A gentleman named Buzi (卜子) asks his wife (卜妻) to make him a new pair of pants (裤子), but he doesn’t give her very clear instructions. HSK 3-4.
从前，住着一个名叫卜子的人。
他平时很不讲究穿着，经常是穿着一身破烂的衣服就出去了。
有一天，他还是和平时一样穿着一条又脏又破的裤子出去了，走到街上，很多人都在看他的破裤子，他自己觉得很难堪，就买一块布头，回到家叫妻子给他做一条新裤子。
卜妻量量尺寸，问他：“这条裤子做成什么式样啊?”
卜子随口回答：“照老样子做吧！”
妻子以为丈夫喜欢那种又脏又破衣服的款式，就想：他是不是觉得穿这种裤子很舒服，而且这一条裤子不够穿，所以叫我再做一条？
卜妻就认认真真地仿照老裤子的模样，这里戳几个破洞，那里抹一摊油，弄得皱皱巴巴、破破烂烂的。花费了不少工夫，总算完成了。
她把裤子放到卜子面前，得意地说：“满意吧?同老裤子一样的样式。”
说话一定要说清楚，尤其是大事情。
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 从前 | cóng qián | previously; formerly; once upon a time |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 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 |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 名叫 | míng jiào | called; named |
| 卜 | Bǔ | surname Bu; used in 蘿蔔|萝卜[luo2 bo5] |
| 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… |
| 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… |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 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]) |
| 平时 | píng shí | ordinarily; in normal times; in peacetime |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 讲 | jiǎng | to speak; to explain; to negotiate; to emphasize; to be particular about; as far as sth is concerned; speech; lecture |
| 究 | jīu | after all; to investigate; to study carefully; Taiwan pr. [jiu4] |
| 穿着 | chuān zhuó | attire; clothes; dress |
| 经常 | jīng cháng | frequently; constantly; regularly; often; day-to-day; everyday; daily |
| 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] |
| 一身 | yī shēn | whole body; from head to toe; single person; a suit of clothes |
| 破 | pò | broken; damaged; worn out; lousy; rotten; to break, split or cleave; to get rid of; to destroy; to break with; to defeat; to capture (a city etc); to expose the truth of |
| 烂 | lǎn | soft; mushy; to rot; to decompose; worn out; utterly; thoroughly |
| 衣服 | yī fu | clothes; CL:件[jian4],套[tao4] |
| 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… |
| 出去 | chū qù | to go out |
| 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 |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 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 |
| 条 | tiáo | strip; item; article; clause (of law or treaty); classifier for long thin things (ribbon, river, road, trousers etc) |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 脏 | zàng | viscera; (anatomy) organ; dirty; filthy; to get (sth) dirty |
| 破的 | pò dì | to hit the target; (fig.) to hit the nail on the head |
| 裤 | kǔ | trousers; pants |
| 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… |
| 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… |
| 街上 | jiē shang | on the street; in town |
| 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- |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 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) |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 难 | nán | difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good |
| 堪 | kan | (bound form) may; can; (in 堪輿|堪舆[kan1 yu2]) heaven (contrasted with earth 輿|舆[yu2]) |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 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… |
| 布 | bù | variant of 布[bu4]; to announce; to spread; cloth; to declare; to announce; to spread; to make known |
| 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] |
| 回到 | huí dào | to return to |
| 家 | jiā | used in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]; home; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc); classifier for families or businesses; refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China; noun suffix for a specialist in some act… |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 妻子 | qī zǐ | wife and children |
| 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) |
| 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… |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 妻 | qī | (bound form) wife |
| 量 | liáng | to measure |
| 量尺寸 | liáng chǐ cùn | to take sb's measurements |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 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) |
| 成 | Chéng | surname Cheng; short name for Chengdu 成都[Cheng2 du1] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 式 | shì | type; form; pattern; style |
| 啊 | ā | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh! |
| 随口 | suí kǒu | (speak) without thinking the matter through |
| 回答 | huí dá | to reply; to answer; reply; answer |
| 照 | zhào | variant of 照[zhao4]; to shine; to illuminate; according to; in accordance with; to shine; to illuminate; to reflect; to look at (one's reflection); to take (a photo); photo; as requested; as before |
| 老 | lǎo | prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerabl… |
| 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] |
| 以为 | yǐ wéi | to think; to believe (often with the implication that the belief is mistaken – unless referring to one's own current belief) |
| 丈 | zhǎng | measure of length, ten Chinese feet (3.3 m); husband |
| 夫 | fū | husband; man; manual worker; conscripted laborer (old) |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 那种 | nà zhǒng | that kind of |
| 款 | kuán | section; funds; classifier for versions or models (of a product) |
| 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) |
| 是不是 | shì bu shì | is or is not (used to form yes-no questions) |
| 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… |
| 这种 | zhè zhǒng | this kind of |
| 舒服 | shū fu | comfortable; feeling well |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 且 | qiě | and; moreover; yet; for the time being; to be about to; both (... and...) |
| 不够 | bù gòu | not enough; insufficient; inadequate |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 再 | zài | again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, an… |
| 认 | rèn | to recognize; to know; to admit |
| 认真 | rèn zhēn | conscientious; earnest; serious; to take seriously; to take to heart |
| 真 | zhēn | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 仿照 | fǎng zhào | to imitate |
| 模 | mō | to imitate; norm |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] |
| 戳 | ||
| 几个 | jǐ ge | a few; several; how many |
| 洞 | dǒng | cave; zero (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers) |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 抹 | mó | to wipe |
| 摊 | tan | to spread out |
| 油 | yóu | oil; fat; grease; petroleum; to apply tung oil, paint or varnish; oily; greasy; glib; cunning |
| 弄 | lòng | lane; alley; old variant of 弄[nong4]; variant of 弄[long4] |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 皱 | zhòu | to wrinkle; wrinkled; to crease |
| 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… |
| 花费 | huā fèi | expense; cost; to spend (time or money); expenditure |
| 不少 | bù shǎo | many; quite a few; a good number of |
| 工夫 | gōng fū | (old) laborer |
| 总 | zǒng | (bound form) general; overall; to sum up; in every case; always; invariably; anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later; surely; (after a person's name) abbr. for 總經理|总经理[zong3… |
| 算 | suàn | to calculate; to figure out; to include; to count in; to count; to be valid; to carry weight; to regard as; to consider (to be ...) |
| 完成 | wán chéng | to complete; to accomplish |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 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… |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) |
| 面前 | miàn qián | in front of; facing; (in the) presence (of) |
| 得意 | dé yì | proud of oneself; pleased with oneself; complacent |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 满 | Mǎn | Manchu ethnic group |
| 意 | yì | (bound form) idea; thought; meaning; sense; (bound form) intention; feeling; inclination; state of mind; (bound form) Italy (abbr. for 意大利[Yi4 da4 li4]) |
| 同 | tóng | like; same; similar; together; alike; with; used in 衚衕|胡同[hu2 tong4] |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak; to say; to talk; to gossip; to tell stories; talk; word |
| 一定 | yī dìng | surely; certainly; definitely; fixed; settled; a certain ...; a given ... |
| 要说 | yào shuō | as for; when it comes to |
| 清 | Qīng | Qing (Wade-Giles: Ch'ing) dynasty of China (1644–1911); surname Qing |
| 楚 | Chǔ | surname Chu; abbr. for Hubei 湖北省[Hu2 bei3 Sheng3] and Hunan 湖南省[Hu2 nan2 Sheng3] provinces together; Chinese kingdom during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods (722–22… |
| 尤其是 | yóu qí shì | especially; most of all; above all; in particular |
| 大事 | dà shì | major event; major political event (war or change of regime); major social event (wedding or funeral); (do sth) in a big way; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 情 | qíng | (bound form) feelings; emotion; sentiment; passion; (bound form) situation; condition |
Long ago, there lived a man named Buzi.
He typically wasn’t meticulous about what he wore, and often went out wearing ragged clothes.
One day, same as usual he went out wearing a pair of dirty, torn pants, but when he walked onto the street, many people were looking at his torn pants, and he felt quite embarrassed, so be bought a piece of cloth, and went back home to ask his wife to make him a new pair of pants.
Buzi’s wife took measurements, asking him: “In what kind of style should the pants be made?”
Buzi casually answered, “Base them on the old style!” [His] wife thought her husband like that kind of dirty, tattered style, so she thought: Does he feel that wearing this kind of pants is comfortable, and feel that one pair isn’t enough, so he asked me to make another?
Buzi’s wife diligently followed the old style, poking a few holes here, smearing some oil there, making them wrinkled and tattered. [After] expending no small amount of effort, they were finally done.
She put the pants in front of Buzi, and pleased with herself said: “Satisfied? The same style as your old pants.”
When speaking you must speak clearly, especially in important matters.