Three Kingdoms: Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats · chapter 1 of 6

The Ten-Day Trap

十天还是三天

Jealous commander Zhou Yu sets a trap: a hundred thousand arrows in ten days. Zhuge Liang smiles and says ten days is far too slow.

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Narrator 一千八百多年前，曹操带着几十万士兵，来到了长江北边。南边的都督周瑜和诸葛亮，要一起打他。
Yìqiān bābǎi duō nián qián, Cáo Cāo dài zhe jǐshí wàn shìbīng, láidào le Cháng Jiāng běibian. Nánbian de dūdū Zhōu Yú hé Zhūgě Liàng, yào yìqǐ dǎ tā.
More than eighteen hundred years ago, Cao Cao marched hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the north bank of the Yangtze River. On the south bank, Commander Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang joined forces to fight him.
Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，快请坐。今天来看我，是都督让你来的吧？
Lǔ xiōng, kuài qǐng zuò. Jīntiān lái kàn wǒ, shì dūdū ràng nǐ lái de ba?
Brother Lu, come in, sit down. The commander sent you to check on me today, didn't he?
Lu Su 先生，你……你怎么知道？
Xiānsheng, nǐ… nǐ zěnme zhīdào?
Sir, how… how did you know?
Zhuge Liang 你一进门，眼睛就一直看着我的脸。都督想知道，他的计划，我看出来了没有。
Nǐ yí jìnmén, yǎnjing jiù yìzhí kàn zhe wǒ de liǎn. Dūdū xiǎng zhīdào, tā de jìhuà, wǒ kàn chūlái le méiyǒu.
Ever since you came in, you haven't taken your eyes off my face. The commander wants to know whether I've seen through his plan.
Lu Su 那……你看出来了吗？
Nà… nǐ kàn chūlái le ma?
So… have you?
Zhuge Liang 当然。曹操上了都督的当，杀了自己的两个大将。那两个人，最会在水上带兵啊！
Dāngrán. Cáo Cāo shàng le dūdū de dàng, shā le zìjǐ de liǎng gè dàjiàng. Nà liǎng gè rén, zuì huì zài shuǐshàng dài bīng a!
Of course. Cao Cao fell for the commander's trick and put two of his own generals to death, the very two who knew best how to fight on the water!
Lu Su 哎呀，这件事只有都督和我知道啊！
Āiyā, zhè jiàn shì zhǐyǒu dūdū hé wǒ zhīdào a!
Oh no! Only the commander and I knew about that!
Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，回去以后，请别告诉都督我知道了。他一不高兴，我就有麻烦了。
Lǔ xiōng, huíqù yǐhòu, qǐng bié gàosu dūdū wǒ zhīdào le. Tā yí bù gāoxìng, wǒ jiù yǒu máfan le.
Brother Lu, when you go back, please don't tell the commander that I know. The moment he's unhappy, I'm in trouble.
Lu Su 好，好，我一个字也不说！
Hǎo, hǎo, wǒ yí gè zì yě bù shuō!
All right, all right, I won't say a word!
Lu Su 都督，我回来了！先生让我千万别告诉您……他全都知道了！
Dūdū, wǒ huílái le! Xiānsheng ràng wǒ qiānwàn bié gàosu nín… tā quándōu zhīdào le!
Commander, I'm back! He made me swear not to tell you… that he knows everything!
Zhou Yu 什么？他全都知道？这个诸葛亮，怎么什么都知道！
Shénme? Tā quándōu zhīdào? Zhège Zhūgě Liàng, zěnme shénme dōu zhīdào!
What? He knows all of it? How does this Zhuge Liang know everything?
Lu Su 都督，先生是我们的朋友啊。我们还要一起打曹操呢。
Dūdū, xiānsheng shì wǒmen de péngyou a. Wǒmen hái yào yìqǐ dǎ Cáo Cāo ne.
Commander, he's our friend! We're supposed to be fighting Cao Cao together.
Zhou Yu 今天是朋友，以后呢？这个人太聪明了。留着他，以后江东一定有大麻烦。
Jīntiān shì péngyou, yǐhòu ne? Zhège rén tài cōngming le. Liú zhe tā, yǐhòu Jiāngdōng yídìng yǒu dà máfan.
He's a friend today, but what about tomorrow? That man is far too clever. Keep him around, and one day he'll mean big trouble for us here in Jiangdong.
Zhou Yu 我有办法了。明天，我给他一件事做。他做不到，就不能怪我了。
Wǒ yǒu bànfǎ le. Míngtiān, wǒ gěi tā yí jiàn shì zuò. Tā zuò bu dào, jiù bù néng guài wǒ le.
I have an idea. Tomorrow I'll give him a job to do. If he can't do it, no one can blame me.
Narrator 第二天，周瑜请诸葛亮和大家来开会。
Dì èr tiān, Zhōu Yú qǐng Zhūgě Liàng hé dàjiā lái kāi huì.
The next day, Zhou Yu called Zhuge Liang and all his officers to a meeting.
Zhou Yu 先生，我们要在江上打曹操，用什么最好？
Xiānsheng, wǒmen yào zài jiāng shang dǎ Cáo Cāo, yòng shénme zuì hǎo?
Sir, when we fight Cao Cao on the river, what's the best weapon to use?
Zhuge Liang 在江上打，当然是用箭最好。
Zài jiāng shang dǎ, dāngrán shì yòng jiàn zuì hǎo.
On the river? Arrows, of course.
Zhou Yu 先生说得对！可是我们的箭不够。请先生帮个忙，做十万支箭。十天，可以吗？
Xiānsheng shuō de duì! Kěshì wǒmen de jiàn bú gòu. Qǐng xiānsheng bāng gè máng, zuò shíwàn zhī jiàn. Shí tiān, kěyǐ ma?
Quite right, sir! But we're short of arrows. Would you help us out and make a hundred thousand of them? Can you do it in ten days?
Zhuge Liang 曹操的船，明天就可能打过来。十天，太慢了。
Cáo Cāo de chuán, míngtiān jiù kěnéng dǎ guòlái. Shí tiān, tài màn le.
Cao Cao's boats could attack as soon as tomorrow. Ten days is far too slow.
Zhou Yu 太慢了？那先生说，要几天？
Tài màn le? Nà xiānsheng shuō, yào jǐ tiān?
Too slow? Then how many days do you need, sir?
Zhuge Liang 只要三天。
Zhǐyào sān tiān.
Just three.
Lu Su 先生！三天？这怎么可能！
Xiānsheng! Sān tiān? Zhè zěnme kěnéng!
Sir! Three days? That's impossible!
Zhou Yu 先生，这可不是开玩笑的！
Xiānsheng, zhè kě bú shì kāi wánxiào de!
Sir, this is no joking matter!
Zhuge Liang 我怎么敢跟都督开玩笑？我现在就写军令状。三天做不到，都督怎么罚我都行。
Wǒ zěnme gǎn gēn dūdū kāi wánxiào? Wǒ xiànzài jiù xiě jūnlìngzhuàng. Sān tiān zuò bu dào, dūdū zěnme fá wǒ dōu xíng.
How would I dare joke with the commander? I'll write a military pledge right now. If I fail in three days, you may punish me however you like.
Zhou Yu 好，大家都听见了！先生，三天以后，我就在这里等你的十万支箭！
Hǎo, dàjiā dōu tīngjiàn le! Xiānsheng, sān tiān yǐhòu, wǒ jiù zài zhèlǐ děng nǐ de shíwàn zhī jiàn!
Excellent, you all heard him! Sir, in three days, I'll be right here waiting for your hundred thousand arrows!
Zhuge Liang 今天来不及了，从明天开始算。第三天，请都督派五百个士兵，到江边来搬箭。
Jīntiān lái bu jí le, cóng míngtiān kāishǐ suàn. Dì sān tiān, qǐng dūdū pài wǔbǎi gè shìbīng, dào jiāngbiān lái bān jiàn.
It's too late to start today, so let's count from tomorrow. On the third day, please send five hundred soldiers down to the riverbank to carry the arrows.
Lu Su 先生，你哪儿来的箭啊？
Xiānsheng, nǐ nǎr lái de jiàn a?
Sir, where are you going to get the arrows?
Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，到时候，你就知道了。
Lǔ xiōng, dào shíhou, nǐ jiù zhīdào le.
Brother Lu, you'll see when the time comes.
Narrator 诸葛亮写好了军令状，又喝了几杯酒，笑着走了。
Zhūgě Liàng xiě hǎo le jūnlìngzhuàng, yòu hē le jǐ bēi jiǔ, xiào zhe zǒu le.
Zhuge Liang wrote out his pledge, drank a few cups of wine, and left with a smile.
Zhou Yu 哈哈，三天做十万支箭？这是他自己说的，不能怪我！
Hāhā, sān tiān zuò shíwàn zhī jiàn? Zhè shì tā zìjǐ shuō de, bù néng guài wǒ!
Ha! A hundred thousand arrows in three days? He said it himself. No one can blame me!
Zhou Yu 鲁肃，你去告诉做箭的人，慢慢做。东西，一样也别给他！然后，你去看看他在干什么。
Lǔ Sù, nǐ qù gàosu zuò jiàn de rén, mànmàn zuò. Dōngxi, yíyàng yě bié gěi tā! Ránhòu, nǐ qù kànkan tā zài gàn shénme.
Lu Su, go and tell the arrow-makers to take their time. Don't give him a single thing he needs! Then go and see what he's up to.
Lu Su 哎呀，这可怎么办？军令状上写着，做不到，就是死啊！
Āiyā, zhè kě zěnme bàn? Jūnlìngzhuàng shang xiě zhe, zuò bu dào, jiù shì sǐ a!
Oh dear, what now? That pledge means that if he fails, he dies!
Lu Su 他手里一支箭也没有，还笑着喝酒……第三天，五百个士兵到江边，到底要搬什么呢？
Tā shǒu lǐ yì zhī jiàn yě méiyǒu, hái xiào zhe hē jiǔ… Dì sān tiān, wǔbǎi gè shìbīng dào jiāngbiān, dàodǐ yào bān shénme ne?
He doesn't have a single arrow, and he's laughing and drinking… So on the third day, what exactly are five hundred soldiers going to carry?
Zhuge Liang 三天……不多不少，正好。
Sān tiān… bù duō bù shǎo, zhènghǎo.
Three days… no more, no less. Just right.

What changed in the story?

Why did Zhou Yu send Lu Su to visit Zhuge Liang?
“都督想知道，他的计划，我看出来了没有。”
What does Lu Su do as soon as he gets back to Zhou Yu?
“先生让我千万别告诉您……他全都知道了！”
Why does Zhou Yu want to get rid of Zhuge Liang?
“这个人太聪明了。留着他，以后江东一定有大麻烦。”
Why does Zhuge Liang say ten days is too long?
“曹操的船，明天就可能打过来。十天，太慢了。”
What does Zhuge Liang ask Zhou Yu to do on the third day?
“第三天，请都督派五百个士兵，到江边来搬箭。”

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