The Butterfly Lovers · chapter 1 of 25
The Girl Who Wanted to Study
想读书的女孩
Long ago, girls did not go to school. Sixteen-year-old Zhu Yingtai has read every book in her father's house, and now she wants Hangzhou's best teachers.
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Read what you hear
- Narrator 很久很久以前，女孩子是不能去学校读书的。
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, nǚháizi shì bù néng qù xuéxiào dúshū de.
Long, long ago, girls were not allowed to go to school.
- Narrator 上虞祝家庄的祝老爷，只有一个女儿，叫祝英台，今年十六岁。
Shàngyú Zhùjiā Zhuāng de Zhù lǎoye, zhǐ yǒu yí gè nǚ'ér, jiào Zhù Yīngtái, jīnnián shíliù suì.
Master Zhu of the Zhu estate in Shangyu had only one daughter, Zhu Yingtai. That year she was sixteen.
- Yinxin 小姐！小姐！快把书放下，老爷来了！
Xiǎojie! Xiǎojie! Kuài bǎ shū fàngxià, lǎoye lái le!
Miss! Miss! Put the book down, quick, the master's coming!
- Zhu Yingtai 什么？爸爸来了？书……书放哪儿？
Shénme? Bàba lái le? Shū… shū fàng nǎr?
What? Father's coming? The book... where do I put the book?
- Yinxin 哈哈，老爷没来！小姐，你看你，脸都白了。
Hāhā, lǎoye méi lái! Xiǎojie, nǐ kàn nǐ, liǎn dōu bái le.
Ha ha, he isn't coming! Oh, Miss, look at you, you've gone white.
- Zhu Yingtai 银心！你这个坏丫鬟！
Yínxīn! Nǐ zhège huài yāhuan!
Yinxin! You wicked maid!
- Yinxin 老爷不让你看那么多书，你就偷偷看。家里的书，你都看完了吧？
Lǎoye bú ràng nǐ kàn nàme duō shū, nǐ jiù tōutōu kàn. Jiā lǐ de shū, nǐ dōu kàn wán le ba?
The master won't let you read so much, so you read in secret. You must have read every book in the house by now.
- Zhu Yingtai 都看完了，有的还看了好几遍。银心，我听说杭州有最好的先生。
Dōu kàn wán le, yǒude hái kàn le hǎo jǐ biàn. Yínxīn, wǒ tīngshuō Hángzhōu yǒu zuì hǎo de xiānsheng.
Every one, and some of them many times over. Yinxin, I've heard Hangzhou has the best teachers.
- Yinxin 杭州？那么远！小姐，你想做什么？
Hángzhōu? Nàme yuǎn! Xiǎojie, nǐ xiǎng zuò shénme?
Hangzhou? That's so far away! Miss, what are you planning?
- Zhu Yingtai 我要去杭州读三年书，学真正的学问！
Wǒ yào qù Hángzhōu dú sān nián shū, xué zhēnzhèng de xuéwen!
I'm going to study in Hangzhou for three years and get a real education!
- Yinxin 你的学问已经比老爷大了！可是女孩子去杭州读书，老爷怎么会答应呢？
Nǐ de xuéwen yǐjīng bǐ lǎoye dà le! Kěshì nǚháizi qù Hángzhōu dúshū, lǎoye zěnme huì dāying ne?
You already know more than the master does! But a girl going off to Hangzhou to study? How could he ever agree?
- Zhu Yingtai 不试一试，怎么知道？走，我们现在就去找爸爸！
Bú shì yi shì, zěnme zhīdào? Zǒu, wǒmen xiànzài jiù qù zhǎo bàba!
How will I know if I don't try? Come on, we're going to see Father right now!
- Zhu Yingtai 爸爸，女儿有一件事，想跟您说。
Bàba, nǚ'ér yǒu yí jiàn shì, xiǎng gēn nín shuō.
Father, there's something I'd like to talk to you about.
- Master Zhu 哈哈，英台，什么事？又想要新衣服了？
Hāhā, Yīngtái, shénme shì? Yòu xiǎng yào xīn yīfu le?
Ha! What is it, Yingtai? Wanting new clothes again?
- Zhu Yingtai 不是衣服。爸爸，我想去杭州读书，就读三年。
Bú shì yīfu. Bàba, wǒ xiǎng qù Hángzhōu dúshū, jiù dú sān nián.
Not clothes. Father, I want to go and study in Hangzhou. Just for three years.
- Master Zhu 什么？你一个女孩子，跟一群男孩子坐在一起读书？
Shénme? Nǐ yí gè nǚháizi, gēn yì qún nánháizi zuò zài yìqǐ dúshū?
What? You, a girl, sitting in a classroom full of boys?
- Master Zhu 不行！别人会笑话我们祝家！
Bùxíng! Biérén huì xiàohua wǒmen Zhù jiā!
Out of the question! People would laugh at the Zhu family!
- Zhu Yingtai 可是爸爸，您不是常说，读书是好事吗？
Kěshì bàba, nín bú shì cháng shuō, dúshū shì hǎoshì ma?
But Father, don't you always say that reading is a good thing?
- Master Zhu 英台，你是聪明。可是聪明的女孩子，也是女孩子。
Yīngtái, nǐ shì cōngming. Kěshì cōngming de nǚháizi, yě shì nǚháizi.
Yingtai, yes, you're clever. But a clever girl is still a girl.
- Master Zhu 傻孩子，女孩子长大了，要嫁到好人家去。
Shǎ háizi, nǚháizi zhǎngdà le, yào jià dào hǎo rénjiā qù.
Silly child, when a girl grows up, she marries into a good family.
- Zhu Yingtai 嫁人，嫁人！读书跟嫁人，有什么关系？
Jià rén, jià rén! Dúshū gēn jià rén, yǒu shénme guānxi?
Marry, marry! What does reading have to do with marrying?
- Master Zhu 不行就是不行！这件事，以后别再提了。
Bùxíng jiù shì bùxíng! Zhè jiàn shì, yǐhòu bié zài tí le.
No means no! Don't bring it up again.
- Yinxin 小姐，要是你是男孩子，老爷早就让你去了。
Xiǎojie, yàoshi nǐ shì nánháizi, lǎoye zǎo jiù ràng nǐ qù le.
Miss, if you were a boy, the master would have let you go long ago.
- Zhu Yingtai 男孩子？……有了！爸爸，我跟您打赌！
Nánháizi?… Yǒu le! Bàba, wǒ gēn nín dǎdǔ!
A boy? ...I've got it! Father, I'll make you a bet!
- Master Zhu 打赌？好啊，你说吧。
Dǎdǔ? Hǎo a, nǐ shuō ba.
A bet? All right, let's hear it.
- Zhu Yingtai 我扮成一个读书人，站在您面前。要是您认不出我，就让我去杭州！
Wǒ bànchéng yí gè dúshūrén, zhàn zài nín miànqián. Yàoshi nín rèn bu chū wǒ, jiù ràng wǒ qù Hángzhōu!
I'll dress up as a young scholar and stand right in front of you. If you don't know me, you let me go to Hangzhou!
- Master Zhu 哈哈哈！哪有爸爸认不出自己女儿的？
Hāhāhā! Nǎ yǒu bàba rèn bu chū zìjǐ nǚ'ér de?
Ha ha ha! What father doesn't know his own daughter?
- Master Zhu 好，我跟你赌！要是你输了，就再也不能提杭州！
Hǎo, wǒ gēn nǐ dǔ! Yàoshi nǐ shū le, jiù zài yě bù néng tí Hángzhōu!
Fine, you're on! But if you lose, you never mention Hangzhou again!
- Zhu Yingtai 说好了！爸爸，说话要算话！
Shuō hǎo le! Bàba, shuōhuà yào suànhuà!
It's a deal! Father, you have to keep your word!
- Master Zhu 算话，算话！哈哈，傻孩子！
Suànhuà, suànhuà! Hāhā, shǎ háizi!
I will, I will! Ha ha, you silly child!
- Zhu Yingtai 银心，快去给我找一块读书人的头巾！
Yínxīn, kuài qù gěi wǒ zhǎo yí kuài dúshūrén de tóujīn!
Yinxin, quick, find me a scholar's head-cloth!
- Yinxin 小姐，你真的要扮男孩子？那我呢？我扮什么？
Xiǎojie, nǐ zhēn de yào bàn nánháizi? Nà wǒ ne? Wǒ bàn shénme?
Miss, you're really going to dress up as a boy? And me? What do I dress up as?
- Zhu Yingtai 你也给自己找一套男孩子的衣服。明天早上，就让爸爸好好看看！
Nǐ yě gěi zìjǐ zhǎo yí tào nánháizi de yīfu. Míngtiān zǎoshang, jiù ràng bàba hǎohǎo kànkan!
Find yourself a set of boy's clothes too. Tomorrow morning, let Father take a good long look!
What changed in the story?
- What has Yingtai been doing in secret?
“你就偷偷看。家里的书，你都看完了吧？”
- Why does Yingtai want to go to Hangzhou?
“杭州有最好的先生……我要去杭州读三年书”
- Why does Master Zhu say no at first?
“别人会笑话我们祝家！”
- What gives Yingtai the idea for her bet?
“要是你是男孩子，老爷早就让你去了”
- What happens if Master Zhu doesn't recognize her in disguise?
“要是您认不出我，就让我去杭州！”