Journey to the West: The White Bone Demon · chapter 2 of 6
The Weeping Old Woman
找女儿的老婆婆
An old woman comes down the mountain, weeping for her lost daughter. Bajie is sure she is the girl's mother. Wukong's golden eyes see something else.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 他们又上路了。唐僧骑在白马上，吃着悟空摘的桃子。
Tāmen yòu shàng lù le. Táng Sēng qí zài bái mǎ shang, chīzhe Wùkōng zhāi de táozi.
They set off again. Tang Seng rode along on the white horse, eating the peaches Wukong had picked.
- Tang Seng 悟空，你摘的桃子又大又甜。你的头，还疼不疼？
Wùkōng, nǐ zhāi de táozi yòu dà yòu tián. Nǐ de tóu, hái téng bu téng?
Wukong, the peaches you picked are big and sweet. Does your head still hurt?
- Sun Wukong 不疼了！师父喜欢，老孙明天再去摘！
Bù téng le! Shīfu xǐhuan, Lǎo Sūn míngtiān zài qù zhāi!
Not anymore! If Master likes them, Old Sun will go and pick more tomorrow!
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Journey to the West: The White Bone Demon 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 桃子有什么好吃的？那罐香米饭，老猪一口都没吃到……
Táozi yǒu shénme hǎochī de? Nà guàn xiāng mǐfàn, Lǎo Zhū yì kǒu dōu méi chī dào…
What's so great about peaches? All that lovely rice, and Old Pig didn't get a single bite...
- Sun Wukong 呆子，那是虫子饭！你想吃，老孙给你抓一罐虫子来！
Dāizi, nà shì chóngzi fàn! Nǐ xiǎng chī, Lǎo Sūn gěi nǐ zhuā yí guàn chóngzi lái!
Dummy, that was worm rice! If you want it so badly, Old Sun will catch you a whole jar of worms!
- Narrator 忽然，山路上又来了一个老婆婆。她八十多岁了，拿着一根竹拐杖，一边走，一边哭。
Hūrán, shānlù shang yòu lái le yí gè lǎo pópo. Tā bāshí duō suì le, názhe yì gēn zhú guǎizhàng, yìbiān zǒu, yìbiān kū.
Suddenly an old woman came along the mountain path. She was over eighty, and she leaned on a bamboo cane, weeping as she walked.
- Old Woman 我的女儿啊！你去给丈夫送饭，怎么还不回家？你在哪儿啊？
Wǒ de nǚ'ér a! Nǐ qù gěi zhàngfu sòng fàn, zěnme hái bù huí jiā? Nǐ zài nǎr a?
Oh, my daughter! You went to take your husband his lunch. Why haven't you come home? Where are you?
- Zhu Bajie 不好了！师父，那是刚才那个姑娘的妈妈，找女儿来了！
Bù hǎo le! Shīfu, nà shì gāngcái nàge gūniang de māma, zhǎo nǚ'ér lái le!
Uh-oh! Master, that's the girl's mother, come looking for her daughter!
- Sun Wukong 呆子，别乱说！那个姑娘十八岁，这个老婆婆八十岁。她六十二岁才生孩子吗？
Dāizi, bié luàn shuō! Nàge gūniang shíbā suì, zhège lǎo pópo bāshí suì. Tā liùshí'èr suì cái shēng háizi ma?
Don't talk nonsense, dummy! That girl was eighteen, and this old woman is eighty. Did she have a baby at sixty-two?
- Zhu Bajie 这……也有可能啊！
Zhè… yě yǒu kěnéng a!
Well... it could happen!
- Tang Seng 老人家，别哭了。你的女儿，长什么样子？
Lǎorénjia, bié kū le. Nǐ de nǚ'ér, zhǎng shénme yàngzi?
Please don't cry, old mother. What does your daughter look like?
- Old Woman 她穿着绿衣服，拿着一罐米饭。小师父，你们看见她了吗？
Tā chuānzhe lǜ yīfu, názhe yí guàn mǐfàn. Xiǎo shīfu, nǐmen kànjiàn tā le ma?
She was wearing green, and carrying a jar of rice. Young master, have you seen her?
- Tang Seng 阿弥陀佛……她说的，就是刚才那个姑娘啊……
Ēmítuófó… Tā shuō de, jiù shì gāngcái nàge gūniang a…
Amitabha... She means the girl from before...
- Sun Wukong 又是你这个妖怪！上次让你跑了，这次老孙不让你跑！
Yòu shì nǐ zhège yāoguài! Shàng cì ràng nǐ pǎo le, zhè cì Lǎo Sūn bú ràng nǐ pǎo!
You again, demon! You got away last time, but Old Sun won't let you get away this time!
- Tang Seng 悟空，不能打！
Wùkōng, bù néng dǎ!
Wukong, you mustn't hit her!
- Narrator 可是金箍棒已经打下去了。老婆婆倒在地上，也变成了一堆白骨。一阵白烟，又飞走了。
Kěshì jīn gū bàng yǐjīng dǎ xiàqù le. Lǎo pópo dǎo zài dìshang, yě biànchéng le yì duī báigǔ. Yí zhèn bái yān, yòu fēizǒu le.
But the golden staff had already come down. The old woman fell to the ground and turned into a heap of white bones too, and again a puff of white smoke flew away.
- Narrator 唐僧吓得从马上掉了下来。他坐在地上，一口气念了二十遍紧箍咒。
Táng Sēng xià de cóng mǎ shang diào le xiàlái. Tā zuò zài dìshang, yìkǒuqì niàn le èrshí biàn jǐn gū zhòu.
Tang Seng got such a fright that he fell right off his horse. Sitting on the ground, he said the headband spell twenty times without stopping.
- Sun Wukong 哎哟！哎哟！师父，别念了！老孙的头都变成葫芦了！
Āiyō! Āiyō! Shīfu, bié niàn le! Lǎo Sūn de tóu dōu biànchéng húlu le!
Ow! Ow! Master, stop! Old Sun's head has been squeezed into a gourd!
- Zhu Bajie 哈哈！猴哥的头，中间细细的，真像一个葫芦！
Hāhā! Hóugē de tóu, zhōngjiān xìxì de, zhēn xiàng yí gè húlu!
Ha ha! Brother Monkey's head is all pinched in the middle, just like a gourd!
- Tang Seng 你一天打死了两个人！悟空，你走吧，我不要你这个徒弟了！
Nǐ yì tiān dǎsǐ le liǎng gè rén! Wùkōng, nǐ zǒu ba, wǒ bú yào nǐ zhège túdì le!
Two people killed in one day! Go, Wukong. I don't want you as my disciple anymore!
- Sun Wukong 要老孙走？好啊。那你先念一个松箍咒，把这个金圈拿下来！
Yào Lǎo Sūn zǒu? Hǎo a. Nà nǐ xiān niàn yí gè sōng gū zhòu, bǎ zhège jīn quān ná xiàlái!
You want Old Sun to go? Fine. But first say the loosening spell and take this gold band off my head!
- Tang Seng 松箍咒？这……菩萨只教了我紧箍咒，没教别的啊。
Sōng gū zhòu? Zhè… Púsà zhǐ jiāo le wǒ jǐn gū zhòu, méi jiāo bié de a.
The loosening spell? Well... Guanyin only taught me the tightening spell. She never taught me anything else.
- Sun Wukong 只会紧，不会松？那你只好带着老孙，一起去西天了！
Zhǐ huì jǐn, bú huì sōng? Nà nǐ zhǐhǎo dàizhe Lǎo Sūn, yìqǐ qù Xītiān le!
It only tightens and never loosens? Then I'm afraid you'll just have to take Old Sun with you, all the way to the West!
- Tang Seng 唉，好吧。我再放过你一次，这是最后一次了！
Āi, hǎo ba. Wǒ zài fàngguò nǐ yí cì, zhè shì zuìhòu yí cì le!
Oh, all right. I'll let you off one more time. But this is the last time!
- Sha Wujing 师父，大师兄的火眼金睛，从来不会看错。
Shīfu, dà shīxiōng de huǒyǎn jīnjīng, cónglái bú huì kàn cuò.
Master, Big Brother's fiery golden eyes are never wrong.
- Zhu Bajie 沙师弟，你怎么帮那只猴子说话？
Shā shīdì, nǐ zěnme bāng nà zhī hóuzi shuōhuà?
Brother Sha, why are you taking that monkey's side?
- Narrator 他们又走了不远，山路上又来了一个老公公。他的胡子白白的，一边走，一边念经。
Tāmen yòu zǒu le bù yuǎn, shānlù shang yòu lái le yí gè lǎo gōnggong. Tā de húzi báibái de, yìbiān zǒu, yìbiān niàn jīng.
They hadn't gone much farther when an old man came along the mountain path. He had a snow-white beard, and he chanted prayers as he walked.
- Old Man 阿弥陀佛，阿弥陀佛……老伴儿，女儿，你们去哪儿了？
Ēmítuófó, Ēmítuófó… Lǎobànr, nǚ'ér, nǐmen qù nǎr le?
Amitabha, Amitabha... My dear wife, my daughter, where have you gone?
- Zhu Bajie 不好了，不好了！猴哥，这次是她爸爸来了！
Bù hǎo le, bù hǎo le! Hóugē, zhè cì shì tā bàba lái le!
Uh-oh, uh-oh! Brother Monkey, this time it's her father!
- Tang Seng 悟空！你要是再打这个老人家，就回你的花果山去吧！
Wùkōng! Nǐ yàoshi zài dǎ zhège lǎorénjia, jiù huí nǐ de Huāguǒ Shān qù ba!
Wukong! If you hit this old man, you can go straight back to your Flower Fruit Mountain!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Who does Bajie say the old woman is?
“那是刚才那个姑娘的妈妈，找女儿来了！”
- Why does Wukong say Bajie's idea makes no sense?
“那个姑娘十八岁，这个老婆婆八十岁。她六十二岁才生孩子吗？”
- What does Tang Seng do after Wukong strikes the old woman?
“一口气念了二十遍紧箍咒。”
- Why can't Tang Seng take the gold band off Wukong's head?
“菩萨只教了我紧箍咒，没教别的啊。”
- What does Tang Seng warn Wukong at the end?
“你要是再打这个老人家，就回你的花果山去吧！”