Journey to the West: Journey's End · chapter 3 of 6
The Golden Bowl
金钵
The Buddha laughs at Wukong's anger, then makes it right. Tang Seng pays with the golden bowl, and Guanyin counts something that does not add up.
Read what you hear
- Sun Wukong 佛祖！你的徒弟卖给我们白纸！老孙不服！
Fózǔ! Nǐ de túdì mài gěi wǒmen bái zhǐ! Lǎo Sūn bù fú!
Buddha! Your disciples sold us blank paper! Old Sun will not stand for it!
- The Buddha 哈哈哈！悟空，别喊这么大声，我听得见。
Hāhāhā! Wùkōng, bié hǎn zhème dàshēng, wǒ tīng de jiàn.
Ha ha ha! Wukong, no need to shout so loudly. I can hear you.
- Sun Wukong 佛祖还笑！老孙走了十四年，只拿到一堆白纸！
Fózǔ hái xiào! Lǎo Sūn zǒu le shísì nián, zhǐ ná dào yì duī bái zhǐ!
And the Buddha laughs! Old Sun walked fourteen years and got a pile of blank paper!
Chapter 3 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.
- The Buddha 白纸也是一种经书。可是，你们要的，是有字的那种，对吗？
Bái zhǐ yě shì yì zhǒng jīngshū. Kěshì, nǐmen yào de, shì yǒu zì de nà zhǒng, duì ma?
Blank paper is a kind of scripture too. But you wanted the kind with words, didn't you?
- Sun Wukong 当然是有字的！谁要白纸？
Dāngrán shì yǒu zì de! Shéi yào bái zhǐ?
Of course the kind with words! Who wants blank paper?
- The Buddha 那两个孩子向你们要礼物，做得不对。可是，太容易得到的东西，人们不会看重。
Nà liǎng gè háizi xiàng nǐmen yào lǐwù, zuò de bú duì. Kěshì, tài róngyì dédào de dōngxi, rénmen bú huì kànzhòng.
Those two boys were wrong to ask you for gifts. But things that come too easily are never treasured.
- Sun Wukong 佛祖，你这是在帮他们说话！
Fózǔ, nǐ zhè shì zài bāng tāmen shuōhuà!
Buddha, you're taking their side!
- The Buddha 我不帮谁。我只想请他们拿出真的经书。阿难！迦叶！
Wǒ bù bāng shéi. Wǒ zhǐ xiǎng qǐng tāmen ná chū zhēn de jīngshū. Ānán! Jiāyè!
I take no side. I only want them to bring out the real scriptures. Ananda! Kashyapa!
- Ananda 佛祖，我们在这儿。我们……给错了。
Fózǔ, wǒmen zài zhèr. Wǒmen… gěi cuò le.
Buddha, we're here. We... gave the wrong ones.
- Kashyapa 是啊，给错了。我们马上换，马上换。
Shì a, gěi cuò le. Wǒmen mǎshàng huàn, mǎshàng huàn.
Yes, the wrong ones. We'll change them at once, at once.
- Sun Wukong 哈！刚才笑得那么甜，现在怎么不笑了？
Hā! Gāngcái xiào de nàme tián, xiànzài zěnme bù xiào le?
Ha! You smiled so sweetly before. Why aren't you smiling now?
- Ananda 悟空大哥，别这样看我们。我们只是想吃一顿好饭。
Wùkōng dàgē, bié zhèyàng kàn wǒmen. Wǒmen zhǐshì xiǎng chī yí dùn hǎo fàn.
Brother Wukong, don't look at us like that. We only wanted a good meal.
- The Buddha 好了好了。去把真的经书包好，送到门口。
Hǎo le hǎo le. Qù bǎ zhēn de jīngshū bāo hǎo, sòng dào ménkǒu.
All right, all right. Go wrap the real scriptures and bring them to the gate.
- Sun Wukong 这还差不多。谢谢你，佛祖。
Zhè hái chàbuduō. Xièxie nǐ, Fózǔ.
That's more like it. Thank you, Buddha.
- The Buddha 悟空，你的火气比你的棒子还大。不过，你为了师父生气，我看得出来。
Wùkōng, nǐ de huǒqì bǐ nǐ de bàngzi hái dà. Búguò, nǐ wèile shīfu shēngqì, wǒ kàn de chūlái.
Wukong, your temper is bigger than your staff. But I can see you are angry for your master's sake.
- Narrator 太阳快下山了。院子里放着一捆一捆的经书。
Tàiyáng kuài xià shān le. Yuànzi lǐ fàng zhe yì kǔn yì kǔn de jīngshū.
The sun was about to set. Bundles and bundles of scrolls lay in the courtyard.
- Zhu Bajie 这一次，上面真的有字了！师父，你看！
Zhè yí cì, shàngmiàn zhēn de yǒu zì le! Shīfu, nǐ kàn!
This time there are real words on them! Master, look!
- Tang Seng 太好了。可是我还想谢谢那两位师父。
Tài hǎo le. Kěshì wǒ hái xiǎng xièxie nà liǎng wèi shīfu.
Wonderful. But I still want to thank the two monks.
- Tang Seng 我们没有钱，只有这个金钵，是皇帝给我的。请你们收下吧。
Wǒmen méiyǒu qián, zhǐyǒu zhège jīnbō, shì huángdì gěi wǒ de. Qǐng nǐmen shōu xià ba.
We have no money, only this golden bowl the emperor gave me. Please accept it.
- Ananda 谢谢唐僧师父。这个金钵真漂亮，我们一定好好收着。
Xièxie Táng Sēng shīfu. Zhège jīnbō zhēn piàoliang, wǒmen yídìng hǎohǎo shōu zhe.
Thank you, Master Tang Seng. This golden bowl is beautiful. We will take good care of it.
- Zhu Bajie 师父！那个金钵，是我们路上吃饭用的碗啊！
Shīfu! Nàge jīnbō, shì wǒmen lùshàng chīfàn yòng de wǎn a!
Master! That's the bowl we eat our meals from on the road!
- Tang Seng 八戒，碗只是碗，心意才重要。
Bājiè, wǎn zhǐshì wǎn, xīnyì cái zhòngyào.
Bajie, a bowl is only a bowl. What matters is the heart.
- Zhu Bajie 好吧……可是晚饭，我们要用手吃吗？
Hǎo ba… kěshì wǎnfàn, wǒmen yào yòng shǒu chī ma?
Fine... but what do we eat supper from now, our hands?
- Tang Seng 好，好。明天早上，我给你找一个新碗。
Hǎo, hǎo. Míngtiān zǎoshang, wǒ gěi nǐ zhǎo yí gè xīn wǎn.
All right, all right. Tomorrow morning I'll find you a new bowl.
- Zhu Bajie 要大的！最好和我的肚子一样大！
Yào dà de! Zuìhǎo hé wǒ de dùzi yíyàng dà!
A big one! Preferably as big as my belly!
- Guanyin 不会的，八戒。不过，我要先请你们等一等。
Bú huì de, Bājiè. Búguò, wǒ yào xiān qǐng nǐmen děng yi děng.
Not at all, Bajie. But first I must ask you to wait a moment.
- Guanyin 我一直在数你们的苦难。一、二、三……
Wǒ yìzhí zài shǔ nǐmen de kǔnàn. Yī, èr, sān…
I have been counting your trials all along. One, two, three...
- Guanyin 八十次。只有八十次。少了一次。
Bāshí cì. Zhǐyǒu bāshí cì. Shǎo le yí cì.
Eighty. Only eighty. One is missing.
- Tang Seng 菩萨，少了一次，不是更好吗？
Púsà, shǎo le yí cì, bú shì gèng hǎo ma?
Bodhisattva, isn't one fewer better?
- Guanyin 天上的数字，要到九九八十一，才算完。这是老规矩。
Tiānshàng de shùzì, yào dào jiǔ jiǔ bāshíyī, cái suàn wán. Zhè shì lǎo guīju.
In heaven, the count must reach nine times nine, eighty-one, before it is complete. That is the old rule.
- Zhu Bajie 八十一？八十不好吗？八十已经很多了！
Bāshíyī? Bāshí bù hǎo ma? Bāshí yǐjīng hěn duō le!
Eighty-one? Isn't eighty good enough? Eighty is already a lot!
- Guanyin 八戒，别怕。这一次，很快就会过去。
Bājiè, bié pà. Zhè yí cì, hěn kuài jiù huì guòqù.
Don't worry, Bajie. This last one will pass quickly.
- Guanyin 八位守护神，请你们送他们回家。路上，让他们遇到最后一次苦难。
Bā wèi shǒuhùshén, qǐng nǐmen sòng tāmen huí jiā. Lùshàng, ràng tāmen yùdào zuìhòu yí cì kǔnàn.
Eight guardians, please carry them home. And on the way, let them meet their very last trial.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does the Buddha say the first scrolls were blank?
“太容易得到的东西，人们不会看重”
- What did Ananda and Kashyapa really want?
“我们只是想吃一顿好饭”
- What does Tang Seng give to the two monks?
“只有这个金钵”
- What does Bajie worry about after the bowl is given away?
“我们要用手吃吗”
- What does Guanyin find when she counts the trials?
“少了一次”