The Year of the Monkey is upon us! Hopefully it will be one of luck and prosperity for you all! We know monkeys can be mischievous little creatures, and the unlucky monkey in this story is no different. Let his mistakes teach you a little Chinese and show you how to appreciate the good fortune that will surely come your way this year.
Yǒu yìtiān, xiǎo hóuzi xiàshān lái.
有 一天， 小 猴子 下山 来。
One day, a little monkey came down from the mountain.
Zǒudào yíkuài yùmǐ dì lǐ, tā kànjiàn yùmǐ jiē de yòudà yòuduō, fēicháng gāoxìng, jiù bāi le yígè,
走到 一块 玉米 地 里，它 看见 玉米 结 得 又大 又多， 非常 高兴， 就 掰 了一个，
kángzhe wǎngqián zǒu.
扛着 往前 走。
He went to a cornfield and saw a lot of big corns. He picked one and went on.
Xiǎo hóuzi kángzhe yùmǐ, zǒudào yìkē táoshù dǐxià.
小 猴子 扛着 玉米，走到 一棵 桃树 底下。
The little monkey carried the corn and came to a peach tree.
Tā kànjiàn mǎn shù de táozi yòudà yòuhóng, fēicháng gāoxìng, jiù rēng le yùmǐ shàng shù qù zhāi táozi.
它 看见 满 树 的 桃子 又大 又红， 非常 高兴， 就 扔 了 玉米 上 树 去 摘 桃子。
He saw the big red peaches. He was very happy and threw the corn away and picked the peaches.
Xiǎo hóuzi pěngzhe jǐgè táozi, zǒudào yípiàn guā dì lǐ.
小 猴子 捧着 几个 桃子，走到 一片 瓜 地 里。
The little monkey came to a melon field while carrying the peaches.
Tā kànjiàn mǎn dì de xīguā yòudà yòuyuán, fēicháng gāoxìng, jiù rēng le táozi qù zhāi xīguā.
它 看见 满 地 的 西瓜 又大 又圆， 非常 高兴， 就 扔 了 桃子 去 摘 西瓜。
When he saw the big round watermelons, he was very happy. He threw down the peaches to pick watermelons.
Xiǎo hóuzi bàozhe yígè dà xīguā wǎng huí zǒu.
小 猴子 抱着 一个 大 西瓜 往 回 走。
The little monkey carried a big watermelon back.
zǒuzhe zǒuzhe, kànjiàn yìzhī xiǎotù bèngbèngtiàotiào de, zhēn kě’ài. Tā fēicháng gāoxìng, jiù
走着 走着， 看见 一只 小兔 蹦蹦跳跳 的，真 可爱。 它 非常 高兴， 就
rēng le xīguā qù zhuī xiǎotù.
扔 了 西瓜 去 追 小兔。
When he was walking, he saw a lovely little rabbit hopping around. He was very happy, and then threw the watermelon to chase the rabbit.
Xiǎotù pǎojìn shùlín lǐ, bújiàn le.
小兔 跑进 树林 里，不见 了。
The rabbit ran to the woods and disappeared.
Xiǎo hóuzi zhǐhǎo kōngzhe shǒu huíjiā qù.
小 猴子 只好 空着 手 回家 去。
Then the little monkey had to go home empty-handed.
What do we learn?
No matter what we do we must adhere to it and we cannot be of two minds or give up half way.
Vocabulary
1. 高兴 (gāoxìng) adj. happy
Jīntiān zhēn gāoxìng a!
今天 真 高兴 啊！
I’m so happy today!
2. 又……又…… (yòu…yòu) conj. and…and…
Wǒ de píngguǒ yòudà yòuhóng!
我 的 苹果 又大 又红！
My apple is big and red!
3. 可爱 (kě’ài) adj. lovely
Nǐ de xiǎogǒu zhēn kě’ài!
你 的 小狗 真 可爱！
Your dog is so lovely!
4. 蹦蹦跳跳 (bèngbèngtiàotiào) v. bounce
Dòngwùyuán lǐ, wǒmen kànjiàn hěnduō bèngbèngtiàotiào de dàishǔ.
动物园 里，我们 看见 很多 蹦蹦跳跳 的 袋鼠。
In the zoo, we saw a lot of bouncing Kangaroos.
Exercise
1. The opposite of “高兴(gāoxìng)” is___.
A. 开心(kāixīn)
B. 伤心(shāngxīn)
C. 快乐(kuàilè)
2. What can we learn from the story?
A. We shouldn’t be of two minds.
B. Better things are always waiting for us.
C. If we want to get better things we should give up what we have now.
3. If the moon is big and round, then we can say ___ in Chinese.
A. 月亮又大又圆 (Yuèliang yòudà yòuyuán)
B. 月亮又大圆 (Yuèliang yòu dà yuán)
C. 月亮大圆又 (Yuèliang dà yuán yòu)
See answer
Chinese for Kids
IB Chinese
AP Chinese
General Chinese (Beginner Level)
General Chinese (Intermediate Level)
Nice story with interesting vocab.
Hi Sjaco, I’m so glad that you like it. We will have more interesting posts, hope it helps.
I particularly liked the character bai (掰）， break with both hands (shot-fen-shou).
Hi Sjaco, I’m so glad that you like it. We will have more interesting posts, hope it can help you learn Chinese well.
very good–pronounciatian is clear and suitable for beginners like me
I’m so glad that you like it. We will have more interesting posts, hope it helps.