Not sure what the life lesson is in this story or if it’s supposed to have one at all. Maybe “don’t gossip”? Or “don’t make wild assumptions?” Not sure. I’d say the most interesting word in here is 天哪, which means “My goodness!” This is used with relative frequency in China, and it’s a good interjection to use when you’re shocked or unpleasantly surprised about something but don’t want to swear or be offensive. For example, if you walked into a room that smelled badly, or if you were jostled by a few dozen people coming off the subway, or if you found out that something you want to buy is outrageously expensive. It doesn’t always have negative connotations, though – this can be used neutrally as well, but I rarely hear it used in a super positive context. Because the word 天 “Tian” ends with an “n” and the word 哪 “na” starts with one, this usually comes out sounding like “Tian ah!” rather than “Tian na”.
没有脑袋的鸟
一只白鹭在浅浅的池水中站着。
一只小刺猬走过,他说: “天哪,这只白鹭怎么没有脑袋!”
“真的!”一只小鼹鼠也叫了起来,“没有脑袋的鸟,我第一次看到!”
“假如我没有了脑袋就不能活了!”小刺猬说。
“是啊,可这只鸟还能站着不动,真了不起!”小鼹鼠说。
这时,白鹭从她那翅膀底下,伸出了长脖子,长脖子上长着一颗好短短的脑袋。
白鹭笑着说: “我是把脑袋钻进翅膀底下,梳理梳理羽毛,我怎么是没有脑袋的鸟呢?”
小刺猬和小鼹鼠都笑了,他们说:
“是我们没有用脑袋好好想一想,对不起,白鹭姐姐!”
38 replies on “The Little Bird with No Head”
I have been using your site to improve my chinese reading skills and i just have to say THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!
I had quite a hard time finding any good material for reading practice but this website is just perfect.
Keep up the good work, I really appreciate it !
I was thinking, is it posible to put ping ying on top
Of the characters? Im chinese american and trying to learn how to read:-)
Welcome!
Oh dear. “I wouldn’t of been” is totally incorrect English. A pity it occurred within your selection. Its correct form would be “I wouldn’t have been”.
Thanks for the eagle-eye. Because I’m quoting another person, I’m hesitant to change that, but I appreciate the note.
Wow, your website is a godsend for anyone wishing to practice their Chinese!Kudos to you for this great site.
This is truly a remarkable tool for learning how to read in Chinese. Xie xie,
It says that 浅浅 can mean “flowing water” (jian jian) but it can also mean “shallow” (qian qian)”. How did you choose to pick the “flowing water” option instead of the shallow water option since they both work in context?
Also, 端端 is repeated: does this mean it is emphasising the end of the neck? It means “end” but I thought repeating a character worked for only adjectives (eg. gan gan jing jing).
Thank you for your hard work! 😀
You just caught two typos! Thanks!
I think if we use:
1) “好短短” the meaning is “very short”; “very short head, very little head”.
2) “好端端”hǎoduānduān
in perfectly good condition; when everything is all right
[in perfectly good condition] 状态良好;无端
(~的)形容情况正常、良好
“in very perfectly good condition head”
I think it’s cool!
脑袋 means brain 头 means head.
You are right.
No. 脑袋 is the head (“the bag that holds the brain”) just as 头 is. 脑子 is the brain.
I really like this story because it is funny and creative.
我的名字是王汝心。
My name is Mia Wang. As you can see, I am Chinese-American.
“Yes, but this bird can still stand there not moving, how very impressive!”
I’m not that good at grammar, but this bothers me a bit. I read the other comment and saw you were quoting another person and was wondering if this was just a mistake or a quote.
I forgot to say it should be ‘there’ instead of ‘without,’ sorry.
That is indeed a poorly-written sentence. There are probably a billion grammatical mistakes in the English on this website – the English here is meant as a guide to the Chinese, and is very casually presented. I’ve taken absolutely no care with the English, other than to ensure it conveys the meaning of the Chinese well enough to guide a Chinese learner.
Your website is very helpful, but I really wish you had these stories written in traditional Chinese as well.
I mean, I know they show up, but it would be easier to learn Traditional that way. 😉
Use Google Translate to convert Simplified to Traditional:
https://translate.google.ca/?hl=en#view=home&op=translate&sl=zh-CN&tl=zh-TW
“好短短” is wrong. It should be “好端端”
The story was great, but moles are technically considered blind, so the mole shouldn’t have been able to see the egret.
Thanks for putting this website together. I love how I can hover over the Chinese words and get their definitions. This saves me from copying and pasting them to another website like Google translate.
Great site! I absolutely appreciate what you have done. So helpful. Please contact me if you need any support, I will try help.
I like this website .now i start learn chinese. this story is so good.
What is the lesson they teach here(Homework)
I suppose it just means you should use common sense and reason before you make an assumption.
I found your website today and am excited about learning to read using your translations.
Thank you Wendy
funny story
Love It !I wish my picture can change, and can you teach me how to do the emoji(smilie face)
I think no thanks
Love It !I wish my picture can change, i wish i can make that cartoon face
I love this website, it’s really useful. Keep up the good work.
Good luck!
What is the name of this story in Chinese?