- We have learnt about the word “差不多”, which means “almost” or “more or less”.
- We have studied the Part I and Part II of the article “差不多先生传” by 胡适 ( Hu Shi ).
- Today we will continue the article with Part III.
- If you have any words that you don’t understand, please post it in the comment section. I will try to explain further.
Part III
差不多先生传 (The Chronicle of Mr. “More or Less” / “Close Enough”)
有一天,他为了一件要紧的事,要搭火车到上海去。
One day, he had to take the train to Shanghai for an urgent matter.
他从从容容地走到火车站,迟了两分钟,火车已开走了。
He strolled unhurriedly to the train station, and found he was two minutes late.
他白瞪着眼,望着远远的火车上的煤烟,摇摇头道:
He could not believe that the train had already left the station. As he watched the smoke billowing from the vanishing train, he shook his head:
“只好明天再走了,今天走同明天走,也还差不多。可是火车公司未免太认真了。八点三十分开,同八点三十二分开,不是差不多吗?”
“It seems that I will have to leave tomorrow. Today and tomorrow are close enough, but the train company is just overly punctual. Is 8:32 not close enough to 8:30?”
他一面说,一面慢慢地走回家,心里总不明白为什么火车不肯等他两分钟。
Grumbling to himself, he walked slowly home, puzzled as to why the train couldn’t have waited just 2 more minutes for him.