Huh, learn something new every day. My entire understanding of the postal service comes from Terry Pratchett’s “Going Postal”, so it’s interesting to take a quick look into the [vaguely] factual history of the postage stamp.
1840年，英国发行了世界第一枚邮票。它上面印了英国维多利亚女王的头像。因为这一枚邮票是黑色的，所以有“黑便士”之称。
一百五十多年前的某一天，在英国的一个村子里，来了一辆由马儿拉动的邮车。那个时候，邮车到村里来送信是十分罕见的。所以，村里的人一听见马车声，便立刻从屋子里、田地里冲出来，围在邮车的周围。
邮差走下车，手里高举着一封信，大声喊着: “爱里丝·布朗小姐，有信！”一个姑娘轻声地对邮差说: “我就是爱里丝·布朗。”人们的眼光都不约而同地投向她。
爱里丝接过邮差给她的信，看了一看信封，便把信交还给邮差。“对不起。”她说，“我没有足够的钱付邮费。”
人们都很同情她，不知道该说些什么话。突然间，人群里走出一个绅士模样的人，从口袋里拿出一些钱币，说要替爱里丝付邮费，可是爱里丝并不认识他。
她带着感激的笑容对这位绅士说: “谢谢您的好意，先生，这封信我盼望了很久，可是现在我用不着它了。”
“为什么呢？”那位绅士感到十分奇怪。
“这封信是我的男朋友寄给我的。我们打算明年结婚。他为了筹钱结婚，只得到外地去找工作做。由于我付不起邮费，所以他事先交代我: 在信封上画个叉，是表示他的日子过得很好；画个圆圈，意思是他已经找到工作了。”
“啊！原来这信封里是没有信的。”那位绅士自言自语地说: “这种情形很不合理，必须改善。”
对于这件事情，他想了很久，终于想出了一个好办法。
他向当时的英国政府建议: “邮费应该由寄信的人来付，而且也不应该太昂贵，否则穷人是付不起的。为了大家的方便，我认为寄信的人，用一个便士买一枚邮票，贴在信封上，这样寄出去就可以了。”
结果，英国政府从善如流，接受了他的建议。这位绅士的名字叫罗兰·希尔世界上第一枚邮票就是这样诞生的。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; grain; harvest (old); variant of 年[nian2] |
| 英国 | Yīng guó | United Kingdom (UK); Britain |
| 发行 | fā xíng | to publish; to issue; to release; to distribute |
| 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 |
| 世界 | shì jiè | world |
| 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 | 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 … |
| 枚 | mēi | (classifier for badges, coins, needles); a stalk; to pick |
| 邮 | yóu | post (office); mail |
| 票 | piào | ticket; ballot; banknote; CL:張|张[zhang1]; person held for ransom; amateur performance of Chinese opera; classifier for groups, batches, business transactions |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 上面 | shàng miàn | on top of; above-mentioned; also pr. [shang4 mian5] |
| 印 | Yìn | surname Yin; abbr. for 印度[Yin4 du4], India |
| 维 | Wéi | abbr. for Uyghur 維吾爾|维吾尔[Wei2 wu2 er3]; surname Wei |
| 多利 | Duō lì | Dolly (1996-2003), female sheep, first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell |
| 亚 | Yà | Asia; Asian; Taiwan pr. [Ya3] |
| 女王 | nu:3 wáng | queen |
| 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… |
| 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] |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 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) |
| 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] |
| 黑色 | hēi sè | black |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 黑 | Hēi | short name for Heilongjiang 黑龍江|黑龙江[Hei1 long2 jiang1] |
| 便 | biàn | plain; informal; suitable; convenient; opportune; to urinate or defecate; equivalent to 就[jiu4]: then; in that case; even if; soon afterwards |
| 士 | Shì | surname Shi |
| 之 | zhī | (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]); him; her; it |
| 称 | chèn | to fit; to match; to suit; (coll.) to have; to possess; Taiwan pr. [cheng4] |
| 百 | Bǎi | surname Bai |
| 五十 | wǔ shí | fifty |
| 多年 | duō nián | many years; for many years; longstanding |
| 前 | qián | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly |
| 某 | mǒu | some; a certain; sb or sth indefinite; such-and-such |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 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) |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 村 | cūn | village; (dialect) to scold; rustic; boorish; variant of 村[cun1] |
| 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… |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 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… |
| 辆 | liàng | classifier for vehicles |
| 由 | yóu | to follow; from; because of; due to; by; via; through; (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ... |
| 马 | Mǎ | surname Ma; abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4] |
| 儿 | ér | child; son |
| 拉 | lā | to pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw; to chat; (coll.) to empty one's bowels |
| 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 |
| 车 | Chē | surname Che |
| 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… |
| 时 | shí | old variant of 時|时[shi2]; surname Shi |
| 候 | hòu | to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of five days |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 送 | sòng | to send; to deliver; to transmit; to give (as a present); to see (sb) off; to accompany; to go along with |
| 信 | xìn | letter; mail; CL:封[feng1]; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random |
| 十分 | shí fēn | very; completely; utterly; extremely; absolutely; hundred percent; to divide into ten equal parts |
| 罕 | hán | rare |
| 见 | jiàn | to see; to meet; to appear (to be sth); to interview; opinion; view |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 听见 | tīng jiàn | to hear |
| 马车 | mǎ chē | cart; chariot; carriage; buggy |
| 声 | shēng | sound; voice; tone; noise; reputation; classifier for sounds |
| 立刻 | lì kè | immediately; at once; right away |
| 从 | cóng | variant of 從|从[cong2]; surname Cong |
| 屋子 | wū zi | house; room; CL:間|间[jian1] |
| 田地 | tián dì | field; farmland; cropland; plight; extent |
| 冲 | chong | (of water) to dash against; to infuse; to flush; to rise in the air; to collide with |
| 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) |
| 围 | wéi | to encircle; to surround; all around; to wear by wrapping around (scarf, shawl) |
| 周围 | zhōu wéi | environs; surroundings; periphery |
| 差 | chā | difference; discrepancy; (math.) difference (amount remaining after a subtraction); (literary) a little; somewhat; slightly |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 撤走[che4 zou3]); to change (shape, form… |
| 下车 | xià chē | to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 手里 | shǒu lǐ | in hand; (a situation is) in sb's hands |
| 高 | Gāo | surname Gao |
| 举 | jǔ | variant of 舉|举[ju3]; to lift; to hold up; to cite; to enumerate; to act; to raise; to choose; to elect; act; move; deed |
| 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 |
| 封 | Fēng | surname Feng |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice; loudly |
| 喊 | hǎn | to yell; to shout; to call out for (a person) |
| 爱 | ài | to love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen) |
| 丝 | si | silk; classifier: a trace (of smoke etc), a tiny bit etc |
| 布朗 | Bù lǎng | (name) Brown; Blang ethnic group |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 姐 | jiě | older sister |
| 姑 | gū | paternal aunt; husband's sister; husband's mother (old); nun; for the time being (literary) |
| 娘 | niáng | mother; young lady; (coll.) effeminate; variant of 娘[niang2] |
| 轻声 | qīng shēng | in a quiet voice; softly; (linguistics) neutral tone |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 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] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 就是 | jìu shì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 眼光 | yǎn guāng | gaze; insight; foresight; vision; way of looking at things |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 约 | yāo | to weigh in a balance or on a scale |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 同 | tóng | like; same; similar; together; alike; with; used in 衚衕|胡同[hu2 tong4] |
| 投 | tóu | to throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc); to cast (a ballot); to cast (a glance, a shadow etc); to put in (money for investment, a coin to operate a slot … |
| 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 |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 接过 | jiē guò | to take (sth proffered) |
| 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) |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 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… |
| 交 | jiāo | to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over; to make friends; (of lines) to intersect; variant of 跤[jiao1] |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 对不起 | duì bu qǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 足够 | zú gòu | enough; sufficient |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 付 | Fù | surname Fu |
| 费 | Fèi | surname Fei |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 同情 | tóng qíng | to sympathize with; sympathy |
| 不知 | bù zhī | not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) |
| 道 | dào | road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3]); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quot… |
| 该 | gāi | should; ought to; probably; must be; to deserve; to owe; to be sb's turn to do sth; that; the above-mentioned |
| 些 | xiē | classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 话 | huà | dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words; conversation; what sb said; CL:種|种[zhong3],席[xi2],句[ju4],口[kou3],番[fan1]; old variant of 話|话[hua4] |
| 突然间 | tū rán jiān | suddenly |
| 人群 | rén qún | crowd |
| 走出 | zǒu chū | to leave (a room etc); to go out through (a door etc) |
| 绅 | shen | member of gentry |
| 模 | mō | to imitate; norm |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 口袋 | kǒu dài | pocket; bag; sack |
| 拿出 | ná chū | to take out; to put out; to provide; to put forward (a proposal); to come up with (evidence) |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 钱币 | qián bì | money (esp. coins) |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 替 | tǐ | to substitute for; to replace; on behalf of |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 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] |
| 认 | rèn | to recognize; to know; to admit |
| 识 | shí | to know; knowledge; Taiwan pr. [shi4] |
| 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]) |
| 带 | dài | band; belt; girdle; ribbon; tire; area; zone; region; CL:條|条[tiao2]; to wear; to carry; to take along; to bear (i.e. to have); to lead; to bring; to look after; to raise |
| 感 | gǎn | to feel; to move; to touch; to affect; feeling; emotion; (suffix) sense of ~ |
| 激 | ji | to arouse; to excite; sharp; violent |
| 笑容 | xiào róng | smile; smiling expression; CL:副[fu4] |
| 这位 | zhè wèi | this (person) |
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | to thank; thanks; thank you |
| 您 | nín | you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你[ni3]) |
| 好意 | hǎo yì | good intention; kindness |
| 先生 | xiān sheng | teacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.); husband; (dialect) doctor; CL:位[wei4] |
| 盼 | pǎn | to hope for; to expect |
| 望 | wàng | full moon; to hope; to expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); to look towards; towards; 15th day of month (lunar calendar); old variant of 望[wang4] |
| 久 | jǐu | (of a period of time) long |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 用不着 | yòng bu zháo | not need; have no use for |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 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… |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na |
| 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 |
| 奇 | jī | odd (number) |
| 怪 | guǎi | odd; strange; uncanny; to find strange; to regard as odd; (coll.) somewhat; rather |
| 男朋友 | nán péng you | boyfriend |
| 寄 | jì | to entrust; to place in sb's care; (bound form) to depend on; to attach oneself to; to reside temporarily; (bound form) foster (as in 寄女[ji4 nu : 3] foster daughter); to send by po… |
| 打 | dá | (loanword) dozen; Taiwan pr. [da3] |
| 算 | suàn | to calculate; to figure out; to include; to count in; to count; to be valid; to carry weight; to regard as; to consider (to be ...) |
| 明年 | míng nián | next year |
| 结婚 | jié hūn | to marry; to get married |
| 为了 | wèi le | for; for the purpose of; in order to |
| 筹 | chōu | chip (in gambling); token (for counting); ticket; resource; way; means |
| 只得 | zhǐ dé | to have no alternative but to; to be obliged to |
| 外地 | wài dì | parts of the country other than where one is |
| 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);… |
| 找 | zhǎo | to try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 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… |
| 由于 | yóu yú | due to; as a result of; thanks to; owing to; since; because |
| 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… |
| 事先 | shì xiān | in advance; before the event; beforehand; prior |
| 代 | dài | to be a substitute for; to act on behalf of; to replace; to substitute; generation; dynasty; age; period; (historical) era; (geological) eon |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 画 | huà | to draw; to paint; picture; painting (CL:幅[fu2],張|张[zhang1]); to draw (a line) (variant of 劃|划[hua4]); stroke of a Chinese character (variant of 劃|划[hua4]); (calligraphy) horizonta… |
| 个 | gě | used in 自個兒|自个儿[zi4 ge3 r5]; variant of 個|个[ge4] |
| 叉 | cha | fork; prong; cross; "X" |
| 表示 | biǎo shì | (of sb) to express; to state; to show; (of sth) to indicate; to signify; to show; expression; manifestation |
| 日子 | rì zi | day; a (calendar) date; days of one's life |
| 过得 | guò dé | How are you getting by?; How's life?; contraction of 過得去|过得去, can get by; tolerably well; not too bad |
| 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); (… |
| 圆 | yuán | circle; round; circular; spherical; (of the moon) full; unit of Chinese currency (yuan); tactful; to make consistent and whole (the narrative of a dream or a lie) |
| 圈 | quan | to confine; to pen in |
| 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 |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 找到 | zhǎo dào | to find |
| 啊 | ā | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh! |
| 原 | Yuán | surname Yuan; (Japanese surname) Hara |
| 封里 | fēng lǐ | inside front cover (sometimes refers to both inside front and inside back covers) |
| 自言 | zì yán | to say (sth that relates to oneself) |
| 自语 | zì yǔ | to talk to oneself |
| 这种 | zhè zhǒng | this kind of |
| 情形 | qíng xing | circumstances; situation; state of affairs |
| 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] |
| 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… |
| 必须 | bì xū | to have to; must; compulsory; necessarily |
| 改善 | gǎi shàn | to make better; to improve |
| 对于 | duì yú | regarding; as far as (sth) is concerned; with regard to |
| 件 | jiàn | item; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc |
| 事情 | shì qing | affair; matter; thing; business; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] |
| 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) |
| 终 | zhong | end |
| 于 | Yú | surname Yu; (of time or place) in; at; on; (indicating any indirect relation) to; toward; vis-à-vis; with regard to; for; (indicating a source) from; out of; (used in comparison) than; (used i… |
| 想出 | xiǎng chū | to figure out; to work out (a solution etc); to think up; to come up with (an idea etc) |
| 好办 | hǎo bàn | easy to do; easy to manage |
| 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 |
| 当时 | dāng shí | then; at that time |
| 政府 | zhèng fǔ | government; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 建 | jiàn | to establish; to found; to set up; to build; to construct |
| 议 | yǐ | to comment on; to suggest |
| 应 | Yīng | surname Ying; Taiwan pr. [Ying4] |
| 且 | qiě | and; moreover; yet; for the time being; to be about to; both (... and...) |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 昂 | āng | to lift; to raise one's head; high spirits; expensive |
| 贵 | Guì | short name for Guizhou 貴州|贵州[Gui4 zhou1] |
| 否 | fóu | to negate; not |
| 则 | zé | (literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then; (bound form) standard; norm; (bound form) principle; (literary) to imitate; to follow; classifie… |
| 穷人 | qíong rén | poor people; the poor |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 方 | Fāng | surname Fang |
| 认为 | rèn wéi | to believe; to think; to consider; to feel |
| 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… |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 贴 | tie | to stick; to post (e.g. on a blog); to fit snugly; allowance (e.g. money for food or housing); classifier for sticking plaster: strip |
| 寄出 | jì chū | to mail; to send by post |
| 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… |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 结 | jiē | (of a plant) to produce (fruit or seeds); Taiwan pr. [jie2] |
| 果 | guǒ | fruit; result; resolute; indeed; if really |
| 善 | shàn | good (virtuous); benevolent; well-disposed; good at sth; to improve or perfect |
| 如 | rú | as; as if; such as |
| 流 | líu | to flow; to disseminate; to circulate or spread; to move or drift; to degenerate; to banish or send into exile; stream of water or sth resembling one; class, rate or grade |
| 接受 | jiē shòu | to accept (a suggestion, punishment, bribe etc); to acquiesce |
| 名字 | míng zi | name (of a person or thing) |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 罗 | Luó | surname Luo |
| 兰 | lān | orchid; surname Lan |
| 希 | xī | to hope; to admire; variant of 稀[xi1] |
| 尔 | ěr | variant of 爾|尔[er3]; thus; so; like that; you; thou |
| 诞 | dǎn | birth; brag; to increase |
| 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… |
In 1840, England issued the world’s first postage stamp. The face of Queen Victoria was printed on it. Because the stamp was black, it was called the “Penny Black”.
One day more than one hundred and fifty years ago, a mail coach rode into a village in England. At that time, mail coaches rarely brought letters to the villages. So as soon as the village folks heard the sound of the carriage, they immediately rushed out of houses and fields to stand around the coach.
The postman stepped down from the coach holding up a letter and loudly cried, “Miss Alice Brown, you have a letter!” A girl’s light voice replied, “I’m Alice Brown.” Everyone’s gaze simultaneously went her way.
Alice took the letter the postman handed her, looked at the envelope, and then gave the envelope back to the postman. “Sorry,” she said, “I don’t have enough money to pay the postage fee.”
Everyone sympathized with her, and didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, a man of gentlemanly appearance walked out of the crowd, took some cash from his pocket, and said he wanted to pay the postal fee on Alice’s behalf, though Alice didn’t know him at all.
Wearing a proud smile, she told the gentleman, “Thank you for your kindness, mister, I’ve looked forward to this letter for a long time, but I have no use for it now.”
“Why?” The gentlement thought this was quite strange.
“This letter was sent to me by my boyfriend. I plan to marry him next year. To earn money for the marriage, he went away to look for work. Because I can’t pay any postage fees, before he left he told me: if he draws an X written on the envelope, it means he’s doing well, if there’s a circle on the envelope, it means he’s already found work.”
“Ah! So actually there’s wasn’t any letter in the envelope to begin with.” The gentlemen mused out loud to himself, “This situation is unfair, [the mail system] must be improved.”
He thought about it for a long time, and finally thought of a solution.
He suggested to the then-government: “The postage fee should be paid by the sender of the letter, and it shouldn’t be too expensive, otherwise poor people won’t be able to afford it. For everyone’s convenience, I think people sending letters should use a one-penny stamp and stick it on the front of the letter – that’s how they can send it out.”
As a result, the English government were willing to follow this good advice and accepted his suggestion. This gentleman’s name was Rowland Hill, and this is how the world’s first postage stamp was born.