Liaozhai: Fox and Ghost Loves · chapter 17 of 25
A Jar of Hot Water
一缸热水
Lady Wang wants a grandson, Xiaocui fills a big jar with very hot water, and a broken jade vase brings out a secret she has kept for years.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 小翠在王家，已经住了三年。
Xiǎocuì zài Wáng jiā, yǐjīng zhù le sān nián.
Xiaocui had lived with the Wangs for three years now.
- Lady Wang 老爷，我们都五十多岁了，还没有孙子……
Lǎoye, wǒmen dōu wǔshí duō suì le, hái méiyǒu sūnzi…
My lord, we're both past fifty, and still no grandson...
- Lord Wang 他们两个，一人一张床，孙子从哪儿来？
Tāmen liǎng gè, yì rén yì zhāng chuáng, sūnzi cóng nǎr lái?
Those two each sleep in their own bed. Where is a grandson supposed to come from?
Chapter 17 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of Liaozhai: Fox and Ghost Loves (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.
- Lady Wang 好，小翠的床，我去借走！
Hǎo, Xiǎocuì de chuáng, wǒ qù jiè zǒu!
Fine. I'll go and borrow Xiaocui's bed!
- Yuanfeng 娘，你借走了床，一直不还！小翠晚上睡觉，腿就放在我身上，好重啊！
Niáng, nǐ jiè zǒu le chuáng, yìzhí bù huán! Xiǎocuì wǎnshang shuìjiào, tuǐ jiù fàng zài wǒ shēn shang, hǎo zhòng a!
Mother, you borrowed the bed and never gave it back! When Xiaocui sleeps at night, she puts her legs on me. They're so heavy!
- Lady Wang 好了，好了，这些话别跟别人说！快去玩吧！
Hǎo le, hǎo le, zhèxiē huà bié gēn biérén shuō! Kuài qù wán ba!
All right, all right! Don't go telling people things like that! Off you go and play!
- Narrator 有一天，小翠在一口很大的缸里，放满了很热的水。
Yǒu yì tiān, Xiǎocuì zài yì kǒu hěn dà de gāng li, fàng mǎn le hěn rè de shuǐ.
One day, Xiaocui filled a very big jar with very hot water.
- Xiaocui 元丰，来，你坐进缸里，我们玩一个新的！
Yuánfēng, lái, nǐ zuò jìn gāng li, wǒmen wán yí gè xīn de!
Yuanfeng, come here! Sit down in the jar. We're playing something new!
- Yuanfeng 好热啊，小翠，我要出来！
Hǎo rè a, Xiǎocuì, wǒ yào chūlai!
It's so hot! Xiaocui, I want to get out!
- Xiaocui 别动。我在缸上放一床被子。
Bié dòng. Wǒ zài gāng shang fàng yì chuáng bèizi.
Don't move. I'm putting a quilt over the jar.
- The Maid 公子……公子没有声音了。
Gōngzǐ… gōngzǐ méiyǒu shēngyīn le.
The young master... the young master has gone quiet.
- Narrator 过了一会儿，小翠把元丰放在床上。他已经没有气了。
Guò le yíhuìr, Xiǎocuì bǎ Yuánfēng fàng zài chuáng shang. Tā yǐjīng méiyǒu qì le.
After a while, Xiaocui laid Yuanfeng on the bed. He was no longer breathing.
- Lady Wang 元丰，元丰！你杀了我的儿子！
Yuánfēng, Yuánfēng! Nǐ shā le wǒ de érzi!
Yuanfeng! Yuanfeng! You've killed my son!
- Xiaocui 娘，别哭。等一会儿，您会有一个新的元丰。
Niáng, bié kū. Děng yíhuìr, nín huì yǒu yí gè xīn de Yuánfēng.
Mother, don't cry. In a little while, you'll have a new Yuanfeng.
- The Maid 夫人，您听，公子有声音了！他有气了！
Fūrén, nín tīng, gōngzǐ yǒu shēngyīn le! Tā yǒu qì le!
Madam! Listen, the young master is making sounds! He's breathing!
- Yuanfeng 娘？……我好像做了一个很长很长的梦。
Niáng?… Wǒ hǎoxiàng zuò le yí gè hěn cháng hěn cháng de mèng.
Mother?... I feel as if I've had a very, very long dream.
- Lady Wang 元丰？你的心……长大了！
Yuánfēng? Nǐ de xīn… zhǎngdà le!
Yuanfeng? Your mind... it's grown up!
- Narrator 元丰好了。从那以后，他跟小翠就像人和影子，天天在一起。
Yuánfēng hǎo le. Cóng nà yǐhòu, tā gēn Xiǎocuì jiù xiàng rén hé yǐngzi, tiāntiān zài yìqǐ.
Yuanfeng was well. From then on, he and Xiaocui were like a person and his shadow, together every day.
- Narrator 又过了一年多，王大人的官没有了。
Yòu guò le yì nián duō, Wáng dàrén de guān méiyǒu le.
A year or so later, Lord Wang lost his post.
- Lord Wang 这个玉瓶很贵。我要把它送给一个很大的官，请他帮帮我。
Zhège yùpíng hěn guì. Wǒ yào bǎ tā sòng gěi yí gè hěn dà de guān, qǐng tā bāngbang wǒ.
This jade vase is worth a fortune. I'll give it to a very important official and ask him to help me.
- Lady Wang 天哪，玉瓶碎了！
Tiān na, yùpíng suì le!
Heavens, the jade vase is broken!
- Xiaocui 爹，娘，对不起……是我不小心。
Diē, niáng, duìbuqǐ… shì wǒ bù xiǎoxīn.
Father, Mother, I'm sorry... I was careless.
- Lord Wang 我的官没有了，玉瓶也碎了！你还要我们怎么样？
Wǒ de guān méiyǒu le, yùpíng yě suì le! Nǐ hái yào wǒmen zěnmeyàng?
My post is gone, and now the jade vase is broken too! What more do you want from us?
- Lady Wang 我们骂你多少次了？你什么时候听过？
Wǒmen mà nǐ duōshao cì le? Nǐ shénme shíhou tīngguo?
How many times have we scolded you? When have you ever listened?
- Xiaocui 元丰，宰相的胡子，皇帝的高粱帽子……我救了你们家几次？
Yuánfēng, zǎixiàng de húzi, huángdì de gāoliang màozi… wǒ jiù le nǐmen jiā jǐ cì?
Yuanfeng, the Prime Minister's whiskers, the emperor's sorghum crown... how many times have I saved your family?
- Xiaocui 一个玉瓶，爹和娘就这样骂我。
Yí gè yùpíng, diē hé niáng jiù zhèyàng mà wǒ.
One jade vase, and Father and Mother scold me like this.
- Xiaocui 我告诉你吧：我不是人。
Wǒ gàosu nǐ ba: wǒ bú shì rén.
Let me tell you: I'm not human.
- Yuanfeng 你……你说什么？
Nǐ… nǐ shuō shénme?
You... what are you saying?
- Xiaocui 很多年以前，天上打大雷，我娘躲在你爹的身下。她让我来报答你们家。
Hěn duō nián yǐqián, tiān shang dǎ dà léi, wǒ niáng duǒ zài nǐ diē de shēn xià. Tā ràng wǒ lái bàodá nǐmen jiā.
Many years ago, in a great thunderstorm, my mother hid under your father. She sent me to repay your family.
- Xiaocui 老天只给了我们五年。现在，五年到了。
Lǎotiān zhǐ gěi le wǒmen wǔ nián. Xiànzài, wǔ nián dào le.
Heaven gave us only five years. Now the five years are up.
- Yuanfeng 小翠，小翠，你别走！
Xiǎocuì, Xiǎocuì, nǐ bié zǒu!
Xiaocui, Xiaocui, don't go!
- Yuanfeng 哪儿都没有她……小翠，你还会回来吗？
Nǎr dōu méiyǒu tā… Xiǎocuì, nǐ hái huì huílai ma?
She's nowhere... Xiaocui, will you ever come back?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does Lady Wang take away Xiaocui's bed?
“还没有孙子……小翠的床，我去借走”
- What does Yuanfeng complain about to his mother?
“腿就放在我身上，好重啊”
- What does Xiaocui tell Lady Wang while she weeps over Yuanfeng?
“等一会儿，您会有一个新的元丰”
- How has Yuanfeng changed when he wakes?
“你的心……长大了”
- Why was Xiaocui sent to the Wang family?
“我娘躲在你爹的身下。她让我来报答你们家”