Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess · chapter 1 of 4
The Girl and the Strange Sheep
奇怪的羊
A scholar who failed his exam finds a weeping girl herding sheep that never eat grass. Her secret sends him to a lake, where something splashes out of the water.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Narrator 柳毅没有考上。他一个人走在回家的路上。
Liǔ Yì méiyǒu kǎoshàng. Tā yí gè rén zǒu zài huíjiā de lù shang.
Liu Yi had failed the exam. He walked home alone.
- Liu Yi 又没考上……我读了十年书，还是没考上。
Yòu méi kǎoshàng… Wǒ dú le shí nián shū, háishi méi kǎoshàng.
Failed again… Ten years of study, and I still failed.
- Liu Yi 妈妈问我考得怎么样，我说什么？“很好，我是最后一个走出门的”？
Māma wèn wǒ kǎo de zěnmeyàng, wǒ shuō shénme? “Hěn hǎo, wǒ shì zuìhòu yí gè zǒu chū mén de”?
When Mom asks how it went, what do I say? “Great, I was the last one out the door”?
- Liu Yi 咦？山边有一个女孩。她在放羊，可是她在哭。
Yí? Shān biān yǒu yí gè nǚhái. Tā zài fàng yáng, kěshì tā zài kū.
Huh? There's a girl by the hill. She's herding sheep, but she's crying.
- Liu Yi 这些羊好奇怪。它们不吃草，只看天上。
Zhèxiē yáng hǎo qíguài. Tāmen bù chī cǎo, zhǐ kàn tiānshang.
These sheep are so strange. They don't eat grass. They only look up at the sky.
- Liu Yi 姑娘，你怎么了？为什么哭？
Gūniang, nǐ zěnme le? Wèishénme kū?
Miss, what's wrong? Why are you crying?
- The Dragon Princess 你是谁？我不认识你。
Nǐ shì shéi? Wǒ bú rènshi nǐ.
Who are you? I don't know you.
- Liu Yi 我叫柳毅，是个读书人。你哭得那么难过，我想帮你。
Wǒ jiào Liǔ Yì, shì gè dúshūrén. Nǐ kū de nàme nánguò, wǒ xiǎng bāng nǐ.
I'm Liu Yi, a scholar. You are crying so sadly. I want to help you.
- The Dragon Princess 帮我？没有人能帮我。我不是人，我是龙王的女儿。
Bāng wǒ? Méiyǒu rén néng bāng wǒ. Wǒ bú shì rén, wǒ shì lóngwáng de nǚ'ér.
Help me? No one can help me. I'm not human. I'm the Dragon King's daughter.
- Liu Yi 龙王的女儿？！那这些羊是……
Lóngwáng de nǚ'ér?! Nà zhèxiē yáng shì…
The Dragon King's daughter?! Then these sheep are…
- The Dragon Princess 它们是雨神。我的丈夫要我每天放雨神，天上才会下雨。
Tāmen shì yǔshén. Wǒ de zhàngfu yào wǒ měi tiān fàng yǔshén, tiānshang cái huì xià yǔ.
They're rain spirits. My husband makes me herd them every day so that it can rain.
- Liu Yi 你的丈夫为什么这样对你？
Nǐ de zhàngfu wèishénme zhèyàng duì nǐ?
Why does your husband treat you like this?
- The Dragon Princess 他们一家人都欺负我。不给我饭吃，还说我不好。
Tāmen yì jiā rén dōu qīfu wǒ. Bù gěi wǒ fàn chī, hái shuō wǒ bù hǎo.
His whole family bullies me. They don't give me food, and they say I'm no good.
- The Dragon Princess 我家在洞庭湖，太远了。我爸爸不知道我在这儿。
Wǒ jiā zài Dòngtíng Hú, tài yuǎn le. Wǒ bàba bù zhīdào wǒ zài zhèr.
My home is Dongting Lake. It's too far. My father doesn't know I'm here.
- Liu Yi 那……你要我做什么？
Nà… nǐ yào wǒ zuò shénme?
Then… what do you want me to do?
- The Dragon Princess 我的手在发抖……请你带一封信给我爸爸。
Wǒ de shǒu zài fādǒu… Qǐng nǐ dài yì fēng xìn gěi wǒ bàba.
My hands are shaking… Please take a letter to my father.
- Liu Yi 洞庭湖？那么远！而且我不会游泳，怎么下水？
Dòngtíng Hú? Nàme yuǎn! Érqiě wǒ bú huì yóuyǒng, zěnme xià shuǐ?
Dongting Lake? That's so far! And I can't swim. How would I get into the water?
- The Dragon Princess 湖边有一棵大橘树。你敲三下，就会有人来。
Hú biān yǒu yì kē dà júshù. Nǐ qiāo sān xià, jiù huì yǒu rén lái.
There's a big orange tree by the lake. Knock three times, and someone will come.
- Liu Yi 我考试都没考上，什么都做不好……可是这件事，我想做。
Wǒ kǎoshì dōu méi kǎoshàng, shénme dōu zuò bù hǎo… Kěshì zhè jiàn shì, wǒ xiǎng zuò.
I couldn't even pass my exam. I can't do anything right… But this, I want to do.
- The Dragon Princess 谢谢你！你是我遇到的第一个好人！
Xièxie nǐ! Nǐ shì wǒ yùdào de dì yī gè hǎorén!
Thank you! You're the first good person I've met!
- Narrator 柳毅走了很多天，到了洞庭湖。湖边真有一棵橘树。
Liǔ Yì zǒu le hěn duō tiān, dào le Dòngtíng Hú. Hú biān zhēn yǒu yì kē júshù.
Liu Yi walked for many days and reached Dongting Lake. There really was an orange tree by the water.
- Liu Yi 好大的湖！这就是那棵橘树。一下，两下，三下！
Hǎo dà de hú! Zhè jiù shì nà kē júshù. Yí xià, liǎng xià, sān xià!
What a huge lake! This is the tree. One, two, three!
- Liu Yi 没有人……难道她骗我？
Méiyǒu rén… nándào tā piàn wǒ?
Nobody… did she trick me?
- Shrimp Soldier 谁在敲树？谁！
Shéi zài qiāo shù? Shéi!
Who's knocking on the tree? Who?
- Liu Yi 啊！水里有……一只大虾！
À! Shuǐ lǐ yǒu… yì zhī dà xiā!
Ah! There's a… a giant shrimp in the water!
- Shrimp Soldier 我不是大虾！我是虾兵，是龙王的兵！你是谁？
Wǒ bú shì dà xiā! Wǒ shì xiābīng, shì lóngwáng de bīng! Nǐ shì shéi?
I'm not a giant shrimp! I'm a shrimp soldier, a soldier of the Dragon King! Who are you?
- Liu Yi 我是柳毅。我带来了公主的信。
Wǒ shì Liǔ Yì. Wǒ dài lái le gōngzhǔ de xìn.
I'm Liu Yi. I've brought a letter from the princess.
- Shrimp Soldier 公主的信？！快，快跟我来！你闭上眼睛！
Gōngzhǔ de xìn?! Kuài, kuài gēn wǒ lái! Nǐ bì shàng yǎnjing!
A letter from the princess?! Quick, come with me! Close your eyes!
What changed in the story?
- Why is Liu Yi sad at the start?
“又没考上……我读了十年书，还是没考上。”
- What is strange about the sheep?
“它们不吃草，只看天上。”
- Who is the girl?
“我不是人，我是龙王的女儿。”
- What does she ask Liu Yi to do?
“请你带一封信给我爸爸。”
- How does Liu Yi call someone at the lake?
“你敲三下，就会有人来。”