Chinese Idiom Stories 2 · chapter 4 of 6
Lord Ye Loves Dragons
叶公好龙
Lord Ye loves dragons so much that his poor servant paints them everywhere. Then news of Lord Ye's love reaches the sky, and a real dragon decides to drop in.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 这个故事叫“叶公好龙”。很久以前，楚国有一个叶公。
Zhège gùshi jiào “Yègōng hàolóng”. Hěn jiǔ yǐqián, Chǔguó yǒu yí gè Yègōng.
This story is called “Lord Ye Loves Dragons.” Long, long ago, in the state of Chu, there lived a nobleman called Lord Ye.
- Lord Ye 龙！龙！我最喜欢龙了！
Lóng! Lóng! Wǒ zuì xǐhuan lóng le!
Dragons! Dragons! I love dragons more than anything!
- Lord Ye 你们看：我的衣服上有龙，杯子上有龙，门上也有龙！
Nǐmen kàn: wǒ de yīfu shang yǒu lóng, bēizi shang yǒu lóng, mén shang yě yǒu lóng!
Look, everyone! Dragons on my clothes, dragons on my cups, and dragons on my doors!
Chapter 4 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Chinese Idiom Stories 2 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 Fu 叶公，墙上、床上、桌子上，我都画了龙了……
Yègōng, qiáng shang, chuáng shang, zhuōzi shang, wǒ dōu huà le lóng le…
My lord, I've already painted dragons on the walls, the bed and the tables…
- Lord Ye 画得好！阿福，明天在我的鞋子上，也画两条龙！
Huà de hǎo! Ā Fú, míngtiān zài wǒ de xiézi shang, yě huà liǎng tiáo lóng!
Beautifully done! Tomorrow, A Fu, paint two dragons on my shoes as well!
- A Fu 天天画龙，画龙……我睡觉的时候，也在画龙！
Tiāntiān huà lóng, huà lóng… wǒ shuìjiào de shíhou, yě zài huà lóng!
Dragons, dragons, painting dragons every day… I even paint dragons in my sleep!
- Narrator 天上的龙，听说了这件事。
Tiān shang de lóng, tīngshuō le zhè jiàn shì.
Up in the sky, the real dragon heard all about this.
- The dragon 有人这么喜欢我？我要去看看他！
Yǒu rén zhème xǐhuan wǒ? Wǒ yào qù kànkan tā!
Someone loves me that much? I must go and see him!
- Narrator 龙飞到叶公家。它的头从窗户进来，尾巴从门进来。
Lóng fēi dào Yègōng jiā. Tā de tóu cóng chuānghu jìnlái, wěiba cóng mén jìnlái.
The dragon flew to Lord Ye's house. Its head came in through the window, and its tail came in through the door.
- The dragon 叶公，你好！我是天上的龙，我来看你了！
Yègōng, nǐ hǎo! Wǒ shì tiān shang de lóng, wǒ lái kàn nǐ le!
Hello, Lord Ye! I'm the dragon from the sky, and I've come to visit you!
- Lord Ye 啊！啊！龙！是真的龙！
A! A! Lóng! Shì zhēn de lóng!
Aah! Aah! A dragon! A real dragon!
- A Fu 叶公，您最喜欢的龙来了！您不高兴吗？
Yègōng, nín zuì xǐhuan de lóng lái le! Nín bù gāoxìng ma?
My lord, your favorite thing in the world is here! Aren't you happy?
- Lord Ye 高……高兴！我太高兴了……我先走了！
Gāo… gāoxìng! Wǒ tài gāoxìng le… wǒ xiān zǒu le!
Hap… happy! I'm so very happy… I'll just be going now!
- The dragon 叶公？你在桌子下做什么？
Yègōng? Nǐ zài zhuōzi xià zuò shénme?
Lord Ye? What are you doing under the table?
- Lord Ye 我……我在找我的帽子！
Wǒ… wǒ zài zhǎo wǒ de màozi!
I'm… I'm looking for my hat!
- The dragon 快出来！你不是最喜欢龙吗？
Kuài chūlái! Nǐ bú shì zuì xǐhuan lóng ma?
Come on out! Don't you love dragons more than anything?
- Lord Ye 我喜欢画上的龙！不是真的龙！
Wǒ xǐhuan huà shang de lóng! Bú shì zhēn de lóng!
I like painted dragons! Not real ones!
- The dragon 画上的龙？可是……我不像画上的龙吗？
Huà shang de lóng? Kěshì… wǒ bú xiàng huà shang de lóng ma?
Painted dragons? But… don't I look just like the dragons in the paintings?
- A Fu 像！很像！您比我画的龙还好看！
Xiàng! Hěn xiàng! Nín bǐ wǒ huà de lóng hái hǎokàn!
You do! You really do! You're even more handsome than the dragons I paint!
- A Fu 天天说喜欢龙，龙来了，他跑了……
Tiāntiān shuō xǐhuan lóng, lóng lái le, tā pǎo le…
Every day he says he loves dragons, and the moment a dragon shows up, he runs…
- The dragon 他喜欢的，不是我。好吧，我回天上去了。
Tā xǐhuan de, bú shì wǒ. Hǎo ba, wǒ huí tiān shang qù le.
It isn't me he loves. Oh well, I'll go back to the sky.
- Lord Ye 阿福……龙走了吗？
Ā Fú… lóng zǒu le ma?
A Fu… has the dragon gone?
- A Fu 走了。叶公，您这是“叶公好龙”！
Zǒu le. Yègōng, nín zhè shì “Yègōng hàolóng”!
It's gone. My lord, so this is how Lord Ye loves dragons!
- A Fu 说喜欢，可是不是真的喜欢！
Shuō xǐhuan, kěshì bú shì zhēn de xǐhuan!
You say you love something, but you don't really love it at all!
- Lord Ye 叶公好龙？……别笑我！还有人比我更奇怪！
Yègōng hàolóng? … Bié xiào wǒ! Hái yǒu rén bǐ wǒ gèng qíguài!
Lord Ye loves dragons? … Don't laugh at me! There's someone even stranger than me!
- Lord Ye 北边有一个老人，他的马跑了，他一点儿也不难过！
Běibian yǒu yí gè lǎorén, tā de mǎ pǎo le, tā yìdiǎnr yě bù nánguò!
Up north there's an old man whose horse ran away, and he wasn't the least bit sad!
- A Fu 马跑了，还不难过？为什么？
Mǎ pǎo le, hái bù nánguò? Wèishénme?
His horse ran away, and he wasn't sad? Why not?
- Lord Ye 他说：“这可能是好事！”
Tā shuō: “Zhè kěnéng shì hǎoshì!”
He said, “This might be a good thing!”
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How does Lord Ye show that he loves dragons?
“我的衣服上有龙，杯子上有龙，门上也有龙！”
- Why does the real dragon come to Lord Ye's house?
“有人这么喜欢我？我要去看看他！”
- How does the dragon come into the house?
“它的头从窗户进来，尾巴从门进来。”
- Why won't Lord Ye come out to meet the dragon?
“我喜欢画上的龙！不是真的龙！”
- What does A Fu say “Lord Ye loves dragons” means?
“说喜欢，可是不是真的喜欢！”