L10

Question 1

木

Answer 1

TREE // pictograph, with long sweeping final two strokes

// wood

// 朩 is pole / wooden pole

Question 2

林

Answer 2

WOODS // a small cluster of trees

Question 3

森

Answer 3

FOREST // a large expanse of trees “trees, trees, everywhere

Question 4

梦

Answer 4

DREAM // in your dream, you wander through a moonlit forest in the evening, an enchanted, alluring forest world

Question 5

机

Answer 5

MACHINE // this ultimate of mechanised creations takes entire hardwood trees at one end and spits out mahogany tables at the other. neat. the inventor’s a legend.

Question 6

植

Answer 6

PLANT (v.) // The proper way to plant a tree (not like those nasty japanese with bonsai) is to stick the sapling in the ground, straight up, so it grows straight up

Question 7

杏

Answer 7

APRICOT // apricots can be eaten straight off the tree. This one’s falling off the tree and into my mouth. Yum!

Question 8

呆

Answer 8

DIM-WITTED // the dunce here is sitting up the top of a tree with him mouth agape. he’s waiting for fruit to fall in… upwards! dimwit.

Question 9

枯

Answer 9

WITHERED // the tree, withered from arteriosclerosis, has become ancient and will wither through poor circulation

Question 10

村

Answer 10

VILLAGE // a circle of trees are glued together to demark the village. like in ‘the colour purple’ or ‘the crucible’

Question 11

相

Answer 11

ONE ANOTHER // Remember the spirital proverb “first take the tree trunk out of your own eye before helping your neighbours remove splinters from theirs” - in other words, help one another sensibly.

Question 12

本

Answer 12

NOTEBOOK // notebooks are sliced from trees. the chainsaw-wielding stationer slices up pads for kids on their way to school

Question 13

案

Answer 13

CASE // legal case. you’re stressed about the impending court hearing, meanwhile your lawyer, who says on the phone “I’m on the case” is actually relaxing in a hammock between palm trees

Question 14

未

Answer 14

NOT YET // the tree is not yet fully grown, and is still sprouting cute little top branches. not yet, but soon it’ll be fully grown

Question 15

末

Answer 15

LAST (n./adj.) // the tree which was not yet fully grown is in the last stages, nearly finished, almost at the end… last push!

Question 16

沫

Answer 16

FOAM // at the very last stage of water’s tidal journey, it crashes onto the rocks and creates a foamy froth

Question 17

味

Answer 17

FLAVOUR // when an orange tree has not yet finished growing, it’s fruit has the best flavour. a taster expert mouth approves it, and the planter stops the tree growing by pruning back its top brances. tropicana is born, flavoursome!

Question 18

妹妹

Answer 18

YOUNGER SISTER // a woman who is not yet old enough to do everything an older sister can do

Question 19

查

Answer 19

INVESTIGATE // Sir Isaac Newton, up all night investigating the laws of physics, notices the daybreak. at that moment, the tree wakes up, stretches, and drops and apple. Newton goes over to investigate, and only goes and invents blimmin gravity!

Question 20

渣

Answer 20

SEDIMENT // scuba diving, investigating what’s made the water go bad in the lake. the sediment you find is a rotten pile of garbage and chemical sludge

Question 21

染

Answer 21

DYE // to make the magic water you’ll need to grow a baseball bat tree, you need to add dye. dyed purple water (from mum’s cabinet) added to any tree will soon create baseball bats

Question 22

李

Answer 22

PLUM // Little jack horner, sticks out his thumb and down drops a plum, and squelches all over his head.

Question 23

桌

Answer 23

TABLE // a group of magicians sit round a magic table, a big tree stump with a sun carved into it. they pass a wand around, trying to get the sun to shine. finally, the sun shines, and burns the table down!

Question 24

杂

Answer 24

MISCELLANEOUS // baseball bats, lined up, are numbered according to size. but lo, these great wooden poles on the end of the line, they’re beyond classification, they’re miscellanously, for the motley batters

Question 25

艹

Answer 25

FLOWER // these are just the first few strokes of flower (we don’t know the others yet). This one’s a dappled purple tulip, like the queen might wear with a nice hat.

Question 26

若

Answer 26

AS IF // a flower in the right hand, recalling the famous story of Buddha, where he gave a ‘sermon’ by holding up a flower, as if the followers would understoon. it’s a story that’s of pivotal importance… as if it were worthwhile remembering!!

Question 27

草

Answer 27

GRASS // flowers can be seeded to spell a name. look out at the lawn… imagine if someone had sown seeds that spelled your name, and they came up in daffodills!

Question 28

艺

Answer 28

TECHNIQUE // the most important technique of all, catching ones that keep getting away (!!), but this fishhook is kitted out with a bunch of flowers. it’s a trap! But a smart technique nontheless.

Question 29

苦

Answer 29

SUFFERING // an ancient plant. do plants suffer? well, it’s worth thinking about why we take them to hospital… because they can empathise - of course they suffer!

Question 30

宽

Answer 30

WIDE // “WIDE LOAD” reads the bumper sticker - it’s a truck transporting a house! Wow. See it? Take a picture. In fact, you can see inside, because it’s a glass house, good for flowers.

Question 31

莫

Answer 31

NOBODY // “Nobody but nobody lives here” says the cheeky sign on the graveyard gate. Cheeky, because this is an upbeat graveyard, with flowers, sunshine and a nice St Bernard dog. It’s so nice that nobody feels the need to visit.

// graveyard

Question 32

模

Answer 32

IMITATE // ah ha, that new graveyard (where nobody visits) has been copied. but this one’s got fake everything, even a big fake tree like in Disney world. It’s a cheap imitation.

Question 33

漠

Answer 33

DESERT // in the desert, dry and dying of thirst, you spot some water. as you crawl towards, you realise it was a mirage, and there’s actually a graveyard. and there’s a grave with your name on it!

Question 34

墓

Answer 34

GRAVE // mounds of soil with graves marking the place. Naturally, the soil comes under the grave markings.

Question 35

苗

Answer 35

SEEDLING // a new wave brain surgery is physically planting seedlings of goodwill into patients’ minds. these seedlings grow into flowers of harmonious thought and actions

// tomato seedling, like in grandma’s greenhouse

Question 36

瞄

Answer 36

AIM // normally, you want to aim by lining up your eye with the crosshairs. but some eejit has gone and replaced the crosshairs with tomato seedlings, and they’re tickling your eyes. the buffons in the gun factory, you’ll never be able to aim now.