The Butterfly Lovers · chapter 7 of 25
Classmates
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Yingtai learns fast and Shanbo learns slowly, so they help each other. But the other students have started to whisper about Young Master Zhu.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 一个月过去了。每天早上，先生都带着学生们念诗、写字。
Yí gè yuè guòqù le. Měi tiān zǎoshang, xiānsheng dōu dàizhe xuéshengmen niàn shī, xiě zì.
A month went by. Every morning the teacher led the students in reading poems and writing characters.
- The Teacher 今天念几句新诗。我念一遍，你们跟着念三遍，然后背给我听。
Jīntiān niàn jǐ jù xīn shī. Wǒ niàn yí biàn, nǐmen gēnzhe niàn sān biàn, ránhòu bèi gěi wǒ tīng.
Today, a few new lines of poetry. I read them once, you read them after me three times, then you recite them to me.
- Zhu Yingtai 先生，三遍太多了，我念一遍就记住了！
Xiānsheng, sān biàn tài duō le, wǒ niàn yí biàn jiù jìzhù le!
Sir, three times is too many. I had them after one!
Chapter 7 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of The Butterfly Lovers (chapters 1–5) is free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- The Teacher 记得快，忘得也快。祝英台，明天再背给我听。
Jì de kuài, wàng de yě kuài. Zhù Yīngtái, míngtiān zài bèi gěi wǒ tīng.
Quick to learn, quick to forget. Zhu Yingtai, recite them to me again tomorrow.
- Liang Shanbo 先生，学生记得慢，要念二十遍。可是念过的，学生不会忘。
Xiānsheng, xuésheng jì de màn, yào niàn èrshí biàn. Kěshì niàn guo de, xuésheng bú huì wàng.
Sir, I'm slow to learn. I need to read them twenty times. But what I've read, I never forget.
- The Teacher 好，好。读书，不怕慢，只怕不认真。
Hǎo, hǎo. Dúshū, bú pà màn, zhǐ pà bú rènzhēn.
Good, good. In study, slow is nothing to fear. Only carelessness is.
- Zhu Yingtai 梁兄，晚上的水，你又给我打来了？
Liáng xiōng, wǎnshang de shuǐ, nǐ yòu gěi wǒ dǎ lái le?
Brother Liang, you've fetched my water for tonight again?
- Liang Shanbo 打水容易，念诗难。春风……后面是什么？我太傻了，念了二十遍，还记不住！
Dǎ shuǐ róngyì, niàn shī nán. Chūnfēng… hòumiàn shì shénme? Wǒ tài shǎ le, niàn le èrshí biàn, hái jì bu zhù!
Fetching water is easy. Poems are hard. 'Spring wind'... what comes next? I'm hopeless. Twenty times, and it still won't stick!
- Zhu Yingtai 书呆子，诗不是用嘴记的。你想一想诗里的画：春风来了，柳树绿了……
Shūdāizi, shī bú shì yòng zuǐ jì de. Nǐ xiǎng yi xiǎng shī lǐ de huà: chūnfēng lái le, liǔshù lǜ le…
Bookworm, you don't learn a poem with your mouth. Picture it: the spring wind comes, the willows turn green...
- Liang Shanbo 春风来了，柳树绿了……我看见了！我记住了！英台，你真是我的好老师！
Chūnfēng lái le, liǔshù lǜ le… Wǒ kànjiàn le! Wǒ jìzhù le! Yīngtái, nǐ zhēn shì wǒ de hǎo lǎoshī!
The spring wind comes, the willows turn green... I can see it! I've got it! Yingtai, you're a wonderful teacher!
- Zhu Yingtai 那好，以后老师的水，都要你来打。
Nà hǎo, yǐhòu lǎoshī de shuǐ, dōu yào nǐ lái dǎ.
Good. Then from now on, you fetch water for your new teacher.
- Liang Shanbo 哈哈，好！我打水，你当老师，我们是好兄弟嘛。
Hāhā, hǎo! Wǒ dǎ shuǐ, nǐ dāng lǎoshī, wǒmen shì hǎo xiōngdì ma.
Ha ha, deal! I fetch the water and you play teacher. That's what good brothers do.
- Narrator 第二天下午，花园的树下，三个学生正在小声说话。
Dì èr tiān xiàwǔ, huāyuán de shù xià, sān gè xuésheng zhèngzài xiǎoshēng shuōhuà.
The next afternoon, under a tree in the garden, three students were talking in low voices.
- Sijiu 公子，你听！他们又在背后说祝公子了。
Gōngzǐ, nǐ tīng! Tāmen yòu zài bèihòu shuō Zhù gōngzǐ le.
Young Master, listen! They're talking about Young Master Zhu behind his back again.
- Liang Shanbo 他们说英台什么？
Tāmen shuō Yīngtái shénme?
What are they saying about Yingtai?
- Sijiu 他们说，祝公子的脸那么白，声音那么好听，比女孩子还像女孩子！
Tāmen shuō, Zhù gōngzǐ de liǎn nàme bái, shēngyīn nàme hǎotīng, bǐ nǚháizi hái xiàng nǚháizi!
They say Young Master Zhu's face is so fair and his voice so sweet, he's more like a girl than a girl is!
- Zhu Yingtai 哈哈哈！让他们说吧，我才不怕呢。
Hāhāhā! Ràng tāmen shuō ba, wǒ cái bú pà ne.
Ha ha ha! Let them talk. I'm not scared.
- Zhu Yingtai 不怕？英台，你的心跳得这么快……他们都开始怀疑你了。
Bú pà? Yīngtái, nǐ de xīn tiào de zhème kuài… Tāmen dōu kāishǐ huáiyí nǐ le.
Not scared? Yingtai, your heart is racing... They're all starting to suspect you.
- Liang Shanbo 你们为什么在背后说我兄弟？英台是我的好兄弟，谁也不能怀疑他！
Nǐmen wèi shénme zài bèihòu shuō wǒ xiōngdì? Yīngtái shì wǒ de hǎo xiōngdì, shéi yě bù néng huáiyí tā!
Why are you talking about my brother behind his back? Yingtai is my good brother. Nobody gets to doubt him!
- The Teacher 我都听见了。读书的人，不在背后说别人。罚你们三个，每人写三百个字。
Wǒ dōu tīngjiàn le. Dúshū de rén, bú zài bèihòu shuō biérén. Fá nǐmen sān gè, měi rén xiě sānbǎi gè zì.
I heard every word. Scholars don't talk about people behind their backs. You three will each write three hundred characters.
- Sijiu 哈哈，三百个字！他们的手要断了！
Hāhā, sānbǎi gè zì! Tāmen de shǒu yào duàn le!
Ha ha, three hundred characters! Their hands are going to snap!
- Zhu Yingtai 梁兄，谢谢你。你刚才……真像一个哥哥。
Liáng xiōng, xièxie nǐ. Nǐ gāngcái… zhēn xiàng yí gè gēge.
Brother Liang, thank you. Just now you... were a real big brother.
- Liang Shanbo 我本来就是你哥哥嘛！别想他们了。英台你看，花上有两只蝴蝶！
Wǒ běnlái jiù shì nǐ gēge ma! Bié xiǎng tāmen le. Yīngtái nǐ kàn, huā shàng yǒu liǎng zhī húdié!
I am your big brother! Forget them. Look, Yingtai, two butterflies on the flowers!
- Zhu Yingtai 一只在前面飞，一只在后面追，一会儿也不分开。
Yì zhī zài qiánmiàn fēi, yì zhī zài hòumiàn zhuī, yíhuìr yě bù fēnkāi.
One flies ahead, one chases behind, and they're never apart for a moment.
- Liang Shanbo 哈哈，它们就像我们两个，是一对好兄弟！
Hāhā, tāmen jiù xiàng wǒmen liǎng gè, shì yí duì hǎo xiōngdì!
Ha ha, they're just like the two of us, a pair of good brothers!
- Zhu Yingtai 像我们两个……可是，书呆子，我们不是兄弟啊。
Xiàng wǒmen liǎng gè… Kěshì, shūdāizi, wǒmen bú shì xiōngdì a.
Like the two of us... But, bookworm, we aren't brothers.
- Narrator 天气越来越热了。一天下午，学生们都去河里洗澡。
Tiānqì yuè lái yuè rè le. Yì tiān xiàwǔ, xuéshengmen dōu qù hé lǐ xǐzǎo.
The days grew hotter and hotter. One afternoon, all the students went to bathe in the river.
- Sijiu 公子，热死了！大家都去河里了，我们也去吧！
Gōngzǐ, rè sǐ le! Dàjiā dōu qù hé lǐ le, wǒmen yě qù ba!
Young Master, I'm melting! Everyone's gone to the river. Let's go too!
- Yinxin 我们公子还有很多字要写，不去了！
Wǒmen gōngzǐ hái yǒu hěn duō zì yào xiě, bú qù le!
My young master has lots of writing to do. He's not going!
- Liang Shanbo 写什么字！走，英台，我们一起去河里游泳！
Xiě shénme zì! Zǒu, Yīngtái, wǒmen yìqǐ qù hé lǐ yóuyǒng!
Forget the writing! Come on, Yingtai, let's go swimming in the river!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does the teacher say when Yingtai learns the lines after one reading?
“记得快，忘得也快”
- How does Yingtai help Shanbo remember the poem?
“你想一想诗里的画”
- What does Shanbo do for Yingtai in return?
“我打水，你当老师”
- What does the teacher do to the three students who gossip?
“罚你们三个，每人写三百个字”
- What does Shanbo say the two butterflies are like?
“它们就像我们两个，是一对好兄弟”