Journey to the West: The Monkey King · chapter 4 of 8
Finding a Teacher
找师父
The Monkey King sails into a world of people, clothes and towns. Somewhere out there lives an immortal. Can a monkey find him?
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Narrator 美猴王坐着小船，过了一个大海，来到了有人的地方。
Měi Hóuwáng zuòzhe xiǎochuán, guò le yí gè dàhǎi, láidào le yǒu rén de dìfang.
The Monkey King sailed across a great sea and came to a land where people lived.
- Sun Wukong 这里的人都穿衣服。我也穿上衣服，学说人话！
Zhèlǐ de rén dōu chuān yīfu. Wǒ yě chuānshang yīfu, xué shuō rénhuà!
Everyone here wears clothes. I'll put on clothes too, and learn to talk like people!
- Sun Wukong 一年，两年……八年，九年……神仙在哪儿呢？
Yì nián, liǎng nián… bā nián, jiǔ nián… Shénxiān zài nǎr ne?
One year, two years… eight years, nine… Where are the immortals?
- Narrator 他又过了一个大海，来到了一座高山上。山上的树很高，云很白。
Tā yòu guò le yí gè dàhǎi, láidào le yí zuò gāoshān shang. Shān shang de shù hěn gāo, yún hěn bái.
He crossed another sea and came to a high mountain, where the trees were tall and the clouds were white.
- Sun Wukong 这里好安静……神仙会住在这里吗？
Zhèlǐ hǎo ānjìng… shénxiān huì zhù zài zhèlǐ ma?
It's so quiet here… Could an immortal live here?
- Master Subodhi 门外的猴子，进来吧。
Ménwài de hóuzi, jìnlái ba.
You, the monkey outside the gate. Come in.
- Sun Wukong 他怎么知道我来了？
Tā zěnme zhīdào wǒ lái le?
How did he know I was here?
- Narrator 说话的，是须菩提祖师。美猴王马上跪在地上。
Shuōhuà de, shì Xūpútí Zǔshī. Měi Hóuwáng mǎshàng guì zài dìshang.
The voice belonged to Master Subodhi. The Monkey King dropped to his knees at once.
- Sun Wukong 师父！师父！请您教我本领！
Shīfu! Shīfu! Qǐng nín jiào wǒ běnlǐng!
Master! Master! Please teach me!
- Master Subodhi 你从哪里来？
Nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?
Where do you come from?
- Sun Wukong 我从东海的花果山来。
Wǒ cóng Dōng Hǎi de Huāguǒ Shān lái.
From Flower Fruit Mountain, by the Eastern Sea.
- Master Subodhi 花果山？那里很远很远，中间有两个大海！你怎么来的？
Huāguǒ Shān? Nàlǐ hěn yuǎn hěn yuǎn, zhōngjiān yǒu liǎng gè dàhǎi! Nǐ zěnme lái de?
Flower Fruit Mountain? That's very far away, with two great seas in between! How did you get here?
- Sun Wukong 我坐小船，走了十几年，才找到这里！
Wǒ zuò xiǎochuán, zǒu le shí jǐ nián, cái zhǎodào zhèlǐ!
I came by little boat, and I traveled for more than ten years to find this place!
- Master Subodhi 好。你姓什么？
Hǎo. Nǐ xìng shénme?
Good. What's your family name?
- Sun Wukong 我没有姓。我没有爸爸，也没有妈妈。
Wǒ méiyǒu xìng. Wǒ méiyǒu bàba, yě méiyǒu māma.
I don't have one. I have no father and no mother.
- Master Subodhi 那你是从树上长出来的吗？
Nà nǐ shì cóng shù shang zhǎng chūlái de ma?
Then did you grow on a tree?
- Sun Wukong 不是！我是从石头里跳出来的！
Bú shì! Wǒ shì cóng shítou lǐ tiào chūlái de!
No! I jumped out of a stone!
- Master Subodhi 好一只石猴！那你就姓孙吧。
Hǎo yì zhī Shí Hóu! Nà nǐ jiù xìng Sūn ba.
What a stone monkey! Then your family name will be Sun.
- Master Subodhi 我再给你一个名字：悟空。“悟”是“明白”的意思。
Wǒ zài gěi nǐ yí gè míngzi: Wùkōng. “Wù” shì “míngbai” de yìsi.
And I'll give you a name, too: Wukong. “Wu” means “to understand.”
- Sun Wukong 孙悟空！孙悟空！我有名字了！
Sūn Wùkōng! Sūn Wùkōng! Wǒ yǒu míngzi le!
Sun Wukong! Sun Wukong! I have a name!
- Master Subodhi 悟空，你想学什么？
Wùkōng, nǐ xiǎng xué shénme?
Wukong, what do you want to learn?
- Sun Wukong 我想学不老的本领！师父，我什么都想学！
Wǒ xiǎng xué bù lǎo de běnlǐng! Shīfu, wǒ shénme dōu xiǎng xué!
I want to learn how never to grow old! Master, I want to learn everything!
What changed in the story?
- What does the Monkey King learn in the land of people?
“我也穿上衣服，学说人话！”
- How does the master greet him at the gate?
“门外的猴子，进来吧。”
- How long did it take the Monkey King to find the master?
“走了十几年，才找到这里！”
- Why doesn't the Monkey King have a family name?
“我没有姓。我没有爸爸，也没有妈妈。”
- What does “Wu” in his new name, Wukong, mean?
“‘悟’是‘明白’的意思。”