Dad's Voice Messages · chapter 3 of 3
The Message He Never Sent
没发出去的语音
What Dad recorded all night on her birthday — and the first voice message Xiao Yu has ever really meant.
Read what you hear
- Dad 小雨，生日快乐。
Xiǎo Yǔ, shēngrì kuàilè.
Xiao Yu, happy birthday.
- Dad 爸爸……不太会说话。你知道的。
Bàba… bú tài huì shuōhuà. Nǐ zhīdào de.
Your dad… isn't very good with words. You know that.
- Dad 你出生那天，下着大雨。我在医院外面跑来跑去，鞋都湿了。
Nǐ chūshēng nà tiān, xiàzhe dà yǔ. Wǒ zài yīyuàn wàimiàn pǎo lái pǎo qù, xié dōu shī le.
The day you were born, it was pouring. I ran back and forth outside the hospital until my shoes were soaked.
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Dad's Voice Messages 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.
- Dad 护士把你抱给我。你那么小，我都不敢动。
Hùshi bǎ nǐ bào gěi wǒ. Nǐ nàme xiǎo, wǒ dōu bù gǎn dòng.
The nurse put you in my arms. You were so small I didn't dare move.
- Dad 所以我给你起名叫“小雨”。
Suǒyǐ wǒ gěi nǐ qǐ míng jiào “Xiǎo Yǔ”.
That's why I named you Xiao Yu — “Little Rain.”
- Xiao Yu 我从来不知道，我的名字是这么来的。
Wǒ cónglái bù zhīdào, wǒ de míngzi shì zhème lái de.
I never knew that was where my name came from.
- Dad 你上大学以后，家里一下子安静了。
Nǐ shàng dàxué yǐhòu, jiā lǐ yíxiàzi ānjìng le.
After you went off to university, the house suddenly went quiet.
- Dad 我不知道怎么跟你说话。所以我就说天气，说小猫，说红烧肉。
Wǒ bù zhīdào zěnme gēn nǐ shuōhuà. Suǒyǐ wǒ jiù shuō tiānqì, shuō xiǎo māo, shuō hóngshāo ròu.
I didn't know how to talk to you. So I talked about the weather, the kittens, the braised pork.
- Dad 其实，每一条，我想说的都是同一句话。
Qíshí, měi yì tiáo, wǒ xiǎng shuō de dōu shì tóng yí jù huà.
Actually, in every one of them, I was trying to say the same thing.
- Dad 可是那句话，爸爸说不出口。
Kěshì nà jù huà, bàba shuō bù chū kǒu.
But your dad could never get those words out.
- Dad 小雨，爸爸为你骄傲。
Xiǎo Yǔ, bàba wèi nǐ jiāo'ào.
Xiao Yu, Dad is proud of you.
- Dad 好了……说了这么多。你忙吧。
Hǎo le… shuō le zhème duō. Nǐ máng ba.
All right… that's more than enough talking. Go on with your day.
- Xiao Yu 录音停了。病房里很安静。
Lùyīn tíng le. Bìngfáng lǐ hěn ānjìng.
The recording ends. The hospital room is very quiet.
- Xiao Yu 我看着睡着的爸爸，眼泪一直流。
Wǒ kànzhe shuìzháo de bàba, yǎnlèi yìzhí liú.
I look at Dad, asleep, and the tears won't stop.
- Xiao Yu 这么多年，我一直以为他不会说。其实，是我不会听。
Zhème duō nián, wǒ yìzhí yǐwéi tā bú huì shuō. Qíshí, shì wǒ bú huì tīng.
All these years, I thought he didn't know how to talk. Really, I didn't know how to listen.
- Xiao Yu 第二天早上，爸爸醒了。
Dì èr tiān zǎoshang, bàba xǐng le.
The next morning, Dad wakes up.
- Dad 小雨，你的眼睛怎么红红的？没睡好？
Xiǎo Yǔ, nǐ de yǎnjing zěnme hónghóng de? Méi shuì hǎo?
Xiao Yu, why are your eyes so red? Didn't you sleep?
- Xiao Yu 我没有回答。我拿出手机，给他发了一条语音。
Wǒ méiyǒu huídá. Wǒ ná chū shǒujī, gěi tā fā le yì tiáo yǔyīn.
I don't answer. I take out my phone and send him a voice message.
- Xiao Yu 他的手机就在手边，响了一下。
Tā de shǒujī jiù zài shǒu biān, xiǎng le yíxià.
His phone, right by his hand, pings.
- Dad 你就在这儿，还发什么语音啊？
Nǐ jiù zài zhèr, hái fā shénme yǔyīn a?
You're right here — why send me a voice message?
- Xiao Yu 他点开了。里面是我的声音：“爸，我也为你骄傲。还有……我爱你。”
Tā diǎn kāi le. Lǐmiàn shì wǒ de shēngyīn: “Bà, wǒ yě wèi nǐ jiāo'ào. Hái yǒu… wǒ ài nǐ.”
He taps it open. It's my voice: “Dad, I'm proud of you too. And… I love you.”
- Xiao Yu 爸爸没有说话。可是他转过头去，看着窗外，看了很久很久。
Bàba méiyǒu shuōhuà. Kěshì tā zhuǎn guò tóu qù, kànzhe chuāng wài, kàn le hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ.
Dad doesn't say anything. But he turns his head toward the window, and looks out for a long, long time.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How did Xiao Yu get her name?
“你出生那天，下着大雨……所以我给你起名叫‘小雨’.”
- Why did Dad always talk about small things?
“我不知道怎么跟你说话.”
- What was Dad really trying to say every time?
“小雨，爸爸为你骄傲.”
- What does Xiao Yu realize?
“其实，是我不会听.”
- What does Xiao Yu send her dad?
“爸，我也为你骄傲。还有……我爱你.”