Liaozhai: Fox and Ghost Loves · chapter 12 of 25
Only Mountain Flowers
只有山花
Wang brings his laughing cousin home to Luodian, but his mother has a question about her long-lost sister, and Wu has an even stranger story to tell.
Read what you hear
- The Old Woman 什么？婴宁，你说什么？……好了，好了，外甥，快吃饭吧！
Shénme? Yīngníng, nǐ shuō shénme?… Hǎo le, hǎo le, wàisheng, kuài chīfàn ba!
What? Yingning, what did you say?... All right, all right. Nephew, hurry up and eat!
- Wang Zifu 妹妹！这样的话，怎么能说给别人听？
Mèimei! Zhèyàng de huà, zěnme néng shuō gěi biérén tīng?
Cousin! How can you say a thing like that in front of other people?
- Yingning 别人？她是我娘啊！睡觉是天天都做的事，为什么不能说？
Biérén? Tā shì wǒ niáng a! Shuìjiào shì tiāntiān dōu zuò de shì, wèishénme bù néng shuō?
Other people? She's my mother! Sleeping is something we do every day. Why can't I talk about it?
Chapter 12 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.
- Wang Zifu 是我家的人！他们骑着马来找我了！
Shì wǒ jiā de rén! Tāmen qízhe mǎ lái zhǎo wǒ le!
It's people from my home! They've come on horses to find me!
- Wang Zifu 姨妈，我娘在家里等我。我想带妹妹回去，见见我娘。
Yímā, wǒ niáng zài jiā li děng wǒ. Wǒ xiǎng dài mèimei huíqu, jiànjian wǒ niáng.
Aunt, my mother is waiting for me at home. I'd like to take my cousin back to meet her.
- The Old Woman 好啊！我老了，走不动了。婴宁，跟你大哥去，见见你的姨妈！
Hǎo a! Wǒ lǎo le, zǒu bu dòng le. Yīngníng, gēn nǐ dàgē qù, jiànjian nǐ de yímā!
Good! I'm too old to walk so far. Yingning, go with your cousin and meet your aunt!
- The Old Woman 到了那儿，就别回来了。让你姨妈给你找一个好丈夫。
Dào le nàr, jiù bié huílai le. Ràng nǐ yímā gěi nǐ zhǎo yí gè hǎo zhàngfu.
Once you're there, don't come back. Let your aunt find you a good husband.
- Yingning 好！我要骑马去看姨妈，还要带着我的花！
Hǎo! Wǒ yào qí mǎ qù kàn yímā, hái yào dàizhe wǒ de huā!
All right! I'll ride a horse to see my aunt, and I'm taking my flowers too!
- Wang Zifu 妹妹，你看，姨妈还靠在门上看着我们。
Mèimei, nǐ kàn, yímā hái kào zài mén shang kànzhe wǒmen.
Look, cousin. Aunt is still leaning on the gate, watching us go.
- Narrator 回到罗店，子服的娘看见婴宁，又高兴又奇怪。
Huí dào Luódiàn, Zǐfú de niáng kànjiàn Yīngníng, yòu gāoxìng yòu qíguài.
Back in Luodian, Zifu's mother saw Yingning and was both delighted and puzzled.
- Wang's Mother 子服，这么美的姑娘，是谁家的孩子？
Zǐfú, zhème měi de gūniang, shì shéi jiā de háizi?
Zifu, such a lovely girl! Whose child is she?
- Wang Zifu 娘，她叫婴宁，是您姐姐的女儿！
Niáng, tā jiào Yīngníng, shì nín jiějie de nǚ'ér!
Mother, her name is Yingning. She's your elder sister's daughter!
- Wang's Mother 我是有一个姐姐，嫁到了秦家。可是她很多年以前就死了啊！
Wǒ shì yǒu yí gè jiějie, jià dào le Qín jiā. Kěshì tā hěn duō nián yǐqián jiù sǐ le a!
I did have an elder sister who married into the Qin family. But she died many years ago!
- Yingning 姨妈，我不是我娘生的。我很小的时候，我爹就死了。
Yímā, wǒ bú shì wǒ niáng shēng de. Wǒ hěn xiǎo de shíhou, wǒ diē jiù sǐ le.
Aunt, I'm not my mother's own child. My father died when I was very small.
- Wu 听说子服带回来一个美人，是真的吗？
Tīngshuō Zǐfú dài huílai yí gè měirén, shì zhēn de ma?
I hear Zifu has brought home a beauty. Is it true?
- Wang Zifu 表哥，你一直没来，我就自己去了！你说的表妹，她叫婴宁！
Biǎogē, nǐ yìzhí méi lái, wǒ jiù zìjǐ qù le! Nǐ shuō de biǎomèi, tā jiào Yīngníng!
Cousin, you never came, so I went by myself! The cousin you told me about is called Yingning!
- Wu 婴宁？……秦家的婴宁？
Yīngníng?… Qín jiā de Yīngníng?
Yingning?... The Qins' Yingning?
- Wu 子服，你娘的姐姐死了以后，秦家只有她的丈夫一个人。
Zǐfú, nǐ niáng de jiějie sǐ le yǐhòu, Qín jiā zhǐyǒu tā de zhàngfu yí gè rén.
Zifu, after your mother's sister died, her husband was left all alone in the Qin house.
- Wu 后来，一只狐狸常常来找他。狐狸生了一个女儿，就叫婴宁！
Hòulái, yì zhī húli chángcháng lái zhǎo tā. Húli shēng le yí gè nǚ'ér, jiù jiào Yīngníng!
Later a fox kept coming to him. The fox had a daughter, and she was called Yingning!
- Wu 有人在墙上挂了一张赶狐狸的纸，狐狸就带着孩子走了。
Yǒu rén zài qiáng shang guà le yì zhāng gǎn húli de zhǐ, húli jiù dàizhe háizi zǒu le.
Then someone hung a paper on the wall to drive foxes away, and the fox took the child and left.
- Yingning 大哥！你们在说什么？这么好笑！
Dàgē! Nǐmen zài shuō shénme? Zhème hǎoxiào!
Cousin! What are you all talking about? It's so funny!
- Wang's Mother 子服，她……她会不会是鬼？
Zǐfú, tā… tā huì bu huì shì guǐ?
Zifu, could she... could she be a ghost?
- Wu 别怕，别怕。我去山里看一看！
Bié pà, bié pà. Wǒ qù shān li kàn yi kàn!
Don't worry, don't worry. I'll go into the hills and take a look!
- Narrator 过了几天，吴生从山里回来了。
Guò le jǐ tiān, Wú shēng cóng shān li huílai le.
A few days later, Wu came back from the hills.
- Wu 子服，那个村没有了！没有房子，也没有人。
Zǐfú, nàge cūn méiyǒu le! Méiyǒu fángzi, yě méiyǒu rén.
Zifu, that village is gone! No houses, and no people.
- Wu 只有山花，掉了一地。还有几座坟，看不出是谁的。
Zhǐyǒu shānhuā, diào le yí dì. Hái yǒu jǐ zuò fén, kàn bu chū shì shéi de.
Only mountain flowers, fallen all over the ground. And a few graves, but no telling whose.
- Wang Zifu 那……那个老太太是谁？婴宁……又是谁？
Nà… nàge lǎotàitai shì shéi? Yīngníng… yòu shì shéi?
Then... who was that old woman? And Yingning... who is she?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why doesn't Yingning think she said anything wrong at lunch?
“别人？她是我娘啊！”
- How do the people from Wang's home come to find him?
“他们骑着马来找我了”
- What does Wang's mother say about her sister who married into the Qin family?
“可是她很多年以前就死了啊”
- According to Wu, who was Yingning's real mother?
“一只狐狸常常来找他。狐狸生了一个女儿，就叫婴宁”
- What does Wu find when he goes to the valley?
“没有房子，也没有人……只有山花，掉了一地。还有几座坟”