It's almost Christmas time people! So a relatively short post today (got to catch up with all the Christmas shopping) 🙂
For people who are looking for short and sweet reading exercises to start their Chinese learning journey, this is indeed a good article to warm you up. This classic Aesop's fable only has two paragraphs, so don't be afraid to start your Chinese reading practice here.
Despite it's terse length, there are several chengyu here of interest, these could be considered Intermediate to Advanced chengyu but in spite of this I would still classify this post as at Beginner level, because it is such a short read.
If any questions or even story requests, leave a message in the comments below.
Key Vocabulary:
偷偷地(tōu tōu de) - 偷 means steal, but 偷偷地 here means secretly
擦洗(cā xǐ) - 擦 means brush;洗 means wash. Chinese usually combine these two characters together. In fact you will start to notice, Chinese people often combine two synonyms together to form a word.
梳子(shū zǐ) - comb
虚情假意(xū qíng jiǎ yì) - 虚means empty, 情 means love affection, 假意 means insincerity hypocrisy. This idiom is used to describe someone who pretends to show fake affection
花言巧语(huā yán qiáo yǔ) - blandishment, means someone who is good at talking but not sincere. One who uses flowery words and dishonest rhetoric.
小恩小惠(xiǎo ēn xiǎo huì) - 恩惠 means grace or kindnesses, 小恩小惠 means some small giving kindnesses
Chinese Text:
从前,有个马夫,他偷偷地把喂马的大麦卖掉了,但仍每天给马擦洗,用梳子梳理马毛。马对马夫说道:"如果你真心想要我长得美,就不要再卖掉喂我的大麦了。"
这是说,那些虚情假意的人用花言巧语和小恩小惠去贿赂别人,却把别人最必需的东西夺走了。
English Translation:
“Think about it!” said the Horse, “if you really (or sincerely) want me to be in good condition (in this context, it means appearance-wise), you should groom me less, (and feed me more).”
That is to say (i.e. the Moral of the story): Spend your time on what will give you the results you want. Some hypocritical "friends" use flowery speech and tiny favors to bribe other people, while at the same time snatch away that which is most important to them.
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