Travel in Chinese Lesson 48 Medicine

雪梅：回来了，今天学校怎么样？

小杰：妈妈，我有点儿不舒服。

雪梅：哪儿不舒服，我看看，哟，有点儿热。

小杰：浑身没劲儿。

雪梅：来量一下儿体温。

小杰：我们班有很多同学都感冒了。

雪梅：37.8度，有点儿高，咳嗽吗？

小杰：基本不咳嗽。

雪梅：可能是感冒了，让你多穿点儿衣服，你偏不听。吃点儿感冒药吧。

雪梅：糟糕，家里的感冒药都给你爸爸带走了。

小杰：我不想吃药，我就想睡觉。

雪梅：这几天降温，别说是孩子，连大人也有很多感冒的。

小杰：妈妈。你别担心，我睡一会儿觉就好了。

雪梅：我现在就去买药，你喝点儿热水，盖好被子，出点汗。

（在药店）

卖药人：您好，您要什么药？

雪梅：我想买点儿感冒药。

卖药人：这几种都是感冒药，您要哪一种？

雪梅：我女儿浑身没劲、发烧，有点咳嗽，您看哪种好呢？

卖药人：那您看这种怎么样？

雪梅：这是中药还是西药？

卖药人：这是中药，它的副作用比较小。

雪梅：一盒能吃几天？

卖药人，一天两次，一盒能吃五天。

雪梅：那买两盒吧，这药的保质期是多长时间?

卖药人：生产日期在这儿，你看看。这药卖得快着呢，这都是新来的药。

雪梅：到哪儿去交钱？

卖药人：那边儿。
 

Translation

Xuemei: You’re back. How was school today？

Xiaojie: Mum, I don’t feel well.

Xuemei: What’s wrong? Let me see. Oh, you’re a little hot.

Xiaojie: I feel weak all over.

Xuemei: I’ll take your temperature.

Xiaojie: A lot of kids in my class have caught colds.

Xuemei: 37.8 degrees, a little high. Do you have a cough？

Xiaojie: Not really.

Xuemei: Maybe you’ve caught a cold. I told you to dress more warmly. You never listen. Take some cold medicine.

Xuemei: Oh no, your dad’s taken all the cold medicine with him.

Xiaojie: I don’t want to take any medicine. I just want to sleep.

Xuemei: There’s been a cold front in the last few days. Adults are catching colds, not to mention kids.

Xiaojie: Mum, don’t worry. I just need to sleep for a while.

Xuemei: I’ll go and buy some medicine now. You drink some hot water, snuggle up under the blankets and keep warm.

（at the pharmacy）

Pharmacist: Hello. What can I do for you?

Xuemei: I’d like some cold medicine.

Pharmacist: These are all for colds. Which kind do you want？

Xuemei: My daughter feels weak all over, high temperature, a bit of a cough, which medicine is the best？

Pharmacist: How about this one?

Xuemei: Is it Chinese medicine or western?

Pharmacist: Chinese. It doesn’t have many side effects.

Xuemei: How long will a box last？

Pharmacist: Twice a day, it’s enough for five days.

Xuemei: I’ll take two boxes. How long does this medicine keep for?

Pharmacist: Here’s the production date. Look, this medicine is selling really fast. These are all new shipments.

Xuemei: wher do I pay？

Pharmacist: Over there.
 

Bookmarks

1）浑身 whole body

（例）打了两个小时的乒乓球，她浑身是汗。

She played ping-pang for two hours and was sweaty all over.

（例）他没带雨伞，浑身都被淋湿了。

He didn't bring an umbrella and he was wet from head to toe.

2）偏 intentionally against something, often with 要,不

（例）让他别去那儿玩，他偏要去。

I don't allow him to play there, but he wants to go anyway.

（例）你想知道这件事，我偏不告诉你。

You want to know about this? Well, I'm not going to tell you anyway.

Sign Posts

Traditional Chinese Medicines

Traditional Chinese medicines are still widely available in China. Many people consider them better than western medicines for minor illnesses like colds and the flu, but you will commonly find both types available in Chinese drugstores.

中药 is the term commonly used for traditional Chinese medicines, to distinguish them from 西药 western medicines. Since traditional Chinese medicines are oftmade from herbs and other plants, they are also often called 草药 or 中草药. There are many other strange ingredients, from deer horn to snake gall bladder.

Sometimes these medicines are now refined, processed and manufactured into pills, dissolvable pouches and other modern forms. In traditional medicine stores, they can often mix the natural ingredients together for you in a package, which you, for example, could then boil into a soup. You can smell a strong herbal fragrance whenever you walk into a Chinese drugstore.

Chinese medicines usually consider the body as a whole rather than focusing on specific ailments. A cough, for example, may be seen as evidence of an imbalance that is affecting your whole body, and the Chinese medicines will attempt to correct that general imbalance. This is related to the theory of Yin and Yang that we discussed briefly in a previous lesson. Often, the local staff can help suggest an appropriate Chinese medicine for you. Of course, for more serious illnesses you should consult a doctor.

Substitution and Extension

1）别说……,连……也…… not just, even

（例）别说外国人，连中国人也不认识这个字。

No just foreigners, even Chinese don't recognize this character.