Elementary Level Chinese readings: Story 窗外 (Outside of the Window) [1]

My dear readers, may I ask you a simple question, “Do you think the world is beautiful in your eyes? 世界, 在你眼中美丽吗 shìjiè, zài nǐ yǎnzhōng měilì ma?” Don’t rush on answering that question.

Don’t answer, but look, look at the surroundings of wher you are. Could you see the beauty of life anywher? Or, all that you can see are things that you hate to see?

No matter what angle you like to observe the world from, I’d recommend you to read this story. I’ve written it in Elementary Level Chinese. I heard about it on the radio when I was very little. It permanently stuck to my head since then. That’s why I want to tell you about it, then it probably will stick to your head too. Let’s start with part one

窗外

 

小的时候，听过一个故事。

故事中有两个年轻女子。

有一个有心脏病， 叫小梅。

另一个很健康，叫珍珍。

有一天，小梅摔了一交，右腿断了，住进了医院。

而珍珍也在同一天出车祸，两条腿都断了。

因为住在同一间病房，她们就这样认识了。

病房里有两张床，一张靠窗子，一张靠门。

小梅的床靠窗，珍珍的靠门。

珍珍从进来那天开始，就觉得生活没了希望。

因为失去了双腿, 她变得不爱说话，也不笑。

小梅想让她开心, 就经常和她说话。

当她们不说话的时候, 小梅就一个人看着窗外。

 

[Vocabulary Table]
Simplified Chinese     Traditional Chinese     Mandarin Pinyin     English Definition
心脏     心臟     xīn zàng     heart
健康         jiàn kāng     health; healthy;
摔         shuāi     to fall
断     斷     duàn     to break
医院     醫院     yī yuàn     hospital
病房         bìng fáng     ward (of a hospital)
认识     認識     rèn shi     to know; to be familiar with
靠         kào     be close to
窗     牎     chuāng     window
希望         xī wàng     hope
开心     開心     kāi xīn     to feel happy
经常     經常     jīng cháng     often

 

[pinyin]
chuāng wài

xiǎode shíhou， tīng guò yī gè gùshi。

gùshi zhōng yǒu liǎng gè niánqīng nǚzǐ。

yǒu yī gè yǒu xīnzàngbìng， jiào xiǎo méi。

lìngyī gè hěn jiànkāng， jiào zhēn zhēn。

yǒu yī tiān， xiǎo méi shuāi le yī jiāo， yòu tuǐ duàn le， zhù jìn le yīyuàn。

ér zhēn zhēn yě zài tóngyī tiān chū chēhuò， liǎng tiáo tuǐ dōu duàn le。

yīnwèi zhù zài tóngyī jiān bìngfáng， tāmen jiù zhèyàng rènshi le。

bìngfáng lǐ yǒu liǎng zhāng chuáng， yī zhāng kào chuāngzi， yī zhāng kào mén。

xiǎo méi de chuáng kàochuāng， zhěn zhěn de kào mén。

zhēn zhēn cóng jìnlái nàtiān kāishǐ， jiù juéde shēnghuó méile xīwàng。

yīnwèi shīqù le shuāngtuǐ, tā biànde bù ài shuōhuà， yě bù xiào.

xiǎo méi xiǎng ràng tā kāixīn, jiù jīngcháng hé tā shuōhuà.

dāng tāmen bù shuōhuà de shíhou, xiǎo méi jiù yīgèrén kàn zhe chuāng wài.

 

[Traditional Chinese]
窗外

 

小的時候，聽過一個故事。

故事中有兩個年輕女子。

有一個有心髒病， 叫小梅。

另一個很健康，叫珍珍。

有一天，小梅摔了一交，右腿斷了，住進了醫院。

而珍珍也在同一天出車禍，兩條腿都斷了。

因為住在同一間病房，她們就這樣認識了。

病房裏有兩張床，一張靠窗子，一張靠門。

小梅的床靠窗，珍珍的靠門。

珍珍從進來那天開始，就覺得生活沒了希望。

因為失去了雙腿, 她變得不愛說話，也不笑。

小梅想讓她開心, 就經常和她說話。

當她們不說話的時候, 小梅就一個人看著窗外。

 

[English Translation]
Outside of the Window

 

When I was little, I heard about a story.

There were two young ladies in the story.

One of them was called Xiao Mei, who had heart problems.

The other one was very healthy, called Zhen Zhen.

One day, Xiao Mei had a fall and broke her right leg. She was sent to the hospital after that.

Zhen Zhen was injured in a car accident on the same day, had both of her legs broken.

They therefore stayed in the same room in the hospital and got to know each other.

There were two beds in the room, one close to the window, one close to the door.

Xiao Mei’s bed was close to the window, and Zhen Zhen’s close to the door.

The day Zhen Zhen was sent in, she lost her hope for life.

Due to the loss of both her legs, she became quiet with no smile.

Xiao Mei was hoping to cheer her up, so she struke up conversations with her.

When they were not chatting, Xiao Mei only stared out the window alone.

 

[To be continued ...]