Categories
Newbie

Short story: 太多罚单 – Too Many Parking Tickets

Ever gotten so many parking tickets you wanted to give up driving forever? Well, that’s exactly what happened to Li Ming. But trading driving for walking turned out to the best decision Li Ming ever made.

Ever gotten so many parking tickets you wanted to give up driving forever? Well, that’s exactly what happened to Li Ming. But trading driving for walking turned out to the best decision Li Ming ever made. Fair warning: This is a bit longer than the typical newbie post, but the words are all relatively simple. Good luck!

Key vocab

罚单 – fá dān – parking ticket / fine
开车 – kāi chē – to drive a car
生气 – shēng qì – to be angry
走路 – zǒu lù – to walk
从来 – cóng lái – ever / always (with negation: never)
市场 – shì chǎng – market
面馆 – miàn guǎn – noodle shop
卖 – mài – to sell
冰箱 – bīng xiāng – refrigerator
扔 – rēng – to throw away

最好的罚单

李明有一辆车。他每天开车去工作。

但是,他天天有罚单

他把车放在这里——罚单

他把车放在那里——罚单

他把车放在很远的地方——还是罚单

李明很生气。”我不开车了!明天我走路去!”

第二天,他走路去工作。

走路很慢。但是他看见了很多从来没看见过的东西。

他看见一个市场市场里有很多菜,很多水果,很多人。

他看见一个公园。公园里有树,有花,有老人在喝茶。

他看见一个面馆。面很好吃!他以前不知道这里有面馆

他每天开车,什么都没看见。

一个月以后,李明把车了。

现在他天天走路。他在市场买菜,在公园坐一坐,在面馆吃面。

家里还有最后一张罚单。它在冰箱上。

妻子问:”你为什么不?”

李明笑了,说:”这是我最好的罚单。没有它,我不会走路。没有走路,我什么都看不见。”

Show English translation

The Best Parking Ticket

Li Ming had a car. Every day he drove to work.

But he got parking tickets day after day.

He parked his car here—a ticket.

He parked his car there—a ticket.

He parked his car very far away—still a ticket!

Li Ming was very angry. “I’m not driving anymore! Tomorrow I’ll walk!”

The next day, he walked to work.

Walking was slow. But he saw many things he had never seen before.

He saw a market. In the market there were many vegetables, lots of fruit, and lots of people.

He saw a park. In the park there were trees, flowers, and old people drinking tea.

He saw a noodle shop. The noodles were delicious! He never knew there was a noodle shop here before.

Every day he had driven, and seen nothing.

A month later, Li Ming sold his car.

Now he walks every day. He buys vegetables at the market, sits for a while in the park, and eats noodles at the noodle shop.

At home there is still one last parking ticket. It’s on the refrigerator.

His wife asked, “Why don’t you throw it away?”

Li Ming smiled and said, “This is my best parking ticket. Without it, I wouldn’t have started walking. Without walking, I wouldn’t have seen anything.”

1 reply on “Short story: 太多罚单 – Too Many Parking Tickets”

I enjoyed the story. Being mindfull is really improve your quality of life a lot. Be aware of yourself and your surroundings to be happy!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *