Ooo! I have this story saved on my phone, but never got round to reading it. Now you've reminded maybe I also can find time during this challenge :D

Do it! It's not very long. :)

Where is it available to read?

Don't know, but just try searching.

妖怪 is a general description but since Trolls inhabit caves and are gigantic, your 洞穴巨人 is more apt.

Yes, I think that's what I said. :) The word actually used is 吃人妖, which seems weirdly specific to me.

Sorry, out should be 食人妖, but my point still stands.

Hey Google, play HackingChinese podcast and voila, it 马 上comes on my Google Home speaker! 👍

Very nice! Glad to hear it's that easy to get it to work! :)

Fun! The Hobbit was the first full novel that I read. It took me far more years than needful to reach that milestone (apart from the Bible, I hadn't read any book in Chinese until this one & I had -- still have -- a lot of books waiting on a shelf). This got me started, & I haven't stopped reading novels in Chinese since.

I think rereading old favourites in Chinese is quite good. I have reread many childhood science fiction and fantasy favourites in Chinese and it's nice to rediscover the story while also improving reading ability in Chinese! I always worry a bit about the translations, though, but I verified this one as quite good. It's interesting how much harder the language seems compared with English, though, I remember the Hobbit as fairly easy, but the translator doesn't miss a chance to through in chengyu.

I guess they overcompensate with chengyu in the Chinese translation maybe? Maybe to spice it up?

I'd love to study this closer at some point and I bet other people have. But in general, while some people argue that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, I don't think most Chinese people agree when it comes to literature. I have only personal observations to back this up, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

I agree about Chinese writing, and I'm glad to hear my impression of the English and Chinese versions is the same. The Hobbit in English was, I hear, intended for 12-year-old readers. I think the Chinese concept of 文雅 tends to involve more complex language, like 成语. I have Chinese friends who write that way very naturally: very specialized descriptive phrases and adjectives and chengyu seem to be markers in their writing.

Where can I get a bilingual Chinese Bible pdf to upload into Pleco?

Hi Kaynis - guessing you're asking me since I mentioned reading the Bible. I have paper books & an app that is stand-alone. If you read Chinese enough now, a Google search for 中英对照圣经PDF下载 came up with a lot. Here's one with NIV for English & the most commonly used Chinese translation, 和合本: http://www.80pdf.com/culture/3443.html But I haven't used PDFs with Pleco, so you'd have to tell me how to do that.

Log into your Pleco device on iPhone, iPad. I don't see it on my Android phone. Under Settings, click on File Manager. It will open the Documents menu. Scroll down your list to Upload/download files. In the Upload Files, the Enable Upload, Download should be ticked by default. You can enable WeDav for certain files to work. Copy your variable Address Details. Please note: it changes every time you log in! The Instructions are: Enter your address above into your computer's web browser to upload/ download files to your iPhone/ iPod/iPad through that. (this only works if you're on the same WiFi network) Here's a Tip ;) Download Calibre to you PC to manage, convert any eBook, ePub files (none DRM protected) to pdf and vice-versa.

Thanks for the thorough description! I'll leave Olle to his own comments page now :)