Grandma's Dumplings · chapter 2 of 3
Eighteen Pleats
十八个褶
Grandma teaches “the young man” to fold dumplings the way her own mother taught her — until, halfway through, her hands forget.
Read what you hear
- Grandma 来，我教你。
Lái, wǒ jiāo nǐ.
Come here, I'll teach you.
- Ajie 外婆把一张饺子皮放在我的手上。
Wàipó bǎ yì zhāng jiǎozi pí fàng zài wǒ de shǒu shang.
Grandma places a dumpling wrapper in my hand.
- Grandma 馅儿不要放太多。放多了，就包不住了。
Xiànr bú yào fàng tài duō. Fàng duō le, jiù bāo bú zhù le.
Don't put in too much filling. Too much, and it won't close.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Grandma's Dumplings 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.
- Grandma 先对折，再捏褶子。一个，两个，三个……
Xiān duìzhé, zài niē zhězi. Yí gè, liǎng gè, sān gè…
Fold it in half first, then pinch the pleats. One, two, three…
- Ajie 她的手指很快，一个接一个。
Tā de shǒuzhǐ hěn kuài, yí gè jiē yí gè.
Her fingers move quickly, one pleat after another.
- Grandma ……十六，十七，十八。好了。
…Shíliù, shíqī, shíbā. Hǎo le.
…sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. There.
- Ajie 十八个褶子，像一朵小小的花。
Shíbā gè zhězi, xiàng yì duǒ xiǎoxiǎo de huā.
Eighteen pleats, like a tiny flower.
- Ajie 为什么要十八个？
Wèishénme yào shíbā gè?
Why eighteen?
- Grandma 我妈妈这样教我，我这样教我女儿。我女儿以后，也会这样教她的孩子。
Wǒ māma zhèyàng jiāo wǒ, wǒ zhèyàng jiāo wǒ nǚ'ér. Wǒ nǚ'ér yǐhòu, yě huì zhèyàng jiāo tā de háizi.
My mother taught me this way, and I taught my daughter this way. Someday my daughter will teach her child this way too.
- Ajie 我突然明白了。这是外婆的妈妈的饺子。
Wǒ tūrán míngbai le. Zhè shì wàipó de māma de jiǎozi.
Suddenly I understand. These are Grandma's mother's dumplings.
- Ajie 我包的第一个饺子，歪歪扭扭，像一只小船。
Wǒ bāo de dì yī gè jiǎozi, wāiwāi-niǔniǔ, xiàng yì zhī xiǎo chuán.
My first dumpling comes out lopsided, like a little boat.
- Grandma 哈哈，没关系。阿杰小时候，包得比你还难看。
Hāhā, méi guānxi. Ā Jié xiǎoshíhou, bāo de bǐ nǐ hái nánkàn.
Ha! Never mind. When Ajie was little, his were even uglier than yours.
- Ajie 我愣住了。她记得。她记得我小时候包饺子。
Wǒ lèng zhù le. Tā jìde. Tā jìde wǒ xiǎoshíhou bāo jiǎozi.
I freeze. She remembers. She remembers me making dumplings as a kid.
- Ajie 我拿出手机，偷偷地把外婆的手录了下来。
Wǒ ná chū shǒujī, tōutōu de bǎ wàipó de shǒu lù le xiàlái.
I take out my phone and quietly film Grandma's hands.
- Ajie 我想记住每一个褶子。我怕有一天，再也没有人记得了。
Wǒ xiǎng jìzhù měi yí gè zhězi. Wǒ pà yǒu yì tiān, zài yě méiyǒu rén jìde le.
I want to remember every pleat. I'm afraid that one day, no one will remember anymore.
- Ajie 包到第二十个的时候，外婆的手停住了。
Bāo dào dì èrshí gè de shíhou, wàipó de shǒu tíng zhù le.
On the twentieth dumpling, Grandma's hands stop.
- Ajie 她看着手里的饺子皮，好像不认识它了。
Tā kànzhe shǒu lǐ de jiǎozi pí, hǎoxiàng bú rènshi tā le.
She stares at the wrapper in her hand as if she no longer knows what it is.
- Grandma 这个……下一步，是什么来着？
Zhège… xià yí bù, shì shénme láizhe?
This… what comes next, again?
- Ajie 外婆的眼睛里，有一点儿害怕。
Wàipó de yǎnjing lǐ, yǒu yìdiǎnr hàipà.
There's a little fear in Grandma's eyes.
- Ajie 我轻轻地拿过她手里的皮，放上馅儿，对折。
Wǒ qīngqīng de ná guò tā shǒu lǐ de pí, fàng shàng xiànr, duìzhé.
Gently, I take the wrapper from her hand, add the filling, and fold it in half.
- Ajie 然后，我慢慢地数：“一，二，三……”
Ránhòu, wǒ mànmàn de shǔ: “Yī, èr, sān…”
Then, slowly, I start to count: “One, two, three…”
- Ajie 外婆看着我的手。她会跟着我一起数吗？
Wàipó kànzhe wǒ de shǒu. Tā huì gēnzhe wǒ yìqǐ shǔ ma?
Grandma watches my hands. Will she count along with me?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How many pleats does Grandma make?
“……十六，十七，十八。好了.”
- Who taught Grandma to make dumplings this way?
“我妈妈这样教我.”
- What does Grandma remember about Ajie?
“阿杰小时候，包得比你还难看.”
- Why does Ajie film Grandma's hands?
“我怕有一天，再也没有人记得了.”
- What happens on the twentieth dumpling?
“这个……下一步，是什么来着？”