Echoes of Friendship: Laughter in the Hutongs of Beijing
Fluent Fiction – Mandarin Chinese
www.FluentFiction.org/Mandarin Chinese
Story Transcript:
Zh: 在繁华世界的中心，那个每个角落都散发着顽强精神和持久不懈的城市—北京，住着一位名叫张伟的单纯少年。他和他的好朋友，李娜，常常在老北京的胡同中嬉戏打闹，笑声总是能在四周的老石墙上回荡久久。
En: At the center of the bustling world, in the city of Beijing with a resilient spirit and persistence in every corner, lived a simple young man named Zhang Wei. He and his good friend Li Na often frolicked and played in the old hutongs of Beijing, their laughter echoing around the old stone walls for long.
Zh: 一天，北京的清晨，胡同里洁白的玻璃窗户反射着银色的阳光，张伟和李娜又一如既往地见面了。张伟开心地迎接她时，一个不小心，口误了一句话，他叫着李娜，“嘿，鸡，你怎么走这么慢！”。那一瞬间，胡同中的所有声音似乎都凝固了。
En: One day, in the early morning of Beijing, the white glass windows in the hutong reflected the silver sunlight, and Zhang Wei met Li Na as usual. As Zhang Wei happily greeted her, he accidentally misspoke and called Li Na, ‘Hey, chicken, why are you walking so slowly!’ In that moment, it seemed like all the sounds in the hutong froze.
Zh: 看着张伟尴尬的脸色，李娜呆了一会儿，然后忽然笑出了声，她笑得那么开心，那么自然。她笑道：“你这鸡，就知道咕咕叫”。接着，胡同中又回荡起了他们的欢笑声。
En: Seeing Zhang Wei’s embarrassed expression, Li Na was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. She laughed so joyfully, so naturally. She said with a smile, ‘You chicken, always clucking.’ Then, the sounds of their laughter echoed through the hutong again.
Zh: 这个小插曲在他们中间引发了一阵风波，张伟想要弥补他的口误，而李娜则乐在其中。他们在胡同里举行临时的“语言课”，李娜搬来纸和笔，让张伟认真学习怎么正确地呼唤她的名字。
En: This little incident caused a stir between them. Zhang Wei tried to make up for his slip of the tongue, while Li Na found joy in it. They held impromptu ‘language classes’ in the hutong, with Li Na bringing paper and pen, teaching Zhang Wei how to correctly call her name.
Zh: 张伟知道她在嘲笑他，但他没有生气，反而非常感激。因为这次小插曲让他们的友谊更加深厚了。最重要的是，这让他认识到语言的确切性和重要性。在此之后，他再也没有把“李娜”叫成“鸡”了。
En: Zhang Wei knew she was teasing him, but he wasn’t angry, instead, he felt grateful. Because this incident deepened their friendship. Most importantly, it made him realize the precision and importance of language. After that, he never mistakenly called ‘Li Na’ as ‘chicken’ again.
Zh: 他们的故事在北京的胡同里流传开来，邻居们都知道了这个关于张伟和李娜的有趣故事。每次见到张伟，人们都会微笑着问他：“鸡，你今天过得还好吗?”，而张伟也总会回答：“我很好，鸡娜”。
En: Their story spread through the hutongs of Beijing, and the neighbors all knew this interesting story about Zhang Wei and Li Na. Every time they saw Zhang Wei, they would smile and ask him, ‘Chicken, how are you today?’ And Zhang Wei would always reply, ‘I’m good, Chick-Na.’
Zh: 这就是张伟和李娜的故事，一个充满欢笑和珍贵友谊的故事。有一个小插曲，却带来了意想不到的结果，让他们的友谊更加牢固，而这些，都是在那个带有无穷魅力的城市——北京发生的。
En: This is the story of Zhang Wei and Li Na, a story filled with laughter and precious friendship. A small incident brought unexpected results, strengthening their bond, all happening in that endlessly charming city – Beijing.
Vocabulary Words:
笑声 : laughter
友谊 : friendship
插曲 : incident
城市 : city
北京 : Beijing
胡同 : hutong
张伟 : Zhang Wei
李娜 : Li Na
少年 : young man
住着 : relieved
精神 : spirit
持久不懈 : persistence
嬉戏 : frolicked
打闹 : played
笑 : laugh
石墙 : stone walls
早晨 : morning
白色 : white
玻璃窗户 : glass windows
银色阳光 : silver sunlight
不小心 : accidentally
這麼慢 : worm
尴尬 : embarrassed
呆了 : stunned
欢笑 : laughter
开心 : joyfully
语言课 : language class
纸 : paper
笔 : pen
确切性 : preciseness