For a cat, sleeping is a full-time job. In this short essay, a kid describes his cat’s very busy schedule of doing absolutely nothing.
我有一只小猫。它的名字叫小白。小白很喜欢睡觉。
早上，小白在我的床上睡觉。中午，它在椅子上睡觉。下午，它在桌子下面睡觉。晚上，它又在我的床上睡觉！
我问小白：’你睡够了没有？’小白看看我，然后又睡了。我真想当一只猫！
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| <p>猫 | māo | cat |
| 睡觉 | shuì jiào | to sleep |
| 床 | chuáng | bed |
| 椅子 | yǐ zi5 | chair |
| 桌子 | zhuō zi5 | table |
| 下面 | xià miàn | under/below |
| 累 | lèi | tired |
| 又 | yòu | again</p> |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 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 … |
| 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 |
| 小猫 | xiǎo māo | kitten |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 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… |
| 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] |
| 小白 | xiǎo bái | (slang) novice; greenhorn; (old) (slang) fool; idiot; abbr. for 小白臉|小白脸[xiao3 bai2 lian3], pretty boy |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 早上 | zǎo shang | early morning; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 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) |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 中 | Zhōng | (bound form) China; Chinese; surname Zhong |
| 午 | wǔ | 7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m., noon, 5th solar month (6th June-6th July), year of the Horse; ancient Chinese compass point: 180° (south) |
| 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 … |
| 晚上 | wǎn shang | evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 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.) |
| 睡 | shuì | to sleep; to lie down |
| 够 | gòu | enough (sufficient); enough (too much); (coll.) (before adj.) really; (coll.) to reach by stretching out |
| 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 |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 看看 | kàn kan | to take a look at; to examine; to survey; (coll.) pretty soon |
| 然 | rán | correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 真 | zhēn | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 猫 | māo | cat (CL:隻|只[zhi1]); (dialect) to hide oneself; (loanword) (coll.) modem |
I have a little cat. Its name is Xiaobai (Little White). Xiaobai really likes to sleep.
In the morning, Xiaobai sleeps on my bed. At noon, it sleeps on the chair. In the afternoon, it sleeps under the table. At night, it sleeps on my bed again!
I ask Xiaobai: ‘Haven’t you slept enough?’ Xiaobai looks at me, then sleeps again. I really want to be a cat!