Travel in Chinese Lesson 67 Terra Cotta Warriors

同事女：哎，雪梅、小张！

雪梅：你到哪儿去了，我们还说呢，怎么一眨眼人就不见了。

同事女：刚才我看到一个卖旅游纪念品的商店，里边有小的兵马佣复制品卖，觉得挺好玩儿的。要不是他要价太高，差点儿就买一个回来了。

雪梅：是吗？我也想买一个带回去呢。我先生说兵马佣可是世界第八大奇迹呢。

同事男：等你们明天去看了真的兵马俑，肯定就不喜欢这些复制品了。真正的兵马俑都和真人一样大小，非常壮观。

同事女：我们只不过想买一个回去做个纪念，你看他，那么较真儿！（两人乐）

同事男：好好，我说不过你们。不过每天去兵马俑博物馆参观的人都很多，我们明天最好早点儿去。

同事女、雪梅：没问题！

（兵马俑博物馆一号坑内）

雪梅：啊，这么多兵马俑。你们看，我觉得他们比我都还要高。

同事女：这哪儿是兵马俑啊，简直就是一支完整的部队嘛。你看，不仅有士兵，还有车和马。

同事男：他们本来就是给秦始皇陪葬的军队。而且你们现在看到的只是一号坑，只能算是陪葬部队的一部分。

雪梅：天哪，只是一部分，那完整的应该是多少呢？

同事男：这可说不准了。不过据说现在出土的兵马俑已经有七、八千件了，我也不知道具体的数字。

雪梅：这个秦始皇真有意思，看来他想死了以后还继续当皇帝呢。

同事女：我听说秦始皇陪葬的东西可不只这些。除了兵马俑，还有铜车、铜马、石头做的兵器等等。

同事男：对，整个秦始皇陵光陪葬坑就有十几个，我们今天看到的就是其中的一个。而且有很多文物人们到现在还没找到，都还在地下埋着呢。

同事女：（好奇）哎，你说，是谁最初发现这个地方的呢？

同事男：我听说是这附近的一个农民在田里打井的时候发现的。

雪梅：真有意思，这样也能发现文物啊。看来，以后我们在西安走路的时候也要特别注意。

两个同事（不解）：为什么？

雪梅：也许什么时候我们也可以找到文物啊。（大家乐）
 

Female colleague: Hey, Xuemei, Xiaozhang! Wait!

Xuemei: wher have you been? You suddenly disappeared.

Femaile colleague: I just came across a souvenir shop. They sell little terracotta warrior replicas. I like them and if they hadn’t charged so much, I would have bought one.

Xuemei: Really, I’d like to get one as well. My husband says the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are the eighth wonder of the world.

Male colleague: Wait until you go and see the real terracotta warriors, you won’t like these replicas anymore. The real terracotta warriors are life size and truely magnificent.

Female colleague: We just want to take one back as a souvenir. Look, how picky he is!

Male colleague: OK, I give up. But the Terracotta Warriors and Horses get so many visitors every day. We’d better go early tomorrow.

Female colleague: OK. No problem. Let’s go back to the hotel.

Xuemei: Oh, these are so many. See, I think they are even taller than me.

Female colleague: Well, they’re not just terracotta warriors but a whole army. Look, soldiers, chariots and horses.

Male colleague: They actually are an army buried with the body of the first Emperor. What you see now is only Pit One, only a part of the complete army.

Xuemei: Oh, gosh. This is only a part? How many are these all together?

Male colleague: Nobody can say that for sure. It is said the number of the unearthed terrocotta warriors is about 7 or 8 thousand. I don’t know the exact number.

Xuemei: The first emperor was really interesting. He wanted to continue being an emperor after his death.

Female colleague: So far as I know, the first emperor had many things buried with him. Besides the terracotta warriors, there are copper chariots and copper horses.

Male colleague: That’s right. The whole mausoleum is composed of dozens of pits. We’re only seeing one of them today. Moreover, many artifacts are still buried underground.

Female colleague: Hey, do you know who discovered this place?

Male colleague: Look there. As I know, a farmer discovered it when he was digging a well in the fields.

Xuemei: That’s interesting. Artifacts can be discovered like this. It seems we should be alert when we take a walk in Xi’an.

Colleagues: Why?

Xuemei: Maybe we could discover an artifact some time.

Male colleague: Come over here.
 

Bookmarks

1、差点儿 almost, just short

（例）他跑得太快，差点儿摔倒。

He was running too fast and almost fell.

（例）路上堵车,他差点儿没赶上飞机.

There was a traffic jam. He almost missed the plane.

2、较真儿 serious, precise, picky

（例）我只是开个玩笑，干嘛那么较真儿呢?

I'm just joking. Why do you take it so seriously?

（例）他这个人说话总是很随便speaks very casually，你没必要和他这么较真儿。

He always speaks very casually. You don't have to take it so seriously.

Sign Posts

The Terra Cotta Warriors

The Terra Cotta Warriors are one of the most significant archeological discoveries of the 20th century.

Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13, Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had work begun on his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. You can visit the tomb site, which just looks like a cone shaped hill in the countryside. As far as archaeologists can tell, the tomb itself has not been disturbed or pillaged. One can only imagine what incredible treasures lie below this man-made hill, as the authorities have decided to not pursue any excavations until they are absolutely sure that the technology exists to preserve whatever treasures are discovered. There are some historical records of how the tomb was prepared, but much of the true story is shrouded in mystery.

For example, nobody knew of the existence of this underground army until a peasant discovered it while digging an irrigation well in 1974. This caught the attention of archeologists immediately, who came to Xian in droves to study and to extend the digs. The State Council authorized the building of a museum on the site in 1975, which was opened to the public in 1979.

There are now three pits of different sizes containing thousands of foot soldiers, archers, officers, generals, cavalrymen, horses and chariots. Pit 1 contains thousands of soldiers in strict formation. Pit 3 with only with 68 warriors, a war chariot and four horses is thought to be the army’s central command. However, no one figure can be identified as the leader of the army. Perhaps that role was reserved for the Emperor himself, as it appears that the army was intended to provide the emperor with adequate protection in the afterlife.

Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of the first Emperor’s Tomb. Scientists are testing new technologies to better preserve the statues before they continue to excavate the remaining parts of the site.

UNESCO formally listed the terracotta warriors as a world heritage site in 1987. This is clearly a destination that should not be missed by any visitor to China.

Substitution and Extension

1、说不准 hard to say, be precise

（例）今天会不会下雨，我也说不准。你还是带着雨衣吧。

Whether or not it'll rain today. I can't say for sure. You'd better wear a raincoat anyway.