A short first-person essay about a kid lighting firecrackers with his parents. The weirdest part about this, I think, is the part where the kid says he smokes a cigarette his dad gave him. How old is this child?! The rest of the piece makes it sound like he’s about 7-10? Anywayyyy… on with the [...]
今天晚上，我和爸爸妈妈一起放花炮。 爸爸用上打火机点上一根香烟，我拿着烟，吸了几口后就开始放花炮。我点了一个，花炮喷出五颜六色的的火苗，真是太美丽了！冲天炮太危险了，我不敢放，爸爸帮我放，我只在旁边看。 不一会儿，花炮放完了，我们就高高兴兴地回家了。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today; the present time; now |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 爸爸 | bà ba | (coll.) father; dad; CL:位[wei4] |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 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) |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) |
| 花 | Huā | surname Hua; old variant of 花[hua1]; variant of 花[hua1]; flower; blossom; also pr. [wei3] |
| 炮 | pǎo | to sauté; to dry by heating |
| 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… |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 打 | dá | (loanword) dozen; Taiwan pr. [da3] |
| 火 | Huǒ | surname Huo |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 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… |
| 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 … |
| 根 | gēn | root; basis; classifier for long slender objects, e.g. cigarettes, guitar strings; CL:條|条[tiao2]; radical (chemistry) |
| 香 | xiāng | fragrant; sweet smelling; aromatic; savory or appetizing; (to eat) with relish; (of sleep) sound; perfume or spice; joss or incense stick; CL:根[gen1] |
| 烟 | yan | cigarette or pipe tobacco; smoke; vapour; tobacco plant |
| 拿 | ná | old variant of 拿[na2]; variant of 拿[na2]; to hold; to seize; to catch; to apprehend; to take; (used in the same way as 把[ba3]: to mark the following noun as a direct object) |
| 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 |
| 吸 | xi | to breathe; to absorb |
| 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 |
| 几 | jī | small table; (literary) almost |
| 口 | kǒu | mouth; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 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… |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 喷 | pen | to spout; to spurt; to spray; to puff |
| 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) |
| 五 | wǔ | five; 5 |
| 颜 | Yán | surname Yan |
| 六 | lìu | six; 6 |
| 色 | sè | color; CL:種|种[zhong3]; look; appearance; sex |
| 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… |
| 火苗 | huǒ miáo | flame |
| 真是 | zhēn shi | indeed; truly; (coll.) (used to express disapproval, annoyance etc) |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 美 | Měi | (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲[Mei3 zhou1]); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国[Mei3 guo2]) |
| 丽 | lǐ | used in place names, notably 高麗|高丽[Gao1 li2] and 麗水|丽水[Li2 shui3] |
| 冲 | chong | (of water) to dash against; to infuse; to flush; to rise in the air; to collide with |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 危险 | wēi xiǎn | danger; dangerous |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 敢 | gǎn | to dare; daring; (polite) may I venture |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 旁边 | páng biān | side; adjacent place |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 不一会 | bù yī huì | soon |
| 儿 | ér | child; son |
| 完了 | wán le | to be finished; to be done for; ruined; gone to the dogs; oh no |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 高 | Gāo | surname Gao |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 兴 | Xīng | surname Xing |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
This evening, my mother father and I set off fireworks together. Father used a lighter to light a cigarette, I took the cigarette and after a few puffs we began lighting the fireworks. I light one, and the firework sprayed multicolor flames, so beautiful! Rockets are too dangerous, I don’t dare light them, so father helped me do it, and I stood beside and watched. Soon after, the fireworks were all gone, and we happily returned home.