- 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 and Part III and Part IV of the article “差不多先生传” by 胡适 ( Hu Shi ).
- Today we will continue the last part of the article.
- If you have any words that you don’t understand, please post it in the comment section. I will try to explain further.
Part V
差不多先生传 (The Chronicle of Mr. “More or Less” / “Close Enough”)
他死后，大家都称赞差不多先生样样事情看得破，想得通；
After his death, people applauded Mr. Close Enough as being very wise and philosophical.
大家都说他一生不肯认真，不肯算账，不肯计较，真是一位有德行的人。
People said that he refused to take things seriously all his life and that he was never calculating or particular about personal gains or losses so therefore, virtuous.
于是大家给他取个死后的法号，叫他做圆通大师。
As a result, they gave him the title “Grand Master of Flexibility” posthumously.
他的名誉越传越远，越久越大。无数无数的人都学他的榜样。
His fame grew further and wider with time to the extent that countless numbers of people today are emulating him.
于是人人都成了一个差不多先生。
So that everybody has become a Mr. Cha Buduo.
——然而中国从此就成为一个懒人国了。
Consequently, everyone has become a Mr. Close Enough and China has now become a nation of lazy people.
Hi, dear Miss Min Min,
I love your website. The contents are so rich and really useful. I have just one comment to make. I have being going through your Lessons about Mr. More or Less. The one difficulty I find when learning a new language – the Chinese language in particular – is that the English rendering of the Chinese text is sometimes rather too free. While it gives the general meaning of the Chinese text, it is not close enough to it, say, the word order used in the Chinese language and the exact meaning of the words used in the Chinese version of the text.
I think it would help a lot in mastering a new language by keeping as close as possible to the original Chinese text, even if the English version of it is not that idiomatic English, so as to enable the learner to master the exact Chinese vocabulary used in the text as well the sequence of words used in the Chinese version. I find that this is one useful way of understanding the Chinese way of expressing ideas, which is often quite different from that of a foreign language.
Hi Anthony Bogadek,
Thanks for your good suggestion.
Yes. It is always good to have English meaning for each Chinese word.
Dear Min Min:
how are u? i hope that u r f9. pls do something for me i want learn chinese from u with writing.
Ur teaching so nice
Momin.
Hi Momin,
I am fine here. Thank.
You can learn a daily Chinese word from my website.
Besides, I have a Chinese software that teaches HSK Level 1 most Common Chinese Words . You can download it from here:
http://www.learnchineseeveryday.com/what-is-hsk/
I hope it can help you improve your Chinese.
Thanks.