《孟姜女寻夫》- Intermediate
An excerpt from the famous legend of a woman searching for her lost husband
Just after their marriage, Mèng Jiāng Nǚ’s husband was captured and forced to work on the construction of the Great Wall. During her quest to find him, she vowed never to give up until he was found.
This is a short excerpt of her long and arduous journey in search of her husband.
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《孟姜女寻夫》
“中国传统神话”
孟姜女不管刮风下雨,一刻也不停地走着。一天,她走的筋疲力尽了,又觉得浑身发冷,“咕咚”一下子就昏倒了。
等她苏醒过来,才发觉自己躺在老乡家的热炕头上。房东大娘眼含着泪花拉着她说:“我知道你找丈夫心切,可你身上热得像火炭啊。你再看看你那双脚,都变成血疙瘩了,哪能再走啊!”孟姜女在大娘家住了两天,病没好利索就又动身了。
老大娘一边掉泪,一边嘴里念叨:“多好的媳妇呀!老天爷呀,你行行好,让天下的夫妻团聚吧!”
Story breakdown by paragraph with vocabulary and audio
孟姜女 = A woman’s name
寻夫 = 找丈夫;to search for one’s husband
刮风下雨 = wind and rain
一刻 = for a moment
筋疲力尽 (成语)= exhausted
浑身 = 全身;whole body
咕咚 = kerplunk (onomotopoeia)
昏倒 = 头晕倒下;to faint and fall
苏醒 = 醒来;to come to
才 = 只是;only then
发觉 = 发现;to realize
躺 = 平躺;to lie down
老乡 = 老家人;someone from one’s hometown
炕 = a kang (a heated platform)
炕 头 = the end of the kang from where the heat enters
含着泪 = 含泪;with tears in one’s eyes
花拉 = 抚摸;to pet, caress (in order to console)
心切 = 着急;to be eager, anxious
火炭 = 煤块;charcoal, coal
血疙瘩 = 血泡;abraisions, blood blisters
哪能 = 怎能;how can?
利索 = 迅速;agile, quick
动身 = 出发;to depart
Let’s take a closer look.
The English translation shows the characters following English, arranged by meaning.
Only 才 after she came to 等她苏醒过来 did she realize 发觉 she was laying on 自己躺在…上 the warm end of the kang 热炕头 of a fellow villager 老乡家的. The old woman of the house 房东大娘, with tears in her eyes 眼含着泪, rubbed her softly 花拉着她 [and] said 说: “I know 我知道 you 你 are anxious 心切 to find your husband 找丈夫, but 可 your body is 你身上 as hot as charcoal 热得像火炭啊. Take another look at 你再看看 your two feet 你那双脚; they’re both 都 covered with 变成了 blood bisters 血疙瘩, how can you 哪能 continue walking 再走啊?“ Meng Jiangnü 孟姜女 stayed for two days 住了两天 at the old woman’s home 在大娘家, she hadn’t recovered 病没好 and 就又 quickly 利索 departed 动身了.
念叨 = 不断的说;to keep repeating, harping
媳妇 = 老婆;wife
老天爷 = 上天;Creator, God, heaven
你行行好 = 求人行善;please be kind
夫妻 = 两口子;husband and wife
团聚 = 重逢;to reunite
Character Radical:
冫= This is the “ice” radical,冰字旁 (bīng zì páng). 冰 (bīng) means “ice.” The “ice” radical is common in characters that are related to cold, such as 冰山 (bīng shān) - “iceberg,” 冻 (dòng) - “freeze,” or 冷 (lěng) - “cold,” and it appears in the reading as 凉快 (liáng kuài) - “cool.”
Yin-yang Character Groups:
昏倒 (hún dǎo) - 苏醒 (sū xǐng) = to faint - to come to
冰冻 (bīng dòng) - 融化 (róng huà) = to freeze - to thaw
冷热 (lěng rè) = cold-hot
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