她的故事 Her Story [5] (Intermediate)

Learn Mandarin online via reading mini short story is a good way to improve your language skills. Take a small bite a day. Don’t rush yourself. As long as you persist on reading and learning, when you finish the story, you’ll be surprised at how much you’ve learned.

This story is the very first short story that I’ve written for this blog. I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you will enjoy reading it too. I’d be really happy to hear any feedback from your reading and learning experience, no matter it’s positive or negative. Any corrections on my English translation is also welcomed, I need help on my English writing as well, please help! Thanks … :-)

There are vocabulary table, pinyin and English translation to help you read and learn new words and expressions. Hope these annotations do help …

[simplified Chinese]

终于她不顾婆婆的反对,一路风尘仆仆赶回了故乡. 见到养母的时候双膝下跪, 和养母抱头痛哭.

 

婆婆没让她带上孩子一起走, 因为她说, 嫁到大山里的女人很多都偷偷跑掉了.婆婆没指望她还会回去. 做在旧得噶噶响的轮椅上的丈夫没说一句话, 只是失神得看着她离去.

 

和养母在一起的日子过得很快,快到她已经开始想念她留在深山里的那个家.那个让她付出了青春和血泪的家. 那个等待她去搀扶的没腿的丈夫, 等待她去哺育的年幼的儿子, 等待她去帮忙挑水的年老的公婆. 日子在那个家里过得很难很难, 可是那是她无法割舍的人生.

 

[traditional Chinese]

終於她不顧婆婆的反對,一路風塵仆仆趕回了故鄉. 見到養母的時候雙膝下跪, 和養母抱頭痛哭.

 

婆婆沒讓她帶上孩子一起走, 因為她說, 嫁到大山裏的女人很多都偷偷跑掉了.婆婆沒指望她還會回去. 做在舊得噶噶響的輪椅上的丈夫沒說一句話, 只是失神得看著她離去.

 

和養母在一起的日子過得很快,快到她已經開始想念她留在深山裏的那個家.那個讓她付出了青春和血淚的家. 那個等待她去攙扶的沒腿的丈夫, 等待她去哺育的年幼的兒子, 等待她去幫忙挑水的年老的公婆. 日子在那個家裏過得很難很難, 可是那是她無法割舍的人生.

 

[PINYIN]

zhōngyú tā bùgù pópo de fǎnduì, yīlù fēngchénpúpú gǎn huí le gùxiāng. jiàndào yǎngmǔ de shíhoushuāngxī xiàguì, hé yǎngmǔ bào tóutòng
kū. pópo méi ràng tā dài shàng háizi yīqǐ zǒu, yīnwèi tā shuō, jià dào Dàshān lǐ de nǚren hěn duōdōu tōutōu pǎodiào le. pópo méi zhǐwàng tā hái huì huíqu. zuò zài jiù dé gágá xiǎng de lúnyǐ shàngde zhàngfu méi shuō yījùhuà, zhǐshì shīshén dé kàn zhe tā líqù.

hé yǎngmǔ zàiyīqǐ de rìzi guò dehěn kuài, kuài dào tā yǐjīng kāishǐ xiǎngniàn tā liú zài shēnshān lǐ denàge jiā. nàge ràng tā fùchū le qīngchūn hé xuèlèi de jiā. nàge děngdài tā qù chānfú de méi tuǐ dezhàngfu, děngdài tā qù bǔyù de niányòu de érzi, děngdài tā qù bāngmáng tiāo shuǐ de niánlǎo degōngpó. rìzi zài nàge jiālǐ guò dehěn nán hěn nán, kěshì nàshi tā wúfǎ gēshě de rénshēng.

 

[vocabulary table]

Simplified Chinese    Traditional Chinese    Mandarin Pinyin    English Definition
不顾    不顧    bu4 gu4    in spite of; regardless of;
反对    反對    fan3 dui4    to fight against; to oppose; to be opposed to; opposition;
一路    一路    yi1 lu4    the whole journey; all the way;
风尘仆仆    風塵仆仆    feng1 chen2 pu1 pu1    lit. covered in dust (idiom); fig. travel-worn;
故乡    故鄉    gu4 xiang1    home; homeland; native place; CL:個|个[ge4];
双膝    雙膝    shuang1 xi1    both knees;
下跪    下跪    xia4 gui4    to kneel; to go down on one’s knees;
跑掉    跑掉    pao3 diao4    to run away;
指望    指望    zhi3 wang4    to hope for sth; to count on; hope;
噶噶    噶噶    ga2 ga2    the sound of “Ga! Ga!”
失神    失神    shi1 shen2    absent-minded; to lose spirit; despondent;
付出    付出    fu4 chu1    to pay; to invest (energy or time in a friendship etc);
青春    青春    qing1 chun1    youth; youthfulness;
血泪    血淚    xue4 lei4    tears of blood (symbol of extreme suffering); blood and tears;
等待    等待    deng3 dai4    to wait; to wait for;
搀扶    攙扶    chan1 fu2    to lend an arm to support sb;
哺育    哺育    bu3 yu4    feed; nurture; foster;
年幼    年幼    nian2 you4    young; underage;
割舍    割舍    ge1 she3    to give up; to part with;
人生    人生    ren2 sheng1    life (one’s time on earth);
(Special thanks to Thomas Doherty for proofreading and editing my English translation!)

[English translation]

Despite her mother-in-law’s objection, she went all the way back to her hometown. When she and her Mom reunited, she knelt down to her Mom, the two of them hugged and cried together. Her mother-in-law didn’t let her to take her child with her. She said that lots of women that married to the mountain people would run away sooner or later . She didn’t think she’d come back either. Her husband was just sitting in the old wheel chair, saw her leave in a sad look without a word.

The time she spent with her Mom passed by fast. Fast enough to let her realize that she had began to miss her own family, the family that she left behind in the deep mountains, the family that she had put her youth and heart into. The legless husband that was waiting for her to give a hand, the young child that was waiting for her to feed, the elderly in-law’s that were waiting for her to help carrying water. Living in that family is tough, but that is her life.