Journey to the West: The Four Pilgrims · chapter 13 of 25
The Old Abbot's Tears
老和尚哭了
At the Guanyin Temple, Wukong rings the bell, teases a 270-year-old abbot and shows off the Buddha's cassock, and that night the greedy monks start making plans.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 那天下午，观音院的老和尚请唐僧喝茶。悟空没事做，在院子里走来走去。
Nà tiān xiàwǔ, Guānyīn Yuàn de lǎo héshang qǐng Táng Sēng hē chá. Wùkōng méi shì zuò, zài yuànzi lǐ zǒu lái zǒu qù.
That afternoon, the old monk of the Guanyin Temple invited Tang Seng in for tea. Wukong had nothing to do and wandered around the courtyard.
- Sun Wukong 喝茶？老孙不爱喝茶。老孙去打钟玩！
Hē chá? Lǎo Sūn bú ài hē chá. Lǎo Sūn qù dǎ zhōng wán!
Tea? Old Sun doesn't care for tea. I'll go and ring the bell for fun!
- Tang Seng 悟空！别打了！
Wùkōng! Bié dǎ le!
Wukong! Stop ringing it!
Chapter 13 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of Journey to the West: The Four Pilgrims (chapters 1–5) is free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Sun Wukong 真好听！再打十下！
Zhēn hǎotīng! Zài dǎ shí xià!
It sounds great! Ten more!
- the Old Abbot 老爷，老爷！别打了！我的耳朵……
Lǎoye, lǎoye! Bié dǎ le! Wǒ de ěrduo…
Sir, sir! Please stop! My ears...
- Sun Wukong 老和尚，你走得这么慢，多大了？
Lǎo héshang, nǐ zǒu de zhème màn, duō dà le?
Old monk, you walk so slowly. How old are you?
- the Old Abbot 我今年二百七十岁了！
Wǒ jīnnián èrbǎi qīshí suì le!
I am two hundred and seventy this year!
- Sun Wukong 二百七十？他还是老孙孙子的孙子呢！
Èrbǎi qīshí? Tā háishi Lǎo Sūn sūnzi de sūnzi ne!
Two hundred and seventy? He's just Old Sun's grandson's grandson!
- Tang Seng 悟空！不要这样说话！
Wùkōng! Bú yào zhèyàng shuōhuà!
Wukong! Don't talk like that!
- the Old Abbot 老爷说有宝贝？我也有！你们看：红的，黄的，金的……好几百件袈裟！
Lǎoye shuō yǒu bǎobèi? Wǒ yě yǒu! Nǐmen kàn: hóng de, huáng de, jīn de… hǎo jǐ bǎi jiàn jiāshā!
You say you have a treasure, sir? So do I! Look: red ones, yellow ones, gold ones... hundreds of cassocks!
- Sun Wukong 这些也叫宝贝？我们的袈裟，比这些都好看！
Zhèxiē yě jiào bǎobèi? Wǒmen de jiāshā, bǐ zhèxiē dōu hǎokàn!
You call these treasures? Our cassock is finer than all of them!
- Tang Seng 悟空，宝贝不要拿给别人看。有的人看了，就会想要。
Wùkōng, bǎobèi bú yào ná gěi biérén kàn. Yǒude rén kàn le, jiù huì xiǎng yào.
Wukong, don't show treasures to other people. Some people see them, and then they want them.
- Sun Wukong 怕什么？有老孙在！
Pà shénme? Yǒu Lǎo Sūn zài!
What's there to fear? Old Sun is here!
- Narrator 悟空打开包，拿出了佛祖的袈裟。房间里马上都是红红的光。
Wùkōng dǎkāi bāo, ná chū le Fózǔ de jiāshā. Fángjiān lǐ mǎshàng dōu shì hónghóng de guāng.
Wukong opened the bundle and took out the Buddha's cassock. At once the room was full of red light.
- the Old Abbot 天哪……这光……这才是宝贝！
Tiān na… zhè guāng… zhè cái shì bǎobèi!
Heavens... this light... now that is a treasure!
- Sun Wukong 怎么样？比你那几百件好看吧？
Zěnmeyàng? Bǐ nǐ nà jǐ bǎi jiàn hǎokàn ba?
Well? Finer than your few hundred, isn't it?
- Tang Seng 老人家，快起来！
Lǎorénjia, kuài qǐlai!
Please, sir, get up!
- the Old Abbot 老爷，天黑了，我的眼睛不好。让我拿回去，看一个晚上吧……
Lǎoye, tiān hēi le, wǒ de yǎnjing bù hǎo. Ràng wǒ ná huíqu, kàn yí gè wǎnshang ba…
Sir, it's getting dark, and my eyes are poor. Let me take it to my room and look at it for just one night...
- Tang Seng 这……悟空，现在怎么办？
Zhè… Wùkōng, xiànzài zěnme bàn?
Well... Wukong, what do we do now?
- Sun Wukong 借他一个晚上，怕什么？明天早上，老孙去拿回来！
Jiè tā yí gè wǎnshang, pà shénme? Míngtiān zǎoshang, Lǎo Sūn qù ná huílai!
Lend it to him for one night. What's the harm? Tomorrow morning, Old Sun will go and get it back!
- Tang Seng 好吧。只看一个晚上，明天早上一定还给我们。
Hǎo ba. Zhǐ kàn yí gè wǎnshang, míngtiān zǎoshang yídìng huán gěi wǒmen.
All right. Just one night, and you must give it back to us tomorrow morning.
- the Old Abbot 我活了二百七十岁，没见过这么好的袈裟……明天早上，它就走了……
Wǒ huó le èrbǎi qīshí suì, méi jiàn guo zhème hǎo de jiāshā… Míngtiān zǎoshang, tā jiù zǒu le…
Two hundred and seventy years I've lived, and I've never seen a cassock this fine... Tomorrow morning it will be gone...
- Narrator 一个小和尚说：“师父别哭。打死他们，袈裟就成您的了！”
Yí gè xiǎo héshang shuō: “Shīfu bié kū. Dǎsǐ tāmen, jiāshā jiù chéng nín de le!”
A young monk said, “Don't cry, Master. Kill them, and the cassock is yours!”
- the Old Abbot 打死他们？那个猴子……不好打吧？
Dǎsǐ tāmen? Nàge hóuzi… bù hǎo dǎ ba?
Kill them? That monkey... he won't be easy to beat, will he?
- Narrator 又一个小和尚说：“不用打。拿柴来，放火烧了他们的房子，就说是不小心！”
Yòu yí gè xiǎo héshang shuō: “Bú yòng dǎ. Ná chái lái, fànghuǒ shāo le tāmen de fángzi, jiù shuō shì bù xiǎoxīn!”
Another young monk said, “No need to fight. Fetch firewood, burn down the house they're sleeping in, and say it was an accident!”
- the Old Abbot 好……好！快去拿柴！
Hǎo… hǎo! Kuài qù ná chái!
Yes... yes! Go and fetch the firewood, quickly!
- Narrator 很晚了。唐僧睡了，悟空还没睡。
Hěn wǎn le. Táng Sēng shuì le, Wùkōng hái méi shuì.
It was very late. Tang Seng was asleep, but Wukong was still awake.
- Sun Wukong 外边有人。他们在干什么？
Wàibian yǒu rén. Tāmen zài gàn shénme?
Someone's outside. What are they doing?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does Wukong laugh at the old monk?
“二百七十？他还是老孙孙子的孙子呢！”
- What does Tang Seng warn Wukong about?
“宝贝不要拿给别人看。有的人看了，就会想要。”
- What happens when Wukong takes out the Buddha's cassock?
“房间里马上都是红红的光。”
- Why does the old monk ask to take the cassock to his room?
“让我拿回去，看一个晚上吧……”
- What is the second young monk's plan?
“放火烧了他们的房子，就说是不小心！”