The moral of this short story, of course, is that faith burns more brightly the more people share it with each other.
一位信徒经常不去参加教会的活动，牧师前去拜访他。时值冬日，天气十分寒冷。牧师和信徒坐在温暖的火炉旁，牧师劝说那位信徒应该每个礼拜与其他的教徒相聚，但是他认为并不一定非要如此。
牧师拿起火炉边的钳子，把火炉上的煤炭一块一块地分离开来，很快，火红的炭块便暗淡了下来，两个人也不再感觉温暖。
那个信徒似乎也明白了牧师的意思，接受了牧师的请求。
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 … |
| 位 | wèi | position; location; place; seat; classifier for people (honorific); classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes); (physics) potential |
| 信 | xìn | letter; mail; CL:封[feng1]; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random |
| 徒 | tū | disciple; apprentice; follower; on foot; in vain; only |
| 经常 | jīng cháng | frequently; constantly; regularly; often; day-to-day; everyday; daily |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 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);… |
| 参加 | cān jiā | to participate; to take part; to join |
| 教会 | jiāo huì | to show; to teach |
| 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… |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 动 | dòng | (of sth) to move; to set in movement; to displace; to touch; to make use of; to stir (emotions); to alter; abbr. for 動詞|动词[dong4 ci2], verb |
| 牧 | Mù | surname Mu |
| 师 | Shī | surname Shi |
| 前 | qián | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly |
| 拜 | bǎi | to bow to; to pay one's respects; to make a courtesy call; to acknowledge sb as one's (master, godfather etc) |
| 访 | fǎng | (bound form) to seek by inquiry; (bound form) to visit; to call on |
| 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]) |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 值 | zhī | value; to happen to |
| 冬日 | dōng rì | wintertime |
| 天气 | tiān qì | weather |
| 十分 | shí fēn | very; completely; utterly; extremely; absolutely; hundred percent; to divide into ten equal parts |
| 寒冷 | hán lěng | cold (climate); frigid; very cold |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 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) |
| 温 | wen | warm; temperate; temperature; to warm up; to review; surname Wen |
| 暖 | nuǎn | old variant of 暖[nuan3]; warm; to warm; variant of 暖[nuan3]; variant of 暖[nuan3], warm |
| 火炉 | huǒ lú | stove |
| 旁 | páng | one side; other; different; lateral component of a Chinese character (such as 刂[dao1], 亻[ren2] etc) |
| 劝说 | quàn shuō | to persuade; persuasion; to advise |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 应 | Yīng | surname Ying; Taiwan pr. [Ying4] |
| 该 | gāi | should; ought to; probably; must be; to deserve; to owe; to be sb's turn to do sth; that; the above-mentioned |
| 每个 | měi gè | each; every |
| 礼 | Lǐ | surname Li; abbr. for 禮記|礼记[Li3 ji4], Classic of Rites |
| 与其 | yǔ qí | rather than... (used in expressions of the form 與其|与其[yu3 qi2] + {verb1} + 不如[bu4 ru2] + {verb2} "rather than {verb1}, better to {verb2}") |
| 教 | Jiào | surname Jiao |
| 相 | Xiāng | surname Xiang |
| 聚 | jǔ | to assemble; to gather (transitive or intransitive) |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 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] |
| 认为 | rèn wéi | to believe; to think; to consider; to feel |
| 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] |
| 不一定 | bù yī dìng | not necessarily; maybe |
| 非要 | fēi yào | to want absolutely; to insist on (doing sth) |
| 如此 | rú cǐ | like this; so; such |
| 拿起 | ná qǐ | to pick up |
| 边 | biān | side; edge; margin; border; boundary; CL:個|个[ge4]; simultaneously |
| 钳 | ||
| 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… |
| 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… |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 煤 | mēi | coal |
| 炭 | tǎn | wood charcoal |
| 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… |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 分离 | fēn lí | to separate |
| 开 | kāi | to open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on; to put in operation; to operate; to run; to boil; to write out (a prescription, check, … |
| 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… |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 火红 | huǒ hóng | fiery; blazing |
| 块 | kuài | lump; chunk; piece; classifier for pieces of cloth, cake, soap etc; (coll.) classifier for money and currency units |
| 便 | biàn | plain; informal; suitable; convenient; opportune; to urinate or defecate; equivalent to 就[jiu4]: then; in that case; even if; soon afterwards |
| 暗 | àn | variant of 暗[an4]; dark; to turn dark; secret; hidden; (literary) confused; ignorant; (literary) to close (a door); to eclipse; confused; ignorant (variant of 暗[an4]); dark (variant of 暗[an4]) |
| 淡 | dǎn | insipid; weak; light in color; indifferent |
| 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 |
| 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 … |
| 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) |
| 个人 | gè rén | an individual; oneself; (attributive) personal; one's own |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 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… |
| 感 | gǎn | to feel; to move; to touch; to affect; feeling; emotion; (suffix) sense of ~ |
| 觉 | jiào | a nap; a sleep; CL:場|场[chang2] |
| 那个 | nà ge | that one; that thing; that (as opposed to this); (used before a verb or adjective for emphasis); (used to humorously or indirectly refer to sth embarrassing, funny etc, or when one… |
| 似 | shǐ | used in 似的[shi4 de5] |
| 乎 | hu | (classical particle similar to 於|于[yu2]) in; from; than |
| 明白 | míng bai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable; to understand; to realize |
| 意思 | yì si | idea; opinion; meaning; wish; desire; interest; fun; token of appreciation, affection etc; CL:個|个[ge4]; to give as a small token; to do sth as a gesture of goodwill etc |
| 接受 | jiē shòu | to accept (a suggestion, punishment, bribe etc); to acquiesce |
| 请 | qǐng | to ask; to invite; please (do sth); to treat (to a meal etc); to request |
| 求 | qíu | to seek; to look for; to request; to demand; to beseech |
A religious disciple did not often attend church activities, so the priest went to visit him. It was winter and the weather was very cold. The priest and the disciple sat by the warm fire. The priest urged the disciple to go meet with other disciples every week, but the disciple didn’t think that was really necessary.
So the priest picked up the tongs beside the stove and separated the coals on the stove one by one. Soon, the red coals dimmed, and the two men [sitting by the fire] were no longer warm.
The disciple then seemed to understand what the priest meant, and became receptive to the pastor’s request.