Chinese Reader for adult learners – Wan Jun 婉君 [1] (Elementary to Intermediate)

This is a simplified story that I edited based on a Taiwan TV episodes Wan Jun 婉君 wǎn jūn that was shoot in 1989. It is one out of six “Dreams” series written by a famous Taiwan women writer 琼瑶 qióngyáo.

This Chinese Reader is suitable for Elementary to Intermediate level Chinese learners (with character base ranging from 1000 to 2500) to practice Chinese reading.

This story happened at the beginning of 民国 (100 years back) in China. It all started when the eldest son of a wealthy family fell ill and was dying …

Chinese Reader for adult learners - Wan Jun 婉君 [1] (Elementary to Intermediate)

有一家姓周的富有人家。他们有三个儿子，

没有女儿。

 

大儿子伯健十几岁的时候生了重病。

 

医生说没法治，只能等死。

 

他的爸爸妈妈听后心快碎了。

 

于是他们求助迷信的办法。

 

就是说找个小女孩儿做儿子的新娘。

 

用喜事去转变坏运气。

 

这叫”冲喜”。

 

很快他们就找到了。她的名字叫婉君。

 

婉君很小就没了父母,是外婆把她带大的。

 

贪财的舅舅和舅妈见有人出钱，就高兴的把

八岁的婉君卖给了周家。

 

婉君艰难得离开了外婆的怀抱。

 

在周家为大儿子和婉君举办的婚礼上，病床

上的伯健挣扎着起来, 想阻止婚礼的进行,救

出婉君。。。

 

[pinyin]

yǒu yījiā xìng zhōu de fùyǒu rénjiā。 tāmen yǒu sān gè érzi，

méiyǒu nǚ’ér。

dà érzi bó jiàn shíjǐ suì de shíhou shēng le zhòngbìng。

yīshēng shuō méi fǎzhì， zhǐnéng děng sǐ。

tā de bàba māma tīng hòuxīn kuài suì le。

yúshì tāmen qiúzhù míxìn de bànfǎ。

jiùshìshuō zhǎo gè xiǎonǚ hái’ér zuò érzi de xīnniáng。

yòng xǐshì qù zhuàn biànhuài yùnqi。

zhè jiào” chōng xǐ”。

hěn kuài tāmen jiù zhǎo dàoliǎo。 tā de míngzi jiào wǎn jūn。

wǎn jūn hěn xiǎo jiù méile fùmǔ, shì wàipó bǎ tā dài dà de。

tāncái de jiùjiu hé jiù mā jiàn yǒurén chūqián， jiù gāoxìng de bǎ

bā suì de wǎn jūn mài gěi le zhōujiā。

wǎn jūn jiān nándé líkāi le wàipó de huáibào。

zài zhōujiā wéi dà érzi hé wǎn jūn jǔbàn de hūnlǐ shàng， bìngchuáng

shàng de bó jiàn zhēngzhá zhe qǐlai, xiǎng zǔzhǐ hūnlǐ de jìnxíng, jiù

chū wǎn jūn。。。

 

[vocab table]
Simplified Chinese     Traditional Chinese     Mandarin Pinyin     English Definition
富有     富有     fu4 you3     rich; full of;
人家     人家     ren2 jia1     household; dwelling; family;
伯健     伯健     bo2 jian4     eldest son’s name
时候     時候     shi2 hou5     time; moment
重病     重病     zhong4 bing4     serious illness;
医生     醫生     yi1 sheng1     doctor
没法     沒法     mei2 fa3     unable to do anything about it
治     治     zhi4     cure; treatment
碎     碎     sui4     to break into pieces
于是     於是     yu2 shi4     as a result; hence;
求助     求助     qiu2 zhu4     to request help; to appeal (for help);
迷信     迷信     mi2 xin4     superstition
办法     辦法     ban4 fa3     means; method;
就是说     就是說     jiu4 shi4 shuo1     in other words; that is;
找     找     zhao3     to try to find; to look for
新娘     新娘     xin1 niang2     bride;
喜事     喜事     xi3 shi4     happy occasion; wedding
转变     轉變     zhuan3 bian4     to change; to transform
坏运气     壞運氣     huai4 yun4 qi4     bad luck; misfortune;
冲喜     衝喜     chong1 xi3     To arrange a wedding for the dangerously sick with the aim of driving away the devil and the disease.
婉君     婉君     wan3 jun1     The little bride’s name
外婆     外婆     wai4 po2     grandma; maternal grandmother;
贪财     貪財     tan1 cai2     to be greedy in getting money;
舅舅     舅舅     jiu4 jiu5     mother’s brother; maternal uncle (informal)
舅妈     舅媽     jiu4 ma1     mother’s brother’s wife; aunt
艰难     艱難     jian1 nan2     difficult; hard
离开     離開     li2 kai1     to depart; to leave;
怀抱     懷抱     huai2 bao4     to hug; to cherish
举办     舉辦     ju3 ban4     to conduct; to hold;
婚礼     婚禮     hun1 li3     wedding;
病床     病床     bing4 chuang2     hospital bed; sickbed;
挣扎     掙扎     zheng1 zha2     to struggle;
阻止     阻止     zu3 zhi3     to prevent; to block;
救     救     jiu4     to save; to assist

 

[English translation]

A wealthy family Zhou has three sons, no daughter.

The eldest son Bo Jian fell ill badly at his teenage year.

The doctor said there was no cure, they had to let the fate to take it’s course.

Bo Jian’s parents were heart-broken.

Then they sought superstition as last resort.

That means they looked for a little girl to be their son’s bride.

In hoping that a merry event could drive the bad luck away.

That is called “Chong Xi” (To arrange a wedding for the dangerously sick with the aim of driving away the devil and the disease.)

Soon enough they found one. Her name is Wan Jun.

Wan Jun lost her parents when she was very little, her grandma raised her up.

Her greedy Uncle and Aunt happily sold eight-year old Wan Jun to Zhou family for the good money they paid.

Wan Jun had a tough time leaving her own grandma.

During the wedding held for Bo Jian and Wan Jun in Zhou’s house, Bo Jian struggled to get out of bed and tried to stop the wedding and help Wan Jun to escape …