A very sweet story about an old tree who sacrifices himself for the animals of the forest.
大树公公 很久很久以前，在一片大森林里，生长着一棵大树。大森林里的小动物们都喜欢在大树下唱歌跳舞玩游戏。大家都叫他：”大树公公”。
那时候，小动物们都没有耳朵，听不到风声雨声，听不到欢歌笑语，也听不到彼此的呼唤。
看着小动物们天真无邪的笑脸，大树公公非常着急，他想了九天九夜，忽然想到了自己满身的树叶儿。要是把它们送给小动物们当耳朵，不是一件很好的事情吗？
风阿姨看出了大树公公的心事，她对大树公公说：”不能这样做，把身上的树叶儿都摘掉，你会有生命危险的。” [HARD PART] 雨婆婆知道了大树公公的想法，她对大树公公说：”树叶儿是你生命中重要的组成部分，你要用叶绿素进行光合作用，制造养料。失去树叶儿，就等于失去了自己的生命。” 大树公公笑着说：”你们不要劝我，只要小动物们能拥有两只可以听到各种美妙声音的耳朵，我愿意付出自己的一切。”
就这样，大树公公摘下了他身上的一片片树叶儿，送给每一个小动物。
大象得到了两片大大的树叶儿，他有了两只大大的耳朵。小老鼠得到了两片小小的树叶儿，他有了两只小小的耳朵。小白兔、小松鼠、小胖猪、所有的`小动物，都有了两只可以听到各种声音的小耳朵。
就在大树公公摘下他身上的最后一片树叶儿，就要失去绿色生命的时候，小动物们都哭了。小动物们的眼泪浸湿了大树公公身上所有的枝条。枝条们纷纷落在地上，生根发芽，变成了一棵棵绿色的小树苗。
大树公公微笑着，慢慢溶入了他脚下的土地。
后来，那些小树苗长成了一棵棵枝繁叶茂的大树，一棵棵大树又组成一片大大的森林。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 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) |
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 公公 | gōng gong | husband's father; father-in-law; grandpa; grandad; (old) form of address for a eunuch |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 久 | jǐu | (of a period of time) long |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous; ago |
| 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) |
| 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 … |
| 片 | piān | disk; sheet |
| 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 |
| 生长 | shēng zhǎng | to grow; to grow up; to be brought up |
| 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 |
| 棵 | kē | classifier for trees, cabbages, plants etc |
| 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… |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 动物 | dòng wù | animal |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 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 … |
| 唱歌 | chàng gē | to sing a song |
| 跳舞 | tiào wǔ | to dance |
| 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] |
| 游 | Yóu | surname You; to walk; to tour; to roam; to travel |
| 戏 | xì | variant of 戲|戏[xi4]; trick; drama; play; show; CL:齣|出[chu1],場|场[chang3],臺|台[tai2] |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 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]) |
| 那时 | nà shí | then; at that time; in those days |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 耳 | ěr | ear; handle (archaeology); and that is all (Classical Chinese) |
| 朵 | duó | flower; fig. item on both sides |
| 听不到 | tīng bu dào | can't hear |
| 风声 | fēng shēng | sound of the wind; rumor; talk; news; reputation |
| 雨声 | yǔ shēng | sound of rain |
| 欢 | huān | variant of 歡|欢[huan1]; joyous; happy; pleased; hubbub; clamor; variant of 歡|欢[huan1]; a breed of horse; variant of 歡|欢[huan1] |
| 歌 | gē | song (CL:首[shou3],支[zhi1]); (bound form) to sing; variant of 歌[ge1] |
| 笑语 | xiào yǔ | talking and laughing; cheerful talk |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 彼此 | bǐ cǐ | each other; one another |
| 呼 | hu | to call; to shout; to exhale |
| 唤 | huǎn | to call |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 天真 | tiān zhēn | naive; innocent; artless |
| 无邪 | wú xié | without guilt |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 脸 | liǎn | face; CL:張|张[zhang1],個|个[ge4] |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really; unusual; extraordinary |
| 着急 | zháo jí | to worry; to feel anxious; to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry; Taiwan pr. [zhao1ji2] |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 九天 | jǐu tiān | the ninth heaven; the highest of the heavens |
| 九 | jǐu | nine; 9 |
| 夜 | yè | variant of 夜[ye4]; night |
| 忽然 | hū rán | suddenly; all of a sudden |
| 想到 | xiǎng dào | to think of; to call to mind; to anticipate |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 满 | Mǎn | Manchu ethnic group |
| 身 | shēn | body; life; oneself; personally; one's morality and conduct; the main part of a structure or body; pregnant; classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset; Kangxi radical 158 |
| 树叶 | shù yè | tree leaves |
| 儿 | ér | child; son |
| 要是 | yào shi | (coll.) if |
| 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… |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 送 | sòng | to send; to deliver; to transmit; to give (as a present); to see (sb) off; to accompany; to go along with |
| 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) |
| 当 | dāng | (onom.) dong; ding dong (bell); to be; to act as; manage; withstand; when; during; ought; should; match equally; equal; same; obstruct; just at (a time or place); on the spot; right; just at |
| 不是 | bù shì | no; is not; not |
| 件 | jiàn | item; component; classifier for events, things, clothes 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); (… |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
| 风 | fēng | wind; news; style; custom; manner; CL:陣|阵[zhen4],絲|丝[si1] |
| 阿 | ā | prefix used before monosyllabic names, kinship terms etc to indicate familiarity; used in transliteration; (bound form) Afghanistan (abbr. for 阿富汗[A1 fu4 han4]); (bound form) Alban… |
| 姨 | yī | mother's sister |
| 看出 | kàn chū | to make out; to see |
| 心事 | xīn shì | a load on one's mind; worry; CL:宗[zong1],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 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… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 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) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 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… |
| 身上 | shēn shang | on the body; at hand; among |
| 摘 | zhāi | to take; to pick (flowers, fruit etc); to pluck; to remove; to take off (glasses, hat etc); to select; to pick out; to borrow money at a time of urgent need |
| 掉 | diào | to fall; to drop; to lag behind; to lose; to go missing; to reduce; fall (in prices); to lose (value, weight etc); to wag; to swing; to turn; to change; to exchange; to swap; to sh… |
| 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.) |
| 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… |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 生 | shēng | to grow; to give birth; to produce; to be born; to arise; to occur; to light (a fire); to live; to be alive; life; raw; uncooked; unprocessed; unfamiliar; strange; (bound form) stu… |
| 命 | mǐng | life; order or command |
| 危险 | wēi xiǎn | danger; dangerous |
| 雨 | yǔ | rain; CL:陣|阵[zhen4],場|场[chang2] |
| 婆 | pō | (bound form) grandmother; (bound form) mother-in-law |
| 知道了 | zhī dào le | OK!; Got it! |
| 法 | fǎ | variant of 法[fa3]; France; French; abbr. for 法國|法国[Fa3 guo2]; Taiwan pr. [Fa4]; old variant of 法[fa3]; law |
| 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] |
| 中 | Zhōng | (bound form) China; Chinese; surname Zhong |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
| 组成 | zǔ chéng | to form; to make up; to constitute |
| 部分 | bù fen | part; portion; piece; Taiwan pr. [bu4fen4] |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 叶绿素 | yè lu:4 sù | chlorophyll |
| 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… |
| 光 | guāng | light; ray (CL:道[dao4]); bright; shiny; only; merely; used up; finished; to leave (a part of the body) uncovered |
| 合 | gě | 100 ml; one-tenth of a peck; measure for dry grain equal to one-tenth of sheng 升 or liter, or one-hundredth dou 斗; variant of 合[he2] |
| 作用 | zuò yòng | to act on; to affect; action; function; activity; impact; result; effect; purpose; intent; (suffix) -ation, -tion etc, as in 抑制作用[yi4 zhi4 zuo4 yong4], inhibition |
| 制 | zhì | system; to control; to regulate; variant of 製|制[zhi4]; to manufacture; to make |
| 造 | zǎo | to make; to manufacture; to fabricate; party (in a lawsuit or legal agreement); classifier for crops |
| 养料 | yǎng liào | nutriment; nourishment |
| 失 | shī | to lose; to miss; to fail |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 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… |
| 等于 | děng yú | to equal; to be tantamount to |
| 不要 | bù yào | don't!; must not |
| 劝 | quàn | to advise; to urge; to try to persuade; to exhort; to console; to soothe |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 只要 | zhǐ yào | so long as; provided; if |
| 拥有 | yōng yǒu | to have; to possess; to own |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 听到 | tīng dào | to hear |
| 各种 | gè zhǒng | every kind of; all kinds of; various |
| 美妙 | měi miào | beautiful; wonderful; splendid |
| 声音 | shēng yīn | sound; voice |
| 愿 | yuàn | honest and prudent; variant of 願|愿[yuan4]; (bound form) wish; hope; desire; to be willing; to wish (that sth may happen); may ...; vow; pledge |
| 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]) |
| 付 | Fù | surname Fu |
| 出自 | chū zì | to come from |
| 己 | jǐ | self; oneself; sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]; sixth in order; letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc; hexa |
| 一切 | yī qiè | everything; every; all |
| 摘下 | zhāi xià | to take off; to remove (one's hat, a door from its hinges etc); to pick (a piece of fruit from a tree etc); (sports) to pick off (a rebound etc) |
| 每 | měi | each; every |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 大象 | dà xiàng | elephant; CL:頭|头[tou2] |
| 得到 | dé dào | to get; to obtain; to receive |
| 大大 | dà dà | greatly; enormously; (dialect) dad; uncle |
| 有了 | yǒu le | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven (abbr. for 有了胎[you3 le5 tai1]) |
| 小老鼠 | xiǎo lǎo shǔ | @; at symbol |
| 小小 | xiǎo xiǎo | very small; very few; very minor |
| 小白兔 | xiǎo bái tù | small white rabbit; (fig.) innocent and naive person; (fig.) (slang) breast |
| 松鼠 | sōng shǔ | squirrel |
| 胖 | pǎng | healthy |
| 猪 | zhū | hog; pig; swine; CL:口[kou3],頭|头[tou2] |
| 所有 | suǒ yǒu | all; to have; to possess; to own |
| 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- |
| 就要 | jìu yào | will; shall; to be going to |
| 绿色 | lu:4 sè | green |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 哭 | kū | to cry; to weep |
| 眼 | yǎn | eye (CL:隻|只[zhi1],雙|双[shuang1]); (often used with 一[yi1]) a look; a glance; small hole; (bound form) salient point; classifier for wells, cave-dwellings etc |
| 泪 | lěi | (bound form) tears; teardrops |
| 浸 | jǐn | to immerse; to steep |
| 湿 | shi | wet; moist; damp |
| 枝条 | zhī tiáo | branch; twig; stem |
| 纷 | fen | numerous; disorderly |
| 落 | là | to leave out; to be missing; to leave behind or forget to bring; to lag or fall behind |
| 地上 | dì shang | on the ground; on the floor |
| 根 | gēn | root; basis; classifier for long slender objects, e.g. cigarettes, guitar strings; CL:條|条[tiao2]; radical (chemistry) |
| 发芽 | fā yá | (of a seed) to germinate; (of a plant) to sprout; to bud; (fig.) (of an idea or plan etc) to start to develop |
| 变成 | biàn chéng | to change into; to turn into; to become |
| 小树 | xiǎo shù | shrub; small tree; sapling; CL:棵[ke1] |
| 苗 | Miáo | surname Miao; Miao ethnic group |
| 微笑 | wēi xiào | smile; CL:個|个[ge4],絲|丝[si1]; to smile |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 溶 | ||
| 入 | rù | to enter; to go into; to join; to become a member of; (bound form) to conform to (as in 入時|入时[ru4 shi2]); abbr. for 入聲|入声[ru4 sheng1]; (on product packaging, after {number n} + {cl… |
| 脚 | jiǎo | foot; leg (of an animal or an object); base (of an object); CL:雙|双[shuang1],隻|只[zhi1]; classifier for kicks |
| 土地 | tǔ dì | land; soil; territory; CL:片[pian4],塊|块[kuai4] |
| 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… |
| 那些 | nà xiē | those |
| 长成 | zhǎng chéng | to grow up |
| 枝 | zhī | branch; classifier for sticks, rods, pencils etc |
| 繁 | fán | old variant of 繁[fan2]; surname Po |
| 叶 | xié | to be in harmony; surname Ye |
| 茂 | mào | luxuriant; (chemistry) cyclopentadiene |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
Long, long ago, in a forest, there grew a big tree. All the little animals in the forest all liked to sing and dance and play beneath it. Everyone called it: “Grandfather Tree”.
At that time, little animals had no ears, they couldn’t hear the wind or the rain, they couldn’t hear happy songs or the sound of laughter, and they couldn’t hear each other’s calls.
Seeing the little animals’ innocent faces, Grandpa Tree was very worried, he thought for nine days and nine nights, and suddenly thought of the leaves that covered his own body. If he took them and gave them to the small animals to use as ears, wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?
Auntie Wind saw what Grandpa Tree was thinking, and she said to Grandpa Tree: “You can’t do that, if you pluck off all the leaves on your body, your life will be in danger.” [HARD PART] Grandma Rain knew about Grandpa Tree’s idea, and she said to Grandpa Tree: “Leaves make up an important component of your life, you must use the chlorophyll in leaves to conduct photosynthesis, and create nourishment. If you lose your leaves, it’s equal to losing your life.”
Smiling, Grandpa Tree said: “[Now] you [two] don’t push me, as long as the little animals [each] have two ears that can hear all kinds of wonderful sounds, I’m willing to give my all.”
And so, Grandpa Tree plucked off each leaf on his body, and gave them to every animal.
The elephant received two big leaves, and he had two big ears. The mouse received two little leaves, and he had two little ears. The white rabbit, the squirrel, the fat pig, and all the little animals all had two ears that could hear all kinds of sounds.
Just as Grandpa Tree plucked off the last leaf on his body, and was about to lose his green life, the little animals all cried. The animals’ tears moistened the branches on Grandpa Tree’s body. As the branches fell to the ground, they sprouted, and became many green tree shoots.
Grandpa Tree smiled slightly, and slowly dissolved into the earth at his feet.
Later, those tree shoots grew into a verdant big trees, and those big trees became a huge forest.