南瓜燈籠Jack-O-Lantern

去年的萬聖節， 中中用南瓜做了一個燈籠，Last Halloween, Zhong-Zhong made a lantern out of pumpkins.

鄰居們都說，中中家的南瓜燈籠最好看！The neighbors all said that Zhong-Zhong’s pumpkin lantern was the most beautiful!

過了兩個星期，下了一場大雨，It rained very hard a day after two weeks,

南瓜燈籠有點壞了，The Jack-O-Lantern became a little rotten.

爸爸把它放到後院牆邊的空地上。Dad put it in the back yard in an empty place close to the wall.

又過了幾天，A couple days later, (After a few more days,)

南瓜燈籠的表面長了一層，白白毛毛的東西。The surface of the pumpkin lantern has a layer of white fluffy things appeared.

Something fluffy and white appeared on the surface of the Jack-O-Lantern.

冬天到了，下了幾場大雪，Winter came, and there have been several heavy snowfalls,

厚厚的白雪把南瓜燈籠完全蓋住了。The thick white snow completely covered the Jack-O-Lantern.

一直等到春天來了，雪才融化。The snow didn’t melt until spring came.

中中發現南瓜燈籠不見了，Zhong-Zhong couldn’t find the Jack-O-Lantern anywhere,

地上有三顆南瓜的種子。But he found three pumpkin seeds on the ground.

中中把種子埋在土裡。Zhong-Zhong buried the seeds in the soil. Planted the seeds in the soil.

過了不久，地上長出三顆小芽。After a while, three sprouts appeared on the ground.

中中很高興，他每天都去澆水。Zhong-Zhong was very excited; he went to water them every day.

不久，小芽長出許多葉子，Soon (later on) the sprouts began to grow many leaves,

夏天到了，開了許多黃色的花，When summer came, they started to bloom yellow blossoms,

有公花也有母花。Some were male and some were female.

母花謝了，結了許多小瓜。When the female flowers wilted, little pumpkins were produced.

中中想：奇怪，這些南瓜怎麼是綠色的呢？Zhong-Zhong wondered: How come these pumpkins are green?

秋天到了，晚上很冷，每天早上，Autumn followed, it was cold at night, and every morning,

南瓜的表面都有一層白色的霜。The surface of the pumpkin has a layer of white frost.

有一天，中中發現南瓜全都變成金黃色了！One day, Zhong-Zhong found that all the pumpkins had turned golden yellow!

媽媽說：南瓜成熟了，現在可以收成了。Mom said: “The pumpkins are ripe and can be harvested now.”

今年的萬聖節，this year’s Halloween,

中中用院子的南瓜做了一個燈籠。Zhong-Zhong made another Jack-O-Lantern this year using one of the pumpkins from the yard.

他輕輕地拍著南瓜說：歡迎你回來了！He patted the pumpkin gently and said: Welcome back!

房子後面有塊地 There is an empty lot behind the house.

房子後面有塊，大家說要種東西。There is an empty lot behind the house. Everyone said we should plant something.

大哥說種南瓜，The eldest brother said we should plant pumpkin,

二哥說種黃瓜，The second brother said we should plant cucumber,

三哥說種西瓜，The third brother said we should plant watermelon,

四哥說種哈密瓜。The fourth brother said we should plant cantaloupe.

年年月月，說來說去，直到現在，房子後面 Year in， year out， month after month. After all this talk, Until now, behind the house,

還是一塊空地。still an empty lot.

種魚 Plant a fish

王老公公把豆子種在土裡，Old Grandpa Wang planted some beans in the field.

過了不久，他收成了許多豆子。After a little while, he harvested lots of beans.

王老奶奶把玉米種在土裡，Grandma Wang planted some corn in the field.

過了不久他收成了許多玉米。After a little while she harvested a lot of corn.

小貓看見了，就把小魚種在土裡，When the kitten saw it, she then planted some fish in the field.

小貓等了好久好久—–The kitten waited for a very very long time —–

奇怪，怎麼沒有小魚長出來呢？How strange, how come there were no fish growing from the field?

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.

Continue reading

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?