3:14
杨梅出事了：一个果农在哭
Trouble With the Bayberries: A Farmer in Tears
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 今天、吃、喜欢 and walks through 4 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.
今天我给你说一个故事。
Today I'll tell you a story.
这个故事，
This story
是关于一种水果的。
is about a kind of fruit.
你吃过这种水果吗？
Have you eaten this kind of fruit?
它叫"杨梅"。
It's called "yangmei" (bayberry).
杨梅，
Yangmei
是一种红色的小水果。
is a small red fruit.
它很甜，
It's very sweet,
也有一点酸。
and a little sour.
每年五月、
Every May
六月，
and June,
很多人都喜欢吃。
many people love to eat it.
在中国，
In China
有很多农民，
there are many farmers
种杨梅。
who grow yangmei.
他们一年到头都在工作，
They work all year long
就是为了五月、
just for these few weeks
六月这几个星期。
in May and June.
今天的故事，
Today's story
是一个农民的故事。
is the story of one farmer.
五月二十三号，
On May 23,
这个农民，
this farmer
在网上卖杨梅。
was selling yangmei online.
他对着手机说话，
He was talking to his phone,
让大家来买。
asking people to buy.
可是，
But
没有人来买。
no one was buying.
他说着说着，
As he spoke,
就哭了。
he started to cry.
为什么没有人买？
Why was no one buying?
不是他的杨梅不好。
It was not that his yangmei was bad.
是因为，
It was because
最近有一个新闻。
there was a recent piece of news.
新闻里说：
The news said:
在中国南方的一个地方，
in a place in southern China,
有几个人，
a few people
做了不对的事。
had done something wrong.
他们用一些，
They used some
不可以用的东西，
things that should not be used
泡杨梅。
to soak yangmei.
他们想让杨梅，
They wanted to make the yangmei
看起来更好，
look better
吃起来更甜。
and taste sweeter.
但是这些东西，
But these things
对人不好。
are bad for people.
国家有规定，
The state has rules:
水果里，
in fruit,
不可以用这些东西。
these things may not be used.
新闻一出来，
As soon as the news came out,
很多人都怕了。
many people were afraid.
"杨梅有问题。
"Yangmei has a problem.
"我们不买了。
"We won't buy it.
所以，
So
没有人买杨梅了。
no one was buying yangmei.
可是，
But
做错事的，
the ones who did wrong
只有几个人。
were only a few people.
还有很多农民，
There are many other farmers
都是好好种杨梅的。
who grow yangmei honestly.
他们没有用，
They did not use
那些不可以用的东西。
those things that should not be used.
他们的杨梅，
Their yangmei
是好的。
is good.
但是，
But
他们的杨梅，
their yangmei
也卖不出去。
also could not be sold.
这就是为什么，
That is why
那个农民，
that farmer
对着手机哭。
cried to his phone.
他没有做错事。
He had done nothing wrong.
可是，
But
他的杨梅，
his yangmei,
也没有人买。
no one would buy it either.
我看了这个新闻，
I read this news,
我想了一件事。
and I thought of one thing.
有时候，
Sometimes
几个人做错了事，
a few people do something wrong,
很多好人，
and many good people
也会一起，
also together
受到影响。
get affected.
这不公平。
This is not fair.
可是，
But
这样的事，
this kind of thing
真的会发生。
really does happen.
最后我问你：
Finally I ask you:
你身边，
Around you,
有没有发生过这样的事？
has this kind of thing ever happened?
几个人做错了，
A few people did wrong,
很多好人，
and many good people
也一起，
also together
不好过？
had a hard time?
你想一想。
Think about it.
好。
Okay.
今天就说到这里。
That's all for today.
明天再聊。
Talk tomorrow.
Today. The narrator opens with 今天我给你说一个故事 — 'today I'll tell you a story.'
To eat. 你吃过这种水果吗 — 'have you eaten this kind of fruit?' Also 喜欢吃 — 'love to eat.'
To like. 很多人都喜欢吃 — 'many people love to eat it' (yangmei).
To work. The farmer's whole year: 他们一年到头都在工作 — 'they work all year long.'
To buy. The story's painful turn: 没有人来买 — 'no one came to buy.'
Fruit. The episode is about a 水果 — a fruit — called yangmei.
A small, dark-red, sweet-and-sour Chinese fruit. Beyond HSK1. The episode glosses it: 一种红色的小水果 — 'a small red fruit.'
Farmer. Beyond HSK1. The story's hero: a 种杨梅的农民 — 'a farmer who grows yangmei.'
News. Beyond HSK1. The trigger of the whole story: 最近有一个新闻 — 'there was a recent piece of news.'
To cry. Beyond HSK1. The emotional center: 他说着说着，就哭了 — 'as he spoke, he started to cry.'
To fear, to be afraid. Beyond HSK1. After the news, 很多人都怕了 — 'many people were afraid' to buy yangmei.
To sell. Beyond HSK1. The farmer's struggle: 他们的杨梅，也卖不出去 — 'their yangmei also can't be sold.'
* beyond level超纲词
不是 A，是 B
不是…是… replaces a wrong reason with the right one. The episode uses it to clarify why no one is buying.
不是他的杨梅不好。
是因为最近有一个新闻。
可是 / 但是
可是 and 但是 mark a contrast — usually that things should go one way but go the other. The episode uses it again and again to show the unfairness.
可是，没有人来买。
但是这些东西，对人不好。
X 一出来，Y
一 + verb introduces a quick result: once one thing happens, another immediately follows. The episode uses it for how fast the news changed everything.
新闻一出来，很多人都怕了。
也 (parallel inclusion)
也 marks that the same thing happens to another person or group. The episode's quiet sadness: the bad people did wrong, but good people 也 get hurt.
很多好人，也会一起受到影响。
他们的杨梅，也卖不出去。