827,"date":"2019-10-04T22:47:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T22:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-reading\/my-dad-is-a-scoundrel\/"},"modified":"2019-10-04T22:47:14","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T22:47:14","slug":"my-dad-is-a-scoundrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/mm\/my-dad-is-a-scoundrel\/","title":{"rendered":"My Dad is a scoundrel"},"content":{"rendered":"
This very indignant kid seems destined to be a vegetarian.
Learn Chinese Reading: Beginner Practice Exercises for Mandarin Chinese: Children’s EssaysI’d say the most difficult phrase in this little passage is: \u5bb6\u91cc\u4eba\u90fd\u5403\u5f97\u5f88\u9999. The beginning of that sentence is no problem: \u5bb6\u91cc\u4eba\u90fd “Everyone in the family…”, but \u5403\u5f97\u5f88\u9999 is a bit more difficult, as we don’t have sentence structure similar to this in English. Let’s break it down:
\u5403 – ch\u012b – To eat
\u5f97 – de – Grammar word, which kind of acts as a bridge between “\u5403” and “\u9999”, indicating that the result of \u5403 (eating) is that it was very \u9999 (savory)
\u5f88 – h\u011bn – Very
\u9999 – xi\u0101ng – Savory
Another interesting thing a<\/em>bout this sentence is the word \u9999, which can mean both “fragrant” (smells good) and \/ or “savory” (tastes good). I find it particularly interesting that the Chinese recognize in language the interco<\/em>nnectedness of good taste and smell.
One other notable point is the word \u53c8, which means “again”. But did you know that in Chinese, there are two ways to say “again”? There’s \u53c8, and there’s also \u518d. It’s a little alien to a native English speaker that there might be two different ways to say “again”, so let me explain the difference:
\u53c8 – Indicates that the action has already been repeated in the past. Example: “You forgot your homework again? You’re going to get in trouble.” The person being scolded forgot their homework once, then already forgot it again (maybe many times). The forgetting of homework again has already happened. So we use \u53c8.
\u518d – Indicates that something will happen again in the future. An example of this would be: Don’t forget your homework again or you’ll get in trouble. In other words, you forgot your homework at least o<\/em>nce already, don’t repeat that action again in the future. Another example of this is would be a sentence like, “When will I see you again?” The seeing again hasn’t yet happened – it may happen in the future. So we would use \u518d.
The Chinese title of this text is \u7238\u7238\u662f\u4e2a\u5927\u574f\u86cb.
Click to Listen
\u9752\u86d9 – q\u012bng w\u0101 – Frog
\u5bb3\u866b – hài chóng – Harmful pests (insects, etc.)
\u5e84\u7a3c – zhu\u0101ng jia – Farm crop
\u6d88\u706d – xi\u0101o miè – Nasty, vile
\u80fd\u624b – néng sh\u01d2u – Put an end to, annihilate
\u716e – zh\u01d4 – Cook, boil
\u5374 – què – But, however
\u53ef\u601c – k\u011b lián – A pity
\u9752\u86d9\u6349\u5bb3\u866b\uff0c\u662f\u5e84\u7a3c\u7684\u597d\u670b\u53cb\u3002\u53ef\u6211\u7238\u7238\u6210\u5929\u51fa\u53bb\u6349\u9752\u86d9\u3002
\u6211\u5bf9\u7238\u7238\u8bf4\uff1a“\u9752\u86d9\u662f\u6d88\u706d\u5bb3\u866b\u7684\u80fd\u624b\uff0c\u4f60\u4e0d\u80fd\u6349\u5b83\uff01”\u7238\u7238\u5374\u7b11\u7740\u8bf4\uff1a“\u5927\u4eba\u7684\u4e8b\uff0c\u5c0f\u5b69\u522b\u7ba1\u3002”\u6211\u5f88\u7740\u6025\u3002
\u7238\u7238\u53c8\u6349\u4e86\u8bb8\u591a\u9752\u86d9\uff0c\u716e\u4e86\u4e00\u9505\u9752\u86d9\u8089\u3002\u5bb6\u91cc\u4eba\u90fd\u5403\u5f97\u5f88\u9999\uff0c\u6211\u5374\u4e00\u70b9\u513f\u4e5f\u4e0d\u60f3\u5403\u3002\u6211\u60f3\uff1a\u6211\u4eec\u5403\u4e86\u9752\u86d9\u8089\uff0c\u53c8\u6709\u8bb8\u591a\u5c0f\u9752\u86d9\u6ca1\u5988\u5988\u4e86\uff0c\u4ed6\u4eec\u4e00\u5b9a\u5728\u54ed\u7740\u627e\u5988\u5988\uff0c\u591a\u53ef\u601c\u5440\uff01\u7238\u7238\u771f\u662f\u4e2a\u5927\u574f\u86cb\uff01
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Frogs catch pests, so they’re a farm crop’s good friend. But my dad goes out during the day and catches frogs.
I said to dad: “Frogs are experts at annihilating pests, you can’t catch them!” But my dad o<\/em>nly smiled and said: “Children should stay out of adult business.” I’m very worried.
o<\/em>nce again, dad caught several frogs and boiled up a pot of frog meat. Everyone in the family ate up the savory [food], but I didn’t even want to eat a little. I thought: here we are eating frog meat, that means there are many small frogs with no mama, surely they’re crying for their mother, it’s such a pity! My dad is a big scoundrel!
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