Liaozhai: Fox and Ghost Loves · chapter 25 of 25
The Swallow Returns
燕子回来了
Yan'er's mother has said yes, but her father hasn't. And when Sang Xiao takes a bride, where does that leave Lianxiang?
Read what you hear
- Sang Xiao 莲香，伯母答应了！可是，她要我去张家结婚。
Liánxiāng, bómǔ dāying le! Kěshì, tā yào wǒ qù Zhāng jiā jiéhūn.
Lianxiang, Madam Zhang has agreed! But she wants me to marry at the Zhangs' house.
- Lianxiang 你在别人家结婚，我跟着去，算什么呢？我还是走吧。
Nǐ zài biérén jiā jiéhūn, wǒ gēnzhe qù, suàn shénme ne? Wǒ háishi zǒu ba.
You'll be married in another family's house. If I go along, what would I be? I'd better leave.
- Sang Xiao 你别走！我们先回我家，再接燕儿来，好不好？
Nǐ bié zǒu! Wǒmen xiān huí wǒ jiā, zài jiē Yàn'er lái, hǎo bu hǎo?
Don't go! Let's go back to my home first, then bring Yan'er there. All right?
Chapter 25 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.
- Narrator 结婚那天，桑晓家的地上都是红布，还有很多很多灯。
Jiéhūn nà tiān, Sāng Xiǎo jiā de dì shang dōu shì hóng bù, hái yǒu hěn duō hěn duō dēng.
On the wedding day, the floors of Sang Xiao's house were covered with red cloth, and there were lamps everywhere you looked.
- Lianxiang 妹妹，掉了一层皮，才换来这张新脸，快让我看看！
Mèimei, diào le yì céng pí, cái huànlái zhè zhāng xīn liǎn, kuài ràng wǒ kànkan!
Little sister, you shed a whole skin to get this new face. Quick, let me take a look!
- Li 莲姐姐！爹听说桑公子有了你，很生气。我求了他三天，他才答应！
Lián jiějie! Diē tīngshuō Sāng gōngzǐ yǒu le nǐ, hěn shēngqì. Wǒ qiú le tā sān tiān, tā cái dāying!
Sister Lian! When Father heard Mr. Sang already had you, he was very angry. I begged him for three days before he said yes!
- Sang Xiao 你们两个，好得像老朋友一样！
Nǐmen liǎng gè, hǎo de xiàng lǎo péngyou yíyàng!
You two are as close as old friends!
- Narrator 两个月以后，莲香生了一个儿子。可是她病了，病得很重。
Liǎng gè yuè yǐhòu, Liánxiāng shēng le yí gè érzi. Kěshì tā bìng le, bìng de hěn zhòng.
Two months later, Lianxiang gave birth to a son. But she fell ill, very ill.
- Lianxiang 妹妹，我的儿子，就是你的儿子了。
Mèimei, wǒ de érzi, jiù shì nǐ de érzi le.
Little sister, my son is your son now.
- Li 莲姐姐，别这么说！你会好起来的！
Lián jiějie, bié zhème shuō! Nǐ huì hǎo qǐlai de!
Sister Lian, don't say that! You'll get better!
- Lianxiang 别哭，傻妹妹。你喜欢活着，我不怕死。要是老天答应，十年以后，我们会再见面。
Bié kū, shǎ mèimei. Nǐ xǐhuan huózhe, wǒ bú pà sǐ. Yàoshi lǎotiān dāying, shí nián yǐhòu, wǒmen huì zài jiànmiàn.
Don't cry, silly little sister. You love being alive, and I'm not afraid to die. If Heaven allows, we'll meet again in ten years.
- Narrator 说完，莲香就死了。她的身体，变成了一只狐狸。
Shuō wán, Liánxiāng jiù sǐ le. Tā de shēntǐ, biànchéng le yì zhī húli.
With those words, Lianxiang died. Her body turned into a fox.
- Sang Xiao 她是狐狸又怎么样？她是我的莲香啊。
Tā shì húli yòu zěnmeyàng? Tā shì wǒ de Liánxiāng a.
So what if she's a fox? She's my Lianxiang.
- Li 狐儿，别哭。以后，我就是你的娘。
Hú'ér, bié kū. Yǐhòu, wǒ jiù shì nǐ de niáng.
Hu'er, don't cry. From now on, I'm your mother.
- Sang Xiao 十四年了……狐儿长大了。莲香，你在哪儿呢？
Shísì nián le… Hú'ér zhǎngdà le. Liánxiāng, nǐ zài nǎr ne?
Fourteen years now... Hu'er has grown up. Lianxiang, where are you?
- Old Mrs. Wei 老爷，夫人，我只有这一个女儿。您买下她，让她有饭吃吧。
Lǎoye, fūrén, wǒ zhǐyǒu zhè yí gè nǚ'ér. Nín mǎi xià tā, ràng tā yǒu fàn chī ba.
Sir, madam, this daughter is all I have. Please buy her, so she'll have food to eat.
- Li 天哪！这……这不是莲姐姐吗？
Tiān na! Zhè… zhè bú shì Lián jiějie ma?
Heavens! Isn't this... isn't this Sister Lian?
- Sang Xiao 真像！孩子，你多大了？
Zhēn xiàng! Háizi, nǐ duō dà le?
She looks just like her! Child, how old are you?
- The Wei Girl 十四岁。我姓韦，家在徐城。
Shísì suì. Wǒ xìng Wéi, jiā zài Xúchéng.
Fourteen. My family name is Wei, and my home is in Xucheng.
- Li 十四岁……莲姐姐死了，正好十四年！莲姐姐！莲姐姐！
Shísì suì… Lián jiějie sǐ le, zhènghǎo shísì nián! Lián jiějie! Lián jiějie!
Fourteen... Sister Lian died exactly fourteen years ago! Sister Lian! Sister Lian!
- The Wei Girl 我……我好像做了一个很长的梦，现在醒了！你是那个不想做鬼的李妹妹！
Wǒ… wǒ hǎoxiàng zuò le yí gè hěn cháng de mèng, xiànzài xǐng le! Nǐ shì nàge bù xiǎng zuò guǐ de Lǐ mèimei!
I... I feel as if I've had a very long dream, and now I'm awake! You're little sister Li, the one who didn't want to be a ghost!
- Sang Xiao 燕子回来了！春天到了，燕子都会回到老地方！
Yànzi huílai le! Chūntiān dào le, yànzi dōu huì huí dào lǎo dìfang!
The swallow has come back! When spring comes, the swallows all return to their old homes!
- Li 燕子？我才是燕儿啊！
Yànzi? Wǒ cái shì Yàn'er a!
A swallow? I'm Yan'er, I'm the swallow!
- The Wei Girl 别哭了，妹妹。我回来了。
Bié kū le, mèimei. Wǒ huílai le.
Don't cry, little sister. I'm back.
- Narrator 寒食节那天，他们一起来到了莲香的坟前。
Hánshí jié nà tiān, tāmen yìqǐ láidào le Liánxiāng de fén qián.
On the day of the Cold Food Festival, they went together to Lianxiang's grave.
- The Wei Girl 我的坟上，草都这么高了……
Wǒ de fén shang, cǎo dōu zhème gāo le…
The grass on my grave has grown so tall...
- Li 桑公子，把我以前的骨头，也埋进莲姐姐的坟里吧！
Sāng gōngzǐ, bǎ wǒ yǐqián de gǔtou, yě mái jìn Lián jiějie de fén li ba!
Mr. Sang, bury the bones of my old body in Sister Lian's grave too!
- Sang Xiao 好！你们两个，永远在一起。
Hǎo! Nǐmen liǎng gè, yǒngyuǎn zài yìqǐ.
Yes! You two will be together forever.
- Pu Songling 死了的人想活，活着的人想死。有的人啊，活着不如狐狸，死了不如鬼。
Sǐ le de rén xiǎng huó, huózhe de rén xiǎng sǐ. Yǒude rén a, huózhe bùrú húli, sǐ le bùrú guǐ.
The dead wish to live, and the living wish to die. Some people are worth less than a fox while they live, and less than a ghost once they die.
- Pu Songling 半夜，灯很暗。懂我的，也许只有这些狐狸和鬼吧。
Bànyè, dēng hěn àn. Dǒng wǒ de, yěxǔ zhǐyǒu zhèxiē húli hé guǐ ba.
It is midnight, and the lamp is dim. Perhaps the only ones who understand me are these foxes and ghosts.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Where does Sang Xiao want Lianxiang to go first?
“我们先回我家，再接燕儿来”
- How does Yan'er's father come to agree?
“我求了他三天，他才答应”
- What happens to Lianxiang's body after she dies?
“她的身体，变成了一只狐狸”
- How old is the girl that Old Mrs. Wei brings?
“十四岁”
- What does Yan'er ask Sang Xiao to do at the grave?
“把我以前的骨头，也埋进莲姐姐的坟里吧”