A fairly simple read for newbies about a self-hating rabbit.
森林里住着一只小兔子，它叫“丑丑”。它的眼睛红红的，像一对红宝石。可是它的毛灰灰的，像是从灰炉里钻出来似的，它觉得自己太丑了，常常一个人躲在家里。
虽然它长得不好看，但是它有一颗无比善良的心。小猴子乐乐的家被大水冲垮了，无家可归。丑丑就让乐乐住在自己的家，还把自己最喜欢吃的巧克力分给乐乐吃。不仅如此，谁头痛、生病了，没钱买药，它都会尽其所能进行帮助。
日子一天天过去了，丑丑还是很孤单。一次，森林里最好看的小兔子美美来找它玩，可丑丑觉得自己太丑了，没脸见它。美美告诉丑丑：“人的外表并不重要，重要的是内在美。”丑丑恍然大悟，它跑了出去，和伙伴们一起尽情地玩耍。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 森林 | sēn lín | forest; CL:片[pian4] |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 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 | 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 … |
| 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 |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 兔子 | tù zi | hare; rabbit; CL:隻|只[zhi1] |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 丑 | Chǒu | surname Chou; shameful; ugly; disgraceful |
| 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… |
| 眼睛 | yǎn jing | eye; CL:隻|只[zhi1],雙|双[shuang1] |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 一对 | yī duì | couple; pair |
| 红宝石 | hóng bǎo shí | ruby |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 毛 | Máo | surname Mao |
| 灰 | huī | ash; dust; lime; gray; discouraged; dejected |
| 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] |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 炉 | lú | stove; furnace; variant of 爐|炉[lu2] |
| 钻 | zuan | to drill; to bore; to get into (zuan4); a drill; diamond (zuan1) |
| 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… |
| 似 | shǐ | used in 似的[shi4 de5] |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 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 |
| 常常 | cháng cháng | frequently; often |
| 一个人 | yī gè rén | by oneself (without assistance); alone (without company) |
| 躲 | duǒ | to hide; to dodge; to avoid |
| 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) |
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 虽然 | suī rán | although; even though (often used correlatively with 可是[ke3 shi4] or 但是[dan4 shi4] etc) |
| 长得 | zhǎng de | to look (pretty, the same etc) |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 颗 | ke | classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc |
| 无比 | wú bǐ | incomparable; matchless |
| 善良 | shàn liáng | good and honest; kindhearted |
| 心 | xīn | heart; mind; intention; center; core; CL:顆|颗[ke1],個|个[ge4] |
| 猴 | hōu | monkey |
| 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… |
| 乐 | Lè | surname Le |
| 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… |
| 被 | bèi | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, … |
| 大水 | dà shuǐ | flood |
| 冲 | chong | (of water) to dash against; to infuse; to flush; to rise in the air; to collide with |
| 垮 | kuá | to collapse (lit. or fig.) |
| 无 | mó | used in 南無|南无[na1 mo2] |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 归 | Guī | surname Gui |
| 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… |
| 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]) |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 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… |
| 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") |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 吃的 | chī de | (coll.) food |
| 巧克力 | qiǎo kè lì | (loanword) chocolate; CL:塊|块[kuai4] |
| 分 | fēn | to divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to distinguish (good and bad); (bound form) branch of (an organization); sub- (as in 分局[fen1 ju2]); fraction; one tenth (of cert… |
| 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) |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc); variant of 吃[chi1] |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 仅 | jín | barely; merely |
| 如此 | rú cǐ | like this; so; such |
| 谁 | shéi | who; also pr. [shui2] |
| 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] |
| 痛 | tòng | ache; pain; sorrow; deeply; thoroughly |
| 生病 | shēng bìng | to fall ill |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 药 | yào | leaf of the iris; variant of 藥|药[yao4]; medicine; drug; substance used for a specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, explosion, fermenting); CL:種|种[zhong3],服[fu4],味[wei4]; to poison |
| 都会 | dū huì | city; metropolis |
| 尽 | jǐn | to the greatest extent; (when used before a noun of location) furthest or extreme; to be within the limits of; to give priority to; to use up; to exhaust; to end; to finish; to the utmost; exhausted; finished; to the limit (of sth); all; entirely |
| 其所 | qí suǒ | its place; one's appointed place; the place for that |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 进行 | jìn xíng | (of a process etc) to proceed; to be in progress; to be underway; (of people) to carry out; to conduct (an investigation or discussion etc); (of an army etc) to be on the march; to… |
| 帮助 | bāng zhù | assistance; aid; to help; to assist |
| 日子 | rì zi | day; a (calendar) date; days of one's life |
| 天天 | tiān tiān | every day |
| 过去 | guò qù | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 孤单 | gū dān | lone; lonely; loneliness |
| 一次 | yī cì | first; first time; once; (math.) linear (of degree one) |
| 最好 | zuì hǎo | best; had better ...; it would be best to ... |
| 美 | Měi | (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲[Mei3 zhou1]); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国[Mei3 guo2]) |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change |
| 玩 | wán | to play; to have fun; to trifle with; toy; sth used for amusement; curio or antique (Taiwan pr. [wan4]); to keep sth for entertainment; variant of 玩[wan2]; Taiwan pr. [wan4] |
| 脸 | liǎn | face; CL:張|张[zhang1],個|个[ge4] |
| 见 | jiàn | to see; to meet; to appear (to be sth); to interview; opinion; view |
| 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 |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 外表 | wài biǎo | external; outside; outward appearance |
| 并 | bìng | and; furthermore; also; together with; (not) at all; simultaneously; to combine; to join; to merge; to combine; to amalgamate; short name for Taiyuan 太原[Tai4 yuan2]; variant of 並|并[bing4] |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
| 内 | nèi | inside; inner; internal; within; interior |
| 恍 | huáng | all at once; suddenly; as if (in 恍惚) |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 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) |
| 悟 | wǔ | to comprehend; to become aware |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 出去 | chū qù | to go out |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 伙 | huó | (bound form) meals (as in 伙食[huo3 shi2]) |
| 伴 | bǎn | partner; companion; comrade; associate |
| 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) |
| 尽情 | jìn qíng | as much as one likes |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 玩耍 | wán shuǎ | to play (as children do); to amuse oneself |
In the forest there lived a little rabbit whose name was “Chouchou”. His eyes were red, like a pair of rubies. But his fur was grey, like he’d wiggled out of a furnace, and he felt himself to be very ugly, often hiding in his house alone.
Although he wasn’t nice to look at, he had an incomparably kind heart. When Little Monkey Lele’s home was burst apart by a flood, he had no house to return to. Chouchou let Lele live with him, and he divided up his favorite chocolate to give some to Lele to eat. Not only that, whoever had a headach, or got sick, with no money to buy medicine, he did everything he was able to do to help.
The days passed one by one, and Chouchou was still alone. One time, the forest’s most beautiful rabbit Meimei came looking for Chouchou to play, but Chouchou thought of himself as just too ugly, he couldn’t face seeing her. Meimei told Chouchou: “It’s not what’s on the outside that counts, the important thing is what’s on the inside.” Chouchou suddenly saw the light, he ran outside, and played with his friends to his heart’s content.