Journey to the West: The Monkey King · chapter 1 of 8
The Stone Monkey
石猴
High on Flower Fruit Mountain sits a very old stone. One morning it cracks open, and something jumps out with gold light in its eyes.
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Read what you hear
- Narrator 很久很久以前，东海边上有一座花果山。
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, Dōng Hǎi biānshang yǒu yí zuò Huāguǒ Shān.
Long, long ago, beside the Eastern Sea, there stood Flower Fruit Mountain.
- Narrator 山上有一块大石头。它天天看着太阳，看着月亮。
Shān shang yǒu yí kuài dà shítou. Tā tiāntiān kànzhe tàiyáng, kànzhe yuèliang.
On top of the mountain sat a big stone. Day after day, it watched the sun and the moon.
- Little Monkey 爷爷，爷爷！你听，石头里有声音！
Yéye, yéye! Nǐ tīng, shítou lǐ yǒu shēngyīn!
Grandpa, Grandpa! Listen, there's a sound coming from inside the stone!
- Old Monkey 石头里？别开玩笑了。石头怎么会有声音？
Shítou lǐ? Bié kāi wánxiào le. Shítou zěnme huì yǒu shēngyīn?
From inside the stone? Don't be silly. How could a stone make a sound?
- Narrator 一天早上，大石头忽然开了！里边跳出来一只石猴。
Yì tiān zǎoshang, dà shítou hūrán kāi le! Lǐbian tiào chūlái yì zhī Shí Hóu.
Then one morning, the big stone suddenly split open, and out jumped a stone monkey!
- Little Monkey 你们看！他的眼睛里有金光！
Nǐmen kàn! Tā de yǎnjing lǐ yǒu jīnguāng!
Look! There's golden light in his eyes!
- Old Monkey 天啊！我这么老了，还没看见过这样的事！
Tiān a! Wǒ zhème lǎo le, hái méi kànjiàn guo zhèyàng de shì!
Heavens! Old as I am, I've never seen anything like it!
- Sun Wukong 这是哪儿？你们是谁？
Zhè shì nǎr? Nǐmen shì shéi?
Where am I? Who are you?
- Old Monkey 孩子，这是花果山，我们都是猴子。你叫什么名字？
Háizi, zhè shì Huāguǒ Shān, wǒmen dōu shì hóuzi. Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
Child, this is Flower Fruit Mountain, and we're all monkeys. What's your name?
- Sun Wukong 名字？我不知道……我是从石头里来的。
Míngzi? Wǒ bù zhīdào… wǒ shì cóng shítou lǐ lái de.
My name? I don't know… I came out of a stone.
- Little Monkey 从石头里来的猴子？那我们叫你石猴吧！
Cóng shítou lǐ lái de hóuzi? Nà wǒmen jiào nǐ Shí Hóu ba!
A monkey from a stone? Then we'll call you Stone Monkey!
- Sun Wukong 石猴？好！我是石猴！你们跟我一起玩儿，好吗？
Shí Hóu? Hǎo! Wǒ shì Shí Hóu! Nǐmen gēn wǒ yìqǐ wánr, hǎo ma?
Stone Monkey? I like it! I'm Stone Monkey! Will you play with me?
- Old Monkey 好啊！来，我们一起去吃水果！
Hǎo a! Lái, wǒmen yìqǐ qù chī shuǐguǒ!
Of course! Come on, let's all go and eat some fruit!
- Narrator 从那天起，石猴天天和猴子们一起玩儿。
Cóng nà tiān qǐ, Shí Hóu tiāntiān hé hóuzimen yìqǐ wánr.
From that day on, Stone Monkey played with the other monkeys every day.
- Sun Wukong 有朋友，有水果，还有花……花果山真好！
Yǒu péngyou, yǒu shuǐguǒ, hái yǒu huā… Huāguǒ Shān zhēn hǎo!
Friends, fruit, and flowers too… Flower Fruit Mountain is wonderful!
- Little Monkey 今天好热啊！我们去河里洗个澡吧！
Jīntiān hǎo rè a! Wǒmen qù hé lǐ xǐ gè zǎo ba!
It's so hot today! Let's go for a dip in the river!
- Old Monkey 这河里的水，是从哪儿来的呢？
Zhè hé lǐ de shuǐ, shì cóng nǎr lái de ne?
I wonder where the water in this river comes from.
- Sun Wukong 你们听！上边的水，声音很大！
Nǐmen tīng! Shàngbian de shuǐ, shēngyīn hěn dà!
Listen! The water up there is really loud!
- Little Monkey 啊！是一个大瀑布！
A! Shì yí gè dà pùbù!
Oh! It's a huge waterfall!
- Old Monkey 这么大的瀑布……后边有什么呢？
Zhème dà de pùbù… hòubian yǒu shénme ne?
Such a big waterfall… I wonder what's behind it?
- Sun Wukong 我也想知道！我们去看看吧！
Wǒ yě xiǎng zhīdào! Wǒmen qù kànkan ba!
I want to know too! Let's go and see!
What changed in the story?
- What does the big stone do day after day?
“它天天看着太阳，看着月亮。”
- Why does the little monkey call out to Grandpa?
“你听，石头里有声音！”
- What is special about the new monkey's eyes?
“他的眼睛里有金光！”
- Why do the monkeys call him Stone Monkey?
“我是从石头里来的……那我们叫你石猴吧！”
- What do the monkeys find up the river?
“啊！是一个大瀑布！”