Dialogue and Translation for Exercise U
An American student in China (A) is walking from Beijing University into
town one weekend. (Not many people would do this, because it is a
two-hour walk.) Near the People’s University (Rénmín Dàxué) on H&idiàn
Lù, she stoops down to pick a flower on the side of the road. A boy
holding a hoe calls out to her.
B: Wèi! Bié zhāi bié zhāi! Zhè huār bù néng suíbiàn zhāi ya!
- A: Duìbuql. Zhèixiē huār dōu shi nimen zhòngde ma?
- B: Shì, yánzhe zhèitiáo gōnglù yìzhí
dào dòngwuyuan, lùbiānrshangde huār dōu shi wōmen zhòngde.
- A: Nī shi Rénmín Dàxuéde gōngren?
- B: Bú shi, wō shi Huángzhuāng Dàduìde shèyuán.
- A: Nī Jiālide rén dōu zài Huángzhuāng ma?
- B: Zài Huángzhuāng jiù yōu wō fùmu gēn wō.
A: Nl yōu xiōngdì jiēmèi ma?
B: Yōu, wō yōu yíge gēge zài tielù-shang gōngzuò, shi huōchē sijì. Yōu
yíge gēge zài Shōudū Gāngtie Gōngsī gōngzuò, tīngshuǒ tǎmen zhìzàode
dōngxi yōu bù shāo hái chū guo ne!
Hey! Don’t pick those! ■ Don’t pick those! Those flowers aren’t for
picking!
I’m sorry. Did you plant these flowers?
Yes. We planted all the flowers along the side of the highway all the
way to the zoo.
Are you a worker from the People’s University?
No, I’m a commune member from Huángzhuāng Production Brigade.
Is your whole family in Huángzhuāng?
In Huángzhuāng there are only my parents and myself.
Do you have brothers and sisters?
Yes, I have an older brother who works on the railroad. He’s an
engineer. And I have an older brother who works at the Capital Iron and
Steel Company. I understand that a lot of the things they manufacture go
abroad.
- A: Nimen dàduìde shēngchān jìnxíng-
de zěnmeyàng a?
- B: Wō ting wō fùqin shuō, cóng chān-liàngshang kàn, wǒmen dàduìde
qíngkuàng bú cuò. Jlnnián wǒmen dàduì-de zōng shōurù děngyú Wénhuà
Dà Gé-mìng shínián shōurùde yíbèi!
A: He! Zhèi shi zhěnde?!
B: Wō mā yě nàme shuō, Wénhuà Dà Gémìng nèi shihou wō hái xiāo, dà-duìli
fāshēngde shir, wō dōu bù zěnme qīngchu. Wō Jiù J ide nèi shihou
tiāntián kāi huì, ni shuō dàrenmen máng ba, hāoxiàng yě bù zěnme máng,
f&nzhèng shi kàn tamen zōngshi bú tài gāoxìng.
A: Xiànzài ni Jiāli rén dōu gāoxìng
ba?
B: Gāoxìng, tèbié shi wō mā, yí dào Xīngqītiān Jiu tulshang yíbù xiāo
chě, shàng zìyōu shichǎng le. Tā chang gēn wō shuō, háishi zhèihuìr-de
zhèngcè hāo a!
- A: Ni zìjī zěnmeyàng a? Yōu shénme dāsuan meiyou a?
- B: Yōu, wō fùqin zhòng huārde Jìshu
kě gāo la! Tā zhòngle yíbèizi huār. Tā gěn wō shuō zánmen zhèr shi
fēngjlngqū, zánmen bā huār zhònghāole, néng gěi guójiā zhuàn wàihuì ya!
- A: Ni Jinnián shíji le?
- B: Shísì le. Wō fùqin hái zhāolai yìběn shǔ, shi guānyú zhòng
huārde, wō Jintiǎn wàng zai Jiāli le, xià-cì ni Jīngguò zhèr wō zài
gěi ni kàn. Wō fùqin shuō nà shi kěxué zhòng huār, ràng wo hǎohāor
xué.
- A: Ni xiāng bu xiāng shàng dàxué?
How is your brigade's production going?
My father says that from the point of view of yield, our brigade is
doing well. This year the total income of the brigade is equal to one
time the income over the ten years of the Cultural Revolution!
Wow! Is that true?!
My mother says the same thing. I was still young during the Cultural
Revolution, and I don't know very well what went on in our brigade. I
Just remember that during that time there were meetings every day. But
were the grown-ups really busy?—not really. In any case, they never
looked very happy.
But now everybody in your family is happy, aren't they?
Yes. Especially my mother. Every Sunday she goes to the free market,
pushing a little cart'. She often says to me that the Cgovernment'sJ
policy is much better now.
What about yourself? Do you have any plans?
Yes, ny father is a real expert at growing flowers. He's been growing
flowers all his life. He told me that this is a scenic area, and if we
planted flowers, we could bring in a lot of foreign exchange for the
state.
How old are you this year? Cpre-suming him to be a teenager]
Fourteen. My father even got a book on flower growing. I left it at home
today, but the next time you pass by here I'll show it to you. My father
says that it's scientific flower growing and told me to study it hard.
Do you want to go to college?
- B: Xiíng shàng! Hòuniàn w3 Jiù gāo-zh5ng hìyè le, w8 kào Nongyè
Dàxué, Jiù xué zhòng huār.
Yes! The year after next I graduate from high school and I'm going to
take the exam for Agricultural University. I'm going to study flower
growing.
- A: Hào! Zàijiàn! Great! So long!
- B: Zàijiàn! Bié Jí, wo gěi ni zhǎi
liǎngduS huǎr.
So long! Hold on, let me pick
you a couple of flowers.
A: Xièxie ni. Thanks.