In this cute little story, the wind and the sun compete with each other to see whose powers are greater. This is a good article for understanding the use of the character 比, because the character is used in multiple ways in this story.
很久以前，风和太阳是好朋友。有一天，他们开始聊天儿。
风说：”我比你强！我可以让大树都怕我。”太阳笑了笑，说：”我不这样想。我们来比一比吧。”
这时候，一个男人走在路上，他穿着一件很厚的外套。太阳说：”谁能让他把外套脱下来，谁就赢了。”
风说：”太容易了！”风开始用力地吹。但是风吹得越大，男人把外套穿得越紧。风吹了很久，最后累了，停下来了。
然后太阳出来了。太阳慢慢地、温暖地照在男人身上。男人觉得越来越热，他笑着把外套脱下来了。
风明白了：有时候，温暖比力量更有用。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 风 | fēng | wind |
| 太阳 | tài yáng | sun |
| 强 | qiáng | strong |
| 比 | bǐ | to compare |
| 外套 | wài tào | coat |
| 脱 | tuō | to take off |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow |
| 温暖 | wēn nuǎn | warm |
| 力量 | lì liàng | strength |
| 赢 | yíng | to win |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 久 | jǐu | (of a period of time) long |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous; ago |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 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] |
| 好朋友 | hǎo péng you | good friend; (slang) a visit from Aunt Flo (menstrual period) |
| 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 … |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 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]) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 聊 | liāo | (coll.) to chat; (literary) somewhat; slightly |
| 天儿 | tiān r | the weather |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 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.) |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 让 | ràng | to yield; to permit; to let sb do sth; to have sb do sth; to make sb (feel sad etc); by (indicates the agent in a passive clause, like 被[bei4]) |
| 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) |
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 怕 | Pà | surname Pa |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 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 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 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) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 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) |
| 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… |
| 比一比 | bǐ yi bǐ | to make a comparison; to engage in a contest |
| 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] |
| 这时 | zhè shí | at this time; at this moment |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 男人 | nán rén | a man; a male; men; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 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… |
| 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) |
| 路上 | lù shang | on the road; on the way; en route |
| 穿着 | chuān zhuó | attire; clothes; dress |
| 件 | jiàn | item; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc |
| 厚 | hòu | thick; deep or profound; kind; generous; rich or strong in flavor; to favor; to stress |
| 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… |
| 谁 | shéi | who; also pr. [shui2] |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 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… |
| 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 … |
| 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… |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 容 | Róng | surname Rong |
| 易 | Yì | surname Yi; I Ching; Book of Changes (abbr. for 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]) |
| 用力 | yòng lì | to exert oneself physically |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 |
| 穿 | chuān | to bore through; to pierce; to perforate; to go through (e.g. a tunnel); to cross (e.g. a street); to thread; to string together; to wear; to put on (clothes, shoes etc.); verb com… |
| 紧 | jǐn | tight; strict; close at hand; near; urgent; tense; hard up; short of money; to tighten |
| 最 | zuì | variant of 最[zui4]; old variant of 最[zui4]; (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world") |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 累 | lěi | to accumulate; to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. [lei4]); continuous; repeated; rope; to bind together; to twist around |
| 停 | tíng | to stop; to halt; to park (a car) |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 出 | chū | to go out; to come out; to arise; to occur; to produce; to yield; to go beyond; to exceed; (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result); classifier for…; variant of 出[chu1] (classifier for plays or chapters of classical novels) |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 照 | zhào | variant of 照[zhao4]; to shine; to illuminate; according to; in accordance with; to shine; to illuminate; to reflect; to look at (one's reflection); to take (a photo); photo; as requested; as before |
| 身上 | shēn shang | on the body; at hand; among |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 热 | rè | to warm up; to heat up; hot (of weather); heat; fervent |
| 着 | zhāo | variant of 著|着[zhao1]; a move in chess (Taiwan pr. [zhuo2]); trick; tactic; (dialect) okay; all right; (dialect) to put in; to add |
| 明白 | míng bai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable; to understand; to realize |
| 有时 | yǒu shí | sometimes; now and then |
| 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) |
| 有用 | yǒu yòng | useful |
Long ago, the wind and the sun were good friends. One day, they got to chatting.
The wind said: “I am stronger than you! I can make even big trees afraid of me.” The sun smiled and said: “I don’t think so. Let’s have a little competition.”
At that moment, a man was walking on the road, wearing a very thick coat. The sun said: “Whoever can make him take off his coat wins.”
The wind said: “Too easy!” The wind began to blow hard. But the harder the wind blew, the tighter the man held his coat. The wind blew for a long time and finally got tired and stopped.
Then the sun came out. The sun slowly and warmly shone on the man. The man felt hotter and hotter, and he smiled and took off his coat.
The wind understood: Sometimes, warmth is more useful than strength.