心锁 Lock of The Heart [Elementary Level] 1

To give JLC a good start in 2015 too, I’ve just written a new story and will post it in consecutive forty something mini chapters. An audio recording will be made with each chapter when it’s posted.

My initial goal for this story is to write it in as simple language as possible. At the same time, the quality of the story should not be compromised. In order to ensure a good story is being told in the first place, I wrote it in the way I would to the native readers. Then I re-read my story and edit it to use less vocabulary and reduce the complexity of the sentence structure.

I’ll label it as Elementary level, or if you will, a level that you’re able to read simple articles in Chinese (children’s story, jokes in newspaper, manual instructions etc. ) with help of dictionary.

Guess you already know, the benefit of reading a Chinese short story in non-advanced level will help you enhance your feel of language much faster. Since it’s a complete story written in more than 7600 characters, you will gain exposure to all kinds of common expressions in modern Chinese through your reading process. If by any luck, it turns out to be a story that you do enjoy reading, then it might be even more helpful.

I will give a brief introduction in English at the beginning of each mini chapter to help you understand the new text and recap the previous one. I will try my best to post a new chapter every two to three days.

Again, you’re very welcomed to share your feed back in the comment section.

The story is about a teenage girl’s journey to discover the truth behind her family tragedy that happened in her childhood. She had the feeling that she was kept in the dark deliberately by her Dad. Along the way to find the answer, or, to unlock the lock in her heart, her best friend, her Dad and her school doctor all played a role.

Now, let’s get started …

Chinese Short Story 心锁 Lock of The Heart [Elementary Level]



You can download the MP3 audio clip here.

 

心锁  1

小吉没有妈妈，但有一个很爱她的爸爸。

她的生活简单而快乐。

她还交上了一个很好的朋友 － 安亚。

安亚和她一样，老家都在柳镇。不过，她们是到这个学校才认识的。

安亚是个温柔而羞怯的女孩子。小吉常常象姐姐一样保护她。

小吉十五岁生日那天，爸爸和安亚一起为她庆祝。

她在心里许了个愿，“愿这一年里，爸爸，安亚，和我，都能留下最美好的回忆。＂

许完愿，切完蛋糕，小吉和安亚闲聊。

“小吉，你许的什么愿啊？＂安亚问。

小吉没有多想就告诉了安亚。

安亚摇了摇头，“生日许下的愿是不能说的，说了就无法实现了。＂

“那你还问我？＂小吉反问。

“试探你啊！这么经不起试探。＂安亚答。

听了安亚的话，小吉有些失望。但她还是希望，这个简单的愿望能够实现。

 

[pinyin]
xīn suǒ 1

xiǎo jí méiyǒu māma， dàn yǒu yī gè hěn ài tā de bàba。

tā de shēnghuó jiǎndān ér kuàilè。

tā hái jiāo shàng le yī gè hěn hǎo de péngyou － ān yà。

ān yà hé tā yīyàng， lǎojiā dōu zài liǔ zhèn。 bùguò， tāmen shì dào zhège xuéxiào cái rènshi de。

ān yà shì gè wēnróu ér xiūqiè de nǚháizi。 xiǎo jí chángcháng xiàng jiějie yīyàng bǎohù tā。

xiǎo jí shíwǔ suì shēngrì nàtiān， bàba hé ān yà yīqǐ wéi tā qìngzhù。

tā zài xīnli xǔ le gè yuàn，“yuàn zhè yī nián lǐ， bàba， ān yà， hé wǒ， dōu néng liúxià zuì měihǎo de huíyì。＂

xǔ wán yuàn， qiē wán dàngāo， xiǎo jí hé ān yà xiánliáo。

“xiǎo jí， nǐ xǔ de shénme yuàn ā？＂ ān yà wèn。

xiǎo jí méiyǒu duō xiǎng jiù gàosu le ān yà。

ān yà yáo le yáotóu，“shēngrì xǔxià de yuàn shì bùnéng shuō de， shuō le jiù wúfǎ shíxiàn le。＂

“nà nǐ hái wèn wǒ？＂ xiǎo jí fǎnwèn。

“shìtàn nǐ ā！ zhème jīngbuqǐ shìtàn。＂ ān yà dá。

tīng le ān yà dehuà， xiǎo jí yǒuxiē shīwàng。 dàn tā háishi xīwàng， zhège jiǎndān de yuànwàng nénggòu shíxiàn。
[vocabulary]

Chinese    Trad.    Pinyin    English Definition
简单    簡單    jiǎn dān    simple
柳镇    柳鎮    liǔ zhèn    Liu Town (the hometown of both Xiaoji and Anya)
温柔    溫柔    wēn róu    gentle
羞怯        xiū qiè    shy; timid
庆祝    慶祝    qìng zhù    to celebrate
蛋糕        dàn gāo    cake
闲聊    閑聊    xián liáo    to chat
实现    實現    shí xiàn    to realize; to make a wish become true
试探    試探    shì tàn    to probe
经不起    經不起    jīng bu qǐ    can’t stand it
能够    能夠    néng gòu    to be able to
 

[Traditional Chinese]

心鎖  1

小吉沒有媽媽，但有一個很愛她的爸爸。

她的生活簡單而快樂。

她還交上了一個很好的朋友 － 安亞。

安亞和她一樣，老家都在柳鎮。不過，她們是到這個學校才認識的。

安亞是個溫柔而羞怯的女孩子。小吉常常象姐姐一樣保護她。

小吉十五歲生日那天，爸爸和安亞一起爲她慶祝。

她在心裏許了個願，“願這一年裏，爸爸，安亞，和我，都能留下最美好的回憶。＂

許完願，切完蛋糕，小吉和安亞閒聊。

“小吉，你許的什麼願啊？＂安亞問。

小吉沒有多想就告訴了安亞。

安亞搖了搖頭，“生日許下的願是不能說的，說了就無法實現了。＂

“那你還問我？＂小吉反問。

“試探你啊！這麼經不起試探。＂安亞答。

聽了安亞的話，小吉有些失望。但她還是希望，這個簡單的願望能夠實現。

 

[English]

Lock of the Heart 1

Xiaoji doesn’t has a mother, but she has a father that loves her dearly.

Her life is simple and happy.

She found a new friend called Anya.

Just like her, Anya came from a place called Liu Town. However, they got to know each other in this school.

Anya is gentle and shy. Xiaoji always protects her like her big sister.

On Xiaoji’s fifteen’s birthday, her Dad and Anya celebrated it for her.

Xiaoji made a wish in her mind, “In this year, may best memories stay with Anya, Dad and me!  ”

After wish was made and cake was cut, Xiaoji and Anya had a chat.

＂Xiaoji, what wish you just made?” Anya asked Xiaoji.

Xiaoji told her her true wish.

Anya shook her head, “The wish you made on your birthday should not be told. If you did it won’t come true.”

“Then why you ask?” Xiaoji snapped back.

“To test you. You can’t even pass the test.” Anya said.

Upon hearing that, Xiaoji was a bit disappointed. But she still hoped that her simple wish could become true.

 

To be continued …