Three Kingdoms: Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats · chapter 2 of 6
Twenty Secret Boats
二十条船
Zhuge Liang needs a hundred thousand arrows, but he asks Lu Su for something very strange instead, and makes him promise not to tell a soul.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 那天晚上，鲁肃来到了诸葛亮住的地方。诸葛亮正坐在灯下，慢慢地扇着扇子。
Nà tiān wǎnshang, Lǔ Sù láidào le Zhūgě Liàng zhù de dìfang. Zhūgě Liàng zhèng zuò zài dēng xià, mànmàn de shān zhe shànzi.
That evening, Lu Su went to the tent where Zhuge Liang was staying. Zhuge Liang was sitting by the lamp, slowly fanning himself.
- Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，我请你别说，你还是说了。你看，现在都督要我死了。
Lǔ xiōng, wǒ qǐng nǐ bié shuō, nǐ háishi shuō le. Nǐ kàn, xiànzài dūdū yào wǒ sǐ le.
Brother Lu, I asked you not to tell, and you told anyway. You see? Now the commander wants me dead.
- Lu Su 是我不好，是我不好！可是三天，是你自己说的啊！
Shì wǒ bù hǎo, shì wǒ bù hǎo! Kěshì sān tiān, shì nǐ zìjǐ shuō de a!
It's my fault, all my fault! But three days, that was your own idea!
Chapter 2 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 你回去看着吧。都督一定会让做箭的人慢慢做，什么东西也不给我。
Nǐ huíqù kàn zhe ba. Dūdū yídìng huì ràng zuò jiàn de rén mànmàn zuò, shénme dōngxi yě bù gěi wǒ.
Mark my words: the commander will tell the arrow-makers to take their time, and he won't give me a thing.
- Lu Su 你怎么知道？都督刚才就是这么说的！
Nǐ zěnme zhīdào? Dūdū gāngcái jiù shì zhème shuō de!
How do you know? That's exactly what the commander just said!
- Lu Su 十万支箭，没有人，也没有东西，我怎么救你？哎呀，这可怎么办？
Shíwàn zhī jiàn, méiyǒu rén, yě méiyǒu dōngxi, wǒ zěnme jiù nǐ? Āiyā, zhè kě zěnme bàn?
A hundred thousand arrows, with no workers and no supplies! How can I possibly save you? Oh dear, what now?
- Zhuge Liang 别急，别急。你只要借我一样东西，就够了。
Bié jí, bié jí. Nǐ zhǐyào jiè wǒ yí yàng dōngxi, jiù gòu le.
Easy, easy. Just lend me one thing, and that will be enough.
- Lu Su 什么东西？做箭的竹子？还是羽毛？
Shénme dōngxi? Zuò jiàn de zhúzi? Háishi yǔmáo?
What is it? Bamboo for arrows? Feathers?
- Zhuge Liang 都不是。我要借二十条船。
Dōu bú shì. Wǒ yào jiè èrshí tiáo chuán.
Neither. I'd like to borrow twenty boats.
- Lu Su 船？你要做的是箭，借船干什么？
Chuán? Nǐ yào zuò de shì jiàn, jiè chuán gàn shénme?
Boats? It's arrows you need to make. What do you want boats for?
- Zhuge Liang 你来看，我画给你看。每条船上，要三十个士兵，声音越大越好。
Nǐ lái kàn, wǒ huà gěi nǐ kàn. Měi tiáo chuán shang, yào sānshí gè shìbīng, shēngyīn yuè dà yuè hǎo.
Come and look, I'll draw it for you. Each boat needs thirty soldiers, and the louder their voices, the better.
- Lu Su 声音大？做箭，要声音大干什么？
Shēngyīn dà? Zuò jiàn, yào shēngyīn dà gàn shénme?
Loud voices? What do loud voices have to do with making arrows?
- Zhuge Liang 船上用蓝布盖起来。船的两边，再放上一千多个草把子。就像这样。
Chuán shang yòng lán bù gài qǐlái. Chuán de liǎngbiān, zài fàng shàng yìqiān duō gè cǎo bǎzi. Jiù xiàng zhèyàng.
Cover the boats with blue cloth. Then along both sides, set out more than a thousand bundles of straw. Like this.
- Lu Su 草把子？先生，草能变成箭吗？
Cǎo bǎzi? Xiānsheng, cǎo néng biànchéng jiàn ma?
Bundles of straw? Sir, can straw turn into arrows?
- Zhuge Liang 到时候，你就知道了。
Dào shíhou, nǐ jiù zhīdào le.
You'll see when the time comes.
- Lu Su 又是“到时候”！先生，我的心都快跳出来了！
Yòu shì “dào shíhou”! Xiānsheng, wǒ de xīn dōu kuài tiào chūlái le!
“When the time comes” again! Sir, my heart's about to leap out of my chest!
- Zhuge Liang 第三天，我一定给都督十万支箭。可是这件事，千万不能让都督知道。
Dì sān tiān, wǒ yídìng gěi dūdū shíwàn zhī jiàn. Kěshì zhè jiàn shì, qiānwàn bù néng ràng dūdū zhīdào.
On the third day, I'll give the commander his hundred thousand arrows, I promise. But he mustn't find out about this, whatever you do.
- Zhuge Liang 他要是知道了，我的计划就不行了，我也就没命了。
Tā yàoshi zhīdào le, wǒ de jìhuà jiù bù xíng le, wǒ yě jiù méi mìng le.
If he finds out, my plan will fail, and I'll be done for.
- Lu Su 这次，我一个字也不说！
Zhè cì, wǒ yí gè zì yě bù shuō!
This time I won't say a single word!
- Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，上次你也是这么说的。
Lǔ xiōng, shàng cì nǐ yě shì zhème shuō de.
Brother Lu, that's what you said last time.
- Lu Su 这次是真的！我保证！
Zhè cì shì zhēn de! Wǒ bǎozhèng!
This time I mean it! I promise!
- Narrator 鲁肃回到周瑜那里。周瑜已经等了他很久了。
Lǔ Sù huídào Zhōu Yú nàlǐ. Zhōu Yú yǐjīng děng le tā hěn jiǔ le.
Lu Su went back to Zhou Yu, who had been waiting for him a long time.
- Zhou Yu 鲁肃，怎么样？诸葛亮是不是急哭了？
Lǔ Sù, zěnmeyàng? Zhūgě Liàng shì bu shì jí kū le?
Well, Lu Su? Has Zhuge Liang burst into tears yet?
- Lu Su 没……没有。他在扇扇子。
Méi… méiyǒu. Tā zài shān shànzi.
N-no. He was fanning himself.
- Zhou Yu 扇扇子？天这么冷，他扇什么扇子？
Shān shànzi? Tiān zhème lěng, tā shān shénme shànzi?
Fanning himself? In this cold? What's he fanning himself for?
- Zhou Yu 他跟你要了什么东西？快说！
Tā gēn nǐ yào le shénme dōngxi? Kuài shuō!
What did he ask you for? Out with it!
- Lu Su 他要了二……二……
Tā yào le èr… èr…
He asked for two… two…
- Zhou Yu 二什么？
Èr shénme?
Two what?
- Lu Su 二……二话没说！做箭的东西，他一样也没要。竹子、羽毛，都不要。
Èr… èrhuà méi shuō! Zuò jiàn de dōngxi, tā yí yàng yě méi yào. Zhúzi, yǔmáo, dōu bú yào.
Two… t-two… He didn't say two words about it! He didn't ask for a single thing to make arrows with. No bamboo, no feathers, nothing.
- Zhou Yu 不要竹子，也不要羽毛？那他用什么做箭？
Bú yào zhúzi, yě bú yào yǔmáo? Nà tā yòng shénme zuò jiàn?
No bamboo and no feathers? Then what's he going to make arrows out of?
- Zhou Yu 好，我倒要看看，三天以后，他拿什么来见我！鲁肃，你每天都去看看他。
Hǎo, wǒ dào yào kànkan, sān tiān yǐhòu, tā ná shénme lái jiàn wǒ! Lǔ Sù, nǐ měi tiān dōu qù kànkan tā.
Fine. I'd like to see what he brings me in three days! Lu Su, go and check on him every day.
- Lu Su 我不能骗都督，也不能看着先生死。那我就什么都不说，只帮他做事！
Wǒ bù néng piàn dūdū, yě bù néng kàn zhe xiānsheng sǐ. Nà wǒ jiù shénme dōu bù shuō, zhǐ bāng tā zuò shì!
I can't lie to the commander, and I can't just stand by and watch him die. So I'll say nothing at all, and simply help him.
- Lu Su 二十条船，一千多个草把子，还要声音大的士兵……草，怎么能变成箭呢？
Èrshí tiáo chuán, yìqiān duō gè cǎo bǎzi, hái yào shēngyīn dà de shìbīng… Cǎo, zěnme néng biànchéng jiàn ne?
Twenty boats, thousands of bundles of straw, and soldiers with loud voices… How can straw ever turn into arrows?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Zhuge Liang predict Zhou Yu will do?
“都督一定会让做箭的人慢慢做，什么东西也不给我。”
- What does Zhuge Liang ask Lu Su to lend him?
“都不是。我要借二十条船。”
- What should go along both sides of each boat?
“船的两边，再放上一千多个草把子。”
- Why must Zhou Yu not find out about the boats?
“他要是知道了，我的计划就不行了，我也就没命了。”
- What does Lu Su tell Zhou Yu about Zhuge Liang's requests?
“做箭的东西，他一样也没要。竹子、羽毛，都不要。”
All chapters in Three Kingdoms: Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats.