Archive for April 4th, 2009

Cri – Lesson 283

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

一朝一夕

意思是一个早晨或一个晚上。形容只有很短的一段时间。

这个成语出自《周易·坤》:“臣弑其君,子弑其父,非一朝一夕之故,其所由来者渐矣。”

战国时期著名的哲学家杨朱博学多才,很受人尊重。一次,他到朋友季梁家去,恰巧季梁身体不舒服,躺在床上。季梁的儿子见了杨朱后,哭着说:“杨伯伯,我父亲的病看上去很凶险,你能否帮我请医生来为他诊治一下。”

杨朱探视了季梁,安慰季梁的儿子说:“贤侄别急,依我看,你父亲的病并不重,只要好好调理,很快会痊愈的。”

但是,季梁的儿子不信,一下子请来三位医生。

第一位医生给季梁诊治了一下,说:“你得病的原因是冷暖没有节制,虚实失调,阴阳不和,平时饥饱不均。只要吃几帖药,即可药到病除。”

季梁摇摇头说:“你只是个普通医生,你走吧!”

第二个医生为季梁诊了脉,说:“你的病是由于先天不足,而非一朝一夕形成的。要用药来治好你的病,恐怕很难。”

季梁赞许地说:“你是一位良医。”

第三位医生只望了望季梁的气色,说:“你的病是由于精神忧郁引起的,所以不用吃药,只要好好修心养性,就会好的。”

季梁十分赞许地说:“你真是一位神医呵!”

原来,季梁的病确实是因精神忧郁而起。他的病经过精神调节,果然没过多久就好了。

One morning and one night

Today we’ll learn a new phrase that literally means, “One morning and one night.” In Chinese, it reads “Yi Zhao Yi Xi” which can be used to describe “A short duration of time.” And, as always, there is an interesting story behind the idiom.

In the Warring States period in ancient China, there was a philosopher named Yang Zhu. Once, his friend Ji Liang was ill. That worried the son of Ji Liang, who was anxious to find a good doctor for his sick father. So the son invited three doctors, and they all came at the same time. They were Dr. Jiao, Dr. Yu and Dr. Lu.

The first doctor Jiao diagnosed Ji Liang’s illness, saying, “You must have paid little attention to keeping your body temperature correct. And you usually eat too much, so you have a congested heart. But although your illness is serious, it can be cured.” After hearing this, the patient Ji Liang said, “You’re a mediocre doctor. You’d better leave me alone.”

Then it was the second doctor’s turn. The doctor told Ji Liang, “You were born a weak baby. Your illness didn’t get this serious in one day and a night: it has developed  over a very long time.” Hearing this, Ji Liang said, “You’re a good doctor. Please have a dinner with me in my house.”

But the words of the third physician – Dr. Lu – made Ji Liang look up to him with special respect. Dr. Lu said, “You will recover naturally if you cultivate your mind and develop your character. So what use are medicines?” With great excitement, Ji Liang replied, “You are a doctor who can work miracles. I should treat you well.” And Ji Liang soon recovered, without any medical treatment.

From this story, people drew the idiom “Yi Zhao Yi Xi” – “One morning and one night”. We use the idiom to describe a very short period.

Chinese Pinyin – bin (傧)

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

[bīn]

国标码:D9CF 部首:亻 笔画:12 笔顺:324453212134
best man
entertain

例句与用法:

  1. 谢谢。你能做我们的相吗?
    Thanks. Will you be our best man?

Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 468

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

大牛:大家好,

Hi, there!

我是累坏了的大牛,

I am the burned-out Daniel.

韩佳说今天要带我去一个很重要的地方。

Han Jia said she’s going to take me

to an important place today.

可是爬了这么久,

We’ve been walking such a long way,

这周围什么都没有。

but haven’t found anything around.

韩佳: 哎,大牛,怎么了?

Hi, Daniel, are you OK?

爬不动了啊!

Can’t climb any further?

大牛:谁说我爬不动,

Who said I can’t?

我只是想跟你弄清楚,

I only wanted to find out

你是不是带错路了!

if you’re leading me to a wrong way.

这周围除了砂子,什么都没有。

There is nothing except the sand around here.

韩佳:没带错路啊。

No, I’m not.

这里呢就是大名鼎鼎的高岭山,

Here is the well-known Gaoling Mountain.

大牛:高岭山?

Gaoling Mountain.

哦,我知道,我知道。

Oh, I know it.

制作瓷器很重要的一个原料—

The important material in porcelain making,

高岭土就是这里产的。

kaolin, comes from right here?

韩佳:既然知道,还不快走!

Since you know that, why not walking faster?

大牛:她怎么一点儿都不累啊。

Why she isn’t a bit tired at all!

哎,有人吗?

Hello, anybody in there?

韩佳:大牛,这里面怎么还会有人呢!

Daniel, it is impossible there’s anyone there.

快下来,

Come down.

那是原来的古矿坑。

That’s an ancient quarry pit.

高岭土啊就是从这里面挖出来的。

Kaolin clay was dug out right from here.

大牛:嗯,高岭土,高岭山。

Yeah, kaolin clay.

现在我知道高岭土这个名字的来历了。

Now I understand where the name, kaolin,

comes from.

正因为这种土在高岭山大量出产,

As it produced kaolin clay in large quantities,

所以它才会被叫做高岭土。

the mountain was named the Gaoling Mountain.

韩佳:嗯,不仅如此,

Yes. Apart from that,

高岭土这个名称啊,

the kaolin clay has become

现在已经是世界制瓷黏土的

the universal name for the sticky clay

通用名称了。叫kaolin

that is used for making porcelain in the world.

大牛:哦,原来高岭土早就已经名满天下了。

Yeah. Actually the kaolin clay became incredibly

famous a long time ago.

Yuánlái gaāolǐng tǔ zǎo jiù míng mǎn tiaānxiaà le.

原来 高岭土 早 就 名 满 天下 了。

So Kaolin has been famous far and wide

for a long time.

韩佳:哎,这句话说得好。

Hey, you put it perfectly.

“名满天下”呢就是指名声传遍天下,

“ming man tian xia” means to have a reputation

形容名声极大。

far and wide.

大牛:“名满天下”指名声传遍天下,形容名声极大。

“ming man tian xia” means incredibly famous.

名满天下。

“ming man tian xia”.

韩佳,

Han Jia.

韩佳:嗯。

Yes.

大牛:我们怎么一直在爬山呢?

Why we’ve been climbing hills all the time?

韩佳:哎,这可是高岭古道啊。

Yes. This is an ancient road on the mountain.

修建于宋代,

It was built during the Song Dynasty

已经有近千年的历史了。

nearly 1,000 years ago.

过去的工人们就是沿着这条古道,

It was right along this ancient road that workers

把高岭土挑到东埠码头,

carried the kaolin clay down to Dongbu Dock

然后再运往景德镇的。

before it was transported to Jingdezhen.

大牛:看来我是不能不爬这条古道了。

It seems that I should certainly take a climb

on this ancient road.

哎,韩佳,

Eh, Han Jia,

那边有个亭子,我们休息一下吧!

there is a pavilion over there. Let’s have a rest.

韩佳:好。

Good.

大牛:韩佳,我一直在想:

Han Jia, I was wondering

当年的工人真不容易!

how difficult it must have been

要挑这么重的矿石,

for workers to carry such heavy kaolin ores

一直走到东埠码头。

all the way down to Dongbu Dock.

我现在什么也没背,

Now carrying nothing on my back,

已经累得上气不接下气了。

I am already gasping for breath.

韩佳:是啊。

Yes, indeed.

景德镇的瓷器有今天的辉煌,

The glory of Jingdezhen porcelain today

那些勤劳的工人们,

is due in large measure to those hardy workers

可是做出了一番大贡献啊!

and their great contributions.

Nàxiē gōngrén zuòchūle yì fān dà gòngxiàn.

那些 工人 做出了 一 番 大 贡献。

Those workers made a large contribution.

大牛:哇,没想到这山顶上有这么多白砂。

Wow! I didn’t expect to see so much white

sand on top of the mountain.

韩佳:哎,你能猜出这些白砂的来历吗?

Eh, can you guess where the sand comes from?

大牛:我猜不出来。

No, I can’t.

不过我想这些白砂肯定和高岭土有关系。

But I presume the white sand here must have

something to do with the kaolin clay.

韩佳:嗯,没错儿。

You bet!

这些白砂呢就是当年淘洗

The white sand was left from the washing

高岭土剩下来的。

of kaolin ores in those days.

矿工们给它起了个名字—

The miners call it

叫尾砂。

the tail sand.

大牛:天哪,这里有这么多尾砂!

My goodness! What a plenty of such tail sand here!

那当年得开采多少高岭土啊!

There must have been a huge amount of kaolin ore

extracted from here.

韩佳:对啊。

Yes.

正因为这里附近的高岭土

Because of the huge amount of

被大量地开采,

kaolin ore extracted from here,

所以被遗弃的尾砂也特别多。

this large amount of tail sand has been left here.

不过这些尾砂

But this mound of sand

现在已经成了一道风景,

has long become a scenic attraction

而且还有个美丽的名字呢。

with a beautiful name.

大牛:哎,让我猜猜,

Oh, let me have a guess.

是不是叫做“白砂堆成山”?

Is it called the Mound of White Sand?

韩佳:嗨,你起的这个名字啊够直观!

Oh, the name you gave sounds too explicit.

不对。

It’s incorrect.

这处风景的名字呢

The name of this scenic spot

叫“青山浮白雪”。

is Qing Shan Fu Bai Xue (white snow over

a green mountain).

怎么样,是不是很富有诗情画意啊?

Does it sound very poetic and picturesque?

大牛:嗯,“青山浮白雪”

Yeah, Qing Shan Fu Bai Xue

这个名字好。

is a nice name.

的确很有诗情画意。

It is surely “shi qing hua yi”.

韩佳:嗯,“诗情画意”就是用来形容

Yes. “shi qing hua yi” means to be

事物有诗画一般美好的意境。

as beautiful as a painting or a poem.

大牛:“诗情画意”形容事物有诗画一般美好的意境。

“shi qing hua yi” means beautiful

like in a painting or a poem.

诗情画意。

“shi qing hua yi”.

Shī qíng huà yì

诗 情 画 意

beautiful like in a painting or poem

韩佳:大牛,这里啊就是东埠古码头。

Daniel, here it is Dongbu Dock.

以前从山上运下来的高岭土

The kaolin ore

就是从这儿运往景德镇的。

was carried here from the mountaintop

before being transported to Jingdezhen.

大牛:这个码头可真够小的。

This dock is so small.

韩佳,要是把码头做大一点儿,

Han Jia, if the dock was built a bit larger,

岂不是一次能运更多高岭土吗?

it would have handled the transportation of more

kaolin ore.

韩佳:你的这个主意啊已经没用了。

Yours is a futile suggestion.

其实这里的高岭土由于过去开采过度,

Due to excess exploitation,

现在已经不允许开采了。

it is not allowed to extract kaolin ore

any more here.

大牛:啊?已经不允许了?

What? Not allowed any more?

那怎么办?

Without the kaolin clay,

景德镇的瓷器靠什么做呀!

how can they make porcelain in Jingdezhen?

韩佳:这个你就不用操心了。

It’s needless for you to worry.

中国的其他地方也出产高岭土,

There are many other places

原料多着呢!

which also produce the kaolin clay.

大牛:那我就放心了。

That’s a relief for me.

观众朋友们,

Audience friends,

时间总是过得很快,

time elapses so fast.

又该看《赏心悦目》了。

Time now again for the day’s Feast for the Eyes.

韩佳:我们一会儿见。

We’ll be right back.

大牛:哎,不能从高岭山

Oh, we can’t take from the mountain

带一些正宗的高岭土回去,

any genuine kaolin clay back home!

真是有一些可惜啊!

What a pity.

韩佳:嗨,别可惜了,

Hey, it’s no pity at all.

带回去你也没地儿用啊,

It wouldn’t be of any use

even if you could take some home.

还不如给大家出题哪!

I’d rather you set a question for our audience

now.

大牛:你不说我还真给忘了。

Oh, I almost forgot it if you didn’t remind me.

今天的问题是这样的:

Today’s question is like this.

(问题部分略)

.

韩佳:知道答案的朋友,

If you know the answer,

可以用屏幕上的方式

you may use the method given onscreen

随时跟我们联系。

to contact us promptly.

精美礼品等您拿。

A classy gift is waiting for you to claim it.

大牛:好了,今天的节目就到这里了。

Well, that’s it for today.

别忘了我们的口号—

Don’t forget our slogan-

合: 学说中国话,朋友遍天下。

Learn Chinese and have friends everywhere.

(Source: cctv.com)