Journey to the West: The Four Pilgrims · chapter 6 of 8
The Flowing Sand River
流沙河
A river eight hundred li wide, no boat, and a monster who won't let anyone cross. At last Bajie gets to show off, and Wukong gets to be impatient.
Read what you hear
- Sun Wukong 师父，快上来！老孙背你走！
Shīfu, kuài shànglái! Lǎo Sūn bēi nǐ zǒu!
Master, quick, climb on! Old Sun will carry you out of here!
- Narrator 悟空背起唐僧，跳到了高高的山上。河边只有八戒和妖怪了。
Wùkōng bēiqǐ Táng Sēng, tiào dào le gāogāo de shān shang. Hé biān zhǐ yǒu Bājiè hé yāoguài le.
Wukong swung Tang Seng onto his back and leapt high up the hillside. That left only Bajie and the monster by the river.
- Sha Wujing 哪里来的和尚？这是我的河！谁也不能过去！
Nǎlǐ lái de héshang? Zhè shì wǒ de hé! Shéi yě bù néng guòqù!
Where did you monks come from? This is my river! Nobody crosses it!
Chapter 6 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Journey to the West: The Four Pilgrims 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 and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Zhu Bajie 你的河？老猪管天河的时候，你还不知道在哪儿呢！看我的钉耙！
Nǐ de hé? Lǎo Zhū guǎn Tiān Hé de shíhou, nǐ hái bù zhīdào zài nǎr ne! Kàn wǒ de dīngpá!
Your river? When Old Pig was in charge of the Heavenly River, nobody had even heard of you! Take that!
- Narrator 他们从河里打到河边，又从河边打到河里，谁也打不过谁。
Tāmen cóng hé lǐ dǎ dào hé biān, yòu cóng hé biān dǎ dào hé lǐ, shéi yě dǎ bu guò shéi.
They fought from the river onto the bank and from the bank back into the river, and neither could beat the other.
- Sun Wukong 师父，你坐着别动！妖怪，老孙来了，看棒！
Shīfu, nǐ zuòzhe bié dòng! Yāoguài, Lǎo Sūn lái le, kàn bàng!
Master, sit tight and don't move! Monster, Old Sun is coming! Here's my staff!
- Sha Wujing 又来一只猴子？我不跟你们打了！
Yòu lái yì zhī hóuzi? Wǒ bù gēn nǐmen dǎ le!
Now a monkey, too? I'm done fighting you!
- Sun Wukong 怎么又是一个不出来的？这里的妖怪，都喜欢在水里睡觉吗？
Zěnme yòu shì yí gè bù chūlái de? Zhèlǐ de yāoguài, dōu xǐhuan zài shuǐ lǐ shuìjiào ma?
Not another one who won't come out! Do all the monsters around here like napping underwater?
- Zhu Bajie 猴哥，你下水去找他啊！
Hóugē, nǐ xià shuǐ qù zhǎo tā a!
Go on, Brother Monkey, dive in and get him!
- Sun Wukong 这个……老孙在水里，不太好打。
Zhège… Lǎo Sūn zài shuǐ lǐ, bú tài hǎo dǎ.
Well... Old Sun isn't very good at fighting in the water.
- Zhu Bajie 哈哈！天上地下，你都厉害，就是水里不行吧？水里的事，交给老猪！
Hāhā! Tiānshàng dìxià, nǐ dōu lìhai, jiù shì shuǐ lǐ bù xíng ba? Shuǐ lǐ de shì, jiāo gěi Lǎo Zhū!
Ha ha! In heaven and on earth you're a champion, but in the water, not so much, eh? Leave the water to Old Pig!
- Sun Wukong 好！呆子，你下去，让他追你上来。老孙在河边等着，一棒打他！
Hǎo! Dāizi, nǐ xiàqù, ràng tā zhuī nǐ shànglái. Lǎo Sūn zài hé biān děngzhe, yí bàng dǎ tā!
All right! Dummy, you go down and get him to chase you up here. Old Sun will wait on the bank and whack him!
- Narrator 八戒跳进水里，和妖怪打了起来。打着打着，他就往上跑。
Bājiè tiào jìn shuǐ lǐ, hé yāoguài dǎ le qǐlái. Dǎzhe dǎzhe, tā jiù wǎng shàng pǎo.
Bajie jumped into the water and started fighting the monster. Then, in the middle of the fight, he turned and swam for the top.
- Zhu Bajie 来啊！来啊！你追不上老猪！
Lái a! Lái a! Nǐ zhuī bu shàng Lǎo Zhū!
Come on! Come on! You can't catch Old Pig!
- Sha Wujing 别跑！你这头猪，往哪里跑！
Bié pǎo! Nǐ zhè tóu zhū, wǎng nǎlǐ pǎo!
Stop right there! Where do you think you're going, you pig?
- Narrator 妖怪刚出水，悟空就跳了过去。可是太早了，妖怪又回到了水里。
Yāoguài gāng chū shuǐ, Wùkōng jiù tiào le guòqù. Kěshì tài zǎo le, yāoguài yòu huí dào le shuǐ lǐ.
The moment the monster broke the surface, Wukong leapt at him. But it was too soon, and the monster dived straight back down.
- Zhu Bajie 你这个急猴子！我马上就把他带上来了，你急什么？
Nǐ zhège jí hóuzi! Wǒ mǎshàng jiù bǎ tā dài shànglái le, nǐ jí shénme?
You impatient monkey! I nearly had him up here! What was the big hurry?
- Sun Wukong 你太慢了！你的大肚子，在水里游不动吧？
Nǐ tài màn le! Nǐ de dà dùzi, zài shuǐ lǐ yóu bu dòng ba?
You were too slow! That big belly of yours can hardly swim, can it?
- Zhu Bajie 我的肚子大，你的脾气大！
Wǒ de dùzi dà, nǐ de píqi dà!
My belly may be big, but your temper's even bigger!
- Narrator 天快黑了。河边的石头上写着：流沙河，八百里。
Tiān kuài hēi le. Hé biān de shítou shang xiězhe: Liúshā Hé, bābǎi lǐ.
Dusk was falling. On a stone by the river were the words: Flowing Sand River, eight hundred li.
- Tang Seng 八百里的流沙河，没有船，也不能过去……这可怎么办？
Bābǎi lǐ de Liúshā Hé, méiyǒu chuán, yě bù néng guòqù… zhè kě zěnme bàn?
Eight hundred li of Flowing Sand River, no boat, and no way across... Whatever shall we do?
- Sun Wukong 师父，别急！明天早上，老孙去南海，问问观音菩萨！
Shīfu, bié jí! Míngtiān zǎoshang, Lǎo Sūn qù Nán Hǎi, wènwen Guānyīn Púsà!
Don't worry, Master! First thing tomorrow, Old Sun will go to the Southern Sea and ask Guanyin!
- Zhu Bajie 好！那我们先吃饭吧，老猪饿了！
Hǎo! Nà wǒmen xiān chīfàn ba, Lǎo Zhū è le!
Great! Then let's eat first. Old Pig is hungry!
- Sun Wukong 呆子，你除了吃，还会做什么？
Dāizi, nǐ chúle chī, hái huì zuò shénme?
Dummy, is there anything you can do besides eat?
- Zhu Bajie 还会睡觉！
Hái huì shuìjiào!
Sleep!
- Narrator 这时，在河水最深的地方，那个妖怪一个人坐着。
Zhèshí, zài héshuǐ zuì shēn de dìfang, nàge yāoguài yí gè rén zuòzhe.
Meanwhile, at the very bottom of the river, the monster sat all alone.
- Sha Wujing 今天来了一个和尚，还有一只猴子，一头猪……他们是谁呢？
Jīntiān lái le yí gè héshang, hái yǒu yì zhī hóuzi, yì tóu zhū… tāmen shì shéi ne?
Today a monk came by, and a monkey, and a pig... Who could they be?
- Sha Wujing 观音菩萨说的取经人，我等了很多很多年了……他什么时候才来呢？
Guānyīn Púsà shuō de qǔjīngrén, wǒ děng le hěn duō hěn duō nián le… tā shénme shíhou cái lái ne?
The pilgrim Guanyin promised me... I've waited so many, many years. When is he ever going to come?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does the river monster say about the river?
“这是我的河！谁也不能过去！”
- Why does Bajie go into the water instead of Wukong?
“老孙在水里，不太好打。”……“水里的事，交给老猪！”
- What goes wrong with their plan?
“可是太早了，妖怪又回到了水里。”
- What does Bajie want to do when night falls?
“我们先吃饭吧，老猪饿了！”
- What has the monster been waiting for all these years?
“观音菩萨说的取经人，我等了很多很多年了……”