Journey to the West: The Four Pilgrims · chapter 3 of 25
The Baby on the River
河上的孩子
Long before he was a monk, a baby floated down a river with a letter written in blood. Eighteen years later, he goes to find the mother who sent him.
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- Narrator 很多年以前，在一条大河边，温娇看着她刚生的孩子。
Hěn duō nián yǐqián, zài yì tiáo dà hé biān, Wēnjiāo kànzhe tā gāng shēng de háizi.
Many years before, beside a great river, Wenjiao gazed at her newborn baby.
- Wenjiao 孩子，你爸爸叫陈光蕊，是个好人。他还放走过一条金色的大鱼。
Háizi, nǐ bàba jiào Chén Guāngruǐ, shì gè hǎorén. Tā hái fàngzǒu guo yì tiáo jīnsè de dà yú.
My child, your father's name was Chen Guangrui. He was a good man. He once set a big golden fish free.
- Wenjiao 可是那天夜里，在船上，刘洪把他推到了河里。他就那样沉了……
Kěshì nà tiān yèlǐ, zài chuán shàng, Liú Hóng bǎ tā tuī dào le hé lǐ. Tā jiù nàyàng chén le…
But one night on the boat, Liu Hong pushed him into the river. And he sank, just like that...
- Wenjiao 现在，刘洪说他是陈光蕊，还要妈妈跟着他。
Xiànzài, Liú Hóng shuō tā shì Chén Guāngruǐ, hái yào māma gēnzhe tā.
Now Liu Hong says he is Chen Guangrui, and he keeps Mama for himself.
- Wenjiao 他回来了……他说，明天要你死！
Tā huílai le… tā shuō, míngtiān yào nǐ sǐ!
He's back... He says that tomorrow you must die!
- Wenjiao 不，妈妈要救你。妈妈用血写一封信，写上你是谁。
Bù, māma yào jiù nǐ. Māma yòng xuè xiě yì fēng xìn, xiě shàng nǐ shì shéi.
No. Mama will save you. I'll write a letter in my own blood and write down who you are.
- Wenjiao 你左脚的小脚指头……妈妈要咬掉，以后就能找到你。
Nǐ zuǒ jiǎo de xiǎo jiǎozhǐtou… māma yào yǎo diào, yǐhòu jiù néng zhǎodào nǐ.
The little toe on your left foot... Mama will bite it off. Then one day I'll be able to find you.
- Wenjiao 妈妈把你放在木板上……孩子，妈妈不能留你。河水啊，带他走吧！
Māma bǎ nǐ fàng zài mùbǎn shàng… háizi, māma bù néng liú nǐ. Héshuǐ a, dài tā zǒu ba!
Mama is laying you on this plank... My child, Mama can't keep you. River, carry him away!
- Narrator 小木板漂啊漂，漂到了金山寺。一位老师父，给孩子起名叫江流。
Xiǎo mùbǎn piāo a piāo, piāo dào le Jīnshān Sì. Yí wèi lǎo shīfu, gěi háizi qǐ míng jiào Jiāngliú.
The little plank drifted and drifted, all the way to Golden Mountain Temple. An old monk there named the baby Jiangliu, which means “river flow.”
- Tang Seng 我小时候叫江流，现在叫玄奘，十八岁了。我住在金山寺，没有爸爸，也没有妈妈。
Wǒ xiǎoshíhou jiào Jiāngliú, xiànzài jiào Xuánzàng, shíbā suì le. Wǒ zhù zài Jīnshān Sì, méiyǒu bàba, yě méiyǒu māma.
When I was little, they called me Jiangliu. Now my name is Xuanzang, and I'm eighteen. I live at Golden Mountain Temple, with no father and no mother.
- Tang Seng 别的和尚都笑我，说我不知道自己的妈妈是谁……
Bié de héshang dōu xiào wǒ, shuō wǒ bù zhīdào zìjǐ de māma shì shéi…
The other monks laugh at me. They say I don't even know who my own mother is...
- Tang Seng 师父给了我一封信……是用血写的！“你爸爸是陈光蕊，妈妈是温娇……”
Shīfu gěi le wǒ yì fēng xìn… shì yòng xuè xiě de! “Nǐ bàba shì Chén Guāngruǐ, māma shì Wēnjiāo…”
My master gave me a letter... written in blood! “Your father is Chen Guangrui, your mother is Wenjiao...”
- Tang Seng 妈妈还在刘洪的家里？我要去找她！
Māma hái zài Liú Hóng de jiā lǐ? Wǒ yào qù zhǎo tā!
My mother is still in Liu Hong's house? I'm going to find her!
- Wenjiao 小和尚，你从哪里来？你的爸爸妈妈，叫什么名字？
Xiǎo héshang, nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái? Nǐ de bàba māma, jiào shénme míngzi?
Little monk, where are you from? What are your father and mother called?
- Tang Seng 我从金山寺来。我妈妈……叫温娇。
Wǒ cóng Jīnshān Sì lái. Wǒ māma… jiào Wēnjiāo.
I come from Golden Mountain Temple. My mother... is called Wenjiao.
- Wenjiao 温娇……是我！你的左脚，快给我看看！
Wēnjiāo… shì wǒ! Nǐ de zuǒ jiǎo, kuài gěi wǒ kànkan!
Wenjiao... that's me! Your left foot, quick, let me see it!
- Tang Seng 我的左脚？从小就少了一个小脚指头……
Wǒ de zuǒ jiǎo? Cóngxiǎo jiù shǎo le yí gè xiǎo jiǎozhǐtou…
My left foot? It's been missing its little toe since I was a baby...
- Wenjiao 是妈妈咬的……孩子！我的孩子！妈妈等了你十八年！
Shì māma yǎo de… háizi! Wǒ de háizi! Māma děng le nǐ shíbā nián!
Mama bit it... My child! My own child! I've waited eighteen years for you!
- Tang Seng 妈妈！
Māma!
Mother!
- Wenjiao 让妈妈好好看看你……你长得真像你爸爸。
Ràng māma hǎohǎo kànkan nǐ… nǐ zhǎng de zhēn xiàng nǐ bàba.
Let Mama have a good look at you... You look just like your father.
- Tang Seng 妈妈，我找到你了。
Māma, wǒ zhǎodào nǐ le.
Mother, I found you.
- Narrator 后来，温娇的爸爸带了很多人来，抓了刘洪。
Hòulái, Wēnjiāo de bàba dài le hěn duō rén lái, zhuā le Liú Hóng.
Later, Wenjiao's father came with many men and seized Liu Hong.
- Narrator 那天，河里走出来一个人。是陈光蕊！他还活着！
Nà tiān, hé lǐ zǒu chūlai yí gè rén. Shì Chén Guāngruǐ! Tā hái huózhe!
That same day, a man walked up out of the river. It was Chen Guangrui! He was alive!
- Tang Seng 爸爸？你没有死？
Bàba? Nǐ méiyǒu sǐ?
Father? You didn't die?
- Wenjiao 光蕊说，他放走的那条金色的鱼，是河里的龙王。是龙王救了他！
Guāngruǐ shuō, tā fàngzǒu de nà tiáo jīnsè de yú, shì hé lǐ de Lóngwáng. Shì Lóngwáng jiù le tā!
Guangrui says the golden fish he set free was the Dragon King of the river. The Dragon King saved him!
- Tang Seng 爸爸，妈妈，我还是想做和尚。我去长安，给人念经。
Bàba, māma, wǒ háishi xiǎng zuò héshang. Wǒ qù Cháng'ān, gěi rén niànjīng.
Father, Mother, I still want to be a monk. I'll go to Chang'an and read the scriptures for people.
- Wenjiao 好孩子，去吧。好好念经。
Hǎo háizi, qù ba. Hǎohǎo niànjīng.
Good boy. Go, then. Read your scriptures well.
- Narrator 后来，唐王要找最好的和尚，给死去的人念经。大家都说：“玄奘！”
Hòulái, Táng Wáng yào zhǎo zuì hǎo de héshang, gěi sǐqù de rén niànjīng. Dàjiā dōu shuō: “Xuánzàng!”
Years later, the Tang Emperor wanted the best monk in the land to read the scriptures for the dead. Everyone said the same name: “Xuanzang!”
- Tang Seng 我？我不过是一个从河上漂来的和尚。
Wǒ? Wǒ búguò shì yí gè cóng hé shàng piāo lái de héshang.
Me? I'm only a monk who came floating down a river.
What changed in the story?
- What good deed did Chen Guangrui once do?
“他还放走过一条金色的大鱼”
- What does Wenjiao leave so she can find her son one day?
“妈妈用血写一封信，写上你是谁……你左脚的小脚指头……妈妈要咬掉，以后就能找到你”
- Why do the other monks laugh at Xuanzang?
“说我不知道自己的妈妈是谁”
- How does Wenjiao know the young monk is her son?
“我妈妈……叫温娇……从小就少了一个小脚指头”
- Who saved Chen Guangrui in the river?
“他放走的那条金色的鱼，是河里的龙王。是龙王救了他”