A short, sweet, very simple read about a boy, his dog, and a new pair of shoes.
妈妈给三岁的浩浩买了一双新鞋，浩浩穿上后左看看，右瞧瞧。家里的小狗跑了过来，舔了舔浩浩的鞋。
浩浩仰起头来，天真地问:“妈妈，狗狗冷吗？他怎么不穿鞋？”妈妈顺口说了一句:“你去问它吧。”
于是浩浩低下头，对着小狗的耳朵说:“小狗狗，你冷吗？我给你穿鞋好吗？”突然他大叫起来:“妈妈，狗狗说它冷，它向我点头呢！”
不知什么时候，浩浩把自己的鞋子脱了下来，套在小狗的两只前脚上。
“妈妈，还差两只脚呢！”
“差什么两只脚？”
“狗狗还差两只脚没有鞋呢……”
话还没说完，小狗汪汪汪地叫着，逃跑了。浩浩低着头、红着脸、扯着衣角，不好意思地向妈妈走去，嘴里念叨着:“新鞋让小狗穿走了，小狗现在和我一样，都光着两只脚啦！”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 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) |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 岁 | suì | variant of 歲|岁[sui4], year; years old; classifier for years (of age); year; year (of crop harvests) |
| 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… |
| 浩 | ||
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 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 |
| 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 … |
| 双 | shuāng | variant of 雙|双[shuang1]; surname Shuang |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 鞋 | xié | shoe; CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1]; variant of 鞋[xie2] |
| 穿上 | chuān shang | to put on (clothes etc) |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 左 | Zuǒ | surname Zuo |
| 看看 | kàn kan | to take a look at; to examine; to survey; (coll.) pretty soon |
| 右 | yòu | (bound form) right; right-hand side; (bound form) (politics) right of center; (bound form) (old) west; (literary) the right side as the side of precedence |
| 瞧 | qiáo | to look at; to see; to see (a doctor); to visit |
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 小狗 | xiǎo gǒu | pup; puppy |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 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… |
| 舔 | tiǎn | to lick; to lap |
| 仰 | yáng | to look up; to admire; to rely on; to face upward; surname Yang |
| 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… |
| 头 | tóu | head; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 天真 | tiān zhēn | naive; innocent; artless |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 狗狗 | gǒu gōu | (coll.) dog; doggie |
| 冷 | Lěng | surname Leng |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 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]) |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 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… |
| 顺口 | shùn kǒu | to read smoothly (of text); to blurt out (without thinking); to suit one's taste (of food) |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 一句 | yī jù | a line of verse; a sentence |
| 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.) |
| 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);… |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 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] |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 低下 | dī xià | low status; lowly; to lower (one's head) |
| 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… |
| 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 |
| 耳 | ěr | ear; handle (archaeology); and that is all (Classical Chinese) |
| 朵 | duó | flower; fig. item on both sides |
| 狗 | gǒu | dog; CL:隻|只[zhi1],條|条[tiao2] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 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); (… |
| 突然 | tū rán | sudden; abrupt; unexpected |
| 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) |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 向 | Xiàng | surname Xiang; to tend toward; to guide; variant of 向[xiang4]; variant of 向[xiang4]; direction; orientation; to face; to turn toward; to; towards; shortly before; formerly |
| 点 | diǎn | to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list); to order (food etc); to select; to mention; to bring up (a topic or person); to hint at; to imply; to admini… |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation… |
| 不知 | bù zhī | not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 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… |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 鞋子 | xié zi | shoe |
| 脱 | tuō | to shed; to take off; to escape; to get away from |
| 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 … |
| 套 | tào | to cover; to encase; cover; sheath; to overlap; to interleave; to model after; to copy; formula; harness; loop of rope; (fig.) to fish for; to obtain slyly; classifier for sets, co… |
| 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) |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) |
| 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 |
| 前 | qián | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly |
| 脚 | jiǎo | foot; leg (of an animal or an object); base (of an object); CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1]; classifier for kicks |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 差 | chā | difference; discrepancy; (math.) difference (amount remaining after a subtraction); (literary) a little; somewhat; slightly |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 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] |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 完 | wán | to finish; to be over; whole; complete; entire |
| 汪 | wang | to collect (water); deep and vast; to bark; surname Wang |
| 逃 | tāo | to escape; to flee |
| 低 | dī | low; beneath; to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; to incline |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 脸 | liǎn | face; CL:張|张[zhang1],個|个[ge4] |
| 扯 | ché | to pull; (of cloth, thread etc) to buy; to gossip; hokey |
| 着衣 | zhuó yī | to get dressed |
| 角 | Jué | surname Jue |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 意思 | yì si | idea; opinion; meaning; wish; desire; interest; fun; token of appreciation, affection etc; CL:個|个[ge4]; to give as a small token; to do sth as a gesture of goodwill etc |
| 走去 | zǒu qù | to walk over (to) |
| 嘴 | zuǐ | mouth; beak; nozzle; spout (of teapot etc); CL:張|张[zhang1],個|个[ge4] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 念 | niàn | variant of 念[nian4], to read aloud; to read; to study (a subject); to attend (a school); to read aloud; to give (sb) a tongue-lashing (CL:頓|顿[dun4]); to miss (sb); idea; remembrance; twenty (banker's anti-fraud numer… |
| 叨 | dao | garrulous |
| 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]) |
| 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… |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 光 | guāng | light; ray (CL:道[dao4]); bright; shiny; only; merely; used up; finished; to leave (a part of the body) uncovered |
| 啦 | lā | (onom.) sound of singing, cheering etc; (phonetic); (dialect) to chat |
Mama bought three-year-old Hao Hao a new pair of shoes, Hao Hao put them on and turned this way and that looking at them [lit: turned left and looked, turned right and looked]. The household dog ran over and licked Hao Hao’s shoes.
Hao Hao looked up, and naively said: “Mama, is doggie cold? Why doesn’t it wear shoes?” Mama smoothly said: “Go and ask it.”
So Hao Hao looked down, and in the dog’s ear said: “Little doggie, are you cold? Should I give you some shoes to wear?” Suddenly he loudly shouted, “Mama, doggie said he’s cold, it nodded its head at me!”
Not long after, Hao Hao took off his own shoes, and put them on the dog’s two front feet.
“Mama, there are still two feet missing!”
“Which two feet are missing?”
“Doggie is still missing shoes for two of his feet…”
Before he’d finished speaking, the dog barked woof woof woof, and ran away. Hao Hao hung his head, blushing, and he pulled at the corner of his clothes, too embarrassed to go to his mother, and he called out: “The dog ran off wearing the new shoes, the dog and I are now the same, we both have two bare feet!