The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself — Page 1

Vocabulary

作者

zuòzhě — Author; person who writes a work

对

duì — Toward; regarding; correct

其

qí — His, her, its, their (formal pronoun)

祖国

zǔguó — Motherland; one's native country

及

jí — And; as well as; to reach

风俗

fēngsú — Local customs and traditions of a place

习惯

xíguàn — Habit; custom; to be accustomed to

描述

miáoshù — To describe; a written or spoken description

司法

sīfǎ — Judiciary; administration of justice and law

管理

guǎnlǐ — Management; to administer or manage something

婚礼

hūnlǐ — Wedding ceremony; marriage celebration

仪式

yíshì — Ceremony; formal ritual or procedural event

与

yǔ — And; with; together with (formal)

公共

gōnggòng — Public; shared by or open to everyone

娱乐

yúlè — Entertainment; amusement; recreational activities

生活

shēnghuó — Life; daily living; way of living

方式

fāngshì — Method; manner; way of doing something

服饰

fúshì — Clothing and accessories; dress and adornment

制造业

zhìzàoyè — Manufacturing industry; sector producing goods

建筑

jiànzhù — Architecture; building; construction

商业

shāngyè — Commerce; business; trade activities

农业

nóngyè — Agriculture; farming industry

战争

zhànzhēng — War; armed conflict between groups or nations

宗教

zōngjiào — Religion; organized system of spiritual belief

土著

tǔzhù — Indigenous; native inhabitants of a region

居民

jūmín — Residents; inhabitants of a particular place

迷信

míxìn — Superstition; blind belief without rational basis

祭司

jìsī — Priest; religious official performing ritual duties

或

huò — Or; either; perhaps (conjunction)

巫师

wūshī — Shaman; witch doctor; sorcerer

丧葬

sāngzàng — Funeral; burial rites and mourning practices

探查

tànchá — To investigate; to probe or examine carefully

毒物

dúwù — Poison; toxic substance; venomous matter

奇特

qítè — Strange; peculiar; unusually distinctive

方法

fāngfǎ — Method; approach; way of doing something

关于

guānyú — Regarding; concerning; about a topic

同胞

tóngbāo — Compatriots; fellow countrymen; siblings

起源

qǐyuán — Origin; source; beginning of something

若干

ruògān — Several; a certain number of; some

线索

xiànsuǒ — Clue; thread; lead for investigation

以及

yǐjí — As well as; and also; together with

不同

bùtóng — Different; unlike; varying from each other

就此

jiùcǐ — Regarding this; on this matter; hereupon

问题

wèntí — Problem; question; issue to be addressed

所持

suǒ chí — Held; maintained (views or positions one holds)

观点

guāndiǎn — Viewpoint; perspective; point of view

我

wǒ — I; me; first-person singular pronoun

认为

rènwéi — To think; to believe; to consider that

那些

nàxiē — Those; referring to plural things or people

出版

chūbǎn — To publish; to release a printed work

自传

zìzhuàn — Autobiography; account of one's own life

回忆录

huíyìlù — Memoir; written record of personal memories

人

rén — Person; people; human being

很难

hěn nán — Very difficult; hard to accomplish or avoid

逃脱

táotuō — To escape; to evade; to break free from

被

bèi — Passive marker indicating action done to subject

扣上

kòushàng — To label; to fasten a label or accusation onto

虚荣

xūróng — Vanity; excessive pride in one's appearance or status

之名

zhī míng — By the name of; under the label of

指责

zhǐzé — To accuse; to criticize; to blame someone

而

ér — And yet; but; furthermore (conjunction)

这

zhè — This; referring to something nearby or mentioned

也

yě — Also; too; as well

并非

bìng fēi — Not at all; by no means; is not truly

他们

tāmen — They; them; third-person plural pronoun

所

suǒ — That which; used before verbs to nominalize

承受

chéngshòu — To bear; to endure; to withstand pressure

唯一

wéiyī — Only; sole; the one and only

不利

bùlì — Disadvantageous; unfavorable; harmful to one

之处

zhī chù — The place of; the aspect of; wherein

还有

hái yǒu — There is also; furthermore; in addition

另一重

lìng yī chóng — Another layer of; yet another dimension of

不幸

bùxìng — Misfortune; bad luck; unfortunate circumstance

那便是

nà biàn shì — That is; that would be; namely

不寻常

bù xúncháng — Unusual; extraordinary; out of the ordinary

之事

zhī shì — Such matters; things of this nature (formal)

甚至

shènzhì — Even; going so far as; to the extent that

根本

gēnběn — Fundamentally; at all; absolutely (in negatives)

无人

wú rén — Nobody; no one; not a single person

相信

xiāngxìn — To believe; to trust; to have confidence in

显而易见

xiǎn ér yì jiàn — Obviously; clearly evident; plain to see

却

què — But; yet; however (contrastive adverb)

往往

wǎngwǎng — Often; frequently; as things usually go

令人

lìng rén — Causing people to feel; making one feel

生厌

shēng yàn — To feel bored or disgusted; to become weary

使人

shǐ rén — To cause someone to; making people do something

并

bìng — And; moreover; simultaneously (formal conjunction)

冒昧

màomèi — Presumptuous; taking undue liberties; bold rudeness

无礼

wúlǐ — Rude; impolite; lacking proper manners

人们

rénmen — People; people in general; the public

通常

tōngcháng — Usually; normally; under ordinary circumstances

只有

zhǐyǒu — Only; only when; it is only that

充满

chōngmǎn — Full of; filled with; brimming with something

重大

zhòngdà — Major; significant; of great importance

引人注目

yǐn rén zhùmù — Eye-catching; attracting people's attention

事件

shìjiàn — Event; incident; significant occurrence

才

cái — Only then; not until; just barely

值得

zhídé — Worth; deserving; meriting attention or effort

阅读

yuèdú — To read; act of reading written material

铭记

míng jì — To engrave in memory; to remember deeply

简而言之

jiǎn ér yán zhī — In short; to put it briefly; in a word

就是

jiùshì — That is; namely; exactly; it is precisely

极大

jí dà — Extremely great; to a very large degree

程度上

chéngdù shàng — To a certain degree; in terms of extent

激起

jīqǐ — To arouse; to stir up; to provoke feelings

钦佩

qīnpèi — Admiration; to admire someone greatly

怜悯

liánmǐn — Pity; compassion; sympathy for suffering

之情

zhī qíng — Such feelings; emotions of this kind (formal)

作品

zuòpǐn — Work; literary or artistic creation

其余

qíyú — The rest; the remainder; all else

一切

yīqiè — Everything; all; the entirety of something

则

zé — Then; in contrast; whereas (formal conjunction)

弃之

qì zhī — To discard it; to cast it aside

以

yǐ — With; by means of; using (formal preposition)

鄙视

bǐshì — To despise; to look down on with contempt

任其

rèn qí — To let it; to allow it to; to leave it

因此

yīncǐ — Therefore; consequently; as a result

承认

chéngrèn — To admit; to acknowledge; to recognize a fact

对于

duìyú — For; regarding; with respect to

一个

yī gè — One; a single (general measure word)

默默无闻

mòmò wú wén — Unknown; obscure; without fame or recognition

普通人

pǔtōng rén — Ordinary person; common person; average individual

同时

tóngshí — At the same time; simultaneously; meanwhile

又是

yòu shì — Also is; and is at the same time

异乡人

yìxiāng rén — Stranger; foreigner; person from another place

而言

ér yán — In terms of; speaking from the perspective of

如此

rúcǐ — Thus; like this; in such a manner

恳请

kěnqǐng — To earnestly request; to sincerely appeal to

公众

gōngzhòng — The public; the general population

宽容地

kuānróng de — Tolerantly; with generosity and open-mindedness

毫无

háo wú — Completely without; not the slightest bit of

风险

fēngxiǎn — Risk; danger; potential for loss or harm

尤其是

yóuqí shì — Especially; particularly; most notably when

当

dāng — When; at the time of; while

坦言

tǎn yán — To speak frankly; to honestly declare or admit

在此

zài cǐ — Here; at this point; herein

呈献

chéng xiàn — To present; to offer respectfully; to dedicate

既非

jì fēi — Neither; not only is it not (formal)

圣人

shèngrén — Saint; sage; holy or supremely virtuous person

亦非

yì fēi — Nor is it; neither is it (formal negation)

英雄

yīngxióng — Hero; heroic figure; person of great courage

更非

gèng fēi — Still less; much less; certainly not either

暴君

bàojūn — Tyrant; despot; cruel and oppressive ruler