很久以前，有个聪明的孩子叫曹冲。
一天，有人送给他父亲曹操一头大象，这头大象又高又大，曹操非常高兴。
由于人们没有见过大象，于是许多人都围着它看。
这时候，曹操对大家说：“这头大象真大，可是究竟有多重呢？
你们谁能想个办法称一称？
”大家你看看我，我看看你，谁都没有办法。
这时候，小曹冲跑了过来，说：“父亲，我有个办法！
”说着让人把大象牵到一条大船上，然后在水面碰到船的地方画了个记号。
再把大象牵上岸，往船里装石头，一直装到水面碰到刚才画的记号时就停止。
最后把船上所有的石头都称一下。
做完这些工作后，小曹冲兴奋地说：“把石头的重量加起来就是大象的重量了。
”人们看后都夸曹冲是个聪明的孩子。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL0Nhb19DaG9uZ19XZWlnaHNfVGhlX0VsZXBoYW50Xy1fNDAzOC5tcDM&filename=Cao-Chong-Weighs-The-Elephant.mp3&signature=7ee133c2b17f3f8d653caf4e7b5a9f0e45cbd520683d4a42436de251c7c84d62
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 很 | hěn | very; quite |
| 久 | jiǔ | (of a period of time) long |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before / formerly / previous / ago |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 聪明 | cōng míng | intelligent; clever; bright / acute (of sight and hearing) |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 孩子 | hái zi | child |
| 叫 | jiào | to be called |
| 曹冲 | Cáo Chōng | Cao Chong (196-208), son of Cao Cao 曹操 |
| 一天 | yī tiān | one day; a day |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone / people / anyone |
| 送 | sòng | to give (as a present) |
| 给 | gěi | to / for / for the benefit of / to do sth (for sb) |
| 他 | tā | he; him; his |
| 父亲 | fù qīn | father |
| 曹操 | Cáo Cāo | Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord / the main villain of novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义 |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 头 | tóu | classifier for pigs or livestock |
| 大象 | dà xiàng | elephant |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 又 | yòu | both... and... |
| 高 | gāo | high / tall / above average / loud |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great / older (than another person) / eldest |
| 非常 | fēi cháng | very; really |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy / glad / in a cheerful mood |
| 由于 | yóu yú | due to / as a result of / thanks to / owing to / since / because |
| 人们 | rén men | people |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't / hasn't |
| 见 | jiàn | to see / to meet / to appear (to be sth) / to interview |
| 过 | guo | (experienced action marker) |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 许多 | xǔ duō | many / a lot of / much |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 围 | wéi | to encircle / to surround / to wear by wrapping around (scarf, shawl) |
| 着 | zhe | aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state |
| 它 | tā | it |
| 看 | kàn | to see; to look at / to read / to watch / to visit; to call on / to consider; to regard as / to look after / to treat (a patient or illness) / to depend on / to feel (that) / (after a verb) to give it a try / to watch out for |
| 时候 | shí hou | time / length of time / moment / period |
| 对 | duì | towards; at; for / concerning; regarding |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone |
| 说 | shuō | to speak; to talk; to say |
| 真 | zhēn | really / truly / indeed |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however |
| 究竟 | jiū jìng | after all / when all is said and done / (in an interrogative sentence) finally |
| 多 | duō | how (to what extent) |
| 重 | zhòng | heavy / serious |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?") |
| 你们 | nǐ men | you (plural) |
| 谁 | shéi | who |
| 能 | néng | can / to be able to / might possibly |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about) / to think of; to devise / to think (that); to believe (that) |
| 办法 | bàn fǎ | way of handling sth; means; measure; (practical) solution to a problem |
| 称 | chēng | to weigh |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 小 | xiǎo | young |
| 跑 | pǎo | to run / to run away / to escape / to run around (on errands etc) / (of a gas or liquid) to leak or evaporate |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 过来 | guò lái | to come over |
| 让 | ràng | to permit / to let sb do sth / to have sb do sth / to make sb (feel sad etc) |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 牵 | qiān | to lead along / to pull (an animal on a tether) / (bound form) to involve / to draw in |
| 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) |
| 条 | tiáo | classifier for long thin things |
| 船 | chuán | boat / vessel / ship |
| 上 | shàng | (noun suffix) on; above |
| 然后 | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 水面 | shuǐ miàn | water surface |
| 碰 | pèng | to touch / to meet with / to bump |
| 地方 | dì fang | place; location; area; space; territory / aspect; part |
| 画 | huà | to draw; to paint / to draw (a line) |
| 记号 | jì hao | mark / symbol / notation / seal |
| 再 | zài | then (after sth, and not until then) |
| 岸 | àn | bank; shore; beach; coast |
| 往 | wǎng | to / towards / (of a train) bound for |
| 里 | lǐ | lining / interior / inside |
| 装 | zhuāng | to adorn / to play a role / to pretend / to install / to fix / to wrap (sth in a bag) / to load / to pack |
| 石头 | shí tou | stone |
| 一直 | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line) / continuously; always; all the way through |
| 刚才 | gāng cái | just now / a moment ago |
| 时 | shí | when |
| 就 | jiù | as soon as; immediately after |
| 停止 | tíng zhǐ | to stop; to halt; to cease |
| 最后 | zuì hòu | finally; in the end |
| 所有 | suǒ yǒu | all |
| 一下 | yī xià | (after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try) |
| 做 | zuò | to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc) |
| 完 | wán | to finish / to be over |
| 这些 | zhè xiē | these |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | job / work / task |
| 后 | hòu | afterwards / after |
| 兴奋 | xīng fèn | excited |
| 地 | de | -ly / structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 重量 | zhòng liàng | weight |
| 加 | jiā | to add / to increase; to augment |
| 起来 | qǐ lái | indicating the beginning and continuation of an action or a state / indicating an upward movement / indicating completion / expressing preliminary judgment |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 夸 | kuā | to boast; to exaggerate / to praise |