Aw, reciprocity. An old man does a kindness for a little bird, and he receives a kindness in return.
冬天到了，北风呼呼地吹，天气很冷。有一只小鸟真可怜，它在树枝上冷得发抖。
一位老爷爷走来，看见了小鸟，心想：”这只小鸟多可怜呀，这么冷的天，它一定会冻死的。”小鸟对老爷爷说：”风把我们的窝吹走了，我们没有家了。”老爷爷说：”别着急，我来帮你们想办法。”老爷爷就用自己的帽子给小鸟做鸟窝，帽子真暖和。
小鸟想到树林里还有许多快要冻死的小鸟，就把它们都叫来，一起飞进了老爷爷的帽子。它们非常感谢老爷爷。以后老爷爷也天天来看小鸟，小鸟们每次都唱歌给老爷爷听。
有一天老爷爷没有来，原来他病了。小鸟想：”一定是爷爷把帽子给了我们，自己着凉生病了，我们赶快给老爷爷做顶帽子吧。”小鸟们就用自己的羽毛做了一顶帽子送给老爷爷。老爷爷非常感谢小鸟，他的病很快就好了。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 冬天 | dōng tiān | winter |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 北风 | běi fēng | north wind |
| 呼 | hu | to call; to shout; to exhale |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow; to play a wind instrument; to blast; to puff; to boast; to brag; to end in failure; to fall through |
| 天气 | tiān qì | weather |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 冷 | Lěng | surname Leng |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 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 … |
| 只 | zhī | variant of 隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 只[zhi3]; grain that has begun to ripen; classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 小鸟 | xiǎo niǎo | small bird; young bird (hatchling, nestling, fledgling, chick); (fig.) penis (kiddie term); (golf) birdie |
| 真 | zhēn | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine |
| 可怜 | kě lián | pitiful; pathetic; to have pity on |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 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) |
| 树枝 | shù zhī | branch; twig |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 发 | fā | to send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; to make a bundle of money; classifier for gunshots (rounds); hair; Taiwan pr. [fa3] |
| 抖 | dóu | to tremble; to reveal |
| 位 | wèi | position; location; place; seat; classifier for people (honorific); classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes); (physics) potential |
| 老爷爷 | lǎo yé ye | (polite) elderly man |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 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… |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 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 |
| 心想 | xīn xiǎng | to think to oneself; to think |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 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- |
| 呀 | yā | ah (used to express surprise); (onom.) creaking |
| 这么 | zhè me | so much; this much; how much?; this way; like this |
| 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… |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 一定 | yī dìng | surely; certainly; definitely; fixed; settled; a certain ...; a given ... |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 冻 | dǒng | to freeze; aspic or jelly |
| 死 | sǐ | to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid; extremely; damned |
| 对 | duì | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to sui… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 风 | fēng | wind; news; style; custom; manner; CL:陣|阵[zhen4],絲|丝[si1] |
| 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… |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 窝 | wō | nest; pit or hollow on the human body; lair; den; place; to harbor or shelter; to hold in check; to bend; classifier for litters and broods |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 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… |
| 别 | Bié | surname Bie; to make sb change their ways, opinions etc |
| 着急 | zháo jí | to worry; to feel anxious; to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry; Taiwan pr. [zhao1ji2] |
| 帮 | bāng | old variant of 幫|帮[bang1]; to help; to assist; to support; for sb (i.e. as a help); hired (as worker); side (of pail, boat etc); outer layer; upper (of a shoe); group; gang; clique; party; secret society |
| 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.) |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) |
| 办 | bàn | to take care of (a matter); to deal with (a task, procedure etc); to organize (an event); to establish; to set up; to manage; to run (an enterprise); (law) to handle; to investigat… |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 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… |
| 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… |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 帽子 | mào zi | hat; cap; (fig.) label; bad name; CL:頂|顶[ding3] |
| 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) |
| 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… |
| 鸟窝 | niǎo wō | bird's nest |
| 暖 | nuǎn | old variant of 暖[nuan3]; warm; to warm; variant of 暖[nuan3]; variant of 暖[nuan3], warm |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 想到 | xiǎng dào | to think of; to call to mind; to anticipate |
| 树林 | Shù lín | Shulin city in New Taipei City 新北市[Xin1 bei3 shi4], Taiwan |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 许多 | xǔ duō | many; a lot of; much |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 一起 | yī qǐ | (in) the same place; together; in company (with); altogether; in total; an instance of; a case of (murder, accident, dispute etc) |
| 飞 | fēi | to fly |
| 进 | jìn | to go forward; to advance; to go in; to enter; to put in; to submit; to take in; to admit; (math.) base of a number system; classifier for sections in a building or residential com… |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 感 | gǎn | to feel; to move; to touch; to affect; feeling; emotion; (suffix) sense of ~ |
| 谢 | Xiè | surname Xie |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 天天 | tiān tiān | every day |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 每次 | měi cì | every time |
| 唱歌 | chàng gē | to sing a song |
| 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… |
| 天老爷 | tiān lǎo ye | see 老天爺|老天爷[lao3 tian1 ye2] |
| 爷 | yé | grandpa; old gentleman |
| 原 | Yuán | surname Yuan; (Japanese surname) Hara |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 病 | bìng | illness; CL:場|场[chang2]; disease; to fall ill; defect |
| 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] |
| 爷爷 | yé ye | (coll.) paternal grandfather; grandpa |
| 着凉 | zháo liáng | to catch cold; Taiwan pr. [zhao1 liang2] |
| 生病 | shēng bìng | to fall ill |
| 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 … |
| 顶 | dǐng | apex; crown of the head; top; roof; most; to carry on the head; to push to the top; to go against; to replace; to substitute; to be subjected to (an aerial bombing, hailstorm etc);… |
| 吧 | bā | bar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providing Internet access etc); to puff (on a pipe etc); (onom.) bang; abbr. for 貼吧|贴吧[tie1 ba1] |
| 羽毛 | yǔ máo | feather; plumage; plume |
| 送 | sòng | to send; to deliver; to transmit; to give (as a present); to see (sb) off; to accompany; to go along with |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
Winter had come, the north wind blew whoo whoo, and the weather was very cold. There was a small pitiful bird, sitting on a tree branch so cold it was shivering.
An old man walked by, saw the little bird, and thought to himself: “This little bird is so pitiful, on a day as cold as this, it will surely freeze to death.” The little bird said to the old man: “The wind blew our nest away, we have no home.” The old man said: “Don’t worry, I’ll help you think of a solution.” The old man then used his own hat and gave it to the little bird to make a nest, the hat was very warm.
The little bird realized that in the forest there were still quite a few little birds who would soon freeze to death, so it called them all to come, and together they flew into the old man’s hat. They all profusely thanked the old man. Thereafter, the old man came every day to see the little birds, and each time the little birds sang a song for the old man.
One day the old man didn’t come, turns out he was ill. The little bird thought: “Surely [because] the old man gave us his hat, he caught a chill and got sick, let’s quickly make a hat for the old man.” So the little birds used their own feathers to make a hat and gave it to the old man. The old man profusely thanked the little birds, and his illness was quickly cured.