老人和鸟 - Short Story for 2014

[Meng Lelan]

This is a story suitable for beginners. A simplified and shortened version can be found in "Graded Chinese Readers - 500 Words" though some of you can find it online in the original. Not sure if traditional character is available but we can try. The author is Jia Pingwa 贾平凹. The reason I selected this one is because Jia Pingwa is a famous contemporary author in China. This story is about how residences are becoming modernized in China as a result of economic changes, disasters, relocations (whether desired or not), and so forth. Old houses are being replaced with high rises. As you read this story think about this trend and how this trend affects Chinese citizens of all ages. 

 

 

[pprendeville]

Where's the link?

[Meng Lelan]

Try this， seems to be the original version. 

 

http://wap.tyread.com/goChapterContent.action?bookId=10000092506732&chapterId=5

[新墨西哥人]

Do you know if it can be downloaded as a PDF? I'd like to read it using the Kindle app. I suppose I could print each chapter to PDF - it may be it's too hard for me anyway, so one chapter might be all I need. :-)

[SiMaKe]

Looks like each chapter is a 文章 by a different author so it looks like this one (第四章) is all there is. (but I could be wrong).

 

Here is the pdf version from the lilnk.

 

贾平凹老人和鸟儿 -- .pdf

[Meng Lelan]

Yes that is the short story in itself, I compared with the abridged version in the Graded Reader. Many thanks to SiMaKe for pdf'ing it. 

[新墨西哥人]

thanks!

[Shelley]

The PDF link doesn't open for me. It says the file name is corrupt.

[Shelley]

I have made a PDF myself.

 

This has large characters (for those of us with bad eyes) and double spacing to allow for notes etc.

 

I apologize in advance if there are any mistakes or omissions.

 

Hope it is useful.

 

 

ShortStoryFebuaryBigDouble1.pdf

[Meng Lelan]

Before reading the story, might be helpful to know some things about the story and the author...the story first appeared in a collection of mini-stories and was published in 1986. The author is Jia Pingwa 贾平凹, born 1952 in Shaanxi province and for the most part has lived in Xi'an. He began writing in 1972. One of his most notable works "Deserted City" was banned at first then re-issued seventeen years later. Jia Pingwa won the Mao Dun Literary Prize for "Shaanxi Opera".

[pprendeville]

Thanks a mill for the links guys.

[roddy]

Rather than creating a pdf, you might find it easier to copy and paste into a txt or doc file and then send it to kindle using the Kindle Personal Document service. 

[新墨西哥人]

I just tried the Personal Document technique and it worked very well. I did a copy & paste into a .txt file, emailed it to my Kindle address as an attachment with "convert" as the sujbect line. Now I guess I should actually try some reading. :-)

[roddy]

Well, you know where to come if you have any questions...

[Meng Lelan]

Looks like we are finding the formats we like - pdfs, kindles, etc. Here's a kick-off for now, more to follow. 

这个山城，在两年前的一场洪水里被淹了，三天 

 

后水一退，一条南大街便再没有存在。这使山城 

 

的老年人好不伤心，以为是什么灭绝的先兆，有 

 

的就从此害了要命的恐慌病儿。

 

 

Where does this story take place?

What happened two years ago?

What happened to Nanda Street?

So how did this impact on local older residents? How did they think and feel about this crisis?

[Meng Lelan]

但是，南大街很快又重建起来，已经撑起了高高 

的两排大楼，而且继续在延长街道，远远的地方 

吊塔就衬在云空，隐隐约约的马达声一侧耳就听 

见了。 

 

 

What is being built on Nanda Street? What can be seen up in the sky? What can be heard? Does this seem like a scene you often see in China especially in the cities? This part reminded me of the years I was living on a college campus in Beijing, there was a running track where I went running in the morning. Five years later I came back for a visit and the track was replaced by two extremely tall (practically skyscrapers) high rise buildings. 

[Meng Lelan]

新楼前都栽了白杨，一到春天就猛地往上抽枝。

夜里，愈显得分明，白亮亮的，像冲天射出的光

柱。鸟儿都飞来了，在树上跳来跳去地鸣叫，最

高的那棵白杨梢上，就有了一个窠。从此，一只 鸟儿欢乐了一棵树，一棵树又精神了整个大楼。

 

 What is planted in front of the building?

What are the birds doing and where?

Describe the mood of one particular bird there.

 

老人躺在树梢上的那个窗口内的床上。长年那么

躺着，窗子就一直开着。一抬头，就看见远处的

吊塔，心里便想起往日南大街的平房，免不了咒

骂一通洪水。

 

 

 

There is an old person lying in bed – where is his bed located?

What does he see when he raises his head to look out the window and what is he thinking? Are his thoughts happy or unhappy, why?

Do you see any particular theme here so far? 

[Meng Lelan]

 

老人在洪水后得了恐慌病儿，住在楼上后不久就

瘫了。他睡在床上，看不到地面，也看不到更高的天，

窗口给他固定了一个四方空白。他就唠叨楼房如何如

何不 好：高处不耐寒，也不耐热。儿女们却不同意，

他们庆幸这场洪水，终于有了漂亮的楼房居祝他们在

玻璃窗上挂上手织的纱帘，在阳台上栽培美丽的花朵，

阳光从门 里进来可以暖烘烘地照着他们的身子，皮鞋

在水泥板地面上走着，笃笃笃地响，浑身就有了十二

分的精神。

 

 

What is the old man’s state of mind and health after the flood?

What complaints does he have about the new home he is in now?

What do his children have to say about his complaints?

What “improvements” do they make to his living space?

[Meng Lelan]

“别轻狂，那场水是先兆，还会有大水呢。”老人

说。“不怕的！水还能淹上这么高吗？”

 “这个山城要灭绝的……”

儿女们说不过他，瞧着他可怜，也不愿和他争吵。

 

 

What is the old man afraid of? How do his children respond to his fears?

 

每天下班回来，就给他买好多好吃的、好穿的，但一放下，就不愿意守在他床前听他唠叨。

 “我要死了。”他总是这么说。

 “爸爸!” 儿女们听见了，赶忙把他制止祝 .

 “是这场洪水逼死了我啊!”

 

What do they do every day after getting off work? But what does the old man continue doing? What does he say will happen?

有一天，他突然听到一种叫声，一种很好听的叫声。什么在叫，在什么地方叫？他从窗口看不到。

这叫声天天被老人听到，他感到越发恐慌，一天天消瘦下去，眼眶已经陷得很可怕了。

 

What does the old man hear one day? But what is happening to him?

[Meng Lelan]

“爸爸，你怎么啦，需要什么吗？”儿女们问。

 叫声又起了，口瞿儿口瞿儿的。  “那是什么在叫？”

儿女们趴在窗口，就在离窗口下三米远的地方，

那棵白杨树梢下的鸟窠里，一只红嘴鸟儿一边理

着羽毛，一边快活地叫着。

 “是鸟儿。”

 “我要鸟儿。”

 “要鸟儿？”

 儿女们面面相觑，不知道该怎么办。

 “我要鸟儿。”老人在说。

儿女们为了满足老人，只好下楼去捉那鸟儿。但

杨树梢太细，不能爬上去。他们给老人买了一台

收音机。

 “我要鸟儿。”老人只是固执。

有一天，鸟儿突然飞到窗台上，老人看见了，大

声叫着，但儿女们都上班去了，鸟儿在那里叫了

几声，飞走了。

 

 

What does the old man want?

But what do his children get him? Is he satisfied?

Then one day, what does the bird do? How does the old man react?