嫦娥的故事Chang’e’s story (The Moon Lady)

中秋節的晚上，At the night of the mid-autumn festival(the moon festival),

明明全家坐在院子里看月亮吃月餅。

Ming-Ming’s family sat in the yard to admire the moon and share the mooncakes.

奶奶說了一個中秋節的神話故事。

Grandma told a fairy tale about the Mid-Autumn Festival.

很久以前，有一年，天上出現十個太陽，

Once upon a time, in one year, ten suns appeared in the sky,

太陽把花草樹木曬死了，

The sun scorched the flowers and trees to death, (All the plants got dry in the sun.)

人們餓得活不下去了。

People are too hungry to survive. (Humans could hardly survive)

那時候有一個人叫后羿，

At that time there was a man named Hou Yi,

他的力氣很大，他站在高山上，

His strength is great, he climbed up and stands on a high mountaintop,

拉開大弓，射掉了九個太陽。

He drew his big bow (he pulled his powerful arch) and shot down nine suns.

最後，天上只剩下一個太陽。

Finally, there is only one sun left in the sky.

天氣正常了，When the weather was normal again,

人們很高興，就推后羿做國王。可是—

people were very happy, so they all elected Hou Yi to be their king. But—

后羿天天吃喝玩樂，還到處找長生不老的葯。

Hou Yi was busy eating, drinking and having fun he whole time, and also wanted to search the elixir of life because he hoped to live forever. (the medicine of immortality.)

他的太太嫦娥勸她做個好國王，他不聽。

His wife Chang’e advised(urged) him to be a good king, but he refused to listen.

仙人送來兩顆長生不老的葯。

One day an immortal (fairy) sent two pills of immortality. (two tablets of the elixir of life)

他說要在八月十五日晚上吃，

The immortal told them that taking one tablet on the night of August 15th would make them live forever.

只能吃一顆，如果多吃了，就會飛到月亮上去。

You can only eat one, and if you are taking more, you will fly to the moon.

後羿把藥放在盒子裡，Hou Yi put the medicine in the box,

嫦娥心想，不能讓後裔永遠當國王。

Chang’e thought to herself that Hou yi is not a good king, he should not be the kings forever.

於是，他把兩顆葯都吃了。

So(therefore) she swallowed both of the tablets.

嫦娥飛走了，后羿很傷心。

As a result, Chang’e flew away, and Hou Yi was heartbroken.

他不明白嫦娥為什麼要離開他？

He didn’t understand why Chang’e left him.

後來，他想起了嫦娥勸他的話。

Later(after a while), he remembered what Chang’e had said to persuade him.

后羿開始努力工作。 Hou Yi began to make efforts to work.

不久，后羿變成一個很好的國王。

Soon, Hou Yi became a very good king.

可是，嫦娥在月亮上，再也回不來了。

However, Chang’e was on the moon and never came back.

月亮里有一棵大樹，嫦娥常常坐在樹下，

There is a big tree in the moon, Chang’e often sits under the tree,

旁邊有一口井，還有一隻玉兔陪著他呢！

There is a well next to her, and there is a jade rabbit accompanying her!

大家抬頭看月亮。

Everyone looked up at the moon.

明明問：這個故事是真的嗎？

Mingming asked: Is this story true? (is this a real story?)

奶奶笑了，沒有回答。

Grandma laughed (smiled mysteriously) and didn’t answer.

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標點符號很重要 Punctuation is Important

John Smith是王文川的好朋友，John Smith was a good friend of Wang Wenchuan，

John想去臺北學中文。John wants to go to Taipei to learn Mandarin. .

王文川說，John可以住在他的奶奶家。Wang Wenchuan suggested said that John can stay with his grandma’s house while he was in Taipei.

王奶奶很歡迎John來住。Grandma Wang told John that he was welcome to stay with her.

他寫信問John，每天早飯最愛吃什麼？She wrote John a letter to ask John, what is his favorite breakfast every day?

What kind of food he would like for breakfast.

John用中文寫了一封信給王奶奶，他告訴王奶奶，他早飯常常吃的東西。

John wrote back a letter to Grandma Wang in Chinese, He told Grandma Wang what kind of food he would like for breakfast.

John寫的信，上面沒有標點符號。There was no punctuation in John’s letter.

王奶奶收到信以後，看了半天才看懂。After Grandma Wang received the letter, It took Grandma Wang a long time to figure out what he meant. .

John到台北以後就住在王奶奶家。After John arrived in Taipei, he stayed at Grandma Wang’s house.

王奶奶每天早上只給他喝果汁牛奶。Grandma Wang only gave him fruit juice and milk every morning.

每天早上，John的肚子總是餓的咕嚕咕嚕叫。 John’s tummy growled loudly before lunch every day.  Every morning,

他想，王奶奶也許沒有收到他寫的信。He thought that Grandma Wang maybe not have received the letter he wrote.

他問王奶奶，王奶奶說：就是因為收到你的信，我才每天給你喝果汁牛奶呀！So he asked her about the letter.

Of course I got your letter she replied that is why I have been giving you juice-flavored milk every  morning!

王奶奶把信拿出來念道 Grandma Wang took out the letter and read.

沒有魚肉也很好，沒有青豆玉米也很好，每天要有果汁牛奶。It is also good without fish meat , and it is also good without green beans and corn, I need juice milk every morning.

王奶奶說：看了你的信才知道你早飯不吃魚肉也不吃蔬菜，只喝果汁牛奶。Grandma Wang said: After reading your letter, I realized that you don’t eat fish or vegetables for breakfast, and only drink juice-flavored milk.

John說不對不對，我是說沒有魚，肉也很好。 沒有青豆，玉米也很好。 每天要有果汁、牛奶。John said No, No, I mean no fish, meat is fine too. Corn would be fine without the green beans. I also need juice and milk every morning.

王奶奶聽了哈哈大笑，John笑著說：原來標點符號很重要，我要學會用標點符號。Grandma Wang couldn’t help laughing out loud.  when she heard this,

John said with a smile: “It turns out that punctuation marks are very important. I have to learn how to use punctuation marks.”  I will learn it well.”

寫字很有用Writing is useful

毛蟲用樹葉寫信給螞蟻，A caterpillar used a leaf, wrote a letter to an ant

咬了三個洞，表示我想你。He bites three holes in the leaf, meaning ‘I miss you”

螞蟻收到信，看著半點鐘。The ant received the letter and looked at it for half an hour.

也咬了三個洞，表示看不懂。He also bit three holes, expressing that he did not understand.

Indicating I do not understand.

毛蟲和螞蟻商量大事情，Caterpillars and ants discuss this important thing,

快快學寫字，寫字很有用。Hurry up and learn how to write, because writing is of great use

王小毛看報紙 Wang Xiao-Mao Reads a Newspaper

有一天，王小毛拿起一張中文報紙，One day, Wang Xiaomao picked up a Chinese newspaper,

他看見許多“一”字，He saw many “one” character,

又看見許多“二”字，He also saw many “two” characters,

還看見許多“三”字，Then he also saw many “three” characters,

忽然王小毛看見河川的「川」字，Suddenly Wang Xiao-Mao saw the word “Chuan” in the phrase Hechuan，
他想了半天說道：He thought for a long while and said:

奇怪，這個「三」字，怎麼站起來了？ How strange! How come the character “three” stood up?

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登鸛鵲樓   王之渙
To Ascend the Quan-Que Tower (The Tower of Crane and Sparrow)

白日依山盡，
The sun is disappearing behind the mountain,

黃河入海流，
The Yellow River is flowing towards the ocean,

欲窮千里目，
If one desires to view the thousand-mile vista,

更上一層樓。
One needs to climb another story up the pagoda.

西遊記Journey to the west

花果山the mountains of flowers and the fruit

很久很久以前，海上有一座仙山叫「花果山」。It is said that once upon a time, there was a magical mountain in the far away seas, which was knowing us the mountain of flowers.

有一天，山頂上的大石頭，突然爆開，跳出一隻小猴子來。One day, suddenly, a rock in the mountain burst open, giving birth to a stone monkey.

這隻猴子才一開口，就會說話。 他很可愛，大家都愛跟他一起玩兒。The monkey opened his mouth, and he could talk right away. He was very adorable that all other monkeys likes to play with him.

有一回，這群猴子找到一個大瀑布。 大家拍手說：「好水！ 好水！」One day as they playing, they came upon a curtain of water. Great water! Great Water! They clapped their hands and yelled.

一個白毛老猴子說：「有誰敢跳進去，我們就拜他做大王。」An old white-haired monkey suggested that whoever was brave enough to pass through the curtain of water would be their king.

那隻小猴子說：我去！ 我去！ 他一用力，就跳進瀑布里了。 The store monkey volunteered; I will go! And he jumped through the curtain of the water.

瀑布裡面是個石洞。 洞口上有十個字：花果山福地，水簾洞洞天。 There was a cave inside of the water curtain. On the entrance of the cave there was an inscription which said the mountain of Flowers at Fruit is Blessed.  The Cave of the Water Curtain is the Paradise.

他走進洞裡，看見洞裡有石床、石凳、石杯、石碗他高興得又叫又跳。When he went inside the cave. He saw stone beds benches, pots and bowls. He jumped up and down and shouted for joy.

他把大家都叫進洞里來住。大家很高興，就拜他為美猴王。Then he called all the other monkeys to jump over, and they all lived in the cave after that. They were so happy that they make the stone monkey their king.

日子過得很快樂。 可是美猴王擔心，如果以後妖怪來了怎麼辦？ 他想出去學些本領。Their life was good, but the Monkey King was worried that there were monsters who would intrude, what could he do if that happened? He wanted to go somewhere to learn fighting skills.

猴子們送美猴王上船。大家說：大王！ 大王！ 你要早點兒回來！The monkey saw him off on a boat the next day. Please come back soon! Your Majesty said all the monkeys.

小老鼠貝貝Little mouse Bei Bei

有一隻可愛的小老鼠叫貝貝。There is a cute little mouse named Beibei.

他和爸爸、媽媽一同住在小洞裡。He lives in a small hole with his father and mother (Daddy & Mommy).

有一天，貝貝在洞口外面玩兒。One day, Beibei was playing outside the hole entrance.

不久，一隻大貓看見了貝貝，Soon(before long), a big cat saw Bei Bei,

就跳過來抓他，貝貝趕快跑進洞裡。Just jumped over to catch him, and Beibei ran into the hole quickly (in a hurry).

爸爸、媽媽看見了，就一起用力學狗叫：Daddy and Mommy saw that, and they got up their strength and imitated a dog barking.

「汪！汪！汪！走開！走開！」”Woof! Woof! Woof! Go away! Go away!”

大貓聽見狗叫，就嚇得跑開了。When the big cat heard the dog barking, it ran away in fright.

Hearing the dogs barking, the big cat got scared and ran away.

貝貝問：「媽媽，你們剛才跟貓說什麼話？我怎麼聽不懂。」Beibei asked, “Mommy, what did you just say to the cat?

How come I could not understand it?”

媽媽說：「那是狗說的語言。」Mommy said, “That’s the language dogs speak.” (That was dog’ s language)

貝貝說：「我也要學那種話。」Beibei said, “I want to learn that kind of language too.”

媽媽說：「很好！多學幾種話，真的很有用。」Mommy said, “Very good! Learning several more languages is really useful.

小雪的魔筆The Magical Paintbrush of Xiaoxue

很久很久以前，有一個孤兒叫小雪，Long time ago, there was an orphan named Xiaoxue,

他很喜歡畫畫兒，可是他很窮，沒有錢買筆。 She liked drawing very much, but she didn’t have the money to buy a p aintbrush.

有一天晚上，小雪夢見一位老奶奶，One night, Xiaoxue dreamed that an old grandma,

老奶奶送給她一隻又長又大的毛筆。The old grandma gave her a long and big paintbrush.

小雪醒來，手裡真的拿著一支毛筆。Xiaoxue woke up with a real writing brush in her hand.

小雪，很高興就在手心上畫了一隻小鳥。Xiaoxue, I was very happy that she drew a little bird on the palm of her hand.

忽然間，這隻鳥變成真的鳥，飛走了。Suddenly, the bird became a real bird and flew away.

啊！ 小雪知道了，原來這是一隻魔筆。ah! Xiaoxue realized that it was a magic paintbrush.

小雪想，如果用這隻魔筆，畫很多的東西送給窮人，他們就可以過好日子了。Xiaoxue thought, if she used this magic paintbrush to draw a lot of things and give them to the poor, they would be able to live a good life.

於是，小雪就每天到窮人家裡，用這支筆劃許多東西送給他們。So, Xiaoxue went to the poor people’s homes every day, and used magic paintbrush to draw many things they needed for them.

貪心的國王知道了，就把小雪抓進宮裡，天天叫小雪，為他畫畫。When the greedy king found out (heard about this), he took Xiaoxue into the palace (he kept Xiaoxue as a prisoner in the palace) and ordered  Xiaoxue to draw a lot of things for him every day.

有一天，國王想坐船，就叫小雪，先畫一艘大船和一片大海，再畫幾筆大風。One day, the king wanted to sail on a ship, so he ordered Xiaoxue, to draw a big ship, the ocean and also wind for him.

國王坐上了船，不久，起風了，船在海上走得很快。The king got on the ship, and soon the wind picked up, and the ship was going very fast on the sea.

可是，風太大了，風把船吹翻了，國王再也回不來了。However, the wind was so fierce later that the ship was turned over, and the king never returned.

小雪離開了王宮。小雪，每天還在為窮人畫畫兒，Xiaoxue left the palace.  and continued to draw things for the poor every day,

只是沒有人知道他住在哪里。but nobody ever found out where she lives.