新郎进不了门
Chinese wedding traditions: the door games
Name: ________________ Date: ________
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 门 | mén | door; gate |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile |
| 进来 | jìnlái | to come in; to enter |
| 准备 | zhǔnbèi | to prepare; to get ready; preparation |
| 一会儿 | yíhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 走 | zǒu | to go; to leave |
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 前面 | qiánmiàn | in front; ahead |
| 开始 | kāishǐ | to begin; to start; beginning |
| 床 | chuáng | bed |
| 过去 | guòqu | (in the) past; former; to go over; to pass by |
| 打开 | dǎkāi | to open |
English (for the teacher)
At seven in the morning on the wedding day, Dawei, in new clothes, arrived at Lili’s door with four good friends. The door was shut, and inside lots of girls were laughing.
“Lili, I’ve come to get you!” Dawei shouted outside the door.
Someone behind the door said: “Want to come in? Red envelopes first!”
These girls were Lili’s bridesmaids. Dawei had come prepared, and he slid ten red envelopes under the door.
“Not enough! Ten more!”
Dawei slid in ten more. The door still didn’t open.
“Envelopes received. Now, answer some questions! Question one: where did you two first meet?”
“In the university library.”
“Question two: what size shoes does Lili wear?”
Dawei couldn’t remember. He said quietly: “Thirty-seven?”
Behind the door, silence. After a moment the door opened: “Right answer! Come in!”
Dawei walked in happily, but the bridesmaids stepped in front of him again: “One last game: Lili’s shoes have disappeared. Find the shoes, and only then can you take her away.”
Dawei and his friends started searching at once. Under the bed: no; under the desk: no; behind the door: no again. Ten minutes passed, twenty minutes passed, and the shoes still hadn’t turned up.
Lili, in her red dress, sat on the bed watching Dawei panic. She glanced at the time on her phone, and finally whispered two words: “The fridge.”
Dawei opened the fridge. There were the shoes, with two bottles of cola beside them.
The bridesmaids all cried out: “Lili! How could you tell him?”
Lili put on her shoes, stood up and said: “We have to be at the hotel by ten. If we keep looking, I’ll be late for my own wedding.”
One bridesmaid laughed: “Not even married yet, and she’s already on his side!” Dawei stood there holding a cola, grinning like a kid.