The Monkey’s Paw:《猴爪》

The Monkey’s Paw:《猴爪》 by W.W. Jacobs is a graded reader designed for high-elementary learners of Chinese.

Publisher's description:

Mr. and Mrs. Zhang live with their grown son Guisheng who works at a factory. One day Mr. Qian, an old friend of Mr. Zhang, comes to visit the family after having spent years traveling in the mysterious hills of China’s Yunnan Province. Mr. Qian tells the Zhang family of a monkey’s paw he was given that has magical powers to grant three wishes to the holder. Against his better judgement, Mr. Qian reluctantly gives the monkey paw to the Zhang family, along with a warning that the wishes come with a great price for trying to change one’s fate…

Chapter 1

• Modifying nouns with phrase + "de"
• Measure words for counting
• "All along" with "yizhi"
• Expressing actions in progress
• "Both A and B" with "you"
• Two words for "but"
• Expressing "and" with "he"
• "Zai" following verbs
• Aspect particle "zhe"
• Appearance with "kanqilai"
• About to happen with "kuai... le"
• Special verbs with "hen"
• "Before" in general
• Expressing location with "zai...shang/xia/li"
• Using "zai" with verbs
• At the time when
• "Already" with "dou…le"
• Indicating a number in excess
• Explaining results with "suoyi"
• "Always" with "zongshi"
• Expressing "with" with "gen"
• Expressing "together" with "yiqi"
• Basic comparisons with "bi"
• "Even more" with "geng"
• "It seems" with "haoxiang"
• Expressing existence with "you"
• Negative commands with "bie"
• Auxiliary verb "yao" and its multiple meanings
• Adjectives with "name" and "zheme"
• Continuation with "hai"
• "-wan" result complement
• Result complements "dao" and "jian"
• Actions in a row
• Mistakenly think that
• Change of state with "le"
• Sequencing past events with "houlai"
• "Would like to" with "xiang"
• Again in the future with "zai"
• Expressing completion with "le"
• Direction complement
• Softening speech with "ba"
• Simultaneous tasks with "yibian"
• The "all" adverb
• Verb reduplication with "yi"

Chapter 2

• Expressing duration with "le"
• Expressing experiences with "guo"
• Expressing lateness with "cai"
• Using "dui"
• Expressing "a little too" with "you dian"
• Verbing briefly
• Explaining causes with "yinwei"
• Expressing "all" with "shenme dou"
• Again in the past with "you"
• Turning adjectives into adverbs
• Expressing ability or possibility
• "Some" using "yixie"
• Causative verbs
• Questions with "le ma"
• "Not often" with "bu zenme"
• Referring to "all" using "suoyou"
• "Shi... de" construction
• After a specific time
• Expressing earliness with "jiu"
• "Already" with "yijing"

Chapter 3

• Complements with "dao", "gei" and "zai"
• "If…, then…" with "ruguo…, jiu…"
• Expressing permission
• Measure words for verbs
• Before a specific time
• "Yinggai" for should
• Result complement "-hao"
• "De" (modal particle)
• Softening the tone of questions with "ne"
• Expressing "excessively" with "tai"
• "Then…" with "name"
• Emphasis with "jiu"
• Negative commands with "bu yao"

Chapter 4

• Ordinal numbers with "di"
• Expressing "and also" with "hai"
• A softer "but"
• Descriptive complements
• Pronoun "mei" for "every"
• Using "ji" to mean "several"
• Counting money
• "Not very" with "bu tai"

Chapter 5

• Modifying nouns with adjective + "de"
• Doing something more with "duo"
• Basic comparisons with "yiyang"

Chapter 6

• "Had better" with "haishi"
• Measure words for counting
• Using "xiang"
• Expressing "in addition" with "haiyou"
• Asking why with "zenme"

Chapter 7

• Expressing duration (ongoing)
• "For" with "wei"

Chapter 8

• Expressing distance with "li"
• "Never again" with "zai ye bu"
• "Never" with "conglai"

Chapter 10

• Reduplication of adjectives
• "Just now" with "gangcai"