Here is the photo spoken of at the end of the story
Here is some vocabulary it may be helpful to get more familiar with. It is recorded at the beginning of the podcast.
| 近日 | ㄐㄧㄣˋ ㄖˋ | jin rì | recently, in the past few days |
| 早晨 | ㄗㄠˇ ㄔㄣˊ | zǎo chén | early morning |
| 跟平常一樣 | ㄍㄣ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄔㄤˊ ㄧˊ ㄧㄤˋ | gēn píng cháng yí yàng | the same as usual |
| 餵 | ㄨㄟˋ | wèi | to feed |
| 乾草 | ㄍㄢ ㄘㄠˇ | gān cǎo | hay |
| 嘶嘶叫 | ㄙ ㄙ ㄐㄧㄠˋ | sī sī jiào | to whinny, to neigh |
| 咩咩叫 | ㄇㄧㄝ ㄇㄧㄝ ㄐㄧㄠˋ | miē miē jiào | to bleat |
| 期待 | ㄑㄧ ㄉㄞˋ | qī dài | to expect, to hope |
| 問候 | ㄨㄣˋ ㄏㄡˋ | wèn hòu | greeting |
| 丟 | ㄉㄧㄡ | diū | to throw |
| 電動 | ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄉㄨㄥˋ | diàn dòng | electric |
| 圍欄 | ㄨㄟˊ ㄌㄢˊ | wéi lán | fence |
| 天際線 | ㄊㄧㄢ ㄐㄧˋ ㄒㄧㄢˋ | tiān jì xiàn | skyline, horizon |
| 吸引 | ㄒㄧ ㄧㄣˇ | xī yǐn | to attract |
| 眼光 | ㄧㄢˇ ㄍㄨㄤ | yǎn guāng | gaze, vision |
| 西邊 | ㄒㄧ ㄅㄧㄢ | xī biān | western |
| 地平線 | ㄉㄧˋ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄢˋ | dì píng xiàn | horizon |
| 優雅 | ㄧㄡ ㄧㄚˇ | yōu yǎ | delicate, graceful |
| 似 | ㄙˋ | sì | similar |
| 草莓 | ㄘㄠˇ ㄇㄟˇ | cǎo měi | strawberry |
| 粉紅色 | ㄈㄣˇ ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄙㄜˋ | fěn hóng sè | pink |
| 月亮 | ㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄧㄤˋ | yuè liàng | moon |
| 淡色 | ㄉㄢˋ ㄙㄜˋ | dàn sè | pale |
| 蛋白石 | ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄞˊ ㄕˊ | dàn bái shí | opal |
| 掛 | ㄍㄨㄚˋ | guà | to hang |
| 混合 | ㄏㄨㄣˋ ㄏㄜˊ | hùn hé | to mix, to blend |
| 葉子 | ㄧㄝˋ ㄗ˙ | yè zi. | leaf |
| 樹枝 | ㄕㄨˋ ㄓ | shù zhī | branch |
| 影像 | ㄧㄥˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ | yǐng xiàng | silhouette, image |
| 手指 | ㄕㄡˇ ㄓˇ | shǒu zhǐ | finger |
| 試著 | ㄕˋ ㄓㄜˇ | shì zhě | to try to |
| 捉 | ㄓㄨㄛ | zhuō | to grab, to capture, to catch |
| 這一切 | ㄓㄜˋ ㄧˊ ㄑㄧㄝˋ | zhè yí qiè | all this |
| 完美 | ㄨㄢˊ ㄇㄟˇ | wán měi | perfect, perfection |
| 寧靜 | ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄐㄧㄥˋ | níng jìng | tranquil |
| 安詳 | ㄢ ㄒㄧㄤˊ | ān xiáng | serene |
| 似乎 | ㄙˋ ㄏㄨ | sì hū | to seem |
| 取出 | ㄑㄩˇ ㄔㄨ | qǔ chū | to get out |
| 手機 | ㄕㄡˇ ㄐㄧ | shǒu jī | mobile phone |
| 存留 | ㄘㄨㄣˊ ㄌㄧㄡˊ | cún liú | to capture |
| 美景 | ㄇㄟˇ ㄐㄧㄥˇ | měi jǐng | beautiful scenery |
| 照片 | ㄓㄠˋ ㄆㄧㄢˋ | zhào piàn | photograph |
| 提醒 | ㄊㄧˊ ㄒㄧㄥˇ | tí xǐng | reminder |
About the title of this post:
In Chinese, the word directly translated from the English delicious has the verb for to eat in it, so it does not work as well for talking about something the same way delicious in English does.
So, instead she chose 絕妙無比. Here is the translation for that:
絕妙 ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄇㄧㄠˋ exquisite
無比 ㄨˊ ㄅㄧˇ incomparable
近日的一個早晨， 我跟平常一樣出去給我的山羊和馬餵乾草。
(近日)(的)(一個)(早晨)，
(ㄐㄧㄣˋ ㄖˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄧ ㄍㄜ˙)(ㄗㄠˇ ㄔㄣˊ)
(jìn rì)(de.)(yī ge.)(zǎo chén)
(recently)(adjective marker)(one + MW)(early morning)
…..(我)(跟)(平常)(一樣)(出去)
…..(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄍㄣ)(ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄔㄤˊ)(ㄧˊ ㄧㄤˋ)(ㄔㄨ ㄑㄩˋ)
…..(wǒ)(gēn)(píng cháng)(yí yàng)(chū qù)
…..(I)(with)(usual)(the same)(to go out)
……….(給)(我的)(山羊)(和)(馬)(餵)(乾草)❶
……….(ㄍㄟˇ)(ㄨㄛˇㄉㄜ˙)(ㄓㄢ ㄧㄤˇ)(ㄏㄢˋ)(ㄇㄚˇ)(ㄨㄟˋ)(ㄍㄢ ㄘㄠˇ)
……….(gěi)(wǒ de.)(shān yǎng)(hàn)(mǎ)(wèi)(gān cǎo)
………..(to give)(my)(goats)(and)(horse)(to feed)(hay)
One recent morning, I went out to give hay to my goats and horse, as usual.
我的馬嘶嘶叫， 我的山羊咩咩叫， 是牠們期待我的問候。
(我的)(馬)(嘶嘶)(叫)，
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄇㄚˇ)(ㄙ ㄙ)(ㄐㄧㄠˋ)
(wǒ de.)(mǎ)(sī sī)(jiào)
(my)(horse)(to whinny)(to call)
…..(我的)(山羊)(咩咩)(叫)，
…..(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕㄢㄧㄤˇ)(ㄇㄧㄝ ㄇㄧㄝ)(ㄐㄧㄠˋ)
…..(wǒ de.)(shān yǎng)(miē miē)(jiào)
…..(my)(goats)(to bleat)(to call)
……….(是)(牠們)(期待)(我)(的)(問候)
……….(ㄕˋ)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄑㄧ ㄉㄞˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄨㄣˋ ㄏㄡˋ)
……….(shì)(tā men.)(qī dài)(wǒ)(de.)(wèn hòu)
……….(to be, is)(them)(to expect, to hope)(me)(adjective marker)(greeting)
My horse nickered and my goats bleated their hopeful greetings to me.
就在我丟乾草過電動圍欄時，天際線那邊吸引了我的眼光。
(就)(在)(我)(丟)(乾草)(過)❷
(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄉㄧㄡ)(ㄍㄢ ㄘㄠˇ)(ㄍㄨㄛˋ)
(jiù)(zài)(wǒ)(diū)(gān cǎo)(guò)
(just, exactly)(at)(I)(to throw)(hay)(past, over)
…..(電動)(圍欄)(時)，(天際線)❸(那邊)
…..(ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄉㄨㄥˋ)(ㄨㄟˋ ㄌㄢˊ)(ㄕˊ), (ㄊㄧㄢ ㄐㄧˋ ㄒㄧㄢˋ)(ㄋㄚˋ ㄅㄧㄢ)
…..(diàn dòng)(wéi lán)(shí), (tiān jì xiàn)(nà biān)
…..(electric)(fence)(when), (horizon, skyline)(that side)
……….(吸引)(了)(我的)(眼光)
……….(ㄒㄧ ㄧㄣˇ)(ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄧㄢˇ ㄍㄨㄤ)
……….(xī yǐn)(le.)(wǒ de.)(yǎn guāng)
……….(to capture, to attract)(emphasize completion)(my)(gaze, vision)
As I threw the hay over the electric fence, the skyline caught my eye.
在西邊的地平線上是一片優雅的似草莓粉紅色。
(在)(西邊)(的)(地平線)❸(上)(是)
(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄒㄧ ㄅㄧㄢ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄉㄧˋ ㄆㄧㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄢˋ)(ㄕㄤˋ)(ㄕˋ)
(zài)(xī biān)(de.)(dì píng xiàn)(shàng)(shì)
(at)(west side)(adjective marker)(horizon, skyline)(on)(is, to be)
…..(一片)(優雅)(的)(似)(草莓)❶(粉紅)(色)
…..(ㄧˊ ㄆㄧㄢˋ)(ㄧㄡ ㄧㄚˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄙˋ)(ㄘㄠˇ ㄇㄟˇ)(ㄈㄣˇ ㄏㄨㄥˊ)(ㄙㄜˋ)
…..(yí piàn)(yōu yǎ)(de.)(sì)(cǎo měi)(fěn hóng)(sè)
…..(a sheet)(delicate, graceful)(adjective marker)(to seem)(strawberry)(pink)(color)
The western horizon was a delicate strawberry pink.
月亮像一大塊淡色的蛋白石就掛在那片粉紅和一般天空的藍混合之處。
(月亮)(像)(一)(大)(塊)(淡色)(的)
(ㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄧㄤˋ)(ㄒㄧㄤˋ)(ㄧˊ)(ㄉㄚˋ)(ㄎㄨㄞˋ)(ㄉㄢˋ ㄙㄜˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)
(yuè liàng)(xiàng)(yí)(dà)(kuài)(dàn sè)(de.)
(moon)(resemble, be like)(one)(big)(piece)(pale)(adjective marker)
…..(蛋白石)❹(就)(掛)(在)(那)(篇)(粉紅)(和)
…..(ㄉㄢˋ ㄅㄞˊ ㄕˊ)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄍㄨㄚˋ)(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄋㄚˋ)(ㄆㄧㄢˋ)(ㄈㄣˇ ㄏㄨㄥˊ)(ㄏㄢˋ)
…..(dàn bái shí)(jiù)(guà)(zài)(nà)(piàn)(fěn hóng)(hàn)
…..(opal)(just, exactly)(to hang)(at)(that)(sheet)(pink)(and)
……….(一般)(天空)(的)(藍)(混合)(之)(處)
……….(ㄧˋ ㄅㄢ)(ㄊㄧㄢ ㄎㄨㄥ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄌㄢˊ)(ㄏㄨㄣˋ ㄏㄜˊ)(ㄓ)(ㄔㄨˋ)
……….(yì bān)(tiān kōng)(de.)(lán)(hùn hé)(zhī)(chù)
……….(ordinary)(sky)(adjective marker)(blue)(to mix, to blend)(adjective, possessive marker)(place, location)
The moon hung like a large pale opal just where the pink blended with the usual blue.
沒有葉子的樹枝之影像好像手指似地試著去捉月亮。
(沒)(有)(葉子)(的)(樹枝)(之)(影像)
(ㄇㄟˊ)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄧㄝˋ ㄗ˙)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕㄨˋ ㄓ)(ㄓ)(ㄧㄥˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ)
(méi)(yǒu)(yè zi.)(de.)(shù zhī)(zhī)(yǐng xiàng)
(not)(to have)(leaf)(adjective marker)(branch)(adjective/possessive marker)(silhoulette, image)
…..(好像)(手指)(似)(地)(試著)(去捉)(月亮)❺
…..(ㄏㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ)(ㄕㄡˇ ㄓˇ)(ㄙˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕˋ ㄓㄜˇ)(ㄑㄩˋ ㄓㄨㄛ)(ㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄧㄤˋ)
…..(hǎo xiàng)(shǒu zhǐ)(sì)(de.)(shì zhě)(qù zhuō)(yuè liàng)
…..(as if)(finger)(to seem)(-ly)(to try to)(to go to catch)(moon)
The silhouettes of leafless tree branches looked like fingers trying to catch the moon.
這一切是完美的寧靜安詳。
(這一切)(是)(完美)(的)(寧靜)❻(安詳)
(ㄓㄜˋ ㄧˊ ㄑㄧㄝˋ)(ㄕˋ)(ㄨㄢˊ ㄇㄟˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄐㄧㄥˋ)(ㄢ ㄒㄧㄤˊ)
(zhè yí qiè)(shì)(wán měi)(de.)(níng jìng)(ān xiáng)
(all this)(is, to be)(perfect)(adjective marker)(tranquil)(serene)
All this was perfectly quiet and serene.
我的馬和山羊似乎沒有注意到。
(我的)(馬)(和)(山羊)(似乎)
(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄇㄚˇ)(ㄏㄢˋ)(ㄕㄢ ㄧㄤˇ)(ㄙˋ ㄏㄨ)
(wǒ de.)(mǎ)(hàn)(shān yǎng)(sì hū)
(my)(horse)(and)(goats)(to seem)
…..(沒)(有)(注意)(到)
…..(ㄇㄟˊ)(ㄧㄡˇ)(ㄓㄨˋ ㄧˋ)(ㄉㄠˋ)
…..(méi)(yǒu)(zhù yì)(dào)
…..(not)(to have)(to pay attention to)(denotes completion of previous action)
My horse and goats did not seem to notice.
牠們就只是高興我為牠們帶來了早餐。
(牠們)(就)(只是)(高興)(我)
(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄐㄧㄡˋ)(ㄓˇ ㄕˋ)(ㄍㄠ ㄒㄧㄥˋ)(ㄨㄛˇ)
(tā men.)(jiù)(zhǐ shì)(gāo xìng)(wǒ)
(they)(just)(merely, simply)(happy, glad)(I)
…..(為)(牠們)(帶來)(了)(早餐)
…..(ㄨㄟˊ)(ㄊㄚ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄉㄞ ˋ ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄌㄜ˙)(ㄗㄠˇ ㄘㄢ)
…..(wéi)(tā men.)(dài lái)(le.)(zǎo cān)
…..(as, to serve)(them)(to bring here)(emphasizes completion)(breakfast)
They were just happy that I had brought them breakfast.
我取出我的手機來存留這一切的美景在一張照片裡。
(我)(取出)(我的)(手機)
(ㄨㄛˇ)(ㄑㄩˇ ㄔㄨ)(ㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕㄡˇ ㄐㄧ)
(wǒ)(qǔ chū)(wǒ de.)(shǒu jī)
(I)(to get out)(my)(mobile phone, cell phone)
…..(來)(存留)(這一切)(的)
…..(ㄌㄞˊ)(ㄘㄨㄣˊ ㄌㄧㄡˊ)(ㄓㄜˋ ㄧˊ ㄑㄧㄝˋ)(ㄉㄜ˙)
…..(lái)(cún liú)(zhè yí qiè)(de.)
…..(for)(to capture)(all of this)(adjective marker)
……….(美景)(在)(一張)(照片)(裡)
……….(ㄇㄟˇ ㄐㄧㄥˇ)(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄧˋ ㄓㄤ)(ㄓㄠˋ ㄆㄧㄢˋ)(ㄌㄧˇ)
……….(měi jǐng)(zài)(yì zhāng)(zhào piàn)(lǐ)
……….(beautiful scenery)(at)(one + MW)(photograph)(in)
I pulled out my phone to capture the beauty of it all in a photograph.
這片景象給我們一個提醒在生命中美好的事物！
(這片)(景象)(給)(我們)(一個)(提醒)
(ㄓㄜˋ ㄆㄧㄢˋ)(ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄒㄧㄤˋ)(ㄍㄟˇ)(ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄣ˙)(ㄧ ㄍㄜ˙)(ㄊㄧˊ ㄒㄧㄥˇ)
(zhè piàn)(jǐng xiàng)(gěi)(wǒ men.)(yī ge.)(tí xǐng)
(this + MW)(scene)(to give)(us)(reminder)
…..(在)(生命)(中)(美好)(的)(事物)❼
…..(ㄗㄞˋ)(ㄕㄥ ㄇㄧㄥˋ)(ㄓㄨㄥ)(ㄇㄟˇ ㄏㄠˇ)(ㄉㄜ˙)(ㄕˋ ㄨˋ)
…..(zài)(shēng mìng)(zhōng)(měi hǎo)(de.)(shì wù)
…..(at)(life)(middle)(beautiful)(adjective marker)(things)
This scene is a reminder of what is good in life!
Notes:
❶ If you look up the characters for 乾草, you will find that they literally mean dry grass or dry herbs. AND 草 is also in 草莓, which means grass berries, presumably because they grow low on the ground among the grass as wild berries.
❷ This is the very common 過 that is used after verbs to say the specified action has occurred or is past. Or in 不過, which means however, such as in “and don’t pass over this thought.”
❸ Notice there are two Chinese words used for horizon. They both have the Chinese character 線 , which commonly means thread or line.
❹ This Chinese word for opal uses 3 very common characters, that from my perspective make an opal not seem very appealing!
❺ My tutor says that in everyday conversation this sentence would probably be broken up into 2 parts. However, since I used the English word silhouette, it made it more poetic to translate.
❻ You could put the Chinese word for and here (和), but these words are often said together without it.
❼ 事物 combines the concepts of events/matters with things/objects to encompass a lot for this kind of statement.
