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'Goose Leg Auntie' — Famous for Years — Was Actually Selling Duck Legs — episode cover art
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'Goose Leg Auntie' — Famous for Years — Was Actually Selling Duck Legs

About this story

The full story of Beijing's viral street vendor 'Goose Leg Auntie': how she became famous outside top universities, the moment she admitted her goose legs were actually duck legs, and the lesson about integrity (诚信) at the heart of the scandal. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 5 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 14 key vocabulary words such as 腿、便宜、告诉 and walks through 7 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.

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原文

Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.

今天我们一件最近大家都在说的
一个关系
这个中国人
她在中国
她在中国一个地方
这个地方北京
北京一个很大地方
很多很多
也有很多很多大学
大学就是学校
学生就去大学
今天这个这些大学关系
她在大学外面卖东西
很多
几年
什么
什么
"的是
什么
一种动物
有点
但是
就是
我们""
很好
学生吃了喜欢
一个学生告诉别的学生
别的学生也来
越来越
时候很久
一个小时
时候
但是学生愿意
他们
"阿姨愿意
这样大家"阿姨"
阿姨慢慢地起来
她在中国网上变得很有
报纸
电视
很多喜欢
很多她的
每天都很
这样好几
阿姨每天都在大学外面
学生每天排队
大家都很高兴
但是最近几天一件事
阿姨自己一句
的话很多没想到
"对不起
大家一件事
其实不是
也是一种动物
一点
样子一点
但是便宜很多
便宜多少
我们一个
一个差不多一块
一个差不多十块钱
也就是说只有差不多十分之一
听到这里
喜欢她的学生都很高兴
他们
"我们以为的是
其实的是
我们
以前那么多次怎么
为什么以前告诉大家
阿姨
"很多很多以前真的
那是2011
后来越来越
找不到好的
但是学生
就用
旁边卖东西
大家'对不起
一直告诉你们
我也想说
但是一直没说
我也知道这样不对
现在有人
以后怎么
是不是
实话不光是
更是"诚信"
"诚信"什么
"诚信"就是的话做的一样
心里安心
最后我想一下
身边没有这样
有人一件事
做的说的一样
也许别人这样做了
也许自己
没关系
重要以后
以后说的做的可以一样
English transcript reference

Today we'll talk about something everyone has been discussing lately.

This thing is related to a person.

This person is Chinese.

She is in China.

She is in a place in China.

This place is called Beijing.

Beijing is a very big place.

It has very, very many people.

Also very, very many universities.

A university is a big school.

When students grow up, they go to university.

Today's person is related to these universities.

She sells things outside the universities.

What she sells is food.

She has been selling for many years.

More than ten years.

So what kind of food does she sell?

What she sells is meat.

What kind of meat?

She says: 'What I sell is goose meat.'

What is a goose?

A goose is a kind of animal.

A goose has two legs.

A goose is a bit like a chicken.

But bigger than a chicken.

What she sells is the goose's leg.

We call it 'goose leg'.

Goose leg is very tasty.

Students who ate it all liked it.

One student told other students.

Other students came to buy too.

More and more people came to buy.

Sometimes you had to wait a long time.

Wait an hour.

Sometimes wait even longer.

But students were willing to wait.

They said:

'For Goose Leg Auntie's goose leg, waiting is worth it.'

Just like that, everyone called her: 'Goose Leg Auntie'.

Goose Leg Auntie slowly became hot (famous).

On the Chinese internet, she became very well-known.

Newspapers wrote about her.

Television talked about her.

Many people liked her.

And many people came to buy her goose legs.

She was very busy every day.

She made more and more money.

Several years passed like this.

Goose Leg Auntie sold outside the universities every day.

Students also came to line up every day.

Everyone was happy.

But, in the last few days, something changed.

Goose Leg Auntie herself said something.

What she said, many people didn't expect.

She said:

'I'm sorry.

I want to tell everyone something.

What I sell is actually not goose leg.

What I sell is duck leg.'

A duck is also a kind of animal.

A duck is a bit smaller than a goose.

A duck leg looks a bit like a goose leg.

But duck leg is much cheaper than goose leg.

How much cheaper?

Let's give a number.

One frozen duck leg costs about one yuan something.

One frozen goose leg costs about ten yuan.

In other words, a duck leg costs about one-tenth of a goose leg.

Hearing this.

Students who liked her were all very unhappy.

They said:

'We thought we were eating goose.

Actually we were eating duck.

What we spent was the price of a goose.

What we ate was the meat of a duck.

So what about all the times we bought it before?'

So why didn't she tell everyone earlier?

Goose Leg Auntie said:

'Many, many years ago, I really sold goose leg.

That was in 2011.

Later, geese became fewer and fewer.

I couldn't find good geese.

But students were still waiting.

So I used duck.

The other vendors nearby also used duck.

I want to say to everyone: I'm sorry.

I never told you.

I wanted to say.

But I never said it.

I also know this was not right.'

Now, someone is looking into this thing.

Looking at what to do next.

Also looking at whether she needs to pay back the money.

Honestly, this isn't just about goose and duck.

More than that, it's about 'integrity'.

What is 'integrity'?

'Integrity' means: what you say and what you do should be the same.

You say you sell goose.

Then you sell goose.

You say you sell duck.

Then you sell duck.

Your heart is also at peace.

Finally, I want to ask you something.

Around you, is there something like this?

Someone says one thing.

What they do is not the same as what they say.

Maybe someone else did it.

Maybe you did it yourself.

It's okay.

What matters is from now on.

From now on, can what is said and what is done be the same?

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
tuǐleg

HSK 4 noun. The physical object. 鹅腿 = goose leg; 鸭腿 = duck leg.

piányicheap

HSK 2 adjective. 鸭腿比鹅腿便宜很多 = duck leg is much cheaper than goose leg.

gàosuto tell

HSK 2 verb. 为什么以前不告诉大家呢? = Why didn't you tell everyone earlier?

zhòngyàoimportant

HSK 3. 重要的,是以后 = what matters is from now on.

wèishénmewhy

HSK 1-2. why.

pángbiānside / beside

HSK 1-2. side / beside.

xiǎoshíhour

HSK 1-2. hour.

āyíauntie (term for a middle-aged woman)

HSK 3 noun. Here it's the public nickname: 鹅腿阿姨 = Goose Leg Auntie.

égoose

Glossed inline as 一种动物 = a kind of animal. Central to the story.

duck

Glossed by contrast: 鸭比鹅小 = a duck is smaller than a goose. 鸭比鹅便宜 = a duck is cheaper.

chéngxìnintegrity; honesty

Glossed inline: 你说的话,跟你做的事,要一样 = what you say and what you do should match. The moral lesson.

qíshíactually; in fact

HSK 3 adverb. Used to mark the reveal: 其实不是鹅腿.

yuànyìwilling to

HSK 3. 学生愿意等 = students were willing to wait.

páiduìto line up; queue

HSK 4 verb. 学生每天都来排队 = students lined up every day.

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法

Subject + 觉得 / 以为 + Clause

'X feels/thinks/assumes that Y'. 以为 marks a wrong assumption.

我们以为吃的是鹅。

他们觉得不高兴。

A 比 B + 更 / Adj + 一点 / 很多

Comparison with degree marker.

鸭比鹅小一点。

鸭腿比鹅腿便宜很多。

其实 + Clause (reversal)

Marks 'actually X is not what you thought'. Central pattern for the reveal.

我卖的,其实不是鹅腿。

其实吃的是鸭。

越来越 + Adj / 越 + V + 越 + Adj

'more and more'. Marks gradual change.

来买的人越来越多。

钱也越赚越多。

鹅越来越少。

也就是说 + Clause (in other words)

Discourse marker that summarizes / rephrases.

也就是说,鸭腿的钱,只有鹅腿的差不多十分之一。

Subject + 是 + 一个 + Noun (definition)

Used to gloss new terms.

鹅是一种动物。

鸭也是一种动物。

什么是 X 呢? + complete answer

Rhetorical question to gloss vocabulary.

鹅是什么呢?

什么肉呢?

便宜多少呢?

Proper Nouns

专有名词
鹅腿阿姨É tuǐ Āyí'Goose Leg Auntie' — internet nickname for Chen Xiufeng, the viral Beijing street vendor北京BěijīngBeijing — capital of China and home to top universities中国ZhōngguóChina2011年èr líng yī yī niánthe year 2011 — when Auntie says she first started selling goose legs

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