I apologize for not posting a month or so, I’ve been in the process of – ta da – moving back to China, so life’s been exciting but busy. On the upside, looks like I’ll have some interesting new posts from here. But today, in place of something interesting, we’ve got a slightly insipid story […]
一只白鹭在浅浅的池水中站着。
一只小刺猬走过，他说: “天哪，这只白鹭怎么没有脑袋！”
“真的！”一只小鼹鼠也叫了起来，“没有脑袋的鸟，我第一次看到!”
“假如我没有了脑袋就不能活了！”小刺猬说。
“是啊，可这只鸟还能站着不动，真了不起!”小鼹鼠说。
这时，白鹭从她那翅膀底下，伸出了长脖子，长脖子上长着一颗好短短的脑袋。
白鹭笑着说: “我是把脑袋钻进翅膀底下，梳理梳理羽毛，我怎么是没有脑袋的鸟呢?”
小刺猬和小鼹鼠都笑了，他们说:
“是我们没有用脑袋好好想一想，对不起，白鹭姐姐！”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 白 | Bái | surname Bai; Bai ethnic group |
| 鹭 | ||
| 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) |
| 浅 | jiān | sound of moving water |
| 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… |
| 池 | Chí | surname Chi |
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; Shui ethnic group |
| 中站 | Zhōng zhàn | see 中站區|中站区[Zhong1 zhan4 Qu1] |
| 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 |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 刺 | cī | (onom.) whoosh |
| 猬 | ||
| 走过 | zǒu guò | to walk past; to pass by |
| 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]) |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which |
| 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) |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 脑袋 | nǎo dai | head; skull; brains; mental capability; CL:顆|颗[ke1],個|个[ge4] |
| 真的 | zhēn de | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine; (math.) proper |
| 鼹鼠 | yǎn shǔ | mole (zoology) |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 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 |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to raise; to get up; to set out; to start; to appear; to launch; to initiate (action); to draft; to establish; to get (from a depot or counter); verb suffix, to start; sta… |
| 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… |
| 鸟 | diǎo | variant of 屌[diao3]; penis |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 一次 | yī cì | first; first time; once; (math.) linear (of degree one) |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 假 | gēi | used in 假掰[gei1 bai1]; to borrow (variant of 假[jia3]) |
| 如 | rú | as; as if; such as |
| 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 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 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] |
| 啊 | ā | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh! |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 站 | zhàn | station; to stand; to halt; to stop; branch of a company or organization; website |
| 不动 | bù dòng | motionless |
| 真 | zhēn | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine |
| 了不起 | liǎo bu qǐ | amazing; terrific; extraordinary |
| 这时 | zhè shí | at this time; at this moment |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 翅 | chì | variant of 翅[chi4]; (bound form) wing (of a bird or insect) |
| 膀 | báng | upper arm |
| 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 … |
| 伸 | shen | to stretch |
| 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) |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 脖 | bō | neck |
| 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… |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 颗 | ke | classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc |
| 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); (… |
| 短 | duǎn | short; brief; to lack; weak point; fault |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 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… |
| 钻 | zuan | to drill; to bore; to get into (zuan4); a drill; diamond (zuan1) |
| 进 | jìn | to go forward; to advance; to go in; to enter; to put in; to submit; to take in; to admit; (math.) base of a number system; classifier for sections in a building or residential com… |
| 梳 | shu | to comb |
| 理 | lǐ | texture; grain (of wood); inner essence; intrinsic order; reason; logic; truth; science; natural science (esp. physics); to manage; to pay attention to; to run (affairs); to handle… |
| 羽毛 | yǔ máo | feather; plumage; plume |
| 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… |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 用脑 | yòng nǎo | to undertake mental work |
| 袋 | dài | pouch; bag; sack; pocket |
| 好好 | hǎo hǎo | in perfectly good condition; perfectly all right; well; thoroughly; carefully; properly |
| 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) |
| 对不起 | duì bu qǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 姐 | jiě | older sister |
An egret stood in the middle of a shallow pond.
A hedgehog walked up and said, “Goodness gracious! Somehow, that egret has no head!”
“Really!” a little mole also cried out, “This is the first time I’ve seen a bird without a head!”
“If I didn’t have a head, I wouldn’t be able to live!” the little hedgehog said.
“Yes, but this bird can still stand there not moving, how very impressive!”
At this time, from beneath her wing the egret stretched out a long neck, and on top of that long neck grew a very short head.
Smiling, the egret said, “I had my head tucked beneath my wing to comb out my feathers, how could I be a bird with no head?”
The little hedgehog and the little mole smiled, and they said:
“It was us that weren’t using our heads, sorry Sister Egret!”