Little Grass’ Silver hair

This is an upper-beginner or low-intermediate level text. It’s good for beginner readers in the sense that a) it’s short, and b) it’s extremely repetitive – if you can puzzle out the first two or three sentences, the rest should be clear. To get you going, it might be worth noting there that the protagonist is a small blade of (or lump of, or field of – it’s never really defined) grass named “YinYin” (小草银银), who keeps asking one particular favor of each season.
Simplified Chinese Literacy: Easy Passages in Chinese for BeginnersThe seasons are personified as ladies – for example, “The Lady of Spring” (春姑娘) and “the Lady of Summer” (夏姑娘), etc.
There’s so much metaphor going on in this I’m not sure wher to start. You could choose to interpret this as a statement about aging, about changing seasons, go nuts.
And on a personal note, not 100% sure I’m happy with the conclusion that’s drawn here, considering I dye my hair all the time, but what the hell.
Click to Listen
春天 – chūn tiān – springtime
染 – rǎn – dye
青色 – qīng sè – A blue, green or blue-green the Chinese consider the “color of nature”
伤心 – shāng xīn – Broken-hearted
夏天 – xià tiān – Summer
深绿 – shēn lǜ – Dark green
秋天 – qiū tiān – Autumn
金黄 – jīn huáng – Golden yellow
冬天 – dōng tiān – Winter
后悔 – hòu huǐ – Regret
可不要 – kě bù yào – Won’t [you] be…(ex. sad?)
忽然 – hū rán – Suddenly
掉下来 – diào xià lái – fall, dro down
小草银银喜欢银色。
春天，小草银银让春姑娘把她的头发染成银色。春姑娘说：“对不起，银银，我只能把你的头发染成青色”。银银非常伤心。
夏天小草银银让夏姑娘把她的头发染成银色。夏姑娘说：“对不起，银银，我只能把你的头发染成深绿色”。银银非常伤心。
秋天小草银银让秋姑娘把她的头发染成银色。秋姑娘说：“对不起，银银，我只能把你的头发染成金黄色”。银银非常伤心。
冬天小草银银让冬姑娘把她的头发染成银色。冬姑娘说：“好啊，不过你可不要后悔呦”？银银说：“不会的，有了那么漂亮的头发我高兴还来不及呢”！
就这样银银的头发变成了银色。忽然，银银的头发掉下来了，这是怎么回事呢？原来，头发染多了是会伤害身体的。这下银银真的后悔了。
Hide English »
The little grass YinYin liked the color silver.
In spring time, little grass Yinyin asked the Lady of Spring to dye her hair silver. The Lady of Spring said: “I’m sorry, YinYin, I can only dye your hair blue/green [see explanation]. YinYin was very broken-hearted.
In summer time, little grass YinYin asked the Lady of Summer to dye her hair silver. The lady of summer said, “I’m sorry, YinYin, I can only dye your hair green!” YinYin was very broken-hearted.
In autumn, little grass YinYin asked the Lady of Autumn to dye her hair silver. The Lady of Autumn said: “I’m sorry, YinYin, I can only dye your hair golden yellow.” YinYin was very broken-hearted.
In winter, little grass YinYin asked the Lady of Winter to dye her hair silver. The Lady of Winter said, “Okay, but won’t you regret it?” YinYin said, “I won’t, if I had hair that beautiful I couldn’t be happier!” And so YinYin’s hair turned silver. Suddenly, YinYin’s hair fell out – how could this be? Of course, if you dye your hair too often, it’s not good for you. And after this YinYin was indeed regretful.