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- Unit b, Review Dialogue
- Early in the morning the day after Lǐ Ping (B) and Tom (A) arrive in
- Hong Kong, Lǐ Ping’s grandmother (C) is straightening up the living room,
- when Lǐ Ping walks in.
- B: "Nǎinai, nín zhēn zǎo. Wǒ mā
- ne? *" "You’re up so early, Grandma.
- Where’s Mom?"
- C: "Tā ya, chūqu mǎi cài le. Erzi
- huílai le, zǒng yào duo mǎi
- diǎnr cài ma.’ Nǐde péngyou
- ne? Tā hái méiyou qǐlai ba?" "Oh, she went out to buy some
- groceries. When a son comes back,
- you’ve always got to buy some extra
- food. Where’s your friend? He’s
- not up yet, is he?"
- B: Qǐlai le, xǐ liǎn ne. "Yes, he’s up. He’s washing his
- face."
- C: "Xiao Ping a, nǐde péngyou
- Jiao shénme míngzi, wǒ you wàng
- le." "Xiǎo Ping, what’s your friend’s
- name? I’ve forgotten it again."
- B: "Jiao ""Tāngmǔ.""" """Tom. ’’"
- C: "5, ""Tāngmǔ,"" hái hǎo jì. Nǐ he
- tā shuō, dàole zánmen jiā, jiù
- shi yìjiǎ rén, shénme shir dōu
- bié kèqi. Tā yí kèqi, wǒ Jiu
- bù zhīdào zěnme ban hǎo le." "Hm, ""Tom,"" that’s fairly easy to
- remember. You tell him that in our
- house he’s Just part of the family
- and he shouldn’t be polite about
- anything. Once he starts in with the
- politeness, I won’t know what to do."
- B: "Women huílai yǐqián zài Tāngmǔ
- Jiā zhùle liǎngtiān, tā baba
- māma duì wǒ hěn hǎo. Tāngmǔ
- rén yě hěn hǎo, zài Měiguode
- shíhou, tā gěi wo bù shǎo bāng-
- zhu." "Before we came back we stayed at
- Tom’s house for a couple of days.
- His parents were very nice to me.
- Tom is also a very good person; when
- we were in America, he helped me a
- lot."
- C: "Ò, zhèiyang hǎo, niánqīng rén
- yīnggāi hùxiāng bāng máng. Ai.’
- Jǐde nī yéye zài Rìběn nài
- shihou, pīnmìng niàn shǔ, rénjia
- Rìběn rén háishi kànbuqǐ ya, nǎr
- you shénme Rìběn péngyou. Zhǐ
- hǎo Jǐge Zhōngguo xuésheng zhù
- zai yìqǐ. Ai.’" "Mm. That’s good. Young people
- ought to help each other out. (Sigh)
- I remember when your grandfather was
- in Japan, he studied like crazy, but
- those Japanese still looked down on
- him. He didn’t have any Japanese
- friends to speak of. The Chinese
- students just had to live together.
- (Sigh)"
- B: "Nǎinai, guǒqùde shi Jiu bié qù
- xiǎng ta le." "Grandma, don’t go thinking about
- things from bygone days anymore."
- Questions ending in ne often ask the whereabouts of someone or something,
- "hence the translation ""Where’s Mom?"""
- C: "Xiǎnzǎi hǎodeduō le, nǐ zǎi
- wàibianr niàn shū, wǒ bú name
- dānxīn le. ..." "These days, it’s much better. I
- don’t worry so much about you out
- there studying."
- (Tom enters. )
- A: Lǐ Nǎinai , nín zǎo! Good morning, Grandma Lǐ.’
- C: "Zǎo, Tāngmù, zuǒle yǐtiān fēijǐ
- bù duo shut yihuǐr?" "Good morning, Tom. After a day on
- the airplane don’t you want to get
- some more sleep?"
- A: "Shuǐgǒu le. Lǐ Nǎinai, nín
- zuǒzhe ba, women bang nín
- shōushi." "No, I’ve gotten enough sleep.
- Grandma Lǐ, you sit down, we’ll
- straighten up for you."
- C: Duō you līmǎode hǎizi! What a well-mannered child!
- A: "Lǐ Nǎinai, nín he érzi, érxífur
- zhù zai yǐqǐ, sūnzi, sūnnū yě
- chǎng lai, nínde fúqi zhēn
- hǎo." "Grandma Lǐ, you’re so fortunate to
- live with your son and daughter-in-
- law, and to have your grandson and
- grandaughter come often."
- C: "Shéi shuō bú shǐ ne? Wǒ chǎng
- shuō, women jiāde fúqi dōu shi
- wǒ nǎ xiǎoshunde erxífur
- dǎilaide." "That’s for sure. I often say that
- the good fortune of our f ami 1 y was
- all brought to us by that filial
- daughter-in-law of mine."
- B: "Wǒ nǎinai you gāi shuō women
- jiǎde lìshǐ le." "Here goes Grandma telling our family
- history again."
- A: "Lǐ Nǎinai, zhèixiē shir nín
- gěi wǒ jiǎngjiang xíng bu xíng?" "Grandma Lǐ, could you tell me about
- these things?"
- C: "Hǎo wa. Shuōqilǎi huǎ jiu
- chǎng le.’” Wǒ he Xiao Ping
- yeye dōu shi Shenyǎng rén.
- Rǐben rén lǎile yǐhǒu, cǎichǎn
- ya, tǔdì ya, dōu bù néng guan
- le, líkāi jiā pǎo dǎole Nǎnfāng.
- Xiǎo Ping bǎba zǎi Shǎnghǎi niàn
- shū cǎi rènshile women zhèige
- érxífu." "Sure! It’s a long story. Xiao
- Ping’s grandfather and I are both
- from Shenyǎng (Mukden). When the
- Japanese came, we couldn’t bother with
- our property or land any more; we
- left our home and fled to the South..
- Xiǎo Ping’s father didn’t meet our
- daughter-in-law’ until he was
- going to school in Shǎnghǎi."
- *Tom knows that this way of addressing Grandma is proper for a
- friend of her grandson. He intentionally calls her Lǐ Nǎinai as soon as
- he sees her in order to establish the relationship.
- "”gāi: ""will probably"""
- "’’’More literally, ""When it comes to telling it, the talk is long."""
- ’’’’Notice that grandma’s phrasing shows that the woman is first a
- daughter-in-law, then a wife.
- A: "Nei shihou nuhaizi shang da-
- xuéde duō ""bu duō?" "Were there many women who went
- to college in those days?"
- C: "Méiyou xiànzài zhème duō.
- Women érxífu jiā xiāngdāng you
- qiān, érqiě yídàjiā rén you qī-
- bāshígè, zài Sūzhōu shéi dōu
- zhìdao tāmen jiā." "Not as many as there are now. My
- daughter-in-law’s family was quite
- rich, and there were seventy or
- eighty people in that one big family.
- Everyone in Sūzhōu knew them."
- A: "Zhèiyangrde jiātíng’ guǐju
- yídìng bù shǎo." "A family like that must have had a
- strict code of behavior."
- C: "Shéi shuō bū shì ne! Tāmen
- jiāde xiàojie bù néng zài wài-
- bianr niàn shū, zhǐ néng qǐng
- lǎoshǐ dào jiāli jiāo diǎnr
- Si Shū shenmede. Xiao Ping
- mǔqin juéde yíge fùnū yào zài
- shèhuìshang dūlì, yídìng děi
- chūqu niàn shū. Jiù zhèiyang,
- tā cái pǎo dào Shànghǎi niàn shū
- qu le." "You bet they did! Their young
- ladies couldn’t go to school outside
- the home: they could only hire a
- teacher to come to the house and
- teach them a little of the Four Books
- and so forth. Xiǎo Ping’s mother
- felt that if a woman wanted to be
- independent in society, she had to
- leave home to study. That’s why she
- ran away to Shànghǎi to go to school."
- A: Zài nèi shihou, zhēn bu róngyi. "That must have been really hard
- back then."
- C: "Zài dàxuéde shihou, Xiǎo
- Píngde fùmǔ shi hen hǎode
- péngyou, kěshi zěnme bàn ne?
- Women shénme dōu méiyou le, yě
- méiyou qiān, zìjǐde érzi zěnme
- néng hé zhàiyangr yíwèi xiaojie
- jiēhūn ne? Xiǎo Ping mā bū
- name xiǎng. . . ." "When they were in college, Xiǎo
- Ping’s parents were very good
- friends, but what were we to do?
- We didn’t have a thing left, and we
- didn’t have any money. How could
- our (own) son marry a young lady like
- that? But Xiǎo Ping’s mother didn’t
- think so. . . ."
- A: Tā zěnme xiǎng? What did she think?
- C: "Tā shuō tā yào zhǎo yíge zìjǐ
- xǐhuande rén jiēhūn, dìwei he
- qiān dōu bū zhòngyào. Ai, tā
- chile duōshao kǔ cāi líkāile
- nàige dà jiātíng." "She said she wanted to find a person
- she herself liked to get married to,
- and that status and money weren’t
- important. (Sigh) What she went
- through to leave that big family."
- A: "Nà, nǐmen zěnme dào Xiānggǎng
- lai le ne?" "Well then, how did you come to
- Hong Kong?"
- C: "Tāmen zài Yingguó niànwān shū
- jiù lai Xiānggǎng zuò shì,
- yìniān yǐhòu you bǎ -women jiē-
- lai le, zhàiyangr yìjiā rén cāi
- zài Xiānggǎng zhǔxialai le.
- Xiànzài wǒ niānji dà le, jiāli
- dà shir xiǎo shir dōu shi Xiǎo" "When they finished school in
- England they came to Hong Kong to
- work; a year later they brought us
- out, and then our whole family set-
- tled here. Now that I’m getting on
- in years, Xiǎo Ping’s mother takes
- care of all the big and small matters"
- "Ping mǔqin guan. Nī shuō wǒ
- fúqi hǎo, zhēn shi yìdiǎnr yě
- bū cuò." "here at home. So when you say I’m
- blessed with good fortune, you’re
- absolutely right."
- "B: Nǎinai, wǒ mā kuài huílai le
- ba?" "Grandma, Mom will be home soon,
- won’t she?"
- "C: Kuài huílai le, women qù bǎ
- zǎofàn nònghǎo ba." "Yes. Let’s go get breakfast
- ready."
- A, B: Hǎo, zǒu ba. Okay, let’s go.
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