Journey to the West: The Monkey King · chapter 9 of 25
Seventy-Two Changes
七十二变
Wukong tries to fly and the whole school laughs, until the master teaches him a cloud like no other. Then the students dare him to show off.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 太阳下山了。洞前的松树下边，祖师和弟子们都看着悟空。
Tàiyáng xià shān le. Dòng qián de sōngshù xiàbian, Zǔshī hé dìzǐmen dōu kànzhe Wùkōng.
The sun had gone down. Under the pines in front of the cave, the master and all the students were watching Wukong.
- Sun Wukong 飞？弟子会！师父，您看着！
Fēi? Dìzǐ huì! Shīfu, nín kànzhe!
Fly? I can! Master, watch this!
- Narrator 悟空一跳，跳到了云上。他在天上飞了好一会儿，才回到大家前边。
Wùkōng yí tiào, tiào dào le yún shang. Tā zài tiānshàng fēi le hǎo yíhuìr, cái huí dào dàjiā qiánbian.
Wukong leapt up onto a cloud. He flew about the sky for quite a while before he came back down in front of everyone.
Chapter 9 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapters 1–3 of Journey to the West: The Monkey King are free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Sun Wukong 怎么样？师父，我飞了这么久！
Zěnmeyàng? Shīfu, wǒ fēi le zhème jiǔ!
How about that, Master? I flew for ages!
- Master Subodhi 哈哈！这不叫飞，这叫在云上爬！飞了半天，还没飞出三里！
Hāhā! Zhè bú jiào fēi, zhè jiào zài yún shang pá! Fēi le bàntiān, hái méi fēichū sān lǐ!
Ha ha! That isn't flying, that's crawling along the clouds! All that time, and you didn't even get three li!
- Fellow student 在云上爬？哈哈，爬云的猴子！
Zài yún shang pá? Hāhā, pá yún de hóuzi!
Crawling on the clouds? Ha ha, a cloud-crawling monkey!
- Master Subodhi 神仙飞起来，早上在北海，晚上到南海。一天，四个大海都能飞过！
Shénxiān fēi qǐlai, zǎoshang zài Běi Hǎi, wǎnshang dào Nán Hǎi. Yì tiān, sì gè dàhǎi dōu néng fēi guò!
When immortals fly, they're at the Northern Sea in the morning and the Southern Sea by evening. In one day they cross all four seas!
- Sun Wukong 一天飞过四个大海？太难了，太难了！
Yì tiān fēi guò sì gè dàhǎi? Tài nán le, tài nán le!
Cross four seas in one day? That's too hard, much too hard!
- Master Subodhi 你真想学，就不难。
Nǐ zhēn xiǎng xué, jiù bù nán.
If you truly want to learn, it isn't hard.
- Sun Wukong 弟子真想学！师父，您就教我吧！
Dìzǐ zhēn xiǎng xué! Shīfu, nín jiù jiāo wǒ ba!
I truly do want to learn! Master, please teach me!
- Master Subodhi 我看你飞的时候，要先跳一下。好，我就教你筋斗云。
Wǒ kàn nǐ fēi de shíhou, yào xiān tiào yíxià. Hǎo, wǒ jiù jiāo nǐ jīndǒuyún.
I noticed that when you take off, you leap first. Very well, then I'll teach you the somersault cloud.
- Master Subodhi 你一跳，一个筋斗，十万八千里！
Nǐ yí tiào, yí gè jīndǒu, shíwàn bāqiān lǐ!
One leap, one somersault: a hundred and eight thousand li!
- Sun Wukong 十万……八千里？我的天！
Shíwàn… bāqiān lǐ? Wǒ de tiān!
A hundred… and eight thousand li? My goodness!
- Fellow student 悟空，以后你可以给人送信！到哪儿都有饭吃！
Wùkōng, yǐhòu nǐ kěyǐ gěi rén sòng xìn! Dào nǎr dōu yǒu fàn chī!
Wukong, you could carry letters for a living! You'd never go hungry anywhere!
- Sun Wukong 一个筋斗……这是哪儿？再一个筋斗……我回来了！哈哈，筋斗云，我会了！
Yí gè jīndǒu… zhè shì nǎr? Zài yí gè jīndǒu… wǒ huílai le! Hāhā, jīndǒuyún, wǒ huì le!
One somersault… where am I? Another somersault… I'm back! Ha ha, I've got the somersault cloud!
- Narrator 几个月以后，弟子们在松树下边说话，悟空也在。
Jǐ gè yuè yǐhòu, dìzǐmen zài sōngshù xiàbian shuōhuà, Wùkōng yě zài.
A few months later, the students were chatting under the pine trees, and Wukong was with them.
- Fellow student 悟空，师父不在。七十二变，你都会了吧？变一个给我们看看！
Wùkōng, shīfu bú zài. Qīshí'èr biàn, nǐ dōu huì le ba? Biàn yí gè gěi wǒmen kànkan!
Wukong, the Master isn't around. You know all seventy-two changes now, don't you? Change into something for us!
- Sun Wukong 七十二变？小事！你们要我变什么，我就变什么！
Qīshí'èr biàn? Xiǎoshì! Nǐmen yào wǒ biàn shénme, wǒ jiù biàn shénme!
Seventy-two changes? Easy! Whatever you want me to become, I'll become!
- Fellow student 那……就变松树吧！你看，这里都是松树。
Nà… jiù biàn sōngshù ba! Nǐ kàn, zhèli dōu shì sōngshù.
Then… turn into a pine tree! Look, there are pine trees all around.
- Sun Wukong 好！你们都看着：变！
Hǎo! Nǐmen dōu kànzhe: biàn!
All right! Watch this: change!
- Fellow student 悟空呢？……啊！他变成松树了！好猴子！好猴子！
Wùkōng ne? … À! Tā biànchéng sōngshù le! Hǎo hóuzi! Hǎo hóuzi!
Where's Wukong? …Ah! He's turned into a pine tree! Good monkey! Good monkey!
- Narrator 大家又叫又笑，声音太大了。
Dàjiā yòu jiào yòu xiào, shēngyīn tài dà le.
Everyone shouted and laughed, much too loudly.
- Sun Wukong 哈哈！我变得像不像？
Hāhā! Wǒ biàn de xiàng bu xiàng?
Ha ha! Did I look like the real thing?
- Master Subodhi 是谁在这里大叫？学本领的人，这样大叫，像什么样子？
Shì shéi zài zhèli dàjiào? Xué běnlǐng de rén, zhèyàng dàjiào, xiàng shénme yàngzi?
Who is shouting out here? People who come to learn, yelling like this? What kind of behavior is that?
- Fellow student 师父……是悟空。我们叫他变松树，他就变了。我们太高兴了，就……
Shīfu… shì Wùkōng. Wǒmen jiào tā biàn sōngshù, tā jiù biàn le. Wǒmen tài gāoxìng le, jiù…
Master… it was Wukong. We asked him to turn into a pine tree, and he did. We were so happy that we…
- Master Subodhi 你们都走吧。
Nǐmen dōu zǒu ba.
All of you, go.
- Master Subodhi 悟空，你过来。
Wùkōng, nǐ guòlai.
Wukong. Come here.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does the master laugh at Wukong's first flight?
“飞了半天，还没飞出三里！”
- Why does the master choose the somersault cloud for Wukong?
“我看你飞的时候，要先跳一下。好，我就教你筋斗云。”
- How far does one somersault carry him?
“一个筋斗，十万八千里！”
- What do the students joke Wukong could do for a living?
“以后你可以给人送信！到哪儿都有饭吃！”
- Why does the master come out of the cave?
“大家又叫又笑，声音太大了。……是谁在这里大叫？”