A devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little dense on new vocab with harder sentence structures (suitable around HSK 4-5).
有个农夫信仰基督教，对上帝十分的虔诚。他为人乐善好施，经常资助贫困的人们，还向各个慈善机构捐赠大笔钱款。邻居和亲友们都不明白，他捐赠如此之多的钱财，为何仍然这么富裕？
有一天，邻人问他：“我们不明白，你捐出去那么多的钱，而且频频去施舍，可你怎么却越来越富有呢？
农夫说：“这还不好解释？你看，我用铲子不断地往上帝的仓库里铲，而上帝也不断地往我的仓库里回铲。你想想，我的铲子能有上帝的大吗？”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 农夫 | nóng fū | peasant; farmer |
| 信 | xìn | letter; mail; CL:封[feng1]; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random |
| 仰 | yáng | to look up; to admire; to rely on; to face upward; surname Yang |
| 基 | jī | (bound form) base; foundation; (bound form) radical (chemistry); (bound form) gay (loanword from English into Cantonese, Jyutping: gei1, followed by orthographic borrowing from Can… |
| 督 | du | (bound form) to supervise |
| 教 | Jiào | surname Jiao |
| 对上 | duì shàng | to fit one into the other; to bring two things into contact |
| 帝 | dǐ | (bound form) emperor; sovereign; supreme deity |
| 十分 | shí fēn | very; completely; utterly; extremely; absolutely; hundred percent; to divide into ten equal parts |
| 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… |
| 虔 | ||
| 诚 | chēng | (bound form) sincere; authentic |
| 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]) |
| 为人 | wéi rén | to conduct oneself; behavior; conduct; personal character |
| 乐 | Lè | surname Le |
| 善 | shàn | good (virtuous); benevolent; well-disposed; good at sth; to improve or perfect |
| 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); (… |
| 施 | Shī | surname Shi |
| 经常 | jīng cháng | frequently; constantly; regularly; often; day-to-day; everyday; daily |
| 资助 | zī zhù | to subsidize; to provide financial aid; subsidy |
| 贫 | pīn | poor; deficient |
| 困 | kùn | to trap; to surround; hard-pressed; stranded; destitute; sleepy; tired |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 向 | Xiàng | surname Xiang; to tend toward; to guide; variant of 向[xiang4]; variant of 向[xiang4]; direction; orientation; to face; to turn toward; to; towards; shortly before; formerly |
| 各个 | gè gè | every; various; separately, one by one |
| 慈 | cī | compassionate; merciful; humane |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 构 | gǒu | to reach by stretching |
| 捐 | juan | to relinquish; to abandon; (bound form) tax; levy |
| 赠 | zěng | to give as a present; to bestow an honorary title after death (old) |
| 大笔 | dà bǐ | (formal) (honorific) your writing; your handwriting; pen; calligraphy brush; a large sum of (money) |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 款 | kuán | section; funds; classifier for versions or models (of a product) |
| 邻居 | lín jū | neighbor |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 亲友 | qīn yǒu | friends and relatives |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 不明 | bù míng | not clear; unknown; to fail to understand |
| 白 | Bái | surname Bai; Bai ethnic group |
| 如此 | rú cǐ | like this; so; such |
| 之 | zhī | (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]); him; her; it |
| 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- |
| 钱财 | qián cái | wealth; money |
| 为何 | wèi hé | why |
| 仍 | rēng | still; yet; (literary) frequently; often |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 这么 | zhè me | so much; this much; how much?; this way; like this |
| 富裕 | Fù yù | see 富裕縣|富裕县[Fu4 yu4 Xian4] |
| 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 |
| 邻人 | lín rén | neighbor |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 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.) |
| 出去 | chū qù | to go out |
| 那么 | nà me | like that; in that way; to that extent; (before a number) ... or so; about ...; then; in that case |
| 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...) |
| 频 | pīn | frequency; repetitious |
| 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);… |
| 施舍 | shī shě | to give in charity; to give alms (to the poor) |
| 可 | kě | (prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however |
| 怎 | zěn | how |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 却 | què | old variant of 卻|却[que4]; but; yet; however; while; to go back; to decline; to retreat; nevertheless; even though |
| 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 |
| 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… |
| 富有 | fù yǒu | rich; wealthy; affluent; to be rich in; to be replete with |
| 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… |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 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) |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 解释 | jiě shì | explanation; to explain; to interpret; to resolve; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 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… |
| 铲 | ||
| 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… |
| 不断 | bù duàn | unceasing; uninterrupted; continuous; constant |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 往 | wǎng | to go (in a direction); to; towards; (of a train) bound for; past; previous; old variant of 往[wang3] |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 仓 | cang | barn; storehouse; hold (in ship) |
| 库 | kù | warehouse; storehouse; (file) library |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 回 | Huí | Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); to curve; to return; to revolve; variant of 迴|回[hui2] |
| 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) |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 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) |
| 吗 | má | (coll.) what? |
There was a farmer who believed in Christianity, and was quite devout in the Lord. He was kind and generous to people, often aided the poor financially, and frequently donated large sums of money to charitable organizations.
His neighbors and close friends didn’t understand, he donated so much money, how was he still well-to-do?
One day, his neighbors asked him: “We don’t get it, you give out so much money, and often give to charity, how are you then increasingly wealthy?”
The farmer said: ”Must this be explained? Look, I use a shovel and unceasingly [fill up] God’s storehouse, and God unceasingly shovels into mine in return. Think about it, could my shovel ever be bigger than God’s?”