Three Kingdoms: Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats · chapter 6 of 6
The Same Word
一样的字
The boats come home heavy with arrows, Zhuge Liang finally explains his secret, and Zhou Yu has to face the man he tried to trap.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 二十条船，慢慢地向南边开回去。太阳照在江上，暖暖的。
Èrshí tiáo chuán, mànmàn de xiàng nánbian kāi huíqù. Tàiyáng zhào zài jiāng shang, nuǎnnuǎn de.
The twenty boats slowly made their way back south. The sun shone warm on the river.
- Lu Su 先生，我说不说，等一下再想。你先告诉我，你怎么知道今天会有大雾？
Xiānsheng, wǒ shuō bu shuō, děng yíxià zài xiǎng. Nǐ xiān gàosu wǒ, nǐ zěnme zhīdào jīntiān huì yǒu dà wù?
Sir, whether I tell or not, I'll think about later. First tell me: how did you know there'd be thick fog today?
- Zhuge Liang 一个好的将军，要会看天，也要会看地。三天以前，我就看出来了，今天会有大雾。
Yí gè hǎo de jiāngjūn, yào huì kàn tiān, yě yào huì kàn dì. Sān tiān yǐqián, wǒ jiù kàn chūlái le, jīntiān huì yǒu dà wù.
A good general has to read the sky, and the land as well. Three days ago I could already see that there would be thick fog today.
Chapter 6 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Three Kingdoms: Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats 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.
- Zhuge Liang 所以，我才说三天。
Suǒyǐ, wǒ cái shuō sān tiān.
That's why I said three days.
- Lu Su 那都督给你十天，你为什么不要？
Nà dūdū gěi nǐ shí tiān, nǐ wèi shénme bú yào?
Then why didn't you take the ten days the commander offered you?
- Zhuge Liang 十天？雾可不会等我十天。
Shí tiān? Wù kě bú huì děng wǒ shí tiān.
Ten days? The fog wasn't going to wait ten days for me.
- Zhuge Liang 还有，都督不给我做箭的人，也不给我做箭的东西。十天以后，他一样有理由让我死。
Hái yǒu, dūdū bù gěi wǒ zuò jiàn de rén, yě bù gěi wǒ zuò jiàn de dōngxi. Shí tiān yǐhòu, tā yíyàng yǒu lǐyóu ràng wǒ sǐ.
Besides, the commander gave me no arrow-makers and no supplies. After ten days, he'd have had just as good a reason to put me to death.
- Lu Su 这些……你早就都知道了？
Zhèxiē… nǐ zǎo jiù dōu zhīdào le?
All of this… you knew it all along?
- Zhuge Liang 都督的心，我看得清清楚楚。可是天在帮我，他拿我没有办法。
Dūdū de xīn, wǒ kàn de qīngqīngchuchǔ. Kěshì tiān zài bāng wǒ, tā ná wǒ méiyǒu bànfǎ.
I can read the commander's heart as clearly as day. But heaven is on my side, and there's nothing he can do to me.
- Narrator 船到了江边。五百个士兵已经在那里等着了。
Chuán dào le jiāngbiān. Wǔbǎi gè shìbīng yǐjīng zài nàlǐ děng zhe le.
The boats reached the riverbank. The five hundred soldiers were already waiting there.
- The Young Soldier 兄弟们，别看了！快来搬箭吧！
Xiōngdimen, bié kàn le! Kuài lái bān jiàn ba!
Don't just stand there staring, brothers! Come and carry the arrows!
- The Young Soldier 一条船上有五六千支，二十条船……十万多支！还多了好几千呢！
Yì tiáo chuán shang yǒu wǔ liù qiān zhī, èrshí tiáo chuán… Shíwàn duō zhī! Hái duō le hǎo jǐ qiān ne!
Five or six thousand on every boat, twenty boats… more than a hundred thousand! With thousands to spare!
- Lu Su 先生，借了东西，是要还的。这些箭，我们什么时候还给曹操啊？
Xiānsheng, jiè le dōngxi, shì yào huán de. Zhèxiē jiàn, wǒmen shénme shíhou huán gěi Cáo Cāo a?
Sir, when you borrow something, you have to give it back. When are we returning these arrows to Cao Cao?
- Zhuge Liang 鲁兄放心，一定还。过几天打曹操的时候，我们一支一支地，都还给他。
Lǔ xiōng fàngxīn, yídìng huán. Guò jǐ tiān dǎ Cáo Cāo de shíhou, wǒmen yì zhī yì zhī de, dōu huán gěi tā.
Don't worry, Brother Lu, we'll return them. In a few days, when we fight Cao Cao, we'll give every one of them back, one at a time.
- Narrator 鲁肃跑去告诉了周瑜。周瑜不相信，马上来到了江边。
Lǔ Sù pǎo qù gàosu le Zhōu Yú. Zhōu Yú bù xiāngxìn, mǎshàng láidào le jiāngbiān.
Lu Su ran to tell Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu couldn't believe it and came straight down to the riverbank.
- Zhou Yu 大雾，草船，曹操的箭……好一个草船借箭！这么多的箭，都是真的？
Dà wù, cǎo chuán, Cáo Cāo de jiàn… Hǎo yí gè cǎo chuán jiè jiàn! Zhème duō de jiàn, dōu shì zhēn de?
Fog, straw boats, Cao Cao's own arrows… Borrowing arrows with straw boats: what a stroke of genius! Are all these arrows real?
- Zhou Yu 诸葛亮啊诸葛亮，我真的不如你。
Zhūgě Liàng a Zhūgě Liàng, wǒ zhēn de bùrú nǐ.
Zhuge Liang, oh, Zhuge Liang. I'm truly no match for you.
- Lu Su 都督，船是我借给先生的。可是这一次，我到最后才说！
Dūdū, chuán shì wǒ jiè gěi xiānsheng de. Kěshì zhè yí cì, wǒ dào zuìhòu cái shuō!
Commander, I'm the one who lent him the boats. But this time, I didn't tell until the very end!
- Zhou Yu 鲁肃啊鲁肃，你要是早说了，我们今天就没有这十万支箭了。
Lǔ Sù a Lǔ Sù, nǐ yàoshi zǎo shuō le, wǒmen jīntiān jiù méiyǒu zhè shíwàn zhī jiàn le.
Lu Su, oh, Lu Su. If you'd told me sooner, we wouldn't have these hundred thousand arrows today.
- Zhou Yu 先生，我今天才知道，什么叫聪明。
Xiānsheng, wǒ jīntiān cái zhīdào, shénme jiào cōngming.
Sir, only today have I learned what real cleverness is.
- Zhuge Liang 都督别这么说。这只是一个小办法，没什么了不起的。
Dūdū bié zhème shuō. Zhè zhǐ shì yí gè xiǎo bànfǎ, méi shénme liǎobuqǐ de.
Please don't say that, Commander. It was only a little trick, nothing remarkable.
- Narrator 草船借箭的事，很快大家都知道了。那天晚上，周瑜请诸葛亮喝酒。
Cǎo chuán jiè jiàn de shì, hěn kuài dàjiā dōu zhīdào le. Nà tiān wǎnshang, Zhōu Yú qǐng Zhūgě Liàng hē jiǔ.
Soon everyone had heard about the straw boats that borrowed arrows. That evening, Zhou Yu invited Zhuge Liang to drink wine with him.
- Zhou Yu 先生，箭有了。可是，怎么才能打败曹操呢？我心里有一个办法。
Xiānsheng, jiàn yǒu le. Kěshì, zěnme cái néng dǎbài Cáo Cāo ne? Wǒ xīn lǐ yǒu yí gè bànfǎ.
Sir, we have our arrows. But how can we actually defeat Cao Cao? I have a plan in mind.
- Zhuge Liang 我心里也有一个。我们都别说出来，把它写在手心里，怎么样？
Wǒ xīn lǐ yě yǒu yí gè. Wǒmen dōu bié shuō chūlái, bǎ tā xiě zài shǒuxīn lǐ, zěnmeyàng?
So do I. Let's neither of us say it out loud. We'll each write it in our palm. How about that?
- Zhou Yu 好！写好了，我们一起打开。
Hǎo! Xiě hǎo le, wǒmen yìqǐ dǎkāi.
Good! Once we've written it, we'll open our hands together.
- Narrator 两个人拿起笔，在自己的手心里，各写了一个字。
Liǎng gè rén ná qǐ bǐ, zài zìjǐ de shǒuxīn lǐ, gè xiě le yí gè zì.
The two men picked up brushes, and each wrote a single word in his own palm.
- Lu Su 我来看看！都督的手心里，是一个“火”字！
Wǒ lái kànkan! Dūdū de shǒuxīn lǐ, shì yí gè “huǒ” zì!
Let me see! In the commander's palm, it's the word “fire”!
- Lu Su 先生的手心里……也是一个“火”字！
Xiānsheng de shǒuxīn lǐ… yě shì yí gè “huǒ” zì!
And in Zhuge Liang's palm… it's “fire” too!
- Zhou Yu 哈哈哈！先生，我们想的，真是一样！
Hāhāhā! Xiānsheng, wǒmen xiǎng de, zhēn shì yíyàng!
Ha ha ha! Sir, we really are thinking the very same thing!
- Zhuge Liang 看来，曹操的那些船，要小心了。
Kànlái, Cáo Cāo de nàxiē chuán, yào xiǎoxīn le.
It looks like Cao Cao's boats had better watch out.
- Lu Su 先是草船借箭，现在又是火……好！这一次，我不用说“这可怎么办”了！
Xiān shì cǎo chuán jiè jiàn, xiànzài yòu shì huǒ… Hǎo! Zhè yí cì, wǒ bú yòng shuō “zhè kě zěnme bàn” le!
First straw boats that borrow arrows, and now fire… Wonderful! This time, I don't have to say “Oh dear, what now”!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How did Zhuge Liang know there would be fog?
“一个好的将军，要会看天，也要会看地。三天以前，我就看出来了，今天会有大雾。”
- Why didn't Zhuge Liang want the full ten days?
“十天？雾可不会等我十天。”
- How many arrows were on each boat?
“一条船上有五六千支”
- What does Zhou Yu admit when he sees the arrows?
“诸葛亮啊诸葛亮，我真的不如你。”
- What word did both men write in their palms?
“都督的手心里，是一个‘火’字！……也是一个‘火’字！”
All chapters in Three Kingdoms: Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats.