Hou Yi and the Ten Suns · chapter 2 of 4
Please Go Home
请你们回家
With ten suns blazing at once and the river running dry, Hou Yi politely asks the sun brothers to go home, and Big Brother Sun just laughs down at him.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 十个太阳一起出来了。地上热得像火一样。
Shí gè tàiyáng yìqǐ chūlái le. Dì shàng rè de xiàng huǒ yíyàng.
The ten suns came out together, and the ground grew as hot as fire.
- Big Brother Sun 哈哈！十个兄弟一起出来，太好玩了！
Hāhā! Shí gè xiōngdì yìqǐ chūlái, tài hǎowán le!
Ha ha! All ten brothers out together! This is the best!
- Big Brother Sun 弟弟们，我们比一比，看谁最热！
Dìdimen, wǒmen bǐ yi bǐ, kàn shéi zuì rè!
Brothers, let's have a contest. Who can be the hottest?
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Hou Yi and the Ten Suns 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.
- Little Ten 大哥，不要比了！下边的人好热啊。我们回家吧？
Dàgē, bú yào bǐ le! Xiàbian de rén hǎo rè a. Wǒmen huí jiā ba?
Big Brother, stop it! The people down there are so hot. Can't we go home?
- Big Brother Sun 回家？不回！明天我们还一起出来！
Huí jiā? Bù huí! Míngtiān wǒmen hái yìqǐ chūlái!
Home? No way! Tomorrow we're all coming out together again!
- Little Ten 我想回家……可是，大哥不让我走。
Wǒ xiǎng huí jiā… kěshì, Dàgē bú ràng wǒ zǒu.
I want to go home… but Big Brother won't let me leave.
- Miaomiao 一天，两天，三天……后羿叔叔，太阳还不回家！
Yì tiān, liǎng tiān, sān tiān… Hòu Yì shūshu, tàiyáng hái bù huí jiā!
One day, two days, three days… Uncle Hou Yi, the suns still won't go home!
- Hou Yi 是啊。河里没有水了，地也都干了。
Shì a. Hé lǐ méiyǒu shuǐ le, dì yě dōu gān le.
I know. There's no water left in the river, and the land has all dried up.
- Miaomiao 叔叔，这里的石头好热，都能做饭了！
Shūshu, zhèlǐ de shítou hǎo rè, dōu néng zuò fàn le!
Uncle, these rocks are so hot, you could cook dinner on them!
- Hou Yi 那我们中午就在石头上做饭吧。
Nà wǒmen zhōngwǔ jiù zài shítou shàng zuò fàn ba.
Then we'll cook our lunch on the rocks today.
- Miaomiao 可是……我的小苗都干了。它们还能长大吗？
Kěshì… wǒ de xiǎomiáo dōu gān le. Tāmen hái néng zhǎngdà ma?
But… my seedlings have all dried up. Will they ever grow now?
- Hou Yi 苗苗，别哭。来，喝一点儿水。
Miáomiao, bié kū. Lái, hē yìdiǎnr shuǐ.
Don't cry, Miaomiao. Here, have some water.
- Miaomiao 叔叔，你也喝。你的水，也不多了。
Shūshu, nǐ yě hē. Nǐ de shuǐ, yě bù duō le.
You drink some too, Uncle. You don't have much water left either.
- Hou Yi 不能再这样了。我去跟太阳说！
Bù néng zài zhèyàng le. Wǒ qù gēn tàiyáng shuō!
This can't go on. I'm going to talk to the suns!
- Narrator 后羿走到干干的河里，站在大石头上。
Hòu Yì zǒu dào gāngān de hé lǐ, zhàn zài dà shítou shàng.
Hou Yi walked out into the dry riverbed and stood on a big rock.
- Hou Yi 太阳兄弟们！请你们回家吧！还是一天出来一个，好吗？
Tàiyáng xiōngdìmen! Qǐng nǐmen huí jiā ba! Háishi yì tiān chūlái yí gè, hǎo ma?
Sun brothers! Please go home! Go back to coming out one a day, won't you?
- Big Brother Sun 谁在下边叫我们？哈哈，一个小小的人！
Shéi zài xiàbian jiào wǒmen? Hāhā, yí gè xiǎoxiǎo de rén!
Who's that shouting at us from down there? Ha ha, a teeny little man!
- Hou Yi 我叫后羿。地上太热了，人们没有水喝，也没有饭吃！
Wǒ jiào Hòu Yì. Dì shàng tài rè le, rénmen méiyǒu shuǐ hē, yě méiyǒu fàn chī!
My name is Hou Yi. It's too hot down here. People have no water to drink and nothing to eat!
- Little Ten 大哥，他是后羿，是我的朋友！我们听他的吧！
Dàgē, tā shì Hòu Yì, shì wǒ de péngyou! Wǒmen tīng tā de ba!
Big Brother, that's Hou Yi. He's my friend! Let's do what he says!
- Big Brother Sun 听他的？我是老大，你们都听我的！
Tīng tā de? Wǒ shì lǎodà, nǐmen dōu tīng wǒ de!
Do what he says? I'm the eldest. You all do what I say!
- Big Brother Sun 小小的人，你回家吧！我们想出来，就出来！
Xiǎoxiǎo de rén, nǐ huí jiā ba! Wǒmen xiǎng chūlái, jiù chūlái!
Little man, you go home! We'll come out whenever we like!
- Hou Yi 我再请你们一次：回家吧！
Wǒ zài qǐng nǐmen yí cì: huí jiā ba!
I'm asking you one more time: go home!
- Big Brother Sun 不回！你能怎么样？你又不能飞上天！
Bù huí! Nǐ néng zěnmeyàng? Nǐ yòu bù néng fēi shàng tiān!
No! What are you going to do about it? You can't fly up here!
- Narrator 大哥哈哈大笑，八个弟弟也笑了。天，更热了。
Dàgē hāhā dà xiào, bā gè dìdi yě xiào le. Tiān, gèng rè le.
Big Brother roared with laughter, and eight of his brothers laughed along. The sky grew hotter still.
- Miaomiao 叔叔，他们不听你的话……怎么办？
Shūshu, tāmen bù tīng nǐ de huà… zěnme bàn?
Uncle, they won't listen to you… what do we do?
- Hou Yi 他们不听我的话……那就听听我的箭吧。
Tāmen bù tīng wǒ de huà… nà jiù tīngting wǒ de jiàn ba.
If they won't listen to me… then let them listen to my arrows.
- Little Ten 后羿在看他的大弓……他要做什么？
Hòu Yì zài kàn tā de dà gōng… tā yào zuò shénme?
Hou Yi is looking at his great bow… What is he going to do?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What contest does Big Brother want to have with his brothers?
“弟弟们，我们比一比，看谁最热！”
- Why doesn't Little Ten go home?
“我想回家……可是，大哥不让我走。”
- Why does Miaomiao start to cry?
“可是……我的小苗都干了。它们还能长大吗？”
- What does Hou Yi ask the suns to do?
“请你们回家吧！还是一天出来一个，好吗？”
- Why does Big Brother think Hou Yi can't do anything?
“你能怎么样？你又不能飞上天！”