Clever Kids of Old China · chapter 2 of 4
Wang Rong and the Bitter Plums
王戎识李
Seven-year-old Wang Rong and his hungry friend spot a roadside tree loaded with plums. Everyone races to pick them except Wang Rong. What does he know that they don't?
Read what you hear
- Narrator 差不多一千八百年以前，有一个七岁的孩子，叫王戎。他的眼睛很亮。
Chàbuduō yìqiān bābǎi nián yǐqián, yǒu yí gè qī suì de háizi, jiào Wáng Róng. Tā de yǎnjing hěn liàng.
Almost eighteen hundred years ago, there was a seven-year-old boy named Wang Rong. He had very bright eyes.
- A Niu 王戎，你看！路边的树上，都是李子！
Wáng Róng, nǐ kàn! Lùbiān de shù shang, dōu shì lǐzi!
Wang Rong, look! That tree by the road is covered in plums!
- Wang Rong 阿牛，我看见了。李子真多啊，树都低下头了。
Ā Niú, wǒ kànjiàn le. Lǐzi zhēn duō a, shù dōu dī xià tóu le.
I see it, A Niu. So many plums, the whole tree is bowing its head.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Clever Kids of Old China 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.
- A Niu 走，我们去摘李子！谁先到，谁先吃！
Zǒu, wǒmen qù zhāi lǐzi! Shéi xiān dào, shéi xiān chī!
Come on, let's go pick some! First one there eats first!
- Narrator 孩子们都跑去摘李子。王戎站在路边，没有动。一个老爷爷看见了。
Háizimen dōu pǎo qù zhāi lǐzi. Wáng Róng zhàn zài lùbiān, méiyǒu dòng. Yí gè lǎo yéye kànjiàn le.
All the children ran off to pick plums. Wang Rong stayed by the road and didn't move. An old man passing by noticed.
- The old man 小朋友，你怎么不去？你不想吃李子吗？
Xiǎopéngyou, nǐ zěnme bú qù? Nǐ bù xiǎng chī lǐzi ma?
Little one, why aren't you going? Don't you want some plums?
- Wang Rong 老爷爷，我不去。那些李子不好吃。
Lǎo yéye, wǒ bú qù. Nàxiē lǐzi bù hǎochī.
No, Grandpa, I'm not going. Those plums are no good.
- The old man 不好吃？你还没吃，怎么知道？
Bù hǎochī? Nǐ hái méi chī, zěnme zhīdào?
No good? You haven't even tasted one. How would you know?
- Wang Rong 您别急，看着吧。
Nín bié jí, kànzhe ba.
Just wait and see.
- A Niu 啊！好苦！这个李子太苦了！
A! Hǎo kǔ! Zhège lǐzi tài kǔ le!
Ugh! So bitter! This plum is way too bitter!
- A Niu 这个也苦！那个也苦！都是苦的！
Zhège yě kǔ! Nàge yě kǔ! Dōu shì kǔ de!
This one's bitter too! And that one! They're all bitter!
- The old man 真的是苦的！孩子，你是怎么知道的？
Zhēn de shì kǔ de! Háizi, nǐ shì zěnme zhīdào de?
They really are bitter! My boy, how did you know?
- Wang Rong 老爷爷，您想一想，这棵树在哪儿？
Lǎo yéye, nín xiǎng yi xiǎng, zhè kē shù zài nǎr?
Think about it, Grandpa. Where is this tree?
- The old man 在路边啊。
Zài lùbiān a.
By the road, of course.
- Wang Rong 路上天天有很多人。如果李子好吃，大家早就摘完了。
Lù shang tiāntiān yǒu hěn duō rén. Rúguǒ lǐzi hǎochī, dàjiā zǎojiù zhāi wán le.
Lots of people walk along this road every day. If the plums were any good, they'd have been picked long ago.
- Wang Rong 可是树上还有这么多李子。所以，李子一定是苦的！
Kěshì shù shang hái yǒu zhème duō lǐzi. Suǒyǐ, lǐzi yídìng shì kǔ de!
But the tree is still full of them. So they had to be bitter!
- The old man 哈哈，对啊！我七十岁了，都没有想出来！
Hāhā, duì a! Wǒ qīshí suì le, dōu méiyǒu xiǎng chūlái!
Ha ha, of course! I'm seventy years old, and I never worked that out!
- A Niu 王戎！你为什么不早说？
Wáng Róng! Nǐ wèishénme bù zǎo shuō?
Wang Rong! Why didn't you say so sooner?
- Wang Rong 阿牛，我还没说，你就跑了！
Ā Niú, wǒ hái méi shuō, nǐ jiù pǎo le!
A Niu, you were off before I could say a word!
- The old man 你这么聪明，我也问你一个问题，好不好？
Nǐ zhème cōngming, wǒ yě wèn nǐ yí gè wèntí, hǎo bù hǎo?
You're such a clever boy. May I ask you a question too?
- Wang Rong 好！您问吧！
Hǎo! Nín wèn ba!
Sure! Go ahead!
- The old man 有一头大象，很大很大。你说，怎么知道它有多重？
Yǒu yì tóu dàxiàng, hěn dà hěn dà. Nǐ shuō, zěnme zhīdào tā yǒu duō zhòng?
Say there's an elephant, a really, really big one. Tell me: how would you find out how heavy it is?
- Wang Rong 大象？那要一个很大很大的秤！
Dàxiàng? Nà yào yí gè hěn dà hěn dà de chèng!
An elephant? Then you'd need a really, really big scale!
- The old man 没有那么大的秤啊。
Méiyǒu nàme dà de chèng a.
There's no scale that big.
- Wang Rong 没有大秤……那我也没有办法了。
Méiyǒu dà chèng… nà wǒ yě méiyǒu bànfǎ le.
No big scale… then I'm stuck too.
- The old man 以前有一个小孩子，叫曹冲。他没有大秤，也称了大象！
Yǐqián yǒu yí gè xiǎoháizi, jiào Cáo Chōng. Tā méiyǒu dà chèng, yě chēng le dàxiàng!
There was once a little boy named Cao Chong. He had no big scale, and he still weighed an elephant!
- Wang Rong 没有大秤，怎么称？老爷爷，快告诉我！
Méiyǒu dà chèng, zěnme chēng? Lǎo yéye, kuài gàosu wǒ!
With no big scale? How? Grandpa, tell me, quick!
- The old man 哈哈，你这么聪明，自己想吧！
Hāhā, nǐ zhème cōngming, zìjǐ xiǎng ba!
Ha ha! A clever boy like you? Work it out yourself!
- A Niu 王戎，别想大象了！我好饿，我们回家吃饭吧！
Wáng Róng, bié xiǎng dàxiàng le! Wǒ hǎo è, wǒmen huí jiā chī fàn ba!
Wang Rong, forget the elephant! I'm starving. Let's go home and eat!
- Wang Rong 大象……没有大秤……到底怎么称呢？
Dàxiàng… méiyǒu dà chèng… dàodǐ zěnme chēng ne?
An elephant… no big scale… so how on earth do you weigh it?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What do the children see by the road?
“路边的树上，都是李子！”
- What does Wang Rong do when the other children run to the tree?
“王戎站在路边，没有动。”
- What happens when A Niu tastes the plums?
“这个也苦！那个也苦！都是苦的！”
- How did Wang Rong know the plums were bitter?
“如果李子好吃，大家早就摘完了。……所以，李子一定是苦的！”
- What riddle does the old man leave Wang Rong with?
“他没有大秤，也称了大象！”