精卫填海
Jingwei fills the sea
Name: ________________ Date: ________
在中国的神话里，有一只小鸟，想做一件谁都觉得不可能的事：把大海填平。它的名字叫精卫。
传说很久以前，炎帝有一个小女儿，叫女娃。她从小就对大海充满了好奇，常常站在山顶上，注视着东边的方向，想知道太阳升起的地方到底是什么样子。
有一天，她终于偷偷坐上一条小船，向东海出发了。一开始，大海风平浪静，女娃高兴极了。可是没过多久，天一下子黑了下来，大风吹起了巨大的海浪。小船被巨浪打翻了，女娃掉进了大海，再也没能回家。
炎帝得知这个不幸的消息，伤心得说不出话来。可是，故事并没有在这里结束。
据说，女娃死后变成了一只小鸟。这只鸟的头上有花纹，嘴是白色的，脚是红色的。它总是一边飞，一边发出“精卫、精卫”的叫声，所以人们就叫它精卫。
精卫恨透了夺走自己生命的大海。它住在西边的山上，每天从山上叼起一根小树枝或者一块小石头，飞很远很远的路，把它扔进东海。然后再飞回西边的山上，叼起下一块。
大海看到这一幕，忍不住哈哈大笑：“小鸟，你别傻了！就算你干上一百万年，也不可能把我填平。”
精卫毫不犹豫地回答：“就算干上一千万年、一亿年，我也要把你填平！这样，你就再也不能害别人了。”
说完，它再次向西边的山飞去。漫长的岁月过去了，大海依旧那么大，可是精卫从来没有停下来，也从来没有怀疑过自己。
这个故事最早记载在《山海经》里。后来，东晋的大诗人陶渊明还专门写诗称赞过它。今天，“精卫填海”已经成了一个成语，用来形容一个人意志坚定，不怕困难，坚持到底。
有人会觉得精卫很傻，毕竟一只小鸟能做什么呢？可是，你身边有没有这样的人：知道一件事很难，还是每天做一点，从来不放弃？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 样子 | yàngzi | appearance; look |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow |
| 掉 | diào | to fall; to drop |
| 神话 | shénhuà | myth; mythology |
| 填 | tián | to fill in; to stuff |
| 传说 | chuánshuō | legend; folklore |
| 充满 | chōngmǎn | to be full of; to be filled with; to brim with |
| 好奇 | hàoqí | curious |
| 黑 | hēi | black; dark |
| 巨大 | jùdà | huge; enormous; tremendous |
| 不幸 | búxìng | misfortune; unfortunately; unfortunate; sad |
| 据说 | jùshuō | it is said; reportedly |
English (for the teacher)
In Chinese mythology there is a little bird that wants to do something everyone thinks is impossible: fill in the sea. Its name is Jingwei.
Legend says that long ago the Yan Emperor had a youngest daughter called Nüwa. From childhood she was full of curiosity about the sea; she often stood on the mountaintop gazing east, wondering what the place where the sun rises really looked like.
One day she finally slipped away in a little boat and set out for the Eastern Sea. At first the sea was calm and still, and Nüwa was overjoyed. But before long the sky went dark all at once, and a gale whipped up huge waves. The little boat was overturned by a great wave; Nüwa fell into the sea and never came home.
When the Yan Emperor heard the terrible news, he was too heartbroken to speak. But the story doesn’t end there.
It is said that after she died, Nüwa turned into a small bird. It had a patterned head, a white beak and red feet. As it flew it always cried “jingwei, jingwei”, so people called it Jingwei.
Jingwei utterly hated the sea that had taken her life. She lived in the western mountains, and every day she picked up a twig or a pebble in her beak, flew a long, long way, and dropped it into the Eastern Sea. Then she flew back to the western mountains and picked up the next one.
Seeing this, the sea couldn’t help roaring with laughter: “Little bird, don’t be silly! Even if you kept at it for a million years, you could never fill me in.”
Jingwei answered without hesitation: “Even if it takes ten million years, a hundred million years, I will fill you in! Then you will never harm anyone again.”
With that she flew off toward the western mountains once more. Long ages passed and the sea was as vast as ever, but Jingwei never stopped, and never doubted herself.
The story was first recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Later, the great Eastern Jin poet Tao Yuanming even wrote a poem in her praise. Today “Jingwei fills the sea” is an idiom for someone with an iron will who isn’t afraid of hardship and keeps going to the end.
Some people think Jingwei is foolish; after all, what can one little bird do? But is there someone like that around you, who knows a thing is hard and still does a little every day, and never gives up?