Ever gotten so many parking tickets you wanted to give up driving forever? Well, that’s exactly what happened to Li Ming. But trading driving for walking turned out to the best decision Li Ming ever made.
李明有一辆车。他每天开车去工作。
但是，他天天有罚单。
他把车放在这里——罚单。
他把车放在那里——罚单。
他把车放在很远的地方——还是罚单！
李明很生气。”我不开车了！明天我走路去！”
第二天，他走路去工作。
走路很慢。但是他看见了很多从来没看见过的东西。
他看见一个市场。市场里有很多菜，很多水果，很多人。
他看见一个公园。公园里有树，有花，有老人在喝茶。
他看见一个面馆。面很好吃！他以前不知道这里有面馆。
他每天开车，什么都没看见。
一个月以后，李明把车卖了。
现在他天天走路。他在市场买菜，在公园坐一坐，在面馆吃面。
家里还有最后一张罚单。它在冰箱上。
妻子问：”你为什么不扔？”
李明笑了，说：”这是我最好的罚单。没有它，我不会走路。没有走路，我什么都看不见。”
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 罚单 | fá dān | parking ticket / fine |
| 开车 | kāi chē | to drive a car |
| 生气 | shēng qì | to be angry |
| 走路 | zǒu lù | to walk |
| 从来 | cóng lái | ever / always (with negation: never) |
| 市场 | shì chǎng | market |
| 面馆 | miàn guǎn | noodle shop |
| 卖 | mài | to sell |
| 冰箱 | bīng xiāng | refrigerator |
| 扔 | rēng | to throw away |
| 李 | lí | plum; surname Li |
| 明 | Míng | Ming Dynasty (1368–1644); surname Ming; Ming (c. 2000 BC), fourth of the legendary Flame Emperors, 炎帝[Yan2 di4] descended from Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2] Farmer God |
| 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 … |
| 辆 | liàng | classifier for vehicles |
| 车 | Chē | surname Che |
| 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]) |
| 每天 | měi tiān | every day |
| 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);… |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 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] |
| 天天 | tiān tiān | every day |
| 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… |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) |
| 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) |
| 这里 | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] |
| 那里 | nà li | there; that place |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 远 | yuǎn | far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower 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… |
| 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local |
| 还是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 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 |
| 明天 | míng tiān | tomorrow |
| 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… |
| 二 | èr | two; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 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- |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 过 | Guō | surname Guo |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 一个 | yī ge | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 菜 | cài | vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1]); dish (of food) (CL:樣|样[yang4],道[dao4],盤|盘[pan2]); (of one's skills etc) weak; poor; (coll.) (one's) type |
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; Shui ethnic group |
| 果 | guǒ | fruit; result; resolute; indeed; if really |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 公园 | gōng yuán | park (for public recreation); CL:座[zuo4] |
| 树 | shù | tree; CL:棵[ke1]; to cultivate; to set up |
| 花 | Huā | surname Hua; old variant of 花[hua1]; variant of 花[hua1]; flower; blossom; also pr. [wei3] |
| 老人 | lǎo rén | old man or woman; the elderly; one's aged parents or grandparents |
| 喝 | hē | to drink; variant of 嗬[he1] |
| 茶 | chá | tea; tea plant; CL:杯[bei1],壺|壶[hu2] |
| 面 | miàn | face; side; surface; aspect; top; classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc; variant of 麵|面[mian4]; flour; noodles; (of food) soft (not crunchy); (slang) (of a person) ineffectual; spineless |
| 好吃 | hǎo chī | tasty; delicious |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous; ago |
| 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… |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 月 | yuè | moon; month; monthly; CL:個|个[ge4],輪|轮[lun2] |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
| 买菜 | mǎi cài | to buy groceries |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo |
| 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] |
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 还有 | hái yǒu | there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition |
| 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") |
| 张 | Zhāng | surname Zhang |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) |
| 上 | shǎng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1] |
| 妻子 | qī zǐ | wife and children |
| 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.) |
| 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] |
| 笑 | xiào | old variant of 笑[xiao4]; to laugh; to smile; to laugh at |
| 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) |
| 最好 | zuì hǎo | best; had better ...; it would be best to ... |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 不会 | bù huì | improbable; unlikely; will not (act, happen etc); not able; not having learned to do sth; (coll.) (Tw) don't mention it; not at all |
| 看不见 | kàn bu jiàn | cannot see; cannot be seen; invisible |
Li Ming had a car. Every day he drove to work.
But he got parking tickets day after day.
He parked his car here—a ticket.
He parked his car there—a ticket.
He parked his car very far away—still a ticket!
Li Ming was very angry. “I’m not driving anymore! Tomorrow I’ll walk!”
The next day, he walked to work.
Walking was slow. But he saw many things he had never seen before.
He saw a market. In the market there were many vegetables, lots of fruit, and lots of people.
He saw a park. In the park there were trees, flowers, and old people drinking tea.
He saw a noodle shop. The noodles were delicious! He never knew there was a noodle shop here before.
Every day he had driven, and seen nothing.
A month later, Li Ming sold his car.
Now he walks every day. He buys vegetables at the market, sits for a while in the park, and eats noodles at the noodle shop.
At home there is still one last parking ticket. It’s on the refrigerator.
His wife asked, “Why don’t you throw it away?”
Li Ming smiled and said, “This is my best parking ticket. Without it, I wouldn’t have started walking. Without walking, I wouldn’t have seen anything.”