Yayzors, horsies. I know that when you first start reading, it’s hard to hold a narrative thread through a longer post, but give this one a try – 6 short paragraphs, all of them very straightforward. This one has mostly very beginner language, with a couple of intermediate or upper-intermediate words. The grammar, rather than […]
小马和他的妈妈住在小河边。他过的很快乐，时光飞快地过去了。有一天，妈妈把小马叫到身边说：“小马，你已经长大了，可以帮妈妈做事了。今天你把这袋粮食送到河对岸的村子里去吧。”
小马非常高兴地答应了。他驮着粮食飞快地来到了小河边。可是河上没有桥，只能自己淌过去。可又不知道河水有多深呢？犹豫中的小马一抬头，看见了正在不远处吃草的牛伯伯。小马赶紧跑过去问到：“牛伯伯，您知道那河里的水深不深呀？”
牛伯伯挺起他那高大的身体笑着说：“不深，不深。才到我的小腿。”
小马高兴地跑回河边准备淌过河去。他刚一迈腿，忽然听见一个声音说：“小马，小马别下去，这河可深啦。”小马低头一看，原来是小松鼠。小松鼠翘着她漂亮的尾巴，睁着圆圆的眼睛，很认真地说：“前两天我的一个伙伴不小心掉进了河里，河水就把他卷走了。”
小马一听没主意了。牛伯伯说河水浅，小松鼠说河水深，这可怎么办呀？只好回去问妈妈。马妈妈老远地就看见小马低着头驮着粮食又回来了。心想他一定是遇到困难了，就迎过去问小马。小马哭着把牛伯伯和小松鼠的话告诉了妈妈。妈妈安慰小马说：“没关系，咱们一起去看看吧。”
小马和妈妈又一次来到河边，妈妈让小马自己去试探一下河水有多深。小马小心地试探着，一步一步地淌过了河。噢，他明白了，河水既没有牛伯伯说的那么浅，也没有小松鼠说的那么深。只有自己亲自试过才知道。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小马 | xiǎo mǎ | colt; pony |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 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]) |
| 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… |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 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) |
| 小河 | xiǎo hé | creek; stream; brook |
| 边 | biān | side; edge; margin; border; boundary; CL:個|个[ge4]; simultaneously |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 乐 | Lè | surname Le |
| 时光 | shí guāng | time (esp. as sth that passes) |
| 飞 | fēi | to fly |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 过去 | guò qù | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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… |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 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… |
| 身边 | shēn biān | at one's side; on hand |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 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.) |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 长大 | zhǎng dà | to grow up |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 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 |
| 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… |
| 事 | shì | matter; thing; item; work; affair; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2] |
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today; the present time; now |
| 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) |
| 袋 | dài | pouch; bag; sack; pocket |
| 粮食 | liáng shi | foodstuff; cereals; CL:種|种[zhong3] |
| 送 | sòng | to send; to deliver; to transmit; to give (as a present); to see (sb) off; to accompany; to go along with |
| 河 | hé | river (CL:條|条[tiao2],道[dao4]); (bound form) the Yellow River; (bound form) the Milky Way; (bound form) (on restaurant menus) rice noodles 河粉[he2 fen3] |
| 对岸 | duì àn | opposite bank (of a body of water) |
| 村 | cūn | village; (dialect) to scold; rustic; boorish; variant of 村[cun1] |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 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);… |
| 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] |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 答应 | dā ying | to answer; to respond; to answer positively; to agree; to accept; to promise |
| 驮 | ||
| 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 |
| 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… |
| 到了 | dào liǎo | at last; finally; in the end |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 桥 | qiáo | bridge; CL:座[zuo4] |
| 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 |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 淌 | tǎng | to drip; to shed (淌汗) |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 不知 | bù zhī | not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) |
| 道 | dào | road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3]); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quot… |
| 河水 | hé shuǐ | river water |
| 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- |
| 深 | shēn | old variant of 深[shen1]; (lit. and fig.) deep |
| 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… |
| 犹 | yōu | as if; just as; yet |
| 豫 | Yù | short name for Henan 河南[He2 nan2] |
| 中的 | zhòng dì | to hit the target; (fig.) to hit the nail on the head |
| 抬 | tái | to lift; to raise; (of two or more persons) to carry; variant of 抬[tai2] |
| 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] |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 正 | zhēng | first month of the lunar year |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 远处 | yuǎn chù | distant place |
| 吃草 | chī cǎo | to graze; to eat grass |
| 牛 | Níu | surname Niu |
| 伯 | bō | uncle; the eldest among brothers; (honorific) count |
| 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 … |
| 紧 | jǐn | tight; strict; close at hand; near; urgent; tense; hard up; short of money; to tighten |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 您 | nín | you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你[ni3]) |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhi1dao5] |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; Shui ethnic group |
| 呀 | yā | ah (used to express surprise); (onom.) creaking |
| 挺 | tǐng | straight; erect; to stick out (a part of the body); to (physically) straighten up; to support; to withstand; outstanding; (coll.) quite; very; classifier for machine guns |
| 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… |
| 高大 | gāo dà | tall; lofty; towering |
| 身体 | shēn tǐ | the body; one's health |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 才 | cái | ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only; (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) reall…; (variant of 才[cai2]) just now; (variant of 才[cai2]) (before an expression of quantity) only |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 小腿 | xiǎo tuǐ | lower leg (from knee to ankle); shank |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 河边 | hé biān | river bank |
| 准备 | zhǔn bèi | preparation; to prepare; to intend; to be about to; reserve (fund) |
| 过河 | guò hé | to cross a river |
| 刚一 | gāng yī | to be just about to; to have just started to |
| 迈 | mǎi | to step; to stride; (loanword) mile (esp. in expressions of vehicle speed) |
| 腿 | tuǐ | leg; CL:條|条[tiao2]; hip bone; old variant of 腿[tui3] |
| 忽然 | hū rán | suddenly; all of a sudden |
| 听见 | tīng jiàn | to hear |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 声音 | shēng yīn | sound; voice |
| 别 | Bié | surname Bie; to make sb change their ways, opinions etc |
| 下去 | xià qù | to go down; to descend; to go on; to continue; (of a servant) to withdraw |
| 啦 | lā | (onom.) sound of singing, cheering etc; (phonetic); (dialect) to chat |
| 低 | dī | low; beneath; to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; to incline |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 原 | Yuán | surname Yuan; (Japanese surname) Hara |
| 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] |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 松鼠 | sōng shǔ | squirrel |
| 翘 | qiáo | outstanding; to raise |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 漂 | piāo | to float; to drift |
| 亮 | liàng | bright; light; to shine; to flash; loud and clear; to show (one's passport etc); to make public (one's views etc) |
| 尾 | wěi | tail; remainder; remnant; extremity; sixth of the 28 constellations; classifier for fish |
| 巴 | Bā | Ba, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan); the east of Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality; surname Ba; (bound form) abbr. for 巴… |
| 睁 | zheng | to open (one's eyes) |
| 圆 | yuán | circle; round; circular; spherical; (of the moon) full; unit of Chinese currency (yuan); tactful; to make consistent and whole (the narrative of a dream or a lie) |
| 眼睛 | yǎn jing | eye; CL:隻|只[zhi1],雙|双[shuang1] |
| 认真 | rèn zhēn | conscientious; earnest; serious; to take seriously; to take to heart |
| 前 | qián | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly |
| 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) |
| 伙 | huó | (bound form) meals (as in 伙食[huo3 shi2]) |
| 伴 | bǎn | partner; companion; comrade; associate |
| 小心 | xiǎo xīn | to be careful; to take care |
| 掉 | diào | to fall; to drop; to lag behind; to lose; to go missing; to reduce; fall (in prices); to lose (value, weight etc); to wag; to swing; to turn; to change; to exchange; to swap; to sh… |
| 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… |
| 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… |
| 卷 | juán | to roll up; (slang) to compete to an unhealthy degree; hypercompetitive; classifier for small rolled-up things (wad of paper money, movie reel etc) |
| 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… |
| 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… |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 主意 | zhǔ yi | plan; idea; decision; CL:個|个[ge4]; Beijing pr. [zhu2 yi5] |
| 浅 | jiān | sound of moving water |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 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… |
| 只好 | zhǐ hǎo | to have no other option but to ...; to have to; to be forced to |
| 回去 | huí qu | to return; to go back |
| 马 | Mǎ | surname Ma; abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4] |
| 老远 | lǎo yuǎn | very far away |
| 心想 | xīn xiǎng | to think to oneself; to think |
| 一定 | yī dìng | surely; certainly; definitely; fixed; settled; a certain ...; a given ... |
| 遇 | Yù | surname Yu |
| 困难 | kùn nan | difficult; challenging; straitened circumstances; difficult situation |
| 迎 | yíng | to welcome; to meet; to forge ahead (esp. in the face of difficulties); to meet face to face |
| 哭 | kū | to cry; to weep |
| 的话 | de huà | if (coming after a conditional clause) |
| 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 |
| 安 | An | surname An |
| 慰 | wěi | to comfort; to reassure |
| 关 | Guān | surname Guan |
| 系 | xì | to connect; to relate to; to tie up; to bind; to be (literary); system; department; faculty; to tie; to fasten; to button up |
| 咱 | zán | variant of 咱[zan2]; see 咱[zan2] |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 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) |
| 看看 | kàn kan | to take a look at; to examine; to survey; (coll.) pretty soon |
| 又一次 | yòu yī cì | yet again; once again; once more |
| 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]) |
| 试 | shì | to test; to try; experiment; examination; test |
| 探 | tǎn | to explore; to scout; to stretch forward |
| 一下 | yī xià | (after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly |
| 步 | Bù | surname Bu |
| 噢 | ||
| 明白 | míng bai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable; to understand; to realize |
| 既 | jì | already; since; both... (and...) |
| 那么 | nà me | like that; in that way; to that extent; (before a number) ... or so; about ...; then; in that case |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 只有 | zhǐ yǒu | only have ...; there is only ...; (used in combination with 才[cai2]) it is only if ... (that one can ...) (as in 只有通過治療才能痊愈|只有通过治疗才能痊愈[zhi3 you3 tong1 guo4 zhi4 liao2 cai2 neng2 qu… |
| 亲自 | qīn zì | personally; in person; oneself |
Little Horse and his mother lived by the river. He passed his days happily, and time flew by. One day, Mother called little horse to her side and said: “Little Horse, you’re all grown up, you can help mother with a few things. Today, take that sack of grain and take it to the village on the opposite riverbank.”
Little Horse happily agreed. Carrying the grain on his back he flew to the river. But there was no bridge over the river, he could only wade across. But he didn’t know how deep the river was.(?) While he was hesitating he lifted his head, and saw Uncle Ox eating grass not far away. Little horse hurriedly ran over and asked: “Uncle Ox, do you know if the river is deep or not?”
Uncle Ox straightened his big, tall body and laughing, said: “Not deep, not deep. It only comes up to my calf.”
Little Horse happily ran back to the riverside and prepared to wade across. He’d just taken one step, when suddenly he heard a voice say: “Little Horse, Little Horse, don’t go in, this river is so deep!” Little Horse lowered his head and looked down, and saw it was Little Squirrel. Little Squirrel raised her pretty tail, round eyes opened wide, and spoke earnestly: “Two days ago my companion accidentally fell into the river, and the water swept him away.”
Little Horse had no idea. Uncle Ox said the water was shallow, Little Squirrel said the water was deep, what was he to do? He had to go back and ask Mother. From a distance, Mother Horse saw Little Horse returning with a lowered head and carrying the sack of grain. She knew in her heart that he must have run into trouble, so she went to welcome Little Horse and ask. Little horse, crying, told Mother what Uncle Ox and Little Squirrel had said. Mother consoled Little Horse, saying: “Don’t worry, let’s go together and have a look.”
Little Horse and Mother went back to the riverbank again, and Mother let little horse test out how deep the water was. Little Horse carefully tried it out, and step by step waded across the river. Hey, he understood, the river on the one hand wasn’t as shallow as Uncle Ox said, and also wasn’t as deep as Little Squirrel said. You only know if you find out for yourself.