Intermediate - Romance of the Three Kingdoms (C1919)

A: 你在看什么书?好厚啊!
nǐ zài kàn shénme shū? hǎo hòu a!
What book are you reading? It's really thick!
B: 《三国演义》。听说过吗?
《 Sānguóyǎnyì》. tīngshuō guo ma?
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Have you heard of it?
A: 听说过,不过没看过。是写什么的?
tīngshuō guo, bùguò méi kàn guo. shì xiě shénme de?
I've heard of it, but I've never read it. What's it about?
B: 《三国演义》是一部历史小说。写的是魏、蜀、吴三个国家之间的战争。
《 Sānguóyǎnyì》 shì yī bù lìshǐ xiǎoshuō. xiě de shì Wèi、 Shǔ、 Wú sān ge guójiā zhījiān de zhànzhēng.
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is a historical novel. It's about the war between the kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu.
A: 曹操和诸葛亮就是《三国演义》里的吧?
Cáo Cāo hé ZhūGě liàng jiùshì《 Sānguóyǎnyì》 lǐ de ba?
Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang are from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," right?
B: 没错。曹操是魏王,诸葛亮是蜀国的军师。
méicuò. Cáo Cāo shì Wèi wáng, Zhūgě Liàng shì Shǔguó de jūnshī.
That's right. Cao Cao was the king of the kingdom of Wei and Zhuge Liang was the military adviser for the kingdom of Shu.
A: 曹操是不是老被诸葛亮打败?
Cáo Cāo shì bu shì lǎo bèi Zhūgě Liàng dǎbài?
Didn't Cao Cao always get defeated by Zhuge Liang?
B: 呵呵,他们都有输有赢。不过没有诸葛亮的话,蜀国早就完了。
hēhē, tāmen dōu yǒu shū yǒu yíng. bùguò méiyǒu Zhūgě Liàng dehuà, Shǔguó zǎo jiù wán le.
Heh heh, they both won some and lost some. But without Zhuge Liang, it would've been over for the kingdom of Shu a lot earlier.
A: 三国里面,最后谁赢了?
Sānguó lǐmiàn, zuìhòu shéi yíng le?
Who won in the end between the three of them?
B: 最后啊,三国都输了。别的人做了皇帝。
zuìhòu a, sān guó dōu shū le. biéde rén zuò le huángdì.
In the end, they all lost. A different person became the emperor.
A: 太可惜了!
tài kěxī le!
What a shame!

Key Vocabulary

hòu thick
三国演义 Sānguóyǎnyì Romance of the Three Kingdoms
听说 tīngshuō to hear of
[measure word]
历史 lìshǐ historical
小说 xiǎoshuō novel
Wèi Wei (name)
Shǔ Shu (name)
Wu (name)
国家 guójiā country
之间 zhījiān between
战争 zhànzhēng war
曹操 Cáo Cāo Cao Cao (name)
诸葛亮 Zhūgě Liàng Zhu Ge Liang (name)
魏王 Wèi wáng the king of the kingdom of Wei
wáng king
军师 jūnshī military adviser
lǎo always
bèi by
打败 dǎbài to defeat
shū to lose
yíng to win
的话 dehuà if
早就 zǎo jiù early on
完了 wán le to be finished
最后 zuìhòu finally
皇帝 huángdì emperor
可惜 kěxī shame, pity

Supplementary Vocabulary

关于 guānyú about
价值 jiàzhí value
复姓 fùxìng two-character surname
军队 jūnduì army
人物 rénwù person, figure
国王 guówáng king
四大名著 sìdàmíngzhù ‘the four great works of Chinese literature‘

Online Review and Discussion .   ©2012 Praxis Language Ltd.