Upper-Intermediate - The Brave Little Tailor (Part 1) (D2051)

夏天的一个早晨,小裁缝像往常一样在无聊地做衣服。桌子上放着他吃剩下的半片面包,面包上涂着美味的果酱。
xiàtiān de yī gè zǎochén, xiǎo cáifeng xiàng wǎngcháng yīyàng zài wúliáo de zuò yīfu. zhuōzi shàng fàng zhe tā chī shèngxià de bàn piàn miànbāo, miànbāo shàng tú zhe měiwèi de guǒjiàng.
One summer morning, a little tailor is, as usual, listlessly making clothes. On the table sits the half-eaten remains of a slice of bread; on the bread is spread some delicious jam.
不一会儿,果酱的香味吸引了大批的苍蝇飞了过来。小裁缝最讨厌嗡嗡嗡的苍蝇了,他拿起尺子,啪啪啪地将苍蝇全打死了。不数不知道一数吓一跳,天啊,他打死了七只。他很得意,觉得自己真是太勇敢了,应该让全世界的人都知道。
bùyīhuìr, guǒjiàng de xiāngwèi xīyǐn le dàpī de cāngying fēi le guòlai. xiǎo cáifeng zuì tǎoyàn wēngwēngwēng de cāngying le, tā náqǐ chǐzǐ, pā pā pā de jiāng cāngying quán dǎsǐ le. bù shǔ bù zhīdào yī shǔ xiàyītiào, tiān a, tā dǎsǐ le qī zhī. tā hěn déyì, juéde zìjǐ zhēn shì tài yǒnggǎn le, yīnggāi ràng quánshìjiè de rén dōu zhīdào.
In no time, scent of the jam causes a group of flies to fly over. The little tailor is greatly disturbed by the buzzing of the flies. He picks up his ruler and - wham! - he kills the flies. How many he does not know, but counting them - whoa! - he's killed seven of them! He's very proud, thinking himself to be very brave and that the whole world should know.
说干就干!他拿起一块布,在上面写了一排字“一下打死七个”。然后,他把布系在了腰上,觉得自己就像打了胜仗的将军一样神气。于是,他高兴地出发了。
shuō gàn jiù gàn! tā náqǐ yī kuài bù, zài shàngmian xiě le yī pái zì" yīxià dǎsǐ qī gè”. ránhòu, tā bǎ bù jìzài le yāo shàng, juéde zìjǐ jiù xiàng dǎ le shèngzhàng de jiāngjūn yīyàng shénqì. yúshì, tā gāoxìng de chūfā le.
No sooner said than done! He picks up a piece of cloth and on it he writes a line: ”One stroke killed seven“. Then, he ties the cloth to his waist, thinking himself to have the air of a victorious general. So, he sets out happily.
他走呀走,走到了一片树林里。他看见一个巨人正悠闲地躺在石头上睡觉。小裁缝壮着胆子走到了巨人的面前,但心还是咚咚咚地跳个不停。他冷静了一下,然后大声地说:“嗨,哥们儿,大白天的,睡什么觉啊!敢不敢跟我一起去闯世界?”
tā zǒu ya zǒu, zǒudào le yīpiàn shùlín lǐ. tā kànjiàn yī gè jùrén zhèng yōuxián de tǎng zài shítou shàng shuìjiào. xiǎo cáifeng zhuàngzhedǎnzi zǒudào le jùrén de miànqián, dàn xīn háishì dōngdōngdōng de tiào ge bùtíng. tā lěngjìng le yīxià, ránhòu dàshēng de shuō:" hāi, gēmenr, dàbáitiān de, shuì shénme jiào a! gǎn bùgǎn gēn wǒ yīqǐ qù chuǎng shìjiè?”
He walks and walks, walking into the woods. He sees a giant lying on top of a rock asleep. The little tailor, gathering up his courage, walks up in front of the giant, but his heart is racing - thump! thump! thump! He calms down a bit, then hollers: “Hey, buddy, it's broad daylight! Why are you sleeping? Have you got the guts to roam the world with me?”
巨人微微张开了眼睛,很不屑地瞟了他一眼,说:“哼,就你这个小不丁点儿!”
jùrén wēiwēi zhāngkāi le yǎnjing, hěn bùxiè de piǎo le tā yī yǎn, shuō:" hèng, jiù nǐ zhè ge xiǎobùdīngdiǎnr!”
The giant opens his eyes a little bit, disdainfully casting a glance at him, saying, “Argh, you're just a tiny speck.”
“你小看我,是吧?你看看这是什么?”小裁缝指着腰带对巨人说。
" nǐ xiǎokàn wǒ, shì ba? nǐ kàn kan zhè shì shénme?” xiǎo cáifeng zhǐ zhe yāodài duì jùrén shuō.
“You look down on me, huh? Do you know what this is?” says the little tailor to the giant, pointing to his waist.
巨人一看,以为他打死的是七个人,心想这个小人还有点本事嘛。所以,巨人决定和他比试比试。
jùrén yī kàn, yǐwéi tā dǎsǐ de shì qī ge rén, xīnxiǎng zhè ge xiǎorén hái yǒudiǎnr běnshì ma. suǒyǐ, jùrén juédìng hé tā bǐshì bǐshi.
The giant looks and assumes that he has killed seven men, thinking that this little tailor has a bit of skill. So, the giant decides to challenge him.
巨人捡起一块石头,朝空中猛地一扔。石头飞得很高。
jùrén jiǎnqǐ yī kuài shítou, cháo kōngzhōng měngdeyīrēng. shítou fēi de hěn gāo.
The giant picks up a rock and throws it as hard as he can into the air. The rock soars high.
小裁缝看了以后,笑着说:“你是扔得很高,可是它还是掉回了地上。而我不仅能把它扔出去,还能让它永远回不来。”
xiǎo cáifeng kàn le yǐhòu, xiào zhe shuō:" nǐ shì rēng de hěn gāo, kěshì tā háishì diào huí le dìshang. ér wǒ bùjǐn néng bǎ tā rēng chūqù, hái néng ràng tā yǒngyuǎn huí bu lái.”
After the little tailor sees this, he laughs and says: “You can throw very high, but it will still fall back to the ground. But I can not only throw something, I can also make it so that it will never return.”
说完,他拿出了一只在路上抓的小鸟,嗖地往空中一扔。小鸟高兴地飞走了,没有再飞回来。
shuōwán, tā náchū le yī zhī zài lùshang zhuā de xiǎoniǎo, sōu de wǎng kōngzhōng yī rēng. xiǎoniǎo gāoxìng de fēi zǒu le, méiyǒu zài fēi huílai.
Saying this, he pulls out a little bird he's grabbed on the road and - swish! - throws it into the sky. The little bird happily flies away and doesn't fly back again.
巨人很不服气,但他假装很友好地说:“你真厉害,今晚就住在我的山洞里吧。”
jùrén hěn bùfúqì, dàn tā jiǎzhuāng hěn yǒuhǎo de shuō:" nǐ zhēn lìhai, jīnwǎn jiù zhùzài wǒ de shāndòng lǐ ba.”
The giant is not pleased in his defeat, but pretending to be friendly he says, “You are really amazing. Tonight why don't you stay in my cave?”
小裁缝跟着他去了山洞。洞里住着很多巨人。睡觉的时候,小裁缝没有睡在床上,而是偷偷地爬到了角落里。半夜,巨人以为小裁缝睡着了,就拿起一把斧头,往床上砍了几下,他还以为把小裁缝砍死了。
xiǎo cáifeng gēn zhe tā qù le shāndòng. dòng lǐ zhùzhe hěn duō jùrén. shuìjiào de shíhou, xiǎo cáifeng méiyǒu shuì zài chuáng shàng, érshì tōutōu de pádào le jiǎoluò lǐ. bànyè, jùrén yǐwéi xiǎo cáifeng shuìzháo le, jiù náqǐ yī bǎ fǔtóu, wǎng chuáng shàng kǎn le jǐ xià, tā hái yǐwéi bǎ xiǎo cáifeng kǎn sǐ le.
The little tailor follows him to his cave. Inside the cave live many giants. When sleeping, the little tailor doesn't sleep in his bed, rather, he secretly crawls into a corner. At midnight, the giant thinks that the little tailor is asleep, picks up an ax and swings it at the bed several times, believing that he's killed the little tailor.
第二天,巨人们起床了。小裁缝也起床了,还跟巨人们打招呼。巨人们以为小裁缝要报复他们,个个吓得屁滚尿流,赶紧跑了。小裁缝呢,继续往前走,去闯世界。
dì èr tiān, jùrénmen qǐchuáng le. xiǎo cáifeng yě qǐchuáng le, hái gēn jùrénmen dǎ zhāohu. jùrénmen yǐwéi xiǎo cáifeng yào bàofù tāmen, gègè xiàde de pìgǔnniàoliú, gǎnjǐn pǎo le. xiǎo cáifeng ne, jìxù wǎng qián zǒu, qù chuǎng shìjiè.
The next day, the giant wakes up. The little tailor also wakes up and says hello to the giants. The giants all think that the little tailor wants to take revenge against them. They are all scared out of their wits and quickly run away. As for the little tailor, he continues forward, off to wander the world.

Key Vocabulary

裁缝 cáifeng tailor
往常 wǎngcháng often
剩下 shèngxià to leave behind
to smear
果酱 guǒjiàng jam
不一会儿 bùyīhuìr5 in a short time
大批 dàpī large quantities of
苍蝇 cāngying fly
嗡嗡嗡 wēngwēngwēng buzz
啪啪啪 pāpāpā sound of slapping
jiāng to take (cf. 把)
吓一跳 xiàyītiào to jump in fear
得意 déyì be proud of oneself
to tie
胜仗 shèngzhàng victorious
将军 jiāngjūn general
神气 shénqì proud
巨人 jùrén giant
悠闲 yōuxián carefree
壮着胆子 zhuàngzhedǎnzi gathering up one's courage
咚咚咚 dōngdōngdōng sound of a beating heart
跳个不停 tiào ge bùtíng to jump without stopping
冷静 lěngjìng to calm down
chuǎng to roam, ramble
微微 wēiwēi slightly
不屑 bùxiè scornfully
piǎo to glance
小不丁点儿 xiǎobùdīngdiǎnr a little speck
小看 xiǎokàn to look down on someone
心想 xīnxiǎng to think to oneself
比试 bǐshì to have a competition
猛地一扔 měngdeyīrēng to throw something as hard as you can
不仅......还...... bùjǐn ... hái ... not only...but also
sōu sound of something flying through the air
服气 fúqì to be willing to accept defeat
假装 jiǎzhuāng to pretend
山洞 shāndòng mountain cave
偷偷 tōutōu secretly
角落 jiǎoluò corner
斧头 fǔtóu ax
kǎn to chop
报复 bàofù to retaliate
屁滚尿流 pìgǔnniàoliú to be scared to death

Supplementary Vocabulary

书面语 shūmiànyǔ formal written language
勇气 yǒngqì courage
勇敢 yǒnggǎn brave
象声词 xiàngshēngcí onomatopoeia
格林童话 Gélín tónghuà Grimm's Fairy Tales
史瑞克 Shǐruìkè Shrek
安徒生童话 Āntúshēngtónghuà Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales

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