阳阳的画
The man who draws all night
Name: ________________ Date: ________
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小时候 | xiǎoshíhou | in one's childhood; when one was little |
| 门 | mén | door; gate |
| 画 | huà | to draw; to paint; painting; picture |
| 每 | měi | each; every |
| 告诉 | gàosù | to tell; to inform |
| 外面 | wàimiàn | outside; out |
| 下面 | xiàmiàn | next; following |
| 下来 | xiàlai | (after a verb) indicates completion or continuation from past to present (as in 坚持下来) |
| 后面 | hòumiàn | back; rear; behind |
| 走路 | zǒulù | to walk |
| 手 | shǒu | hand |
| 前面 | qiánmiàn | in front; ahead |
English (for the teacher)
Yangyang was twenty-eight, but the compound still called him “Yangyang”, like a little boy. As a boy, he had been Teacher Zhao’s pupil.
Everyone said Yangyang worked at a big company and was very busy. But his curtains stayed closed even in the daytime.
Grandpa knocked for a long time. It was nearly noon before Yangyang came to the door in his pyjamas.
His flat was full of drawings: on the walls, on the table. And in every drawing there was a white cat.
“Don’t tell my mum,” said Yangyang, going red. “I quit my job three months ago. I want to draw comics.”
So that was it: every night at ten, Tofu came and sat outside his window. Yangyang gave it cat food, and it sat there and let him draw it.
“I work at home on my own, drawing, and it’s my colleague. So I call it ‘Colleague’.”
Under every drawing was the date. Lele took out her phone and took a photo of each one.
Grandpa asked, “On Sunday night, did Colleague turn up for work?”
“No. I waited until two. But at six on Sunday morning, before I’d gone to bed, I saw it following an old man. When that old man walked, he kept his hands behind his back.”
The room went very quiet.
Grandpa’s hands were behind his back too. He quickly brought them round to the front.