FSI-Chinese/Module-7/FSI-46/Dialogue and translation for exercice 1.csv

On the balcony of Lǐ Ping’s apartment, Tom (A) and Lǐ Ping’s sister Lǐ Wen (Ē) have a conversation.

A: Lǐ Wen, nǐ yíge rén zài zhèr xia qi? 	Are you playing chess all by your self out here, Li Wen?
E: Suíbiàn wānrwanr, jǐntiǎn Bàba bú zài jiā, píngchāng zǒng shi wǒ he Bàba xià qí. Zenme, nǐ yě xiǎng wánr ma?	Just fooling around. My father isn’t home today. Usually he and I play against each other. What’s up? Do you want to play too?
A: Bù, wǒ bú tài huì xià; rúguǒ nǐ you kǒng, wǒ xiǎng he ni liāoliao.	No, I’m not too good at chess. But if you’ve got the time I’d like to chat with you a bit.
E: Wǒ yě zhěng xiǎng he ni liao liao ne, qǐng zuò.’ Rúguǒ nǐ bú Jièyìde huà, wǒ xiǎng wen nǐ liǎngge wèntí.	It just so happens I felt like talking with you myself. Have a seat. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.
A: Bú yào kèqi, qǐng wen ba.’	Certainly, go right ahead.
E: Měiniǎn shǔjiàde shihou, nǐ dōu líkāi jiā, yíge rén qù lùxíng ma?	Do you leave home and go traveling by yourself every summer?
A: Chàbuduō shi zhèiyangr.	Just about.
E: Nàme, nǐde fùmǔ hěn you qian ba?	Then your parents must be very rich, I guess?
A: Tāmen dōu zài dàxué jiāo shū, bú shi hěn you qiánde rén, érqiě wǒ luxíngde qian dōu shi wǒ zìjǐ zhuànde. Píngchāng shàng xuéde shihou, wǒ hai zuò diǎnr shir, xiàng dǎ zì, fānyi diǎnr xiǎo wénzhāng shenmede. Zhuànle qian, shǔjiàde shihou chūqu zǒuzou, kànkan shìjiè.	They both teach college, Csol they’re not very rich; besides, I earn my own travel money. During the school year I usually do some outside work like typing, translating little articles, and so on. Then when I’ve earned the money I go away to see the world during summer vacation.
E: Zhēn bú cuò. Nǐ néng fānyi, nàme nǐde Zhōngwén hěn hǎo le? Néng shuō yě néng kàn?	That’s great. If you’re able to translate, your Chinese must be very good. You can speak and also read?
A: Néng kàn yidiǎnr. Wo duì Zhōngguo wénhuà, Zhōngguo shè-huì hěn you xìngqu, hěn xiǎng yanjiū yanjiū. Suǒyǐ, rúguǒ nǐ bú jièyìde huà, wo yě hěn xiǎng wèn nǐ jǐge wèntí.	I can read a little. I’m very interested in Chinese culture and society, and I’d like very much to study them. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions.

*Lǐ Wén may be working out chess strategies or playing Chinese chess (which can be done alone).

E: Qīng!	Be my guest!
A: Tīng Lǐ Ping shuō, nǐ zhīdao xiě dàlùde qíngkuàng.	I hear from Lǐ Ping that you know a bit about the situation on the mainland.
E: Wo you hěn duō tóngxué he péngyou, tāmen dōu shi cong dàlù laide. Tāmen zài nàr shēnghuole èrsānshínián, dāng-rán hěn qīngchù. Wo he tamen chángcháng zài yìqǐ, yě jiù zhīdaole yidiǎnr.	I have a lot of classmates and friends who come from the mainland. They lived there for twenty or thirty years, so naturally they know quite well what goes on there. I spend a lot of time with them, so I’ve gotten to know something about it too.
A: Tīngshuǒ, Zhōngguo zhèngfǔ shíxíng nánnù píngděngde zhèngcè, suōyi Zhōngguo fùnǔde dìwèi tígāole hěn duō, Jiātíngde qíngkuàng yě he Jiěfàng yǐqián bù yíyàng le.	I understand that the Chinese government carries out a policy of equality of men and women, so the position of women has improved a great deal, and families are in quite a different way than before liberation.
E: Nī shuōde duì. Zài Gòngchǎndǎng lǐngdǎoxià, bù guǎn shi nongcūn háishi chéngshì, nu-háizi hé nánháizi yíyàng, dōu kéyi shàng xué, zhǎngdàle yě yíyàng ké^ri you gōngzuò. Jiātíng, fùnu hé értong, dōu kéyi dédao shèhuìde bǎohù.	That’s right. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, no matter whether in the countryside or the cities, girls can go to school Just as boys can, and when they grow up they can also get jobs Just the same. Families, women and children all receive society’s protection.
A: Zhè bú shi hěn hǎo ma?	That’s great, isn’t it?
E: Mm, yīnggāi shi hěn hǎo, kěshi cōng Liù Liù nián dào Qī Liù niàn, zài zhèi shíniánlī, shèhuì-shang yǐnwèi zhèngzhide yuányǐn youle hěn duō wèntí. Wo kéyi gěi ni jiǎng yige gùshi.	Yeah, it ought to be great, but in the ten years from *66 to *?6, a lot of social problems came about because of political reasons. I can tell you a story.
A: Nǐ kuài shuōshuo ba!	Oh, please do!
E: Nī tīngzhe, ā. You yíwèi lǎo gànbu, zài Shànghǎi gōngzuò. Tā zhǐ you yíge nuér. Kěshi zài Liù Qī niánde shihour, līngdǎo shuō tā you zhèngzhi wèntí.	Listen to this. There was this old cadre who worked in Shànghǎi. She only had one daugher. But in ’67 the the leadership said she had political problems.
A: Zāogāo.’ Na tā nǔér yě yǒu māfan le.	Uh-oh.’ Then her daughter was in for some trouble too.
E: Yidiǎnr dōu t>ú cuǒ. Zhèige nǔhāizi bù néng rù Tuan, bù néng cānjiǎ Hongwèibīng. Péngyou, tongxué dōu líkāile ta. Yǒude shihour, zài dàjiēshang, hěn shóuxǐde rén yě hǎoxiàng bú rènshi ta yíyàng.	Absolutely right. This girl couldn’t join the (Communist Youth), League or the Red Guards. Her friends and classmates all left her. Sometimes when she was walking down the street, people she knew well would act as if they didn’t know her.
A: Nà, tā zěnme bàn ne?	Well then, what did she do?
E: Nèige shíhou, tā juéde shēng- huó zhěn shi yidiǎnr xīwàng yě méiyou. Tā kāishí hèn tāde mǔqin. Tā yào líkāi ta, tā yào líkāi tāde jiā.	At that time she felt that her life was completely hopeless. She began to hate her mother. She wanted to leave her. She wanted to leave her home.
A: Hǒulái ne?	And after that?
E: Hǒulāi, tāmen zhēnde fēnkāi le. Nuér dàole nóngcǔn.	Afterwards, they really did split up. The daughter went to the countryside.
A: Zhèiyang, tāde qíngkuāng huì hǎo yidiǎnr ba?	That way her situation got a little better, I guess?
E: Yidiǎnr yě méiyou. Zài nongcǔn suīrān tā gōngzuòde hěn hǎo, tā hāishi méiyou shénme zhèngzhi shēnghuo, lǐngdǎo hé rénmen yě méiyou yīnwei tā líkāile mǔqin jiu gāibiàn duì tāde kànfǎ.	Not a bit. Although she worked very well in the countryside, she still didn’t have any political life. The leadership and the people didn’t change their opinion of her just because she left her mother, either.
A: Nà, tā dàgài bú huì you shénme péngyou, yě bù róngyi àishang shénme rén.	Well then, she probably didn’t have any friends, and it probably wasn’t easy to fall in love with anyone.
E: Shi. Tài nan le. Tā àishangle yíge nānhāizi, nèige nānhāizi yě ài tā, érqiě yīnwei tā, bù né^g yǒu ge bǐjiǎo hǎode gōngzuǒ.	Yes. It was really hard. She fell in love with a boy, and he loved her. But because of her, he couldn’t get a better job.
A: Zhè shízài tài bú xiàng huà le.	That’s really absurd.
E: Jiǔniān yǐhòu, lǐngdǎo nǒng- qǐngchǔ le, tā mǔqin méiyou wèntí. Zhèige nuhāizi jíjímāng-māng pǎohuí Shànghǎi, kěshi tā zài yě jiànbudào tāde mǔqin le. Tā mǔqin yǐjīng sǐ zài yīyuànli le.	Nine years later, the leadership got it straightened out that her mother was (politically) okay. The girl rushed back to Shanghai in a flurry, but she was never to see her mother again. She had already died in a hospital.
A: Yíge jiātíng jiù zhèiyang wan le! Ní zěnme huì zhīdao zhèige gùshi?	Just like that, a family was destroyed! How do you happen to know this story?
E: Yàoshi nī zhùyi yíxiàr Qī Qī nian, Qī Bā niande Zhōngguo bào-zhī, jiu kéyi kàndao hěn duō zhèiyangde gùshi. Wo zài gěi ni jièshao yìhěn shū.	If you watched the newspapers in '77 and ’78 you could see lots of stories like that. Let me recommend a book to you, too.
A: Shénme shū?	What book?
E: Zhōngguo Yī Jiǔ Qī Qī nian dào Yī Jiu Ofc Bā nian Duǎnpiān Xiǎoshuō.	Chinese Short Stories of 1977-1978.
E: Nī zhīdao, ruguo yōu rén xiǎng dōngde Zhōngguo shèhuì, Jiù yídìng yào yánjiū cōng Liù Liù nian dào Qī Liù niànde qíngkuàng. Yánjiūle yīhòu cai néng míngbai jīntiānde Zhōngguo zhèngfǔ hé Zhōngguo rén wèishenme yào gǎi-biàn zhè shínián lái zhèngzhi-shang, Jīngjishangde qíngkuàng, ràng Zhōngguo rén zhěnde dédao jiěfàng.	You know, if someone wants to understand Chinese society they have to study the situation from ’66 to ’76. Only after you’ve studied it can you understand why today the Chinese government and people are trying to change the political and economic conditions of the past ten years and let the Chinese people really be liberated.
A: Nī néng bāng wo zhǎodào nèiběn shū ma?	Can you help me find that book?
E: Wō yōu zhèiběn shū, kéyi song’ gei ni. Kàn shū hái bu gòu, yōu jīhui qù dàlù kànkan.	I have it, and I can give it to you. But reading isn’t enough. If you get the chance, go visit the mainland.
A: Wō yōu jīhui yídìng qù.	If I get the chance, I certainly will.

*Sòng here means ”to give” something as a gift.