At first glance then this story was going to be placed into the beginner section as most stories titled “The 3 bears” would go. However, this story turned out to have very complex sentences and a surprising depth of vocabulary that makes it very difficult for beginners. Have fun reading and puzzling over some of the phrases used. Here are a few key words
Key Words
砖块 – Bricks.
并且 – And/furthermore/in addition. 这本书写得好看，并且内容丰富. Just as in English, we can use 并且 to connect sentences and create better sentences that sound a lot more fluent.
收入 – Income/earnings. 他收入不够. He isn’t earning enough.
The 3 bears
(Hover over the Chinese for pinyin)
海边的大森林里住着熊妈妈一家人。她妈妈有三个孩子。老大叫听话，老实本分；老二叫机灵，很爱动脑筋；老三是个女孩，叫美美，长得十分漂亮。有一天，熊妈妈把三个孩子叫到跟前，给了每人100元钱，叫她们离开家去独立生活，看谁能过上富足的日子。过了一年，熊妈妈重新看到了三个孩子，得知它们过着不同的生活。
老大果然十分听话，买了一些砖块和水泥，筑成了一座美丽的房子，并且给附近的牛伯伯买了一亩地，现在正在种着：白菜、花菜和花生。就这样过着日出而作，日落而息的生活。并且把白菜、花菜和花生运到菜市采购店里，让个个动物们吃上这些东西。熊妈妈在脸上露出了一丝丝的笑容。
老二机灵除了听话还算机娄。在来这儿之前，给附近的老虎先生买了一座房子，把剩下的一些钱儿买到了一本本《教科书》，现在正给小朋友们教书呢，书买了一本又一本，还在收入方面规范得井井有条，而且时常在菜市场买了一些菜，让小朋友在那儿吃着呢……妈妈见了这些，满意地点了点头，脑子里浮想联翩的，相信老二将来前途非凡。
老三美美在给森林里配置香料啊！还会自己织毛衣呢！老三美美就以这一个特长在动物居住村里开了一个女人用品的店，生意十分好。熊妈妈看到之后十分开心。
熊妈妈看着三只小熊们过得这么开心，心里十分满意。一天早上，熊妈妈特意将小熊们叫到跟前，对小熊说：“这次你们表现不错！让妈妈亲一个吧！”小熊一个挨一个，十分开心。瞧，小熊们过得多开心啊！
Comment below
Thanks for reading this Chinese passage. If you have any questions then feel free to comment below and ask!
I have some short questions about the words’ usage.
瞧 – can this be used only as an interjection? If not, is it used the same way in a sentence as 看，见，and other similar verbs?
“老二机灵除了听话还算机娄” : when I highlight 机娄, I’m given 2 separate definitions: “machine” and “surname Lou/one of the 28 lunar mansions in Chinese astronomy.” However, they don’t make much sense given the context. Does 机娄 mean something by its own?
Thank you!
Hey
瞧 is pretty much the same as 见 or 看, it might be considered a bit more informal but generally the feedback I’ve had is that there isn’t a huge difference.
娄 in this sentence indicates surprise quite similar to an exclamation mark. It is added to the end of sentences similar to other modal particles such as 吗 or 啊. I will look more into this character and if I find out more I will update this post.
Hope this helps you.