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The Old Man Who Moved a Mountain

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 0553 Elementary
This podcast covers a famous Chinese story about an old man who moves a mountain. Like most famous Chinese stories, it is more open to interpretation than you might expect. So... while we're not exactly sure what the mountain represents, or where it ends up (NIMBY, thank you), this is a handy story to know. Sit back by the fire, dowload this podcast, and learn it in Mandarin Chinese.
Thu Jun 21 2007 | Jenny, Ken
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Detailed Vocabulary
Each lesson has it's unique vocabulary and will provide you with definitions and recordings so you can practice the pronunciation. You will also be able to grasp the core material of a lesson at a glance. Here we're showing you the Simplified Chinese version.
SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
挡 dǎng to block
决定 juédìng to decide
移 yí to move
认为 rènwéi to think; to consider
有一个老人叫愚公，他家门前有两座大山挡着路，他决定和家人一起移山。
yǒu yī ge lǎorén jiào Yú Gōng ，tā jiā ménqián yǒu liǎng zuò dàshān dǎng zhe lù ，tā juédìng hé jiārén yīqǐ yí shān 。
There was an old man named Yu Gong. In front of the gate of his home were two big mountains blocking the road. He decided, together with his family, to move the mountains.
另一个老人笑他太傻，认为不可能。
lìng yī ge lǎorén xiào tā tài shǎ ，rènwéi bù kěnéng 。
Another old man laughed at him, calling him foolish. He thought it was impossible.
愚公说：“我死了有儿子，儿子死了还有孙子，孙子死了还有他的孙子。但是这两座山不会长高。只要我们坚持，最后一定能成功。”
Yú Gōng shuō ：“wǒ sǐ le yǒu érzi ，érzi sǐ le hái yǒu sūnzi ，sūnzi sǐ le hái yǒu tā de sūnzi 。dànshì zhè liǎng zuò shān bùhuì zhǎng gāo 。zhǐyào wǒmen jiānchí ，zuìhòu yīdìng néng chénggōng 。”
Yu Gong said: ``When I die, there is my son. When my son dies, there is my grandson. When my grandson dies, there will be his grandson. But these two mountains will not grow taller. As long as we persevere, in the end we are sure to succeed.
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