Snow White

given the heads up by the mirror

...lol. Hey this introduction is great too mate. I love that you're explaining it in your own language and you're giving us some key words to look out for.Great idea.

Can I ask how you did the google doc you linked to? Was it a copy and paste job that you then provided all those links and pics for?

Anyway the dwarfs are so upset about suddenly not having anyone to do their housework

...lol

now it seems they can spare one of their number to stand guard

..hey,good point. Seemingly shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.

Gotta say tal I'm loving the Chinese in this. Perfectly pitched for an Intermediate learner. Even some of the simpler stuff is sometimes put together in combinations I've not specifically seen before ...it seems nicely expressed. I like this for example:

而且越长越美..[.the old 越什么越什么 pattern]...moreover the more shew grew[matured] the more beautiful she became.

"白雪公主比你漂亮一千倍"

...一千倍！！ I don't recall it being a case of a thousand times more beautiful. 怪不得 it got her goat.

Hi baba

Thanks very much for your appreciation bro! I do think that stories of this kind are excellent reading practice. To be honest it was you who inspired me to do this by your recent post re. fluency.

I think you're right about 白雪公主在不知不觉中慢慢长大.

Enjoy!

Actually I'm enjoying it so much that I was just thinking of something.As I said I think it's pitched perfectly for me.Without a rollover I could read the majority of it,but there's still plenty of new words in there to make it a good learning experience.I'm surprised by just how much I'm enjoying a kids tale [I think it's partly because it's all making so much sense and hey,this is new...I'm able to read a story].Anyhow, I was thinking how cool it would be to be able to read it in it's entirety without relying on the rollover and then that led me to reflect on how when kids are young they do love you to read them their favourite stories over and over...thus I was thinking that I must read this a few times till I can read the lot without any rollover. I've heard folk say that learning to speak in a foreign language can mean you almost take on another personality. Well I've just realised it can also mean you can relive and enjoy your childhood all over again..Yippee !!

Thanks tal ...and thanks for letting me know what you thought of my interpretation of that sentence...nice to get feedback you're on the right track.Cheers :)

On further reflection I've decided that 白雪公主在不知不觉中慢慢长大 doesn't simply mean that the wicked queen was unaware of her maturation, but that everyone was.

You might say for example:

那棵书不知不觉变成那么大。= That tree grew so big without anyone noticing.

By the way this google doc story wasn't a copy and paste job, it was a sitting at the keyboard for several hours job!

Perhaps. I'm inclined to meet you halfway on this,though of course you may be absolutely right. I would have thought the sentence on it's own could imply what you're saying without necessarily being explicit about it ,but the context would indicate that it was especially referring [or at least relevant to] to the Queen or anyone in the world at large who may have been inclined to inform her.

Hang on.I think you're right actually.I think it is saying exactly what you're saying but we just know as the audience that this is particularly relevant where the queen is concerned.

Gotcha!

tal,

Just caught your edit [I added an edit too].

By the way this google doc story wasn't a copy and paste job, it was a sitting at the keyboard for several hours job!

...哇！！真辛苦你了！！

Did you copy the Chinese from a book then? I'm guessing you didn't translate it from English,right?

I took it from a collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales written in Chinese: 格林童话. I might do more like this when I have the time, they are as you say pitched just right for Intermediate learners, and so much more fun than trying to struggle through the newspaper!

yes more fun. They are right about one thing, the mirror never lies. Mine however can be downright mean at times. I was surprised to see that there actually is an expression for "once upon a time". This has always been noticeably missing in some other stories I have read in Chinese. Again one of the key phrases that gives the story its flavor is missing. That would be "who is the fairest of them all"? Not just who is most beautiful. The mirror used to answer in kind, by waxing somewhat poetic if I remember right.

I would like to see a translation of one of the Dr Sues stories. I dont think it can be properly done. He was kind of making fun of the English language after all. Meanings were derived from context and what the word rhymed with. Sometimes the words meant nothing at all but served only to add meter to the verse by virtue of their rhyming. Im assuming the Aussies really love Dr Seus given their penchant for diminutives and nick names. (And I hear they have "Stars on thars"). Barbs?

Yep,the mirror never lies,no matter which one I look in,I see the same thing:

http://media.dvdtown.com/images/displayimage.php?id=5207

Doesn't lie for others either:

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/sat0009l.jpg

I agree completely with what you say about Dr Seus,and yeah,definitely one of my favourites to read to the kids...has to be read out loud..the rhythm was so enjoyable. I think I have mentioned "stars on thars" on the boards before...a great lesson for kids on the folly of discrimination.

谁是其中都女人最妵？

或者：白皙

或者：

谁是其中都女人最白净？ 【这是我最喜欢的因为“白净”让人家想起来白雪公主】

从前 = once upon a time was new to me too. I had seen 很久很久以前 (long long ago ...) before and had always thought that was the standard opener for tales like this. 又学到了新东西！

If you look it up on nciku the other way--do a search for "once upon a time"--they give 从前. There's also this example in the same entry “从前，很久很久以前……”.

http://www.nciku.com/search/all/once%20upon%20a%20time