我身后的眼睛 The Eyes Behind Me [7] (Elementary)

I’ve been thinking about writing a colloquial Chinese short story on Beginner level for a while, but it turns out that it’ll be much easier to tell a complete story on Elementary level instead of Beginner’s. To check out how reading levels are rated, please click here. My dear readers, I’ll also need your feedback to help me understand the difficulty level of my writing.

I’ve always been thinking that Chinese language could be more approachable to the world if enough reading materials on different levels could be available for learners to read, especially for adult learners. That is also the main goal I’m trying to reach in this “Learn Chinese online Short Stories” session.

Before you begin to read this 4500-character Elementary level short story, I’d suggest that you run through the vocab table first to get familiar with the new words. That way your actual reading process might be much smoother. At the end of each part, there will be a short quiz to test your comprehension.

我身后的眼睛 [7]


我目瞪口呆地听着他的述说.

“意思是说, 他们坚决不同意我们的来往. 他们已做通你的工作,希望我不要再与你来往.

我妈当时病重, 在省城住院. 我和我爸轮流在医院守着. 剩下的时间我就在外面找工作.所以家里经常没人….

我给你家打过电话, 你妈接的电话, 她让我不要再打了….

收到那个邮包后, 我很痛苦… 但是, 我明白, 一个连工作都没有的男人, 能拿什么去争取呢?

于是, 我给你父母写了封回信, 让他们给我一些时间, 等我有了稳定的工作, 会亲自上门拜访.

… 当然, 他们并没有回信.”

他停了停, 看向窗外的夜色.

 

这十三年来, 我一直以为是他主动放弃了我们的未来.

直到今天我才了解了真相!

“我的天, 他们都做了些什么呀!?”

我感到羞耻, 感到愤怒.

“别怪他们, 他们也都是为了你好. ”

我抬眼望着他, 他的目光中透着一丝温存, 一丝忧郁.

在那一刻, 我突然回想起人们常说的一句: “初恋是最美的, 也是最短暂的.”

他是我的初恋, 我, 也是他的初恋.

 

[vocab table]

Simplified Chinese    Traditional Chinese    Mandarin Pinyin    English Definition
目瞪口呆    目瞪口呆    mu4 deng4 kou3 dai1    dumbstruck; flabbergasted
述说    述說    shu4 shou1    to narrate
意思    意思    yi4 si5    idea; opinion
坚决    堅決    jian1 jue2    firm; resolute
同意    同意    tong2 yi4    to agree
省城    省城    sheng3 cheng2    provincial capital
轮流    輪流    lun2 liu2    to take turns;
邮包    郵包    you2 bao1    postal parcel
争取    爭取    zheng1 qu3    to fight for; to strive for
稳定    穩定    wen3 ding4    steady; stable
夜色    夜色    ye4 se4    night scene; the dim light of night
放弃    放棄    fang4 qi4    to give up;
真相    真相    zhen1 xiang4    the truth about sth
羞耻    羞恥    xiu1 chi3    (a feeling of) shame
愤怒    憤怒    fen4 nu4    angry
温存    溫存    wen1 cun2    tenderness
忧郁    憂鬱    you1 yu4    pensive sadness
初恋    初戀    chu1 lian4    first love
短暂    短暫    duan3 zan4    of short duration; momentary;
 

[pinyin]

wǒ shēnhòu de yǎnjing [7]
 

wǒ mùdèngkǒudāi dì tīng zhe tā de shùshuō.

“ yìsi shì shuō, tāmen jiānjué bùtóng yì wǒmen de láiwǎng. tāmen yǐ zuò tōng nǐ de gōngzuò, xīwàng wǒ bùyào zài yǔ nǐ láiwǎng.

wǒ mā dāngshí bìngzhòng, zài shěngchéng zhùyuàn. wǒ hé wǒ bà lúnliú zài yīyuàn shǒu zhe. shèngxià de shíjiān wǒ jiù zài wàimiàn zhǎo gōngzuò. suǒyǐ jiā lǐ jīngcháng méi rén….

wǒ gěi nǐ jiā dǎ guò diànhuà, nǐ mā jiē de diànhuà, tā ràng wǒ bùyào zài dǎ le….

shōudào nàge yóubāo hòu, wǒ hěn tòngkǔ… dànshì, wǒ míngbai, yī gè lián gōngzuò dōu méiyǒu de nánrén, néng ná shénme qù zhēngqǔ ne?

yúshì, wǒ gěi nǐ fùmǔ xiě le fēng huíxìn, ràng tāmen gěi wǒ yīxiē shíjiān, děng wǒ yǒule wěndìng de gōngzuò, huì qīnzì shàngmén bàifǎng.

… dāngrán, tāmen bìng méiyǒu huíxìn.”

tā tíng le tíng, kàn xiàng chuāng wài de yèsè.

 

zhè shí sān niánlái, wǒ yīzhí yǐwéi shì tā zhǔdòng fàngqì le wǒmen de wèilái.

zhídào jīntiān wǒ cái liǎojiě le zhēnxiàng!

“ wǒ de tiān, tāmen dōu zuò le xiē shénme ya!?”

wǒ gǎndào xiūchǐ, gǎndào fènnù.

“ bié guài tāmen, tāmen yě dōu shì wèile nǐhǎo. ”

wǒ tái yǎn wàng zhe tā, tā de mùguāng zhōng tòu zhe yī sī wēncún, yī sī yōuyù.

zài nà yī kè, wǒ tūrán huí xiǎngqǐ rénmen cháng shuō de yījù: “ chūliàn shì zuì Měidí, yě shì zuì duǎnzàn de.”

tā shì wǒ de chūliàn, wǒ, yě shì tā de chūliàn.

[traditional Chinese]

我身後的眼睛[7]
 

我目瞪口呆地聽著他的述說.

“意思是說, 他們堅決不同意我們的來往. 他們已做通你的工作,希望我不要再與你來往.

我媽當時病重, 在省城住院. 我和我爸輪流在醫院守著. 剩下的時間我就在外面找工作.所以家裏經常沒人….

我給你家打過電話, 你媽接的電話, 她讓我不要再打了….

收到那個郵包後, 我很痛苦… 但是, 我明白, 一個連工作都沒有的男人, 能拿什麼去爭取呢?

於是, 我給你父母寫了封回信, 讓他們給我一些時間, 等我有了穩定的工作, 會親自上門拜訪.

… 當然, 他們並沒有回信.”

他停了停, 看向窗外的夜色.

這十叁年來, 我一直以為是他主動放棄了我們的未來.

 

直到今天我才了解了真相!

“我的天, 他們都做了些什麼呀!?”

我感到羞恥, 感到憤怒.

“別怪他們, 他們也都是為了你好. ”

我抬眼望著他, 他的目光中透著一絲溫存, 一絲憂鬱.

在那一刻, 我突然回想起人們常說的一句: “初戀是最美的, 也是最短暫的.”

他是我的初戀, 我, 也是他的初戀.

 

[English Translation]
Special thanks to John Collett for diligently proofreading my English translation!!

The Eyes Behind Me [7]

 

I was listening to him dumbfounded.

“What they meant was that they didn’t agree with our relationship. They’ve had a talk with you, and you understood too. They hoped I could face the reality and put an end to our relationship.

My Mom was very sick and stayed in the city hospital at that time. My Dad and I took turns to look after her in the hospital. The rest of my time, I used to look for a job. That’s why there were hardly anyone at my home during that period.

I called your home, your Mom picked up. She told me not to call you again….

After I received the parcel, I felt very sad. However, I also understood, that if a man didn’t even have a job to support himself, what he could use to fight for his love?

Then I wrote a letter back to your parents, asking them to give me some time, once I found a job and did well, I would come to visit them and talk to them.

Of course, they never wrote back. “

He stopped and looked at the night outside of the window.

 

All these thirteen years, I’ve been thinking it was he who first let go of our possible future.

only today I finally get to know exactly what happened in the past!

“Oh my! What terrible things they’ve done?!”

I felt ashamed and angry.

“Don’t blame them, they’ve done that for your sake.”

I looked up into his eyes. What I saw was some tenderness and some sadness.

At that moment, I suddenly recalled a saying that was going around:”Our first love is always the most beautiful but the most fragile one.”

He was my first love. I was his.