Journey to the West: Journey's End · chapter 4 of 6
The Eighty-First Trial
最后一次苦难
Flying home on a cloud, the pilgrims stop at a river where an old friend has waited fourteen years for a promise to be kept.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 八位守护神带着他们，飞上了夜空。云跑得像风一样快。
Bā wèi shǒuhùshén dài zhe tāmen, fēi shàng le yèkōng. Yún pǎo de xiàng fēng yíyàng kuài.
Eight guardians carried them up into the night sky. The clouds raced as fast as the wind.
- Zhu Bajie 啊！啊！太高了！我的肚子飞上来了，腿还没有上来！
Ā! Ā! Tài gāo le! Wǒ de dùzi fēi shànglái le, tuǐ hái méiyǒu shànglái!
Ahh! Too high! My belly has flown up, but my legs haven't come along yet!
- Sun Wukong 八戒，把眼睛闭上，就不怕了。
Bājiè, bǎ yǎnjing bìshàng, jiù bú pà le.
Bajie, close your eyes and you won't be scared.
Chapter 4 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Journey to the West: Journey's End 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, The Odyssey, Robin Hood, Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Kitchen God from start to finish.
- Zhu Bajie 我已经闭上了！可是我的心还睁着！
Wǒ yǐjīng bìshàng le! Kěshì wǒ de xīn hái zhēng zhe!
They're already shut! But my heart still has its eyes open!
- Sha Wujing 二师兄，请你放开我的胡子。它不是绳子。
Èr shīxiōng, qǐng nǐ fàngkāi wǒ de húzi. Tā bú shì shéngzi.
Second Brother, please let go of my beard. It is not a rope.
- Tang Seng 悟空，十四年的路，一个晚上就飞回来了。
Wùkōng, shísì nián de lù, yí gè wǎnshang jiù fēi huílái le.
Wukong, a road of fourteen years, and we fly it back in a single night.
- Tang Seng 你们看下面的山和河。十四年前，我们一步一步走过了它们。
Nǐmen kàn xiàmiàn de shān hé hé. Shísì nián qián, wǒmen yí bù yí bù zǒu guò le tāmen.
Look at the mountains and rivers below. Fourteen years ago we crossed them one step at a time.
- Sun Wukong 师父，菩萨说的最后一次苦难，到底会是什么？
Shīfu, Púsà shuō de zuìhòu yí cì kǔnàn, dàodǐ huì shì shénme?
Master, what could the Bodhisattva's very last trial be?
- Zhu Bajie 别说了！我不想知道！我的肚子已经够晕了！
Bié shuō le! Wǒ bù xiǎng zhīdào! Wǒ de dùzi yǐjīng gòu yūn le!
Stop it! I don't want to know! My belly is dizzy enough!
- Sun Wukong 那当然！不过，老孙的筋斗云，比这朵还要快！
Nà dāngrán! Búguò, Lǎo Sūn de jīndǒuyún, bǐ zhè duǒ hái yào kuài!
Of course! But Old Sun's somersault cloud is even faster than this one!
- Zhu Bajie 那你为什么不背着我们飞回来？
Nà nǐ wèishénme bù bèi zhe wǒmen fēi huílái?
Then why didn't you carry us all the way home?
- Sun Wukong 因为你太重了！
Yīnwèi nǐ tài zhòng le!
Because you're too heavy!
- Zhu Bajie 我不重！我只是被很多好吃的爱过！
Wǒ bú zhòng! Wǒ zhǐshì bèi hěn duō hǎochī de ài guo!
I'm not heavy! I've just been loved by a lot of good food!
- The Guardian 各位，我们是守护神。我们到了通天河。这一段，我们不能带你们飞。请你们坐老乌龟过河。
Gèwèi, wǒmen shì shǒuhùshén. Wǒmen dào le Tōngtiān Hé. Zhè yí duàn, wǒmen bù néng dài nǐmen fēi. Qǐng nǐmen zuò lǎo wūguī guò hé.
Friends, we are the guardians. We have reached the Tongtian River. We cannot carry you over this stretch. You will cross on the old turtle.
- Tang Seng 十四年前，我们也是在这里过的河。那时候，是一只老乌龟送我们过去的。
Shísì nián qián, wǒmen yě shì zài zhèlǐ guò de hé. Nà shíhou, shì yì zhī lǎo wūguī sòng wǒmen guòqù de.
Fourteen years ago we crossed this very river. An old turtle carried us over.
- The Old Turtle 唐僧，是你吗？我等了你十四年！
Táng Sēng, shì nǐ ma? Wǒ děng le nǐ shísì nián!
Tang Seng, is that you? I have waited fourteen years for you!
- Tang Seng 老乌龟！你还在这里！你的背，我还记得呢。
Lǎo wūguī! Nǐ hái zài zhèlǐ! Nǐ de bèi, wǒ hái jìde ne.
Old Turtle! You're still here! I remember your back.
- The Old Turtle 上来吧。我背你们过河，像从前一样。
Shànglái ba. Wǒ bèi nǐmen guò hé, xiàng cóngqián yíyàng.
Climb up. I'll carry you across, just like before.
- The Old Turtle 告诉我，这一路好玩吗？我在这里，天天都在想你们。
Gàosu wǒ, zhè yílù hǎowán ma? Wǒ zài zhèlǐ, tiāntiān dōu zài xiǎng nǐmen.
Tell me, was the road fun? Here I've thought about you every single day.
- Tang Seng 有很多山，很多妖怪，也有很多朋友。我们的路，一点也不无聊。
Yǒu hěn duō shān, hěn duō yāoguài, yě yǒu hěn duō péngyou. Wǒmen de lù, yìdiǎn yě bù wúliáo.
There were many mountains, many demons, and many friends. Our road was never boring.
- Sun Wukong 师父，你先上去。老孙拿着棒子，看着水里。
Shīfu, nǐ xiān shàngqù. Lǎo Sūn ná zhe bàngzi, kàn zhe shuǐ lǐ.
Master, you go first. Old Sun will hold his staff and watch the water.
- Narrator 老乌龟慢慢走进河里。河水又宽又静，天开始亮了。
Lǎo wūguī mànmàn zǒu jìn hé lǐ. Héshuǐ yòu kuān yòu jìng, tiān kāishǐ liàng le.
The old turtle waded slowly into the river. The water was wide and still, and the sky began to brighten.
- The Old Turtle 唐僧，我要问你一件事。你答应过我，要问佛祖，我什么时候才能变成人。
Táng Sēng, wǒ yào wèn nǐ yí jiàn shì. Nǐ dāying guo wǒ, yào wèn Fózǔ, wǒ shénme shíhou cái néng biànchéng rén.
Tang Seng, I must ask you something. You promised to ask the Buddha when I could become a person.
- Tang Seng 啊！我……我忘了！佛祖那么大，经书那么多，我全忘了。
Ā! Wǒ… wǒ wàng le! Fózǔ nàme dà, jīngshū nàme duō, wǒ quán wàng le.
Oh! I... I forgot! The Buddha was so grand, the scrolls so many, it all went out of my head.
- Sun Wukong 师父！你怎么能忘呢？他等了十四年！
Shīfu! Nǐ zěnme néng wàng ne? Tā děng le shísì nián!
Master! How could you forget? He waited fourteen years!
- The Old Turtle 你忘了……我等了十四年，你却……你忘了。
Nǐ wàng le… Wǒ děng le shísì nián, nǐ què… nǐ wàng le.
You forgot... I waited fourteen years, and you forgot.
- Sun Wukong 老乌龟，师父不是故意的。他走了十四年，也很累了。
Lǎo wūguī, shīfu bú shì gùyì de. Tā zǒu le shísì nián, yě hěn lèi le.
Old Turtle, the Master didn't mean it. He walked fourteen years and he's tired too.
- Tang Seng 对不起，老乌龟。我现在就回去问，好吗？
Duìbuqǐ, lǎo wūguī. Wǒ xiànzài jiù huíqù wèn, hǎo ma?
I'm so sorry, Old Turtle. I'll go back and ask right now, all right?
- The Old Turtle 不用了……我累了。
Bú yòng le… Wǒ lèi le.
No need... I am tired.
- Sun Wukong 老乌龟，别！师父，抓紧经书！
Lǎo wūguī, bié! Shīfu, zhuājǐn jīngshū!
Old Turtle, don't! Master, hold on to the scrolls!
- Tang Seng 救命！经书，经书要掉下去了！
Jiùmìng! Jīngshū, jīngshū yào diào xiàqù le!
Help! The scrolls, the scrolls are falling!
- Sun Wukong 师父，你抓住我！经书……经书全掉进河里了！
Shīfu, nǐ zhuā zhù wǒ! Jīngshū… jīngshū quán diào jìn hé lǐ le!
Master, grab me! The scrolls... the scrolls have all fallen into the river!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How do the pilgrims travel home at first?
“八位守护神带着他们，飞上了夜空”
- Why does Wukong say Bajie could not be carried on his cloud?
“因为你太重了”
- What did the Old Turtle wait fourteen years for?
“你答应过我，要问佛祖”
- Why does the turtle dive under the water?
“我等了十四年……我累了”
- What happens to the scrolls?
“经书全掉进河里了”