森林中有一只小老鼠，它觉得自己形象不佳，本领又小，生活在社会的最底层。
于是，它来到山神面前，再三哀求山神把它变成一只猫，山神答应了它的要求。
小老鼠变成猫后，没高兴几天，又有了新的问题，原来猫怕狗呀！
它又去求山神，把自己变成了一只狗。
可是没想到狗怕狼，于是小老鼠又跑去请求变成狼。
像这样变了好多次后，小老鼠终于变成了大象。
现在，动物们都怕它了，它高兴极了。
但是一段时间后，小老鼠发现，大象最怕的竟然是老鼠。
这时它眼中最伟大的形象又变成了老鼠，于是它又跑去哀求山神…
…
羡慕别人是没有用的，因为每个人都有弱点。
只有自信，才有勇气打败竞争对手。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL0FfTW91c2VfV2l0aG91dF9Db25maWRlbmNlLTQwNjEubXAz&filename=A-Mouse-Without-Confidence.mp3&signature=cabf1a1bdb2c60a63baf902a205683963f7003d61c9d5b5e001c1f42bf0f1f89
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 森林 | sēn lín | forest |
| 中 | zhōng | within; among; in |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 只 | zhī | classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc |
| 小 | xiǎo | small / tiny / few |
| 老鼠 | lǎo shǔ | rat; mouse |
| 它 | tā | it |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ... |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 形象 | xíng xiàng | image / form / figure / visualization |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 佳 | jiā | beautiful / fine / good |
| 本领 | běn lǐng | skill / ability / capability |
| 又 | yòu | also |
| 生活 | shēng huó | to live |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 社会 | shè huì | society |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 最 | zuì | (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est |
| 底层 | dǐ céng | ground floor; first floor / lowest level; lowest rung (of society etc) |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 来 | lái | to come |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive / to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point) / (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point) |
| 山神 | shān shén | mountain god |
| 面前 | miàn qián | in front of / facing / (in the) presence (of) |
| 再三 | zài sān | over and over again / again and again |
| 哀求 | āi qiú | to entreat / to implore / to plead |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 变成 | biàn chéng | to change into / to turn into / to become |
| 猫 | māo | cat / (loanword) (coll.) modem |
| 答应 | dā ying | to answer; to respond / to answer positively; to agree; to accept; to promise |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 要求 | yāo qiú | requirement |
| 后 | hòu | afterwards / after |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy / glad / in a cheerful mood |
| 几 | jǐ | several / a few |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 新 | xīn | new; newly |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question / problem / issue / topic |
| 原来 | yuán lái | so, actually, as it turns out |
| 怕 | pà | to be afraid / to fear / to dread / to be unable to endure |
| 狗 | gǒu | dog |
| 呀 | ya | (particle equivalent to 啊 after a vowel, expressing surprise or doubt) |
| 去 | qù | to go, to go to |
| 求 | qiú | to seek / to look for / to request / to demand / to beseech |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however |
| 没想到 | méi xiǎng dào | didn't expect |
| 狼 | láng | wolf |
| 跑 | pǎo | to run / to run away / to escape / to run around (on errands etc) / (of a gas or liquid) to leak or evaporate |
| 请求 | qǐng qiú | to request; to ask |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble / to be like / to look as if |
| 这样 | zhè yàng | this way; like this; so |
| 变 | biàn | to change / to become different / to transform / to vary |
| 好 | hǎo | (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of |
| 次 | cì | classifier for enumerated events: time |
| 终于 | zhōng yú | at last / in the end / finally / eventually |
| 大象 | dà xiàng | elephant |
| 现在 | xiàn zài | now; at present; currently |
| 动物 | dòng wù | animal |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 极 | jí | extremely |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 段 | duàn | classifier for stories, periods of time, lengths of thread etc |
| 时间 | shí jiān | time |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of / to discover; to find; to detect |
| 竟然 | jìng rán | to one's surprise / to go as far as to |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 时 | shí | o'clock / time / hour / season / period |
| 眼 | yǎn | eye / a look; a glance / small hole / (bound form) salient point |
| 伟大 | wěi dà | huge; great; grand; worthy of the greatest admiration; important (contribution etc) |
| 羡慕 | xiàn mù | to envy / to admire |
| 别人 | bié rén | other people; others; other person |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | to not have |
| 用 | yòng | usefulness; utility |
| 因为 | yīn wèi | because; owing to; on account of |
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 弱点 | ruò diǎn | weak point / failing |
| 只有 | zhǐ yǒu | (只有……才……) it is only if ... (that one can ...) / it is only (someone) who ... |
| 自信 | zì xìn | self-confidence |
| 才 | cái | then and only then |
| 勇气 | yǒng qì | courage |
| 打败 | dǎ bài | to defeat / to overpower / to beat / to be defeated |
| 竞争 | jìng zhēng | competition |
| 对手 | duì shǒu | opponent / rival / competitor / (well-matched) adversary / match |