有一白一黑两匹马，其中白色的是千里马，天生就有强壮的体魄，另外一匹黑色的马稍微差一些。
由于主人的收入不稳定，所以给它们的食物有的时候好，有的时候坏。
于是，白千里马根据食物的好坏来决定奔跑速度，吃得好就跑快些，吃得不好就跑慢些。
但是不管主人给的食物怎么样，黑马每次都会用力跑。
慢慢地主人发现，那匹白马有时跑得快，有时跑得慢，而黑马则越跑越快，于是在喂食物时，总是多给黑马一些。
这样，千里马就更生气了，它想：你这么对待我，我也不会努力为你奔跑！
又过了一段时间，主人感觉白马跑得不如黑马快，而且越来越慢。
终于有一天，他决定把白马放到磨房拉磨。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL1N3aWZ0X0hvcnNlLTQwNTUubXAz&filename=Swift-Horse.mp3&signature=6dbed536fa179a4901a59aa345f7bf018fcd52edf74cfcbd23f4ea53b94e59c1
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 白 | bái | white / snowy / pure / bright / empty / blank / plain / clear / reactionary / anti-communist |
| 黑 | hēi | black / dark / sinister / secret / shady / illegal |
| 两 | liǎng | two / both / some / a few |
| 匹 | pǐ | classifier for horses, mules etc / classifier for cloth: bolt |
| 马 | mǎ | horse / horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess / knight in Western chess |
| 其中 | qí zhōng | among / in / included among these |
| 白色 | bái sè | white / fig. reactionary / anti-communist |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 千里马 | qiān lǐ mǎ | lit. ten thousand mile horse / fine steed |
| 天生 | tiān shēng | innate / natural |
| 就 | jiù | merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly |
| 强壮 | qiáng zhuàng | strong / sturdy / robust |
| 体魄 | tǐ pò | physique; build |
| 另外 | lìng wài | additional / separate / other |
| 黑色 | hēi sè | black |
| 稍微 | shāo wēi | a little bit |
| 差 | chà | different / wrong; mistaken / not up to standard; inferior |
| 一些 | yī xiē | some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er |
| 由于 | yóu yú | due to / as a result of / thanks to / owing to / since / because |
| 主人 | zhǔ rén | master / host / owner |
| 收入 | shōu rù | income / revenue |
| 不 | bù | no; not so |
| 稳定 | wěn dìng | steady / stable |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore / as a result / so |
| 给 | gěi | to / for / for the benefit of / to do sth (for sb) |
| 它们 | tā men | they; them |
| 食物 | shí wù | food |
| 有的 | yǒu de | (there are) some (who are...) / some (exist) |
| 时候 | shí hou | time / length of time / moment / period |
| 好 | hǎo | good / appropriate; proper |
| 坏 | huài | bad / spoiled / broken |
| 于是 | yú shì | thereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence |
| 根据 | gēn jù | according to / based on |
| 来 | lái | (between two verbs) in order to |
| 决定 | jué dìng | to decide; to determine; to make up one's mind |
| 奔跑 | bēn pǎo | to run |
| 速度 | sù dù | speed; rate; velocity; (music) tempo |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume / to eat at |
| 得 | de | structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc |
| 跑 | pǎo | to run / to run away / to escape / to run around (on errands etc) / (of a gas or liquid) to leak or evaporate |
| 快 | kuài | rapid / quick |
| 些 | xiē | classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several |
| 慢 | màn | slow |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however |
| 不管 | bù guǎn | regardless of / no matter |
| 怎么样 | zěn me yàng | how? / how about? / how was it? / how are things? |
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 次 | cì | classifier for enumerated events: time |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 用力 | yòng lì | to exert oneself physically |
| 慢慢 | màn màn | slowly; gradually |
| 地 | de | -ly / structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct |
| 发现 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of / to discover; to find; to detect |
| 那 | nà | (specifier) that; the; those / (pronoun) that (referring to persons, things or situations) |
| 有时 | yǒu shí | sometimes / now and then |
| 而 | ér | but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates contrast) |
| 则 | zé | (literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then |
| 越 | yuè | the more... the more |
| 在 | zài | (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 喂 | wèi | to feed |
| 时 | shí | when |
| 总是 | zǒng shì | always |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of |
| 这样 | zhè yàng | this way; like this; so |
| 更 | gèng | more / even more / further / still / still more |
| 生气 | shēng qì | to get angry; to be furious |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 它 | tā | it |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about) / to think of; to devise / to think (that); to believe (that) |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 这么 | zhè me | this way / like this |
| 对待 | duì dài | to treat |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 努力 | nǔ lì | to make an effort; to try hard; to strive |
| 为 | wèi | because of / for / to |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again |
| 过 | guò | to cross / to go over / to pass (time) / to celebrate (a holiday) / to live / to get along |
| 段 | duàn | classifier for stories, periods of time, lengths of thread etc |
| 时间 | shí jiān | time |
| 感觉 | gǎn jué | to feel; to perceive |
| 不如 | bù rú | not equal to; not as good as; inferior to / it would be better to |
| 而且 | ér qiě | (not only ...) but also / moreover / in addition / furthermore |
| 越来越 | yuè lái yuè | more and more |
| 终于 | zhōng yú | at last / in the end / finally / eventually |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 他 | tā | he; him; his |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 放 | fàng | to put / to place |
| 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) |
| 磨房 | mò fáng | mill; a place where grain is ground, often using animals to turn the millstone |
| 拉 | lā | to pull / to play (a bowed instrument) / to drag / to draw / to chat / (coll.) to empty one's bowels |
| 磨 | mò | grindstone |