SayMei

Notes in a Library Book · chapter 3 of 3

The Quiet Table

安静的桌子

What the note says, why he was afraid, and what Xu Man decides to write back — this time with him sitting right across the table.

The Quiet Table illustration

Read what you hear

  1. The note-writer 你好，许曼。我叫何言。我听不见，也不太会说话。

    Nǐ hǎo, Xǔ Màn. Wǒ jiào Hé Yán. Wǒ tīng bú jiàn, yě bú tài huì shuōhuà.

    “Hello, Xu Man. My name is He Yan. I can't hear, and I don't speak much.”

  2. Xu Man 我看着纸上的字，看了很久。

    Wǒ kànzhe zhǐ shang de zì, kàn le hěn jiǔ.

    I looked at the words for a long time.

  3. Xu Man 原来，他说的“失望”，是这个意思。

    Yuánlái, tā shuō de “shīwàng”, shì zhège yìsi.

    So that was what he meant by “disappointed.”

Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Notes in a Library Book is free, and so are The Second Cup of Tea, Mulan, The Butterfly Lovers, Journey to the West: The Monkey King, Cinderella, The Night of the Nian, Chang'e and the Moon, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, Aesop's Fables, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Ugly Duckling, Pangu and Nüwa: How the World Began, Beauty and the Beast, The Magic Lotus Lantern, Alice in Wonderland, Zhong Kui the Demon Queller and The Odyssey from start to finish.

  1. Xu Man 他低着头，好像在等我离开。

    Tā dīzhe tóu, hǎoxiàng zài děng wǒ líkāi.

    He kept his head down, as if waiting for me to leave.

  2. Xu Man 我拿过他的笔，在纸上写：“所以你喜欢很安静的地方。”

    Wǒ ná guò tā de bǐ, zài zhǐ shang xiě: “Suǒyǐ nǐ xǐhuan hěn ānjìng de dìfang.”

    I took his pen and wrote: “So that's why you like very quiet places.”

  3. Xu Man 他抬起头，笑了。

    Tā tái qǐ tóu, xiào le.

    He looked up and smiled.

  4. The note-writer 你不走？

    Nǐ bù zǒu?

    “You're not leaving?”

  5. Xu Man 我写：“我走了，谁跟我一起读第二十七页？”

    Wǒ xiě: “Wǒ zǒu le, shéi gēn wǒ yìqǐ dú dì èrshíqī yè?”

    I wrote: “If I leave, who will read page twenty-seven with me?”

  6. Xu Man 那天下午，我们在窗边写了一百张纸条。

    Nà tiān xiàwǔ, wǒmen zài chuāng biān xiě le yìbǎi zhāng zhǐtiáo.

    That afternoon, by the window, we wrote a hundred notes.

  7. Xu Man 周阿姨走过来，在桌上放了两杯热水，什么也没问。

    Zhōu āyí zǒu guòlái, zài zhuō shang fàng le liǎng bēi rè shuǐ, shénme yě méi wèn.

    Auntie Zhou came over, set down two cups of hot water, and asked nothing at all.

  8. Auntie Zhou 图书馆里要安静。你们两个，正好。

    Túshūguǎn lǐ yào ānjìng. Nǐmen liǎng gè, zhènghǎo.

    A library should be quiet. You two are just right.

  9. Xu Man 后来，何言教我用手语说“谢谢”和“你好”。

    Hòulái, Hé Yán jiāo wǒ yòng shǒuyǔ shuō “xièxie” hé “nǐ hǎo”.

    Later, He Yan taught me how to sign “thank you” and “hello.”

  10. Xu Man 我给他写我自己写的诗。他看得很慢，每个字都看两遍。

    Wǒ gěi tā xiě wǒ zìjǐ xiě de shī. Tā kàn de hěn màn, měi gè zì dōu kàn liǎng biàn.

    I wrote him poems of my own. He read them slowly, every word twice.

  11. Xu Man 一个月以后，奶奶出院了。

    Yí gè yuè yǐhòu, nǎinai chūyuàn le.

    A month later, Grandma came home from the hospital.

  12. Xu Man 我带何言去见她。奶奶拉着他的手，说了很多话。

    Wǒ dài Hé Yán qù jiàn tā. Nǎinai lāzhe tā de shǒu, shuō le hěn duō huà.

    I took He Yan to meet her. Grandma held his hand and talked and talked.

  13. Xu Man 他一句也听不见，可是一直点头，一直笑。

    Tā yí jù yě tīng bú jiàn, kěshì yìzhí diǎntóu, yìzhí xiào.

    He couldn't hear a word, but he kept nodding and smiling.

  14. Xu Man 奶奶说：“这个孩子，眼睛会说话。”

    Nǎinai shuō: “Zhège háizi, yǎnjing huì shuōhuà.”

    Grandma said, “This boy — his eyes can talk.”

  15. Xu Man 现在，每个星期六下午三点，我们还是坐在窗边的桌子。

    Xiànzài, měi gè xīngqīliù xiàwǔ sān diǎn, wǒmen háishi zuò zài chuāng biān de zhuōzi.

    Now, every Saturday at three, we still sit at the table by the window.

  16. Xu Man 我们不说话。我们写。

    Wǒmen bù shuōhuà. Wǒmen xiě.

    We don't talk. We write.

  17. Xu Man 那本旧诗集，已经被我们写满了。

    Nà běn jiù shījí, yǐjīng bèi wǒmen xiě mǎn le.

    That old book of poems is now full of our writing.

  18. Xu Man 周阿姨说，那本书以后不借给别人了。

    Zhōu āyí shuō, nà běn shū yǐhòu bú jiè gěi biérén le.

    Auntie Zhou says that book won't be lent to anyone else ever again.

  19. The note-writer 因为这本书里，住着我们两个人。

    Yīnwèi zhè běn shū lǐ, zhùzhe wǒmen liǎng gè rén.

    “Because the two of us live inside it now.”

Hear the chapter

What changed in the story?

  1. Why was He Yan afraid she would be disappointed?

    He writes, “我听不见，也不太会说话.”

  2. How do they talk that afternoon?

    “我们在窗边写了一百张纸条.”

  3. What does He Yan teach Xu Man?

    “何言教我用手语说‘谢谢’和‘你好’.”

  4. What does Grandma say about He Yan?

    “这个孩子，眼睛会说话.”

  5. Why won't the book be lent to anyone else?

    “这本书里，住着我们两个人.”

All chapters in Notes in a Library Book.