A Real Mystery Story in Lop Nur 失踪 (Missing) 1 [Elmentary]

Have you ever heard of a place called 罗布泊 Luóbùbó Lop Nur? When you look at the picture below, it’s hard to believe that the desert you’re looking at was actually the second largest inland lake in China in the history. However, due to both natural reasons and human intervention, the lake was finally dried up after 1972. The area of 罗布泊 Luóbùbó has attracted lots of archaeologists and adventurers to explore its mystery Tocharian culture and unique landscape.

What’s more enchanting about Lop Nur is, the large dried up lake basin has secretly swallowed many of its visitors without mercy. Among them, there had been one unresolved case, no matter how many people tried, hard people tried, 33 years later, it is still kept as a mystery: the missing of a famous renowned scientist: 彭加木 Péng jiā mù.

I’d like to write down the story in Elmentary level Chinese. You’re recommended to read the Chinese version first without any help from its English translation. After you’ve done that, move on with pinyin, vocab and translation to help you with more in-depth learning.

You’re always welcomed to leave your feedback, thank!

彭加木 Péng jiā mù was the leader of a nine-person scientific exploration team that set out to 罗布泊 Luóbùbó Lop Nur on May 2, 1980. They first spent a month to explore across Lop Nur from north to south. After only 5 days’ rest, they headed east into Lop Nur again. On June 16, they only had very little water, food and gas left, that’s when the story began…

 [simplified Chinese]

失踪  [1]
 

1980年6月16日, 罗布泊。

正午, 太阳如火.

“对长，你看!”

一个队员打开水箱. 水箱里的水很混. “这水不能喝了!”

彭加木看了看水箱里的水, 问他，”我们还有多少能喝的水?”

对员看了看其他的水箱，对彭加木说，”还有两天能喝的水。”

彭加木看看罗布泊这片沙漠，又看看自己的车队和人，对他的队员说，”我们可以向部队要水。但部队很远。”

队员说，”队长，部队会有办法快一些给我们送水的。”

彭加木点了点头，”嗯，我们还要汽油，没有汽油，我们就没办法走出去了。”

那天晚上，彭加木和九个队员在一起开会。大家都同意向部队要水和汽油。

那晚九点半,彭加木向部队发信息，要部队送水和汽油。

 

[pinyin]

 

SHĪ ZŌNG  [1]

 

1980 nián6 yuè16 rì, Luóbùbó。

zhèngwǔ, tàiyang rúhuǒ.

” duì cháng， nǐ kàn!”

yī gè duìyuán dǎkāi shuǐxiāng. shuǐxiāng lǐ de shuǐ hěn hùn. ” zhè shuǐ bùnéng hē le!”

Péng jiā mù kàn le kàn shuǐxiāng lǐ de shuǐ, wèn tā，” wǒmen háiyǒu duōshao néng hē de shuǐ?”

duì yuán kàn le kàn qítā de shuǐxiāng， duì Péng jiā mù shuō，” háiyǒu liǎng tiān néng hē de shuǐ。”

Péng jiā mù kànkan Luóbùbó zhè piàn shāmò， yòu kànkan zìjǐ de chēduì hé rén， duì tā de duìyuán shuō，” wǒmen kěyǐ xiàng bùduì yào shuǐ。 dàn bùduì hěn yuǎn。”

duìyuán shuō，” duìzhǎng， bùduì huì yǒubànfǎ kuài yīxiē gěi wǒmen sòng shuǐ de。”

Péng jiā mù diǎn le diǎntóu，” èn， wǒmen hái yào qìyóu， méiyǒu qìyóu， wǒmen jiù méibànfǎ zǒu chūqù le。”

nàtiān wǎnshang， Péng jiā mù hé jiǔ gè duìyuán zàiyīqǐ kāihuì。 dàjiā dōu tóngyì xiàng bùduì yào shuǐ hé qìyóu。

nà wǎn jiǔ diǎn bàn, Péng jiā mù xiàng bùduì fāxìn xī， yào bùduì sòng shuǐ hé qìyóu。

 

[vocabulary table]

Simplified Chinese    Traditional Chinese    Mandarin Pinyin    English Definition
失踪    失蹤    shi1 zong1    to be missing; to disappear
水箱    水箱    shui3 xiang1    water tank
混    混    hun2    dirty; muddy
沙漠    沙漠    sha1 mo4    desert
队员    隊員    dui4 yuan2    team member
队长    隊長    dui4 zhang3    captain; team leader
办法    辦法    ban4 fa3    means; method
一些    一些    yi1 xie1    some; a little;
汽油    汽油    qi4 you2    gasoline
同意    同意    tong2 yi4    to agree; to consent
部队    部隊    bu4 dui4    army
信息    信息    xin4 xi1    message
 

[traditional Chinese]

失蹤  [1]
 

1980年6月16日, 羅布泊。

正午, 太陽如火.

“對長，你看!”

一個隊員打開水箱. 水箱裏的水很混. “這水不能喝了!”

彭加木看了看水箱裏的水, 問他，”我們還有多少能喝的水?”

對員看了看其他的水箱，對彭加木說，”還有兩天能喝的水。”

彭加木看看羅布泊這片沙漠，又看看自己的車隊和人，對他的隊員說，”我們可以向部隊要水。但部隊很遠。”

隊員說，”隊長，部隊會有辦法快一些給我們送水的。”

彭加木點了點頭，”嗯，我們還要汽油，沒有汽油，我們就沒辦法走出去了。”

那天晚上，彭加木和九個隊員在一起開會。大家都同意向部隊要水和汽油。

那晚九點半,彭加木向部隊發信息，要部隊送水和汽油。

 

[English translation]

 

Missing  [1]

 

Lop Nur, June 16, 1980.

At noon, the sun was burning.

“Chief, look at this!”

A team member opened a water tank, the water inside was turning dirty. “We can’t drink this water!”

Peng Jia Mu looked inside the water tank and asked, “How much drinkable water we have left?”

The team member checked other water tanks and told him, “We still have drinkable water for another two days.”

Looking at the desert of Lop Nur and his own group of cars and men, Peng Jia Mu said to his team member :”We can ask the army to send us water, but the army is far away.”

The team member said,”the army should be able to find a way to send water to us soon.”

“Um, we also need gas, without gas, we can not find other ways to get out of here.”

That night, Peng Jia Mu and all nine team members had a meeting, they all agreed to ask for the army to send them water and gas.

At 9:30 that night, Peng Jia Mu sent a message to the army, asking for water and gas.

 

To be continued …