What treasures could possibly be hiding in a box Grandma never opens? Turns out it’s a whole lifetime of adventures—from Egyptian pyramids to Icelandic green lights. But Grandma’s favorite place might surprise you.
奶奶床底下有一个旧木箱子。小孙女知道那个箱子，但是奶奶从来不打开它。
有一天，小孙女问：”奶奶，箱子里有什么？”
奶奶笑了，把箱子拉出来，慢慢打开。里面有很多小东西。
她拿出一块黄色的小石头。”这是埃及的。那里有很古老的金字塔。沙子很热，太阳很大。”
她拿出一片红色的叶子，已经干了，但是颜色还很好看。”这是加拿大的。秋天的树都变红了，很漂亮。但是很冷。”
她拿出一个小贝壳。”这是泰国的。海水很蓝很清，可以看到海底。那里的人总是笑着。”
她拿出一张旧火车票。”这是印度的。我坐了两天火车。很慢，但是窗外一直有东西看。”
她拿出一个小木头人。”这是肯尼亚的。晚上的天空有很多很多星星。我从来没有看过那么多。”
她拿出最后一样东西——一块黑色的光滑小石头。”这是冰岛的。很冷，没有树。但是晚上天上有绿色的光。”
小孙女看着这些东西，不说话。
“奶奶，你最喜欢哪个地方？”她问。
奶奶关上箱子，想了很长时间。
“这里，”她说。”因为你在这里。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 箱子 | xiāng zi | box, chest |
| 古老 | gǔ lǎo | ancient, old |
| 金字塔 | jīn zì tǎ | pyramid |
| 叶子 | yè zi | leaf |
| 贝壳 | bèi ké | seashell |
| 火车票 | huǒ chē piào | train ticket |
| 星星 | xīng xing | star |
| 光滑 | guāng huá | smooth |
| 总是 | zǒng shì | always |
| 从来 | cóng lái | ever, always (used with negation) |
| 奶 | nǎi | breast; milk; to breastfeed; variant of 嬭|奶[nai3]; mother; variant of 奶[nai3] |
| 床 | chuáng | bed; couch (furniture that one can lie down on) (CL:張|张[zhang1]); bed; bottom (of rivers, oceans, gardens etc); frame; chassis; classifier for blankets, quilts etc; variant of 床[chuang2] |
| 底 | dí | (equivalent to 的 as possessive particle) |
| 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 … |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 旧 | jìu | old; opposite: new 新; former; worn (with age) |
| 木 | Mù | surname Mu |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 孙女 | sūn nu:3 | son's daughter; granddaughter |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhi1dao5] |
| 那个 | nà ge | that one; that thing; that (as opposed to this); (used before a verb or adjective for emphasis); (used to humorously or indirectly refer to sth embarrassing, funny etc, or when one… |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 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] |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 打开 | dǎ kāi | to open; to show (a ticket); to turn on; to switch on |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 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 |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 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 |
| 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… |
| 拉 | lā | to pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw; to chat; (coll.) to empty one's bowels |
| 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) |
| 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… |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 里面 | lǐ miàn | variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 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- |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 拿出 | ná chū | to take out; to put out; to provide; to put forward (a proposal); to come up with (evidence) |
| 一块 | yī kuài | a piece; a chunk; (fig.) (coll.) (typically preceded by a specifier such as 這|这[zhe4]) aspect; area; dimension (Example: 情感這一塊|情感这一块[qing2 gan3 zhe4 yi1 kuai4] "the emotional aspec… |
| 黄色 | huáng sè | yellow; vulgar; lewd; pornographic |
| 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… |
| 石 | Shí | surname Shi; abbr. for Shijiazhuang 石家莊|石家庄[Shi2 jia1 zhuang1], the capital of Hebei |
| 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] |
| 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) |
| 埃 | ai | dust; a phonetic character used in foreign names |
| 及 | jí | and; to reach; up to; in time for |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 沙 | sha | sand; granule; (of voice) hoarse; surname Sha |
| 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… |
| 热 | rè | to warm up; to heat up; hot (of weather); heat; fervent |
| 太阳 | tài yang | sun; sunlight; sunshine; temple (on the side of the human head) (abbr. for 太陽穴|太阳穴[tai4 yang2 xue2]) |
| 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) |
| 片 | piān | disk; sheet |
| 红色 | hóng sè | red (color); revolutionary |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 干 | gān | old variant of 乾|干[gan1]; surname Gan; variant of 乾|干[gan1]; tree trunk; main part of sth; to manage; to work; to do; capable; cadre; to kill (slang); to fuck (vulgar); (coll.) pissed off; annoyed |
| 颜色 | yán sè | color; countenance; appearance; facial expression; pigment; dyestuff |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 好看 | hǎo kàn | good-looking; nice-looking; (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good; in an embarrassing situation |
| 加拿大 | Jiā ná dà | Canada |
| 秋天 | qīu tiān | autumn; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 变红 | biàn hóng | to redden |
| 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) |
| 冷 | Lěng | surname Leng |
| 小贝 | Xiǎo bèi | "Becks", nickname of British footballer David Beckham (see 貝克漢姆|贝克汉姆[Bei4 ke4 han4 mu3]) |
| 壳 | qiào | variant of 殼|壳[qiao4]; (coll.) shell (of an egg, nut, crab etc); case; casing; housing (of a machine or device) |
| 泰 | tǎi | Mt Tai 泰山[Tai4 Shan1] in Shandong |
| 国 | Guó | surname Guo |
| 海水 | hǎi shuǐ | seawater |
| 蓝 | Lán | surname Lan |
| 清 | Qīng | Qing (Wade-Giles: Ch'ing) dynasty of China (1644–1911); surname Qing |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 海 | Hǎi | surname Hai |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 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 |
| 张 | Zhāng | surname Zhang |
| 印 | Yìn | surname Yin; abbr. for 印度[Yin4 du4], India |
| 度 | dù | to pass; to spend (time); measure; limit; extent; degree of intensity; degree (angles, temperature etc); kilowatt-hour; classifier for events and occurrences |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 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) |
| 火车 | huǒ chē | train; CL:列[lie4],節|节[jie2],班[ban1],趟[tang4] |
| 窗 | chuāng | old variant of 窗[chuang1]; variant of 窗[chuang1]; window; CL:扇[shan4] |
| 外 | wài | outside; in addition; foreign; external |
| 一直 | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line); continuously; always; all the way through |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 肯 | kěn | old variant of 肯[ken3]; to agree; to consent; to be willing to |
| 尼 | ní | Buddhist nun; (often used in phonetic spellings) |
| 亚 | Yà | Asia; Asian; Taiwan pr. [Ya3] |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 天空 | tiān kōng | sky |
| 多星 | duō xīng | starry |
| 星 | xīng | star; heavenly body; satellite; small amount |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 那么 | nà me | like that; in that way; to that extent; (before a number) ... or so; about ...; then; in that case |
| 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- |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 黑色 | hēi sè | black |
| 冰岛 | Bīng dǎo | Iceland |
| 天上 | tiān shàng | the sky; the heavens |
| 绿色 | lu:4 sè | green |
| 光 | guāng | light; ray (CL:道[dao4]); bright; shiny; only; merely; used up; finished; to leave (a part of the body) uncovered |
| 这些 | zhè xiē | these |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak; to say; to talk; to gossip; to tell stories; talk; word |
| 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.) |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 关 | Guān | surname Guan |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 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) |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 时间 | shí jiān | (concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 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) |
Under Grandma’s bed there was an old wooden box. The little granddaughter knew about that box, but Grandma never opened it.
One day, the little granddaughter asked, “Grandma, what’s inside the box?”
Grandma smiled, pulled the box out, and slowly opened it. Inside were many small things.
She took out a small yellow stone. “This is from Egypt. There are very ancient pyramids there. The sand is very hot, and the sun is very strong.”
She took out a red leaf, already dried, but the color was still very pretty. “This is from Canada. In autumn the trees all turn red, it’s very beautiful. But it’s very cold.”
She took out a small seashell. “This is from Thailand. The sea water is very blue and clear, you can see the seabed. The people there are always smiling.”
She took out an old train ticket. “This is from India. I rode the train for two days. It was very slow, but there was always something to see outside the window.”
She took out a little wooden figure. “This is from Kenya. The night sky has many, many stars. I had never seen so many.”
She took out the last thing—a smooth, small black stone. “This is from Iceland. It’s very cold, with no trees. But at night there are green lights in the sky.”
The little granddaughter looked at these things and said nothing.
“Grandma, which place do you like best?” she asked.
Grandma closed the box and thought for a long time.
“Here,” she said. “Because you are here.”