This short story is about a magic pencil – whatever it draws comes to life. This story features beginner sentence structure and a heavy smattering of intermediate vocabulary.
有个老爷爷给小丰一支铅笔。这不是普通的铅笔，而是支神笔。晚上，小丰睡觉了。铅笔就自己站起来，在纸上画了一只老鼠。刚画完，老鼠打了个哈欠，伸伸懒腰，活了。
老鼠跑到铅笔面前，说: “我肚子饿得要命，快给我东西吃！” 铅笔画了一个面包。面包香喷喷的，老鼠一下子就把它吃掉了。吃完面包，老鼠又跑到铅笔面前，说: “面包不甜，我要吃大蛋糕！” 铅笔又给它画了一块大蛋糕。这蛋糕又松又软，甜甜的，上面有厚厚的一层奶油，奶油上还有花生仁和瓜于仁。
老鼠眯着眼睛，吃得津津有味，把一整块蛋糕全吃了，肚子吃得饱饱的。可它还想吃，就说: “蛋糕太甜，我要吃咸的！” 铅笔画了一根香肠，老鼠又把香肠全吃光了。老鼠的肚子圆鼓鼓的，像个大球，没法再装什么东西了。它又对铅笔说: ”我饱了，可我没地方住，你要给我房子!”
铅笔画了一个很大的老鼠洞，里面有好几条地道，有睡觉的地方，还有仓库。老鼠跑到洞里到处看了看，说: “仓库里还应该有粮食呀。” 铅笔又在仓库里画上了谷子、花生、玉米…… 老鼠点点头说: “房子还可以，可惜没有床铺。” 铅笔又画了一堆稻草，稻草上还铺了许多棉絮一一这是老鼠最舒服的床铺。
老鼠跳到床上，打了几个滚，满意地说:“还不错！”接着，它跑过来，对着铅笔就狠狠地唆。铅笔叫了起来: “哎哟！把我的皮都咬破了！” 老鼠说: “嘿嘿，现在我什么都有了，可牙根痒痒的，没地方磨牙。你的身子又长又瘦，正好给我磨牙。” 铅笔说: “等等，我给你画一样东西，你可以在上面磨牙。”
说着，铅笔又画起来。它刚画完，一只猫咪跳起来，一口吞掉了老鼠。
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] |
| 老爷爷 | lǎo yé ye | (polite) elderly man |
| 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) |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few; young |
| 丰 | fēng | luxuriant; buxom; variant of 豐|丰[feng1]; variant of 風|风[feng1]; appearance; charm; surname Feng |
| 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 … |
| 支 | Zhī | surname Zhi |
| 铅 | qiān | old variant of 鉛|铅[qian1]; lead (chemistry) |
| 笔 | bǐ | writing brush; writing implement (pen, pencil etc) (CL:支[zhi1],枝[zhi1]); brushstroke; stroke (in painting or calligraphy); (bound form) style of writing; literary manner; technique… |
| 这不 | zhè bu | (coll.) As a matter of fact, ... (used to introduce evidence for what one has just asserted) |
| 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] |
| 普 | pú | general; everywhere |
| 通 | tōng | to go through; to know well; (suffix) expert; to connect; to communicate; open; to clear; classifier for letters, telegrams, phone calls 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… |
| 而是 | ér shì | rather |
| 神笔 | shén bǐ | lit. divine pen; fig. outstanding writing |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 睡觉 | shuì jiào | to go to bed; to sleep |
| 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 |
| 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… |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 站起 | zhàn qǐ | to get up on hind legs (esp. of horse); to stand; to spring up |
| 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… |
| 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) |
| 纸 | zhǐ | variant of 紙|纸[zhi3]; paper (CL:張|张[zhang1],沓[da2]); classifier for documents, letters etc |
| 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… |
| 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 |
| 老鼠 | lǎo shǔ | rat; mouse (CL:隻|只[zhi1]) |
| 刚 | gāng | (literary) hard; firm; strong; exactly; precisely; barely; only just; just; only a short while ago |
| 完 | wán | to finish; to be over; whole; complete; entire |
| 打 | dá | (loanword) dozen; Taiwan pr. [da3] |
| 哈 | Hā | abbr. for 哈薩克斯坦|哈萨克斯坦[Ha1 sa4 ke4 si1 tan3], Kazakhstan; abbr. for 哈爾濱|哈尔滨[Ha1 er3 bin1], Harbin |
| 欠 | qiàn | to owe; to lack; (literary) to be deficient in; (bound form) yawn; to raise slightly (a part of one's body) |
| 伸 | shen | to stretch |
| 懒 | lán | lazy; sluggish; to be reluctant to |
| 腰 | yao | the waist and lower back; the waist of trousers or a skirt; (bound form) the middle section of an upright object (mountain, bottle etc) |
| 活 | huó | to live; alive; living; work; workmanship |
| 跑 | páo | (of an animal) to paw (the ground) |
| 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… |
| 面前 | miàn qián | in front of; facing; (in the) presence (of) |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 肚 | dǔ | tripe |
| 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… |
| 饿 | è | hungry; to starve (sb) |
| 得要 | děi yào | to need; must |
| 命 | mǐng | life; order or command |
| 快 | kuài | rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; plainspoken; gratified; pleased; pleasant |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc); variant of 吃[chi1] |
| 笔画 | bǐ huà | strokes of a Chinese character |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 面包 | miàn bāo | bread; CL:片[pian4],塊|块[kuai4] |
| 香 | xiāng | fragrant; sweet smelling; aromatic; savory or appetizing; (to eat) with relish; (of sleep) sound; perfume or spice; joss or incense stick; CL:根[gen1] |
| 喷 | pen | to spout; to spurt; to spray; to puff |
| 一下子 | yī xià zi | once; one time; (following a verb) for a moment; briefly; for a little while; in no time; almost immediately; all at once; all of a sudden |
| 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) |
| 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… |
| 吃完 | chī wán | to finish eating |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 甜 | tián | sweet; (fig.) pleasant; endearing; lovely |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 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) |
| 蛋糕 | dàn gāo | cake; CL:塊|块[kuai4],個|个[ge4] |
| 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… |
| 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) |
| 松 | Sōng | surname Song; loose; to loosen; to relax; floss (dry, fluffy food product made from shredded, seasoned meat or fish, used as a topping or filling) |
| 软 | ruǎn | soft; flexible; variant of 軟|软[ruan3] |
| 上面 | shàng miàn | on top of; above-mentioned; also pr. [shang4 mian5] |
| 厚 | hòu | thick; deep or profound; kind; generous; rich or strong in flavor; to favor; to stress |
| 一层 | yī céng | one layer; one level |
| 奶 | nǎi | breast; milk; to breastfeed; variant of 嬭|奶[nai3]; mother; variant of 奶[nai3] |
| 油 | yóu | oil; fat; grease; petroleum; to apply tung oil, paint or varnish; oily; greasy; glib; cunning |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 花生仁 | huā shēng rén | shelled peanut; peanut kernel |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 瓜 | guā | melon; gourd; squash; (slang) a piece of gossip |
| 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… |
| 仁 | rén | humane; kernel |
| 眯 | mi | to blind (as with dust) |
| 着眼 | zhuó yǎn | to have one's eyes on (a goal); having sth in mind; to concentrate |
| 睛 | jīng | eye; eyeball |
| 得 | dé | to obtain; to get; to gain; to catch (a disease); proper; suitable; proud; contented; to allow; to permit; ready; finished |
| 津 | jin | abbr. for Tianjin 天津[Tian1 jin1] |
| 味 | wěi | taste; (fig.) (noun suffix) feel; sense |
| 整 | zhěng | (bound form) whole; complete; entire; (before a measure word) whole; (before or after number + measure word) exactly; (bound form) in good order; tidy; neat; (bound form) to put in… |
| 块 | kuài | lump; chunk; piece; classifier for pieces of cloth, cake, soap etc; (coll.) classifier for money and currency units |
| 全 | Quán | surname Quan |
| 饱 | bǎo | to eat till full; satisfied |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely |
| 咸 | Xián | surname Xian; salted; salty; stingy; miserly |
| 根 | gēn | root; basis; classifier for long slender objects, e.g. cigarettes, guitar strings; CL:條|条[tiao2]; radical (chemistry) |
| 肠 | chāng | intestines |
| 光 | guāng | light; ray (CL:道[dao4]); bright; shiny; only; merely; used up; finished; to leave (a part of the body) uncovered |
| 圆鼓鼓 | yuán gǔ gǔ | round and bulging; rotund; protruding |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 大球 | dà qíu | sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball that use large balls; see also 小球[xiao3 qiu2] |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 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 |
| 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… |
| 装 | zhuāng | adornment; to adorn; dress; clothing; costume (of an actor in a play); to play a role; to pretend; to install; to fix; to wrap (sth in a bag); to load; to pack |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 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… |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 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.) |
| 房子 | fáng zi | house; building (single- or two-story); apartment; room; CL:棟|栋[dong4],幢[zhuang4],座[zuo4],套[tao4],間|间[jian1] |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 洞 | dǒng | cave; zero (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers) |
| 里面 | lǐ miàn | variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] |
| 好几 | hǎo jǐ | several; quite a few |
| 条 | tiáo | strip; item; article; clause (of law or treaty); classifier for long thin things (ribbon, river, road, trousers etc) |
| 地道 | dì dào | tunnel; causeway |
| 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 |
| 到处 | dào chù | everywhere |
| 看 | kān | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard |
| 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 |
| 粮食 | liáng shi | foodstuff; cereals; CL:種|种[zhong3] |
| 呀 | yā | ah (used to express surprise); (onom.) creaking |
| 谷子 | gǔ zi | millet; (ACG) collectible merch (loanword from "goods", via Japanese "guzzu") |
| 花生 | huā shēng | peanut; CL:粒[li4] |
| 玉米 | yù mǐ | corn; maize; CL:粒[li4] |
| 点点 | Diǎn diǎn | Diandian (Chinese microblogging and social networking website) |
| 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] |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 惜 | xi | to cherish; to pity |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 床 | chuáng | bed; couch (furniture that one can lie down on) (CL:張|张[zhang1]); bed; bottom (of rivers, oceans, gardens etc); frame; chassis; classifier for blankets, quilts etc; variant of 床[chuang2] |
| 铺 | pǔ | to spread; to pave (pu1); a shop; a bed (pu4) |
| 一堆 | yī duī | pile; heap; a lot of; a bunch of |
| 稻草 | dào cǎo | rice straw |
| 许多 | xǔ duō | many; a lot of; much |
| 棉 | ||
| 絮 | ||
| 一一 | yī yī | one by one; one after another |
| 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") |
| 舒服 | shū fu | comfortable; feeling well |
| 跳 | tiào | to jump; to hop; to skip over; to bounce; to palpitate |
| 几个 | jǐ ge | a few; several; how many |
| 滚 | gún | to boil; to take a hike |
| 满 | Mǎn | Manchu ethnic group |
| 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]) |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 不错 | bù cuò | correct; right; not bad; pretty good |
| 接着 | jiē zhe | to catch and hold on; to continue; to go on to do sth; to follow; to carry on; then; after that; subsequently; to proceed; to ensue; in turn; in one's turn |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 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 |
| 狠狠 | hěn hěn | resolutely; firmly; ferociously; ruthlessly |
| 唆 | ||
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 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… |
| 哎 | ai | hey! |
| 哟 | ||
| 皮 | Pí | surname Pi |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 咬 | yáo | to bite |
| 破 | pò | broken; damaged; worn out; lousy; rotten; to break, split or cleave; to get rid of; to destroy; to break with; to defeat; to capture (a city etc); to expose the truth of |
| 嘿 | hei | hey |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 有了 | yǒu le | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven (abbr. for 有了胎[you3 le5 tai1]) |
| 牙 | yá | tooth; ivory; CL:顆|颗[ke1] |
| 痒 | yáng | to tickle |
| 磨牙 | mó yá | to grind one's teeth (during sleep); pointless arguing; (coll.) molar |
| 身子 | shēn zi | body; pregnancy; health |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4]) |
| 瘦 | shòu | thin; to lose weight; (of clothing) tight; (of meat) lean; (of land) unproductive |
| 正好 | zhèng hǎo | just (in time); just right; just enough; to happen to; to chance to; by chance; it just so happens that |
| 等等 | děng děng | et cetera; and so on ...; wait a minute!; hold on! |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
| 猫 | māo | cat (CL:隻|只[zhi1]); (dialect) to hide oneself; (loanword) (coll.) modem |
| 咪 | ||
| 一口 | yī kǒu | readily; flatly (deny, admit and so on); a mouthful; a bite |
| 吞 | tun | to swallow |
There was an old grandfather who gave Xiao Feng a pencil. This was no ordinary pencil, it was a magic pencil. At night, Xiao Feng went to sleep. The pencil stood up on its own, and draw a mouse on a piece of paper. As soon as it had finished drawing, the mouse yawned, stretched, and came to life.
The mouse ran up to the pencil and said: “I’m starving, give me something to eat quick!” The pencil drew some bread. The bread was deliciously savory, and the little mouse gobbled it right up. After it finished the bread, the mouse ran back to the pencil and said: “Bread isn’t sweet, I want to eat a big cake!” The pencil drew a big cake. This cake was light, soft and sweet, and on the top it had a thick layer of cream, and on top of the cream there were peanut and melon seeds.
The mouse squinted his eyes and ate with gusto, and when he’d eaten an entire piece of cake, his stomach was very full. However, he still wanted to eat, so he said: “The cake was too sweet, I want to eat something salty!” The pencil drew him a sausage, and the mouse ate the sausage right up. The mouse’s stomach was round as a drum, or a big ball, and there was no way he could cram anything else in there. To the pencil he said, “I’m full, but I have no place to live, you must give me a house!”
The pencil drew a big mouse hole, inside there were several tunnels, a place to sleep, and also a storehouse. The mouse ran into the hole, looked all around, and said: “There should be some foodstuffs in the storehouse.” In the storehouse, the pencil drew millet, peanuts, corn… the mouse nodded and said: “The house is pretty good, but it’s a pity there’s no bed.” The pencil drew a pile of straw, and on top of the straw he spread cotton wadding – this is a mouse’s most comfortable [type of] bed.
The mouse jumped onto the bed, rolled around a bit, and said, satisfied: “Not bad!” Then, the mouse ran over to the pencil and began to ferociously suck on it. The pencil cried out: “Aiyo! Are you cheating me? You’re nibbling all my skin off!” The mouse said: “Hey hey, I have everything I want now, but my teeth itch, and I have no place to grind them. Your body is long and thin, it’s a perfect place for me to grind my teeth.” The pencil said: “Wait a second, I’ll draw you something similar, and you can grind your teeth on that.”
Saying this, the pencil began to draw. When it had finished drawing a mewing cat jumped up [from the paper] and swallowed the mouse.