Lady Meng Jiang · chapter 5 of 5
The Wall Falls
长城倒了
At last Meng Jiangnu reaches the Great Wall with her bundle of winter clothes. An old laborer knows her name, and what he tells her will shake the mountains.
Read what you hear
- Meng Jiangnu 这么多人在搬石头，衣服都破了……喜良会在哪儿呢？
Zhème duō rén zài bān shítou, yīfu dōu pò le… Xǐliáng huì zài nǎr ne?
So many men hauling stones, all of them in rags… Where could Xiliang be?
- Meng Jiangnu 喜良！范喜良！你在哪儿？
Xǐliáng! Fàn Xǐliáng! Nǐ zài nǎr?
Xiliang! Fan Xiliang! Where are you?
- Meng Jiangnu 老伯，您认识范喜良吗？他是我的丈夫。
Lǎobó, nín rènshi Fàn Xǐliáng ma? Tā shì wǒ de zhàngfu.
Sir, do you know Fan Xiliang? He's my husband.
Chapter 5 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Lady Meng Jiang 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.
- The old laborer 范喜良？你……你就是姜女？
Fàn Xǐliáng? Nǐ… nǐ jiù shì Jiāngnǚ?
Fan Xiliang? You… you must be Jiangnu!
- Meng Jiangnu 您知道我？他在哪儿？我给他送冬衣来了！
Nín zhīdào wǒ? Tā zài nǎr? Wǒ gěi tā sòng dōngyī lái le!
You know who I am? Where is he? I've brought him his winter clothes!
- The old laborer 孩子……你来晚了。
Háizi… nǐ lái wǎn le.
Child… you've come too late.
- Meng Jiangnu 来晚了？老伯，您说什么？
Lái wǎn le? Lǎobó, nín shuō shénme?
Too late? Sir, what do you mean?
- The old laborer 修长城太累了，天又这么冷。喜良病倒了，就没有再起来。
Xiū Chángchéng tài lèi le, tiān yòu zhème lěng. Xǐliáng bìng dǎo le, jiù méiyǒu zài qǐlái.
The work on the wall was too hard, and it was so cold. Xiliang fell ill, and he never got up again.
- The old laborer 他天天说起你。他说，家里有一个姜女在等他。
Tā tiāntiān shuō qǐ nǐ. Tā shuō, jiā lǐ yǒu yí gè Jiāngnǚ zài děng tā.
He talked about you every day. He said his Jiangnu was waiting for him at home.
- The old laborer 他就睡在这里，在长城下边。
Tā jiù shuì zài zhèlǐ, zài Chángchéng xiàbian.
He lies right here, beneath the wall.
- Meng Jiangnu 喜良……我走了一千多里路，你为什么不等等我？
Xǐliáng… wǒ zǒu le yìqiān duō lǐ lù, nǐ wèishénme bù děngdeng wǒ?
Xiliang… I walked more than a thousand li. Why couldn't you wait for me?
- Narrator 孟姜女在长城下边哭了起来。她哭了三天三夜。
Mèng Jiāngnǚ zài Chángchéng xiàbian kū le qǐlái. Tā kū le sān tiān sān yè.
At the foot of the wall, Meng Jiangnu began to weep. She wept for three days and three nights.
- The officer 不准哭！这是皇帝的长城，快走开！
Bù zhǔn kū! Zhè shì huángdì de Chángchéng, kuài zǒukāi!
Stop that crying! This is the emperor's wall. Get away from here!
- The old laborer 让她哭吧……她的丈夫，就在这里啊。
Ràng tā kū ba… tā de zhàngfu, jiù zài zhèlǐ a.
Let her cry… her husband is right here.
- Meng Jiangnu 喜良，你听见我在叫你吗？
Xǐliáng, nǐ tīngjiàn wǒ zài jiào nǐ ma?
Xiliang, can you hear me calling you?
- Narrator 忽然，风停了，山在动，长城也在动。
Hūrán, fēng tíng le, shān zài dòng, Chángchéng yě zài dòng.
Suddenly the wind stopped. The mountains shook, and the Great Wall shook with them.
- The old laborer 你们看！长城……长城倒了！
Nǐmen kàn! Chángchéng… Chángchéng dǎo le!
Look! The wall… the wall is falling!
- The officer 快跑！快跑啊！
Kuài pǎo! Kuài pǎo a!
Run! Run for your lives!
- Narrator 那一天，长城倒了八百里。
Nà yì tiān, Chángchéng dǎo le bābǎi lǐ.
That day, eight hundred li of the Great Wall came crashing down.
- The old laborer 老天爷……她哭倒了长城！
Lǎotiānyé… tā kū dǎo le Chángchéng!
Heaven above… her tears brought down the Great Wall!
- Meng Jiangnu 喜良，冬衣我给你送来了。你不会再冷了。
Xǐliáng, dōngyī wǒ gěi nǐ sòng lái le. Nǐ bú huì zài lěng le.
Xiliang, I've brought you your winter clothes. You won't be cold anymore.
- Narrator 两千多年过去了。今天，在山海关，还有一座孟姜女庙。
Liǎngqiān duō nián guòqù le. Jīntiān, zài Shānhǎi Guān, hái yǒu yí zuò Mèng Jiāngnǚ Miào.
More than two thousand years have passed. Today, at Shanhaiguan, there is still a temple to Meng Jiangnu.
- Narrator 人们还在唱她的歌，讲她的故事。
Rénmen hái zài chàng tā de gē, jiǎng tā de gùshi.
People still sing songs about her, and they still tell her story.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How does the old laborer know who Meng Jiangnu is?
“你就是姜女？……他天天说起你。”
- What happened to Fan Xiliang?
“修长城太累了，天又这么冷。喜良病倒了，就没有再起来。”
- How long does Meng Jiangnu weep at the wall?
“她哭了三天三夜。”
- What happens to the Great Wall?
“那一天，长城倒了八百里。”
- How do people remember her today?
“在山海关，还有一座孟姜女庙……人们还在唱她的歌，讲她的故事。”