This is an excerpt from a book I am reading with one of my students. It’s a simplified version of 三国演义 (The Romance of the Three Kingdoms).
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is one of the four literary pearls of Chinese literature. The other three are 红楼梦 (Dream of the Red Chamber), 水浒传 (Water Margin), and 西游记 (Journey to the West).
The main characters in the excerpt are 曹操 (Cao Cao), 刘备 (Liu Bei), 吕布 (Lü Bu), and 张飞 (Zhang Fei).
Story breakdown by paragraph with vocabulary and audio
曹操 = a classical Chinese general’s name
统治 = to rule, dominate
徐州 = an historical city in 江苏 Jiang Su province
控制住 = to take control of
朝廷 = the (governing) court
转 = to turn (here it refers to “attention.”)
对准 = to target
刘备、吕布 = historical character names
在他看来 = as far as he’s concerened
尽早 = as soon as possible
除掉 = to get rid of, eliminate
对手 = opponent, competitor
时刻 = (at any) time, (any) moment
威胁到 = to threaten, pose a threat to
自己的 = his own
奸诈 = cunning, crafty
发兵进攻 = to launch a military attack
假意 = to feign intent
封人 = to confer a title on someone
徐州牧 = the governor of Xuzhou (archaic)
暗地里 = secretly
Let’s take a closer look.
The English translation shows the characters following English, arranged by meaning.
控制住了朝廷之后,曹操转而把下一个目标对准了刘备和吕布。(After 之后 taking control of the court 控制住了朝廷, Cao Cao turned 曹操转[而把] [his] aim on 对准了 the next target 下一个目标, Liu Bei and Lü Bu 刘备和吕布.)
在他看来,这两人是尽早需要除掉的对手,因为他们时刻会威胁到自己的统治。(As far as he’s concerned 在他看来, these two men 这两人 are opponents 对手 that should be elimiated 需要除掉的 as soon as possible 尽早, because 因为 they 他们 will 会, at any time 时刻, threaten 威胁到 his control 自己的统治.)
曹操非常奸诈,他不着急发兵进攻,却先假意要封刘备做徐州牧,同时暗地里写了一封信,让刘备杀了吕布。(Cao Cao was extremely cunning 曹操非常奸诈, he wasn’t in a rush 他不着急 to launch a military attack 发兵进攻. However, he first feigned 却先假意 to confer Liu Bei 要封刘备 the position of Xuzhou Governor 做徐州牧, at the same time 同时, he secretly wrote a letter 暗地里写了一封信 to have Liu Bei kill Lü Bu 让刘备杀了吕布.)
性子很直 = is very straightforward (性子 = temperament)
反复无常 (成语)= unpredictable, fickle
一再 = continually
出卖靠山 = to betray one’s protector (出卖 = to betray)
祸害 = calamity, disaster
干脆杀了算了 = might as well just kill him
无路可走 = to have not way out, nowhere to go
投奔 = to seek refuge, shelter
要是 = 如果
小人 = scoundrel
Character Radical:
礻= This is the “cult” radical,示字旁 (shì zì páng). 示 (shì) means “show,” “manifest,” or “demonstrate.” The “cult” radical is common in characters that are related to gods, dieties, and religions, such as “祈祷 (qí dǎo) - to pray; prayer,” or “福 (fú) - good fortune; blessing,” and it appears in the reading as “祸害 (huò hài).“
Yin-yang Character Groups:
早晚 (zǎo wǎn) = early-late; sooner or later
明暗 (míng àn) = bright-dark
异同 (yì tóng) = different-same; differences and similarities
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