我身后的眼睛 The Eyes Behind Me [9] (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 [9]
 

“我说王浩，你不要当我面编瞎话! 她答应过等我的.”他接着说下去。

“王浩二话没说，把你的结婚请柬递给我看。那上面清清楚楚地写着你和另一个男人的名字。

我拿着那张纸就往外走, 我当时脑子一片空白, 只想着要马上见到你, 越快越好.

王浩死死地抱着我, 说我是个傻子, 这个时候去找人家干什么?

我象疯了一样把他甩开, 骂他多管闲事.

我冲下楼梯, 王浩一路跟着我.

我到半路上才想起你已经不在家里住了.

我回头抓住王浩的衣领, 让他告诉我你的住处.

王浩一拳打在我的脸上.

说要让我清醒清醒. 我说我清醒地知道我的女朋友就要跟别的男人结婚了, 你还要我怎么清醒?!

王浩对我吼: ‘如果你真爱她, 你不希望她幸福吗?’

他把我问住了.

‘她幸福吗?’

我问王浩.

王浩点点头. 他说他见过你们在一起, 很快乐.

那一刻, 我的心象被掏空一样难受.

后来的事情现在想来都很模糊了.

我在王浩那儿大醉了几场, 给你留下一份贺礼就回去了.”

 

他就此打住, 没有再说下去。

在不知不觉中，我的脸颊已湿。

我感到从未有过的虚弱。我伸手扶住湖边的长椅，缓缓地坐下来。

 

[vocab table]

 

Simplified Chinese    Traditional Chinese    Mandarin Pinyin    English Definition
编瞎话    編瞎話    bian1    lie; make up things
请柬    請柬    qing3 jian3    invitation card (letter)
清清楚楚    清清楚楚    qing1 qing1 chu5 chu5    clear; distinct
空白    空白    kong4 bai2    blank
死死地    死死地    si3 si3    firmly; tightly
傻子    傻子    sha3 zi5    an idiot; a fool
多管闲事    多管閑事    duo1 guan3 xian2 shi4    butt in other people’s bussiness
清醒    清醒    qing1 xing3    clear-headed; awake;
掏空    搯空    tao1 kong1    to gouge out; to empty
难受    難受    nan2 shou4    to suffer pain; to be difficult to bear;
模糊    模糊    mo2 hu5    vague; fuzzy;
不知不觉    不知不覺    bu4 zhi1    unaware; unknowingly
脸颊    臉頰    lian3 jia2    cheek;
虚弱    虛弱    xu1 ruo4    weakness
缓缓地    緩緩地    huan3 huan3 di4    slowly; little by little
 

[pinyin]

wǒ shēnhòu de yǎnjing [9]
 

” wǒ shuō wáng hào， nǐ bùyào dāng wǒ miàn biān xiā huà! tā dāying guò děng wǒ de.” tā jiēzhe shuō xiàqù。

” wáng hào èrhuà méi shuō， bǎ nǐ de jiéhūn qǐngjiǎn dì gěi wǒ kàn。 nà shàngmian qīng qīngchu chǔ dì xiě zhe nǐ hé lìngyī gè nánrén de míngzi。

wǒ ná zhe nà zhāng zhǐ jiù wǎngwài zǒu, wǒ dāngshí nǎozi yīpiàn kòngbái, zhǐ xiǎng zhe yào mǎshàng jiàndào nǐ, yuèkuàiyuèhǎo.

wáng hào sǐsǐ dì bào zhe wǒ, shuō wǒ shì gè shǎzi, zhège shíhou qù zhǎo rénjiā gànshénme?

wǒ xiàng fēng le yīyàng bǎ tā shuǎikāi, mà tā duōguǎnxiánshì.

wǒ chōng xià lóutī, wáng hào yīlù gēnzhe wǒ.

wǒ dào bàn lùshang cái xiǎngqǐ nǐ yǐjīng bù zài jiālǐ zhù le.

wǒ huítóu zhuāzhù wáng hào de yīlǐng, ràng tā gàosu wǒ nǐ de zhùchù.

wáng hào yī quándǎ zài wǒ de liǎn shàng.

shuō yào ràng wǒ qīngxǐng qīngxǐng. wǒ shuō wǒ qīngxǐng dì zhīdào wǒ de nǚpéngyou jiùyào gēn biéde nánrén jiéhūn le, nǐ hái yào wǒ zěnme qīngxǐng?!

wáng hào duì wǒ hǒu: ‘ rúguǒ nǐ zhēn’ài tā, nǐ bù xīwàng tā xìngfú ma?’

tā bǎ wǒ wènzhù le.

‘ tā xìngfú ma?’

wǒ wèn wáng hào.

wáng hào diǎn diǎntóu. tā shuō tā jiàn guò nǐmen zàiyīqǐ, hěn kuàilè.

nà yī kè, wǒ de xīn xiàng bèi tāo kōng yīyàng nánshòu.

hòulái de shìqing xiànzài xiǎnglái dōu hěn móhu le.

wǒ zài wáng hào nàr dà zuì le jǐ chǎng, gěi nǐ liúxià yī fèn hèlǐ jiù huíqu le.“

 

tā jiùcǐ dǎ zhù, méiyǒu zàishuō xiàqù。

zài bùzhībùjué zhōng， wǒ de liǎnjiá yǐ shī。

wǒ gǎndào cóngwèi yǒu guò de xūruò。 wǒ shēnshǒu fú zhù húbiān de chángyǐ， huǎnhuǎn dì zuò xiàlai。

[traditional Chinese]

我身後的眼睛[9]
 

“我說王浩，你不要當我面編瞎話! 她答應過等我的.”他接著說下去。

“王浩二話沒說，把你的結婚請柬遞給我看。那上面清清楚楚地寫著你和另一個男人的名字。

我拿著那張紙就往外走, 我當時腦子一片空白, 只想著要馬上見到你, 越快越好.

王浩死死地抱著我, 說我是個傻子, 這個時候去找人家幹什麼?

我象瘋了一樣把他甩開, 罵他多管閑事.

我沖下樓梯, 王浩一路跟著我.

我到半路上才想起你已經不在家裏住了.

我回頭抓住王浩的衣領, 讓他告訴我你的住處.

王浩一拳打在我的臉上.

說要讓我清醒清醒. 我說我清醒地知道我的女朋友就要跟別的男人結婚了, 你還要我怎麼清醒?!

王浩對我吼: ‘如果你真愛她, 你不希望她幸福嗎?’

他把我問住了.

‘她幸福嗎?’

我問王浩.

王浩點點頭. 他說他見過你們在一起, 很快樂.

那一刻, 我的心象被掏空一樣難受.

後來的事情現在想來都很模糊了.

我在王浩那兒大醉了幾場, 給你留下一份賀禮就回去了.”

 

他就此打住, 沒有再說下去。

在不知不覺中，我的臉頰已濕。

我感到從未有過的虛弱。我伸手扶住湖邊的長椅，緩緩地坐下來。

 

[English Translation]

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

The Eyes Behind Me [9]

 

“I told Wang Hao not to make joke about this; She had promised me she would wait for me to find her again.” He continued.

“Wang Hao didn’t waste words on that. He showed me your wedding invitation right away. On that invitation letter, your name and another man’s name was clearly printed together.

I grabbed that piece of paper and stepped outside of the door. My mind went blank all of a sudden. All that I wanted to do at that moment was to see you, the sooner the better.

Wang Hao held me back with all his might. He called me an idiot, saying what was the point of meeting you under those circumstances.

I pushed him away like a mad man, I told him to stay out of my business.

I rushed down the stairs. Wang Hao followed me closely.

On my way to your home, I suddenly remembered that you did not live there anymore.

I turned around and grabbed Wang Hao, and I demanded that he tell me your address.

Wang Hao punched me right in the face.

He told me to wake up. I said I was awake enough to know that my girlfriend would soon marry another man, how much more awake did you want me to be?

Wang Hao shouted back, ‘If you do love her, don’t you want her to be happy?’

His question caught me up short.

‘Is she happy?’, I asked him.

Wang Hao nodded. He said he had seen you two together, you were very happy.

At that moment, I felt as if my heart was gouged out.

The days that followed were vague in my memories.

I got drunk a few times at Wang Hao’s. Then I left a wedding gift for you and left.”

 

He stopped right there.

My face had gone wet without my awareness.

I felt a weakness that I’ve never felt before. I reached out my hand to the chair beside the river and slowly sat down.