This essay is about a kid who takes his father’s advice a little too literally (with amusing results).
童年仿佛是一条小船，里面装满了甜蜜的糖果，也装满了许多忧伤。
我出生在一个幸福的六口之家。有爸爸、妈妈、爷爷、奶奶、姐姐，还有我。
我四岁时，一个烈日炎炎的中午。爷爷、奶奶、妈妈和姐姐都忙着自己手中的活。爸爸抱上我去商店、给我买了很多糖果。回到家中，爸爸放下我，就去我们家的后院种苹果树去了。我也跟了过去，我问爸爸你在干什么？爸爸说：“我在种苹果树，到了秋天你就有苹果吃了。”爸爸还说：“你种什么种子就会长什么。”爸爸说完就回家喝茶去了。当时我心想如果把刚刚买的糖果种到土中，秋天不就有很多糖果了吗！
我说做就做，我刨了个坑，把刚才剩下的糖果都放在坑里，用土埋了。我默默的许下愿说：“糖果快长！糖果快长！长成大树，长出很多很多糖果。”我把这个愿望告诉了爸爸，爸爸听了。大笑起来说：“糖果不会长出大树，也更不会长出糖果。”我听了爸爸话坐在地上大哭起来，我的糖果，我的糖果。爸爸赶快跑到我面前，抱起我说：“哦，不哭了小宝贝，爸爸给你买很多很多糖果。我听了就不哭了。
如今我已经长大了，种糖果的傻事也不会再做了。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 童年 | tóng nián | childhood |
| 仿 | fǎng | to imitate; to copy; variant of 仿[fang3] |
| 佛 | fū | Buddha; Buddhism (abbr. for 佛陀[Fo2 tuo2]) |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 条 | tiáo | strip; item; article; clause (of law or treaty); classifier for long thin things (ribbon, river, road, trousers etc) |
| 小船 | xiǎo chuán | boat |
| 里面 | lǐ miàn | variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] |
| 装 | zhuāng | adornment; to adorn; dress; clothing; costume (of an actor in a play); to play a role; to pretend; to install; to fix; to wrap (sth in a bag); to load; to pack |
| 满 | Mǎn | Manchu ethnic group |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 甜蜜 | tián mì | sweet; happy |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 糖 | táng | sugar; sweets; candy; CL:顆|颗[ke1],塊|块[kuai4]; old variant of 糖[tang2] |
| 果 | guǒ | fruit; result; resolute; indeed; if really |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 许多 | xǔ duō | many; a lot of; much |
| 忧 | you | to worry; worried; sorrow |
| 伤 | shāng | to injure; injury; wound |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 出生 | chū shēng | to be born |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 幸福 | xìng fú | happiness; happy; blessed |
| 六 | lìu | six; 6 |
| 口 | kǒu | mouth; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls |
| 之 | zhī | (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]); him; her; it |
| 家 | jiā | used in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]; home; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc); classifier for families or businesses; refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China; noun suffix for a specialist in some act… |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 爸爸 | bà ba | (coll.) father; dad; CL:位[wei4] |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 爷爷 | yé ye | (coll.) paternal grandfather; grandpa |
| 奶 | nǎi | breast; milk; to breastfeed; variant of 嬭|奶[nai3]; mother; variant of 奶[nai3] |
| 姐 | jiě | older sister |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 四 | sì | four; 4 |
| 岁时 | suì shí | season; time of the year |
| 烈 | liě | ardent; fierce; upright; exploits |
| 日 | rì | (bound form) sun; day; day of the month; (bound form) Japan (abbr. for 日本[Ri4 ben3]); (vulgar) to fuck; to have sex with |
| 炎炎 | yán yán | scorching |
| 中 | Zhōng | (bound form) China; Chinese; surname Zhong |
| 午 | wǔ | 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th June-6th July), year of the Horse; ancient Chinese compass point: 180° (south) |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 忙着 | máng zhe | to be occupied with (doing sth) |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 手 | shǒu | hand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work; person skilled in certain types of work; personal(ly); convenient; classifier for skill; CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1] |
| 中的 | zhòng dì | to hit the target; (fig.) to hit the nail on the head |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 抱 | bào | to hold; to carry (in one's arms); to hug; to embrace; to surround; to cherish; (coll.) (of clothes) to fit nicely |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 我去 | wǒ qù | (slang) what the ...!; oh my god!; that's insane! |
| 商 | Shāng | Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC); surname Shang |
| 店 | diàn | inn; old-style hotel (CL:家[jia1]); (bound form) shop; store |
| 给 | gěi | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 多糖 | duō táng | polysaccharide |
| 回到 | huí dào | to return to |
| 放下 | fàng xià | to lay down; to put down; to let go of; to relinquish; to set aside; to lower (the blinds etc) |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 家的 | jiā de | (old) wife |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 院 | yuàn | courtyard; institution; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 种 | zhǒng | seed; species; kind; type; classifier for types, kinds, sorts |
| 苹 | píng | (artemisia); duckweed; used in 蘋果|苹果[ping2 guo3] |
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 跟 | gēn | heel; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns) |
| 过去 | guò qù | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 干 | gān | old variant of 乾|干[gan1]; surname Gan; variant of 乾|干[gan1]; tree trunk; main part of sth; to manage; to work; to do; capable; cadre; to kill (slang); to fuck (vulgar); (coll.) pissed off; annoyed |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 秋天 | qīu tiān | autumn; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc); variant of 吃[chi1] |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 种子 | zhǒng zi | seed; CL:顆|颗[ke1],粒[li4] |
| 会长 | huì zhǎng | president of a club, committee etc |
| 完 | wán | to finish; to be over; whole; complete; entire |
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
| 喝 | hē | to drink; variant of 嗬[he1] |
| 茶 | chá | tea; tea plant; CL:杯[bei1],壺|壶[hu2] |
| 当时 | dāng shí | then; at that time |
| 心想 | xīn xiǎng | to think to oneself; to think |
| 如 | rú | as; as if; such as |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 刚刚 | gāng gang | just recently; just a moment ago |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 土 | Tǔ | surname Tu; Tu ethnic group |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 刨 | ||
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 坑 | keng | pit; hollow; depression; (literary) to bury alive |
| 刚才 | gāng cái | just now; a moment ago |
| 剩 | shèng | to remain; to be left; to have as remainder; variant of 剩[sheng4] |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency … |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 埋 | mái | to bury |
| 默默 | mò mò | in silence; not speaking |
| 许下 | xǔ xià | to make a promise |
| 愿 | yuàn | honest and prudent; variant of 願|愿[yuan4]; (bound form) wish; hope; desire; to be willing; to wish (that sth may happen); may ...; vow; pledge |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 长成 | zhǎng chéng | to grow up |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 大姐[da4 jie3]); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) |
| 长出 | zhǎng chū | to sprout (leaves, buds, a beard etc) |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 望 | wàng | full moon; to hope; to expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); to look towards; towards; 15th day of month (lunar calendar); old variant of 望[wang4] |
| 告 | gào | (bound form) to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 诉 | sù | variant of 訴|诉[su4]; to complain; to sue; to tell |
| 听 | yǐn | smile (archaic); to listen to; to hear; to heed; to obey; a can (loanword from English "tin"); classifier for canned beverages; to let be; to allow (Taiwan pr. [ting4]); (literary) to administer; t… |
| 大笑 | dà xiào | to laugh heartily; a belly laugh |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 不会 | bù huì | improbable; unlikely; will not (act, happen etc); not able; not having learned to do sth; (coll.) (Tw) don't mention it; not at all |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 话 | huà | dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words; conversation; what sb said; CL:種|种[zhong3],席[xi2],句[ju4],口[kou3],番[fan1]; old variant of 話|话[hua4] |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 地上 | dì shang | on the ground; on the floor |
| 哭 | kū | to cry; to weep |
| 赶 | gǎn | to overtake; to catch up with; to hurry; to rush; to try to catch (the bus etc); to drive (cattle etc) forward; to drive (sb) away; to avail oneself of (an opportunity); until; by … |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 面前 | miàn qián | in front of; facing; (in the) presence (of) |
| 哦 | ō | to chant |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 宝贝 | bǎo bèi | treasured object; treasure; darling; baby; cowry; good-for-nothing or queer character |
| 如今 | rú jīn | nowadays; now |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 长大 | zhǎng dà | to grow up |
| 傻 | shá | foolish |
| 事 | shì | matter; thing; item; work; affair; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2] |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
Childhood seems like a boat that is full of sweet candy, but is also laden with grief.
I was born into a happy six-person family. There’s father, mother, grandpa, grandma, my elder sister and myself. [The story begins] when I was four, on a scorching afternoon. Grandpa, grandma, mother and my elder sister were all busy doing their own thing. Dad picked me up and carried me to the store, and bought me lots of candy. On the way back to the house, dad put me down, and went to our house’s back garden to plant apple trees. I went with him, and asked him ‘what are you doing’? Father said: “I’m planting apple trees, when autumn arrives you’ll have apples to eat.” Father continued: “Whatever seeds you plant will grow.” Father finished speaking and went back into the house to drink tea. Then I thought to myself, if I take the candy I just bought and plant it in the earth, in autumn I should have lots of candy!
I did just that, I dug a hole, took my leftover candy and put it all in the hole, using dirt to bury it. In silence I fervently hoped: “Candy, grow quickly! Candy, grow quickly! Grow into a big tree, and sprout lots and lots of candy.” I told this wish to my father, and he listened. Laughing heartily he said: “Candy can’t grow into a big tree, and it definitely can’t sprout more candy.” I heard my father’s words and I sat down on the grass and started sobbing, my candy, my candy. Father quickly ran up to me, embraced me and said: “Oh, don’t cry little darling, daddy will buy you lots and lots of candy.” I listened to him and stopped crying.
Nowadays I’ve already grown up, and I won’t try foolishly planting candy again.