What can a barber learn from fifty years of cutting hair? Turns out, quite a lot about human nature.
李师傅是一个理发师。他今年七十岁了。他从二十岁开始剪头发,已经五十年了。
他的店很小。门口有一个旧的红白蓝的灯。窗户上写着三个字:”李师傅”。
客人坐下,李师傅就开始剪。他不问”你要什么样的”。他看一看,就知道了。
“你最近忙吗?”他会问。
或者:”你妈妈好吗?”
或者,他什么都不问。只是剪。
很多客人三十年前就来这里。现在他们带自己的儿子来。有的还带孙子来。
“李师傅,”一个老客人说,”五十年了。你看了多少人?”
李师傅笑了。”我没数过。”
“你学到了什么?”
李师傅想了想。
“我学到,”他说,”人很简单。”
“简单?”
“对。年轻人想变好看。中年人想变年轻。老年人——”
他停了一下。
“老年人只想有人听他们说话。”
老客人笑了,但是眼睛有一点湿。
“那你呢,李师傅?你想什么?”
李师傅看看自己的手。这双手剪了五十年的头发。
“我?”他说,”我想——明天还有客人来。”
外面,红白蓝的灯慢慢地转。
里面,李师傅又拿起了剪刀。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 理发师 | lǐfàshī | barber |
| 门口 | ménkǒu | entrance/doorway |
| 客人 | kèrén | customer/guest |
| 孙子 | sūnzi | grandson |
| 简单 | jiǎndān | simple |
| 年轻 | niánqīng | young |
| 中年 | zhōngnián | middle-aged |
| 剪刀 | jiǎndāo | scissors |
| 湿 | shī | wet/moist |
| 李 | lí | plum; surname Li |
| 师 | Shī | surname Shi |
| 傅 | Fù | surname Fu |
| 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] |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 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]) |
| 今年 | jīn nián | this year |
| 七十 | qī shí | seventy; 70 |
| 岁 | suì | variant of 歲|岁[sui4], year; years old; classifier for years (of age); year; year (of crop harvests) |
| 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 |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 二十 | èr shí | twenty; 20 |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin; to start; beginning; start |
| 剪 | Jiǎn | surname Jian |
| 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] |
| 发 | fā | to send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; to make a bundle of money; classifier for gunshots (rounds); hair; Taiwan pr. [fa3] |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 五十 | wǔ shí | fifty |
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; grain; harvest (old); variant of 年[nian2] |
| 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… |
| 店 | diàn | inn; old-style hotel (CL:家[jia1]); (bound form) shop; store |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 旧 | jìu | old; opposite: new 新; former; worn (with age) |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 白 | Bái | surname Bai; Bai ethnic group |
| 蓝 | Lán | surname Lan |
| 灯 | dēng | lamp; light; lantern; CL:盞|盏[zhan3] |
| 窗户 | chuāng hu | window; CL:個|个[ge4],扇[shan4] |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 写 | xiě | to write |
| 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 |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 字 | zì | letter; symbol; character; word; CL:個|个[ge4]; courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China |
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 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… |
| 不问 | bù wèn | to pay no attention to; to disregard; to ignore; to let go unpunished; to let off |
| 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.) |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 看一看 | kàn yī kàn | to have a look |
| 知道了 | zhī dào le | OK!; Got it! |
| 最近 | zuì jìn | recently; soon; nearest |
| 忙 | máng | busy; hurriedly; to hurry; to rush |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 或者 | huò zhě | or; possibly; maybe; perhaps |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] |
| 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); (… |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 只是 | zhǐ shì | merely; only; just; nothing but; simply; but; however |
| 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- |
| 三十 | sān shí | thirty; 30 |
| 年前 | nián qián | by the end of the year; at the end of the year; shortly before New Year |
| 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… |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 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) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 带 | dài | band; belt; girdle; ribbon; tire; area; zone; region; CL:條|条[tiao2]; to wear; to carry; to take along; to bear (i.e. to have); to lead; to bring; to look after; to raise |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 儿子 | ér zi | son |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...); some (exist) |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 老客 | lǎo kè | peddler; old or regular customer |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 多少 | duō shǎo | number; amount; somewhat |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 数 | shǔ | to count; to count as; to regard as; to enumerate; to list |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 学到 | xué dào | to learn (sth); to learn about |
| 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) |
| 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… |
| 年轻人 | nián qīng rén | young people; youngster |
| 变 | biàn | to change; to become different; to transform; to vary; rebellion |
| 好看 | hǎo kàn | good-looking; nice-looking; (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good; in an embarrassing situation |
| 老年人 | lǎo nián rén | old people; the elderly |
| 停 | tíng | to stop; to halt; to park (a car) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people; anyone; there is someone there; occupied (as in restroom) |
| 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… |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak; to say; to talk; to gossip; to tell stories; talk; word |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 眼睛 | yǎn jing | eye; CL:隻|只[zhi1],雙|双[shuang1] |
| 有一点 | yǒu yī diǎn | a little; somewhat |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 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… |
| 看看 | kàn kan | to take a look at; to examine; to survey; (coll.) pretty soon |
| 手 | shǒu | hand; (formal) to hold; person engaged in certain types of work; person skilled in certain types of work; personal(ly); convenient; classifier for skill; CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1] |
| 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) |
| 双手 | shuāng shǒu | both hands |
| 明天 | míng tiān | tomorrow |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 外面 | wài miàn | outside (also pr. [wai4 mian5] for this sense); surface; exterior; external appearance |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 转 | zhuǎi | see 轉文|转文[zhuai3 wen2] |
| 里面 | lǐ miàn | variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 拿起 | ná qǐ | to pick up |
Master Li is a barber. He is seventy years old this year. He started cutting hair at twenty, and it has already been fifty years.
His shop is very small. At the entrance, there is an old red, white, and blue lamp. On the window are written three characters: ‘Master Li.’
When a customer sits down, Master Li starts cutting. He doesn’t ask ‘What style do you want?’ He takes a look, and he knows.
‘Have you been busy lately?’ he would ask.
Or: ‘How is your mother?’
Or, he doesn’t ask anything at all. Just cuts.
Many customers started coming here thirty years ago. Now they bring their own sons. Some even bring their grandsons.
‘Master Li,’ an old customer said, ‘Fifty years. How many people have you seen?’
Master Li smiled. ‘I’ve never counted.’
‘What have you learned?’
Master Li thought for a moment.
‘I’ve learned,’ he said, ‘that people are simple.’
‘Simple?’
‘Yes. Young people want to look better. Middle-aged people want to look younger. Old people—’
He paused for a moment.
‘Old people just want someone to listen to them talk.’
The old customer laughed, but his eyes were a little wet.
‘What about you, Master Li? What do you want?’
Master Li looked at his own hands. These hands had cut hair for fifty years.
‘Me?’ he said, ‘I want—customers to still come tomorrow.’
Outside, the red, white, and blue lamp slowly turns.
Inside, Master Li picked up the scissors again.