Lesson 15 — Coming Home 回乡 Chinese Intermediate I Begin to read and write, more conversations

hui2 xiang1 he4 zhi1 zhang1
回 乡 贺 知 章

xiao3 shao3 li2 jia1 lao3 da4 hui2
小 少 离 家 老 大 回，

xiang1 yin1 wu2 gai3 bin4 mao2 cui1
乡 音 无 改 鬓 毛 摧。

er2 tong2 xiang1 jian4 bu4 xiang1 shi2
儿 童 相 见 不 相 识，

xiao4 wen4 ke4 cong2 he2 chu3 lai2
笑 问 客 从 何 处 来？

Coming Home by He Zhizhang

I left home young and not till old do I come back,

My accent is unchanged, my hair no longer black.

The children don’t know me, whom I meet on the way,

“Where do you come from, reverend sir?” they smile and say.

乡 (xiang1) countryside; village
回 乡 (hui2 xiang1) go home
少 (shao3) young
小 少 (xiao3 shao3) young; little
离 (li2) leave.wav
老 大 (lao3 da4) old; grown up; the oldest sibling
乡 音 (xiang1 yin1) hometown accent
无 (wu2) nothing; not
改 (gai3) change; correct
鬓 毛 (bin4 mao2) hair on the temples
摧 (cui1) break; destroy
儿 童 (er2 tong2) children
相 见 (xiang1 jian4) see each other
相 识 (xiang1 shi2) know each other
客 (ke4) guest; visitor; traveler
何 处 (he2 chu3) where