Hello all! Today's post is a sweet and cute short story that I enjoyed reading and translating. The story talks about a Dad who, inspired by his Boss' new resolution to become a perfect Boss, decided that he too should try to become a perfect dad by satisfying all his kids' needs/requirements but in the end...(lol read it to the end for a funny ending).
A few words about the names in this story. This was a children's story so it uses really childish names for all the children. So if some of the words seem unfamiliar or don't make sense to you, don't worry they are just silly cute children's names. Many of them are intended to be puns as well, playing on fact that the father works in a bakery. Note that because of this I have retained their Chinese names in the translations and just treated them as Chinese names.
However I thought it's worth while to list the children's names and their English translations so you can get the puns intended:
- 面包宝宝 (miànbāo bǎo bǎo) - translates literally to Baby Bread. 宝宝 is also an endearing term that parents call their babies, it's like darling, dear, or precious bub (lol who calls their kids precious bub??).
- 甜甜 (tián tián) - literally means Sweet Sweet, meaning Sweety I guess?
- 小奶人 (xiǎo nǎi rén) - literally means Small Milky Person. I think this is supposed to mean Small Milky Baby.
- 点点 (diǎn diǎn) - literally means Dot Dot which I believe is referring to the piping icing needle device used to decorate the cake with icing or fondant.
Key words to learn:
建议 (jiàn yì) - suggestion; advice
凶巴巴 (xiōng b ābā) - a fierce or strict dad
完美 (wán měi) - perfect or perfection. The way I think of this word is to look at it's constituent characters. 完 means completed and finished. 美 means beautiful. So perfection means to be the finished article of beauty.
Chinese Translation:
一天, 香喷喷的面包房里,罗德叔正在工作。“我开会回来了。”周老板笑眯眯地走进来。“亲爱的罗德,请给我提点儿建议吧!从今天起,我要做一个完美的老板。”
罗德叔突然想:如果孩子们也给我提点儿建议,我是不是也会变得完美起来呢?
于是一回到家,罗德叔就让孩子们给自己提点儿建议。他说:“从今天起,我要做一个完美的爸爸!”“什么是完美?”面包宝宝问。“完美就是……没有缺点,什么都好。”罗叔德回答。
“那……黑黑的胡子要剃掉。”甜甜说。
“嗯,头发不能乱,领带不能歪。”小奶人说。
“还有,还有,不要凶巴巴的。”点点说。
“我希望爸爸下班以后早点回家。”面包宝宝说。
“好好好,全部接受!”罗德叔一高兴,丢给大白狗一块肉骨头。
第二天早晨,罗德叔先把黑黑的胡子剃掉,又把头发梳梳整齐,再把领带系系端正。
“爸爸真帅!”“好酷哦!”“太完美了!”孩子们叫成一片。
“郎里个郎……郎里个郎……”罗德叔心情愉快地去上班了。
他飞快地做好面包,准备回家,心里想:哈哈,面包宝宝今天一定会开心得不得了!
“我回来了!”罗德叔兴冲冲推开家门。
啊,屋里乱成一团!
“爸爸,我们在玩跳高高的游戏。”孩子们一齐大声喊。
“哦,我的沙发!我的电话机!我的电灯!天哪……”罗德叔叹了口气,“唉,世界上没有一个完美的孩子,怎么可能有完美的爸爸呢!”
English Translation:
[As in, inspired by Boss Zhou's noble new idea] Uncle Luo De suddenly came up with an idea: in the same way, can I also become a perfect dad if my kids provide me with some advice?
So right after he came home, Luo De immediately asked kids to give him some suggestions. He said:” From today onward, I want to be a perfect dad!” "What is perfect?" Baby Bread [lol this is the kid's name - since the dad works in a bakery - it sounds really cute in Chinese but admittedly a little strange in English 🙂 ] asked. “ Perfect means…… to have no shortcomings, everything is good.” Uncle Luo De answered.
“Then…. your black moustache needs to be shaved.” Tian Tian said.
“Yeah and hair must be neat, tie cannot be crooked.” Xiao Nai Ren said.
“Moreover, moreover, cannot be too strict.” Dian Dian said.
“I hope that my dad can come home a bit earlier after work.” Baby Bread said.
“Ok ok, I accept all!” Luo De was so happy that he threw a piece of meat and bone to his big white dog.
The next day, in the morning, Luo De first shaved his black moustache, then combed his hair neatly, and tied his tie so that it was straight and proper.
“Dad is so handsome!” “So cool!” “So perfect!” his kids screamed.
"Lang li ge lang [singing song lyrics]...lang li ge lang.." Luo De went to work cheerfully.
He quickly finished baking and got ready to come home, thinking to himself: "Haha, Baby Bread will definitely be extremely happy today!"
“I am home!” Luo De opened the house door with full of excitement.
OMG, the house was in a mess!
“Dad, we are playing jumping game.” Kids shouted out together.
“Oh dear, my sofa! My phone! My lights! OMG…” Luo De sighed, "How can the world have perfect dads if there are no perfect kids!”
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