The Butterfly Lovers · chapter 1 of 8
The Scholar in Disguise
女扮男装
Girls aren't allowed at school, so Zhu Yingtai dresses as a boy. On the road to Hangzhou, she meets a young scholar who wants to be her brother.
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- Narrator 很久很久以前，女孩子是不能去学堂读书的。可是祝英台，特别想读书。
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, nǚháizi shì bù néng qù xuétáng dú shū de. Kěshì Zhù Yīngtái, tèbié xiǎng dú shū.
Long, long ago, girls were not allowed to go to school. But Zhu Yingtai wanted to study more than anything.
- Zhu Yingtai 爸爸，求求您了，让我去杭州读书吧！
Bàba, qiúqiu nín le, ràng wǒ qù Hángzhōu dú shū ba!
Father, please, I'm begging you. Let me go to Hangzhou to study!
- Master Zhu 英台，你是女孩子，怎么能去学堂？
Yīngtái, nǐ shì nǚháizi, zěnme néng qù xuétáng?
Yingtai, you're a girl. How could you go to school?
- Zhu Yingtai 女孩子为什么不能读书？我也想读很多书，想知道很多事！
Nǚháizi wèishénme bù néng dú shū? Wǒ yě xiǎng dú hěn duō shū, xiǎng zhīdào hěn duō shì!
Why can't girls study? I want to read lots of books too, and learn about everything!
- Master Zhu 不行！女孩子天天跟男孩子坐在一起，别人会笑话我们祝家的！
Bù xíng! Nǚháizi tiāntiān gēn nánháizi zuò zài yìqǐ, biérén huì xiàohua wǒmen Zhù jiā de!
No! A girl sitting with boys every day? People would laugh at the Zhu family!
- Zhu Yingtai 那我就穿上男孩子的衣服，谁也看不出来！
Nà wǒ jiù chuān shàng nánháizi de yīfu, shéi yě kàn bu chūlái!
Then I'll dress as a boy. No one will be able to tell!
- Narrator 第二天，一个年轻的书生走进了祝家的大门。
Dì èr tiān, yí gè niánqīng de shūshēng zǒu jìn le Zhù jiā de dàmén.
The next day, a young scholar walked in through the Zhu family's front gate.
- Master Zhu 这位公子，你来我们祝家，有什么事吗？
Zhè wèi gōngzǐ, nǐ lái wǒmen Zhù jiā, yǒu shénme shì ma?
Young sir, what brings you to the Zhu house?
- Zhu Yingtai 爸爸，是我啊，您的女儿英台！
Bàba, shì wǒ a, nín de nǚ'ér Yīngtái!
Father, it's me! Your daughter, Yingtai!
- Master Zhu 英台？我自己的女儿，我都没认出来……好吧，你去吧。
Yīngtái? Wǒ zìjǐ de nǚ'ér, wǒ dōu méi rèn chūlái… Hǎo ba, nǐ qù ba.
Yingtai? I didn't even recognize my own daughter… Very well. You may go.
- Master Zhu 可是，别让人知道你是女孩子。家里叫你回来，你就马上回来。
Kěshì, bié ràng rén zhīdào nǐ shì nǚháizi. Jiā lǐ jiào nǐ huílái, nǐ jiù mǎshàng huílái.
But don't let anyone find out you're a girl. And when the family calls you home, you come home at once.
- Narrator 去杭州的路上，有一座小桥，叫草桥。英台在桥边的亭子里休息。
Qù Hángzhōu de lù shang, yǒu yí zuò xiǎo qiáo, jiào Cǎoqiáo. Yīngtái zài qiáo biān de tíngzi lǐ xiūxi.
On the road to Hangzhou was a little bridge called Grass Bridge. Yingtai stopped to rest in the pavilion beside it.
- Liang Shanbo 这位兄弟，你也是去杭州读书的吗？
Zhè wèi xiōngdi, nǐ yě shì qù Hángzhōu dú shū de ma?
Hello there, brother. Are you on your way to study in Hangzhou too?
- Zhu Yingtai 是啊，我叫祝英台。你呢？
Shì a, wǒ jiào Zhù Yīngtái. Nǐ ne?
I am. My name is Zhu Yingtai. And you?
- Liang Shanbo 我叫梁山伯，也去杭州读书。你一个人走这么远的路，不怕吗？
Wǒ jiào Liáng Shānbó, yě qù Hángzhōu dú shū. Nǐ yí gè rén zǒu zhème yuǎn de lù, bú pà ma?
I'm Liang Shanbo, and I'm going to Hangzhou to study too. Aren't you afraid, traveling so far on your own?
- Zhu Yingtai 怕什么？我有书，有伞，现在……还有一个朋友！
Pà shénme? Wǒ yǒu shū, yǒu sǎn, xiànzài… hái yǒu yí gè péngyou!
Afraid of what? I have my books, my umbrella, and now… a friend!
- Liang Shanbo 哈哈，说得好！英台，我们好像老朋友一样。不如，我们就在这里结拜吧！
Hāhā, shuō de hǎo! Yīngtái, wǒmen hǎoxiàng lǎo péngyou yíyàng. Bùrú, wǒmen jiù zài zhèlǐ jiébài ba!
Ha! Well said! Yingtai, it feels like we're old friends already. Why don't we become sworn brothers, right here?
- Zhu Yingtai 结拜？我是女孩子啊……可是，能跟他做兄弟，也很好。
Jiébài? Wǒ shì nǚháizi a… Kěshì, néng gēn tā zuò xiōngdì, yě hěn hǎo.
Sworn brothers? But I'm a girl… Still, being his brother would be good too.
- Zhu Yingtai 好！你比我大，你就是哥哥，以后我就叫你梁兄！
Hǎo! Nǐ bǐ wǒ dà, nǐ jiù shì gēge, yǐhòu wǒ jiù jiào nǐ Liáng xiōng!
All right! You're older, so you're the elder brother. From now on, I'll call you Brother Liang!
- Narrator 两个人在柳树下，互相拜了拜。几天以后，他们来到了学堂的门口。
Liǎng gè rén zài liǔshù xià, hùxiāng bài le bài. Jǐ tiān yǐhòu, tāmen lái dào le xuétáng de ménkǒu.
The two of them bowed to each other beneath the willow. A few days later, they reached the gate of the school.
- Liang Shanbo 英台，你看，那就是我们的学堂！我们是兄弟，就住一个房间吧！
Yīngtái, nǐ kàn, nà jiù shì wǒmen de xuétáng! Wǒmen shì xiōngdì, jiù zhù yí gè fángjiān ba!
Yingtai, look, there's our school! We're brothers, so let's share a room!
- Zhu Yingtai 住一个房间？……我的秘密，千万不能让他发现！
Zhù yí gè fángjiān?… Wǒ de mìmì, qiānwàn bù néng ràng tā fāxiàn!
Share a room?… He must never, ever find out my secret!
What changed in the story?
- Why won't Yingtai's father let her go to school at first?
“你是女孩子，怎么能去学堂？……别人会笑话我们祝家的！”
- How does Yingtai prove her disguise works?
“这位公子，你来我们祝家，有什么事吗？……我自己的女儿，我都没认出来”
- What does her father ask of her before she goes?
“别让人知道你是女孩子。家里叫你回来，你就马上回来。”
- What do Yingtai and Shanbo do at Grass Bridge?
“我们就在这里结拜吧！”……“互相拜了拜”
- Why does Yingtai panic at the school gate?
“就住一个房间吧！”……“我的秘密，千万不能让他发现！”