Archive for April 5th, 2009

Cri – Lesson 284

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

退避三舍

春秋时候,晋献公听信谗言,杀了太子申生,又派人捉拿申生的弟弟重耳。重耳闻讯,逃出了晋国,在外流忘十几年。

经过千幸万苦,重耳来到楚国。楚成王认为重耳日后必有大作为,就以国群之礼相迎,待他如上宾。

一天,楚王设宴招待重耳,两人饮洒叙话,气氛十分融洽。忽然楚王问重耳:“你若有一天回晋国当上国君,该怎么报答我呢?”重耳略一思索说:“美女待从、珍 宝丝绸,大王您有的是,珍禽羽毛,象牙兽皮,更是楚地的盛产,晋国哪有什么珍奇物品献给大王呢?”楚王说:“公子过谦了。话虽然这么说,可总该对我有所表 示吧?”重耳笑笑回答道:“要是托您的福。果真能回国当政的话,我愿与贵国友好。假如有一天,晋楚国之间发生战争,我一定命令军队先退避三舍(一舍等于三 十里),如果还不能得到您的原谅,我再与您交战。”

四年后,重耳真的回到晋国当了国君,就是历史上有名的晋文公。晋国在他的治理下日益强大。

公元前633年,楚国和晋国的军队在作战时相遇。晋文公为了实现他许下的诺言,下令军队后退九十里,驻扎在城濮。楚军见晋军后退,以为对方害怕了,马上追击。晋军利用楚军骄傲轻敌的弱点,集中兵力,大破楚军,取得了城濮之战的胜利。

故事出自《左传·僖公二十二年》。成语“退避三舍”比喻不与人相争或主动让步。

To Retreat 45 kilometers

we’ll introduce you to a new phrase : tui bi san she which literally means to retreat three shes. In the phrase, “she” was a unit for distance measurement during the Spring and Autumn period more than two thousand years ago. One “she” is equal to today’s 15 kilometers. So the meaning of the phrase is to retreat 45kilometers to avoid conflict. Here is the story behind it.

During the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China, there were a lot of small dukedoms. Among them there was dukedom of Jin. The duke of it had a favorite concubine who successfully persuaded the duke to accept her son as the heritor and forced the former heritor Prince Zhong Er who was very talented and well respected to leave the dukedom.

Zhong Er stayed in another dukedom for 12years. During this period, his father died and his two brothers were crowned one after another. But they were both killed by an official of the dukedom . When one of his other brothers came into power, the new duke was afraid that Zhong Er would come back to take his power. He sent his men to assassinate Zhong Er in order to remove the future trouble. In such a dangerous situation, Zhong Er had to run from one dukedom to another. But the dukes of those dukedoms looked down upon him and he couldn’t get help from them. When he came to Dukedom of Chu, he was well received by its duke. His knowledge and talent were highly appreciated . He was often invited to have a dinner together the duke..

One day, the duke of Chu prepared a rich feast in the honor of Zhong Er. They had an intimate talk. During the talk, the Duke of Chu made a joke with Zhong Er:  You see, I have given you such a great treat. If you can go back to Dukedom of Jin and became its duke, what kind of reward would you give me?

Zhong Er said, “Your Majesty, you are never short of treasures and silk, and you are always surrounded by beautiful women and servants. I really don’t know what to give.” But after a second thought, Zhong Er said: “If I can really become the duke of Dukedom of Jin, if someday Jin had no other choice but to fight with Chu, I would retreat three “shes” from the front in the battle field as a reward to you.”

Later, Zhong Er really managed to return to his hometown and became its duke. Under his leadership, Jin grew quite powerful and became the leader of an ally. Once one of its allied dukedoms Song was harassed by Chu. Jin had to give a hand to Song.  Zhong Er had to fight with Chu. When the two troops came to confront each other, remembering his promise, Zhong Er ordered his men to retreat 45kilometers from the front.

Our listeners might be curious about the result of the battle. Well, after Zhong Er retreated, Chu’s general ran after him. Later on , Zhong Er accepted his general’s advice and defeated Chu’s army.

Tui bi san she, the phrase now is used in a much broader sense. It is often used to express someone’s unwillingness to approach someone else, or to keep out of one’s way or to keep somebody at arm’s length. For instance, if you meet someone you don’t like, you may tui bi san she, keep a distance from him. Have you got the implied meaning? I hope our listeners can learn to use this new idiom.

(Source:english.cri.cn)

Chinese Pinyin – bin (槟)

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

[bīn, bīng]

国标码:E9C4 部首:木 笔画:14 笔顺:12344453212134
areca
the areca nut palm

例句与用法:

  1. 友谊的感觉好比肚子里舒舒服服地塞满了烤牛肉;爱情,则好比喝了香酒后的兴致。
    The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love, like being enlivened with champagne.
  2. 白葡萄汽酒算是廉价的香
    Sparkling white wine is the poor man’s champagne.
  3. 庆祝会上开香酒瓶塞的砰砰声不绝於耳。
    Champagne corks were popping (away) throughout the celebrations.
  4. 咱们挥霍一下,喝香吧。
    Let’s lash out and have champagne.

(Source: dict.cn)


Learn Chinese Podcast – Happy China 469

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

快乐学汉语

Learn Chinese with fun.

轻松过周末

And spend the weekend in relaxation.

欢迎来到《快乐中国》周末版节目

Welcome to this weekend edition

of Happy China.

我是快乐的韩佳

I am the happy Han Jia.

我是快乐的大牛

And I am the happy Daniel.

我们在景德镇的明清园向您问好

We’re saying hello here at the Ming

Qing Garden of Jingdezhen.

说起景德镇啊

When talking about Jingdezhen,

大家第一个想到的肯定是瓷器

the first thing people think of

would be definitely its porcelain.

没错 这周我们也看了不少

Exactly. And we’ve seen quite

a lot this past week.

虽然看了不少

Though we’ve seen quite a lot,

但要是不看我们眼前的这组雕塑瓷啊

it would be a pity if we didn’t see

还是会感到遗憾的

this group porcelain sculpture

before us.

哦 你为什么这么说呢

Oh, why did you say so?

这套《水浒108将》是陶瓷史上

The 108 Outlaws of the Marsh

is the biggest

规模最大的人物组雕

group porcelain figure sculpture

in the history of ceramics.

哎 他们每个人神态都不一样

Yeah. The facial expression of

each of the figures

栩栩如生

is different and very vivid.

这里真不愧是瓷都

No wonder the city is called the

Porcelain Capital.

好东西实在是太多了

There are so many nice things

here indeed.

那当然了

That’s for sure.

您要是想更详细地了解这座城市啊

If you want to know about this

city in more detail,

就请看我们今天的出行指南

please watch today’s Travel Guide.

景德镇 属江西省

Jingdezhen is a city directly under

the Jiangxi provincial government.

享誉全世界的“瓷都”

It enjoys the reputation as the world’s

Capital of Porcelain.

位于江西省东北部

It lies in the northeastern part

of Jiangxi Province,

邻近浙江 安徽两省

close to Zhejiang and Anhui provinces.

鄱阳湖的支流昌江从城中穿行而过

The Chang River, a tributary of Poyang

Lake, passes right through the city.

景德镇已有一千七百多年的制瓷历史

Jingdezhen has a long history of porcelain

making that goes back more than 1,700 years.

经过长期的发展

Through centuries of development,

这儿的瓷器逐渐形成了

Jingdezhen porcelain has gradually formed

“白如玉 薄如纸

its unique features-as pure as jade,

as thin as paper,

声如磬 明如镜”的独特风格

as sonorous as chime stones and

as bright as mirror.

放眼全城

No matter where you go,

您会发现瓷器在这里无所不在

you’ll find porcelain ubiquitous in the city.

城中的一切都与陶瓷有着密切联系

Every part of the city is closely

related to porcelain.

高耸雄伟的龙珠阁

The imposing Longzhu Pavilion

is recounting

静静地述说着古代官窑的历史

silently the history of ancient official kilns.

这儿瓷器的数量之多 样式之美

The great numbers of porcelain exhibits

and their beautiful styles

肯定会使您的景德镇之旅

will make your visit to Jingdezhen

有意想不到的收获

a most unexpectedly rewarding experience.

韩佳 你说这里有好玩的东西

Han Jia, the something more

interesting you said

原来你说的就是玩泥巴

is actually playing with the clay here.

这还是我小时候干过的事儿呢

That’s what I did early in my childhood.

哎 这你可说错了

Oh, you are wrong.

这里是景德镇的“的士泥”乐园

Here it’s Jingdezhen’s “Di Shi Ni”

for clay lovers.

大人小孩都爱来这儿玩

Both adults and children enjoy

having fun here.

不知道这儿和国外的

But I’m not sure if it is more interesting

“迪斯尼”乐园哪个更好玩

than any of the overseas Disneyland parks.

这个简单啊

That’s easy.

咱俩亲自试试不就知道了

We can find it out if we have a try at it.

好哇

Good idea.

其实啊

Actually,

想一试身手的不光是我们俩

we aren’t the only ones wanting

to have a try here.

摄制组的其他工作人员

Other members of the filming team

也忙得不亦乐乎呢

are also all awfully busy right now.

哎 咱看看谁的创意好

Hey, let’s see who is more innovative

谁的动作快吧

and faster in molding the clay.

还是我大牛的动作比较快

It’s me who is faster.

大功告成 韩佳

I am done, Han Jia!

没想到这里的泥巴全都是彩色的啊

I didn’t expect all the clay here

would be multicolored.

嗯 这里啊

Yeah. Here,

不仅泥巴是彩色的

not only the clay is multicolored,

而且还能把你自己亲手做的这些作品啊

you can also bake your clay moldings

烧制成独一无二的陶瓷作品

into various unique ceramic works.

我的作品也是非常独特的

My work is also very unique.

就是苏东坡的两句诗

It was inspired by Su Dongpo’s poem:

“宁可食无肉 不可居无竹”

“I would rather eat no meat than

live without bamboo”

后面呢 是竹子

In the back here are bamboos.

哦 够抽象的呀

Oh, it’s fairly abstract indeed.

Sure it is.

哎 大牛 你行啊

Hey, Daniel, big deal!

令我对你“刮目相看”

You made me have a completely

new appraisal of your ability.

“刮目相看”这个成语我知道

I know the set phrase “gua mu xiang kan”.

接下来请观众朋友们

Next let our audience

进入我们今天的快乐成语

move into today’s Happy Set Phrase.

三国时

During the Three Kingdom Period,

东吴有一位大将叫吕蒙

there is a general called Lu Meng

in the state of Wu.

他勇敢善战 二十多岁就已成为名将

Brave and resourceful in battle, he

becomes a general in his early 20s.

他在年少时因为家里穷

Because his family was poor,

he received

没有读过书 所以文化程度不高

little education when he was young.

东吴国王孙权很欣赏他的勇敢

The Wu King Sun Quan appreciates

his bravery

很想提拔他

and wants to promote him to

a higher position.

你现在掌管国家大事了

“As you are now in charge of

important state duties,

应多读点儿书 多学点儿知识

you should read more to learn

more knowledge.”

我军中的事务实在太多了

“I have too many duties to deal

with in the army

哪里有时间读书啊

to have any time for reading books.”

呵呵 你比我的事还要多吗

“Ha-ha, do you have more duties

than I do?

经常抽出点儿时间来读点儿书

You’d better find time to read

some books so as

可以增长见识 收获会很大

to widen your vision. You’ll benefit a lot.”

在孙权的启发下 吕蒙在繁忙的军旅生活中

Taking Sun Qun’s advice, Lu

Meng makes use of

利用一切空隙时间发奋读书

all his spare time in his military

life to read.

越读越起劲儿

The more he reads, the more

he wants to read.

随着知识领域的不断扩大 见解也日益深刻

As his scope of knowledge widens,

his vision also deepens.

后来鲁肃见到他 与他谈论国家大事

Later when Lu Su meets him and

discusses state matters with him,

觉得他的谈吐和学识今非昔比

Lu Su finds his way of speech and

knowledge far better than before.

哈哈 我总以为老弟只会打仗

“Ha-ha, I always thought you were

good only at fighting.

没想到学识与谋略也日渐精进

I didn’t expect you’d have made such

remarkable progress

真是没想到啊

in bettering your caliber and

resourcefulness.”

士别三日

“A scholar who is away for three days

当刮目相待

should be looked upon from a

new perspective.”

观众朋友们

Audience friends,

前些天我们刚刚过了中国农历的正月十五

a few days ago, we just celebrated

the Chinese Lantern Festival.

按照惯例呀

Customarily,

这一天是要吃元宵的

people eat yuanxiao dumplings

on that day.

那您吃了吗

Did you eat any?

吃了 吃了 每一种我都吃了

Yes, I did and ate all kinds.

看 我还给你带来了不少呢

Look, I brought here quite a lot

for you too.

巧克力 我说的是元宵

Chocolate! I said yuanxiao dumplings!

哎 对了 你是不是把小喜妞

Oh, is it that you opened the box

of chocolate

寄给我们栏目组的巧克力

Little Xiniu sent us

都拆开吃了呀

and ate some?

是啊 我一来就看见了

Yes. I spotted it as soon as I came in.

哎 大家尝尝

Hey, let everyone have a taste.

这可是小喜妞的一片心意啊

It is after all a token of Little

Xiniu’s goodwill.

他可真是眼明手快啊

He is indeed sharp-eyed and

quick-handed.

不过还好 我啊 早就让摄像师

Fortunately, I have long since asked

the cameraman

把礼物都拍下来了

to videotape all the presents.

今年春节前夕

Shortly before the Spring Festival,

我们的德国小观众喜妞

Little Xiniu, a viewer in Germany,

给栏目组寄来了

sent the program team

丰富多彩的新年礼物

some colorful New Year’s presents.

您瞧 这些礼物啊

Look at these presents.

都是小喜妞亲手包装的

They were all wrapped by Little

Xiniu personally.

怎么样 漂亮吧

Are they beautiful?

还有这张精美的贺卡

The presents also include this

cute greeting card.

上面写着 谢谢《快乐中国—学汉语》

It’s written with the words: “I thank

Happy China

伴我一块儿成长

for accompanying me to grow up.

祝新年里越办越好

I wish it even greater success in

the New Year!”

HELLO 大家新年好

Hello, a Happy New Year to you all!

我是德国的喜妞

I am Little Xiniu of Germany.

祝大家新年学汉语 越学越快乐

I wish you faster progress in learning

Chinese in the New Year!

哎呀 韩佳 分了半天哪

Oh, Han Jia, after I handed out

the candies,

这巧克力还剩下最后一块

there is only one chocolate left.

韩佳 这最后一块巧克力就归我了

Han Jia, this last chocolate will

be mine.

行 行 行 没问题

Okay, no problem.

其实啊 在春节前夕

In face, before the Spring Festival,

我们栏目组还收到了

this program team has received

不少其他观众寄来的精美礼物呢

many fanciful gifts from other

audience members.

哦 快让我跟观众朋友们看看吧

Oh, why not show them to me and

the audience now?

没问题

No problem.

这是法国观众Jocelyne

Here are some gifts sent by Jocelyne

of France

寄给栏目组的礼物

for the program team,

有贺卡 糖果

which include a greeting card,

some candies

还有一座埃菲尔铁塔的模型

and a model of the Eiffel Tower.

真是让人看得眼花缭乱啊

What a dazzling array of gifts they are!

还有呢

Yeah. There are more here.

你看 这是我们中国河北省的

Look. This is a paper-cut sent to us

热心观众李洪青朋友

by Li Hongqing, a keen viewer

给我们寄来的剪纸

in Hebei Province.

哎 有意思

Oh, that’s cute.

那上面的小狗好像在叫

The little dog it features

旺旺旺 好运 好运

seems to be barking: “Good luck!

Good luck!”

还有呢 大牛你看

Here’s still more. Daniel, look.

这是观众朋友反馈给我们栏目组的

It is the first comment card

第一张留言卡

our team has received from

the audience.

也是李洪青朋友寄来的

It also came from Li Hongqing.

他说什么

What did he say?

他说感谢你们为我们

He said he was grateful to us

提供了这么精彩的节目

for providing such a wonderful program.

让我在家里就可以游遍祖国的大好河山

“It allows me to travel all over the

motherland without leaving my home.

你们辛苦了 在新年到来之际

You’ve done a nice job. On the eve

of the New Year,

要祝你们身体健康 万事如意

I wish you all good health and

good luck!”

谢谢 谢谢

Many thanks.

第一张留言卡

It’s the first comment card!

哎 不对呀

Oh, there’s something wrong.

怎么啦

What’s wrong?

李洪青朋友把留言写在背面上了

Our friend Li Hongqing wrote his

comment on the back of the card.

应该写在这面才对啊

He should have written it on this side.

大牛提醒得对

Daniel is right.

观众朋友们 这才是留言卡的正面

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the

front side of the comment card.

如果您有留言就写在这里

If you have any comments, write

them just here.

没错 就是这个意思

That’s exactly what I mean.

好了 信就读到这里

Well, that’s about all the letters

to read today.

接下来我们要去

Next we’re going to …

吃Jocelyne寄来的巧克力

Eat the chocolates sent by Jocelyne.

我们要去看看成语猜猜看

We are going to watch the Set

Phrase Look & Guess.

快乐学汉语

Learn Chinese with fun!

轻松过周末

And spend the weekend in relaxation!

小姐 您去哪儿

Where are you going, miss?

去下周要去的地方

I’m going to the place for next week.

好嘞 我拉你去

Okay, I’ll give you a ride.

2月20号到2月24号

From February 20 to 24,

快乐的韩佳 大牛

the happy Han Jia and Daniel

将带您在历史悠久的景德镇学汉语

will be taking you to the ancient city

Jingdezhen to learn Chinese.

“九五之尊”指的就是帝王的尊位

“jiu wu zhi zun” refers to the

imperial throne.

“诗情画意”形容事物有诗画一般

“shi qing hua yi” means “beautiful

like in a painting

美好的意境

or a poem”.

中国中央电视台中文国际频道

On CCTV Chinese International,

周一到周五 每天十分钟

the 10-minute Happy China

《快乐中国》与您准时相约

meets you every day Mondays

through Fridays.

好了 我们今天的节目就要结束了

Well, that’s it for today’s program.

又要和您说再见了

It’s time again we bid you goodbye.

希望我们的节目能陪您度过

We hope our program has

accompanied you

一个愉快的周末

through an enjoyable weekend.

不要忘了把您的想法和意见告诉我们

Don’t forget to let us know your

comments or suggestions.

当然也别忘了我们的口号

And neither should you forget our slogan-

学说中国话 朋友遍天下

Learn Chinese and have friends everywhere.

(Source: cctv.com)