Lu Ban the Master Builder · chapter 2 of 4
The Grass with Teeth
有牙的小草
The king wants a palace, the axes are too slow, and Lu Ban's apprentice is starving. Then, on a steep mountain path, a little blade of grass bites.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 几年以后，鲁班有了一个学生，叫小石头。
Jǐ nián yǐhòu, Lǔ Bān yǒu le yí gè xuésheng, jiào Xiǎo Shítou.
A few years later, Lu Ban had a student of his own, a boy called Little Stone.
- Little Stone 师父，我砍了一天了！我的手好累，我也饿了！
Shīfu, wǒ kǎn le yì tiān le! Wǒ de shǒu hǎo lèi, wǒ yě è le!
Master, I've been chopping all day! My arms are aching, and I'm starving!
- Lu Ban 小石头，再砍一会儿。大王的新宫殿，要很多木头。
Xiǎo Shítou, zài kǎn yíhuìr. Dàwáng de xīn gōngdiàn, yào hěn duō mùtou.
Keep going a little longer, Little Stone. The king's new palace needs a lot of wood.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Lu Ban the Master Builder 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.
- Little Stone 那么多木头！我们砍到明年，也砍不完！
Nàme duō mùtou! Wǒmen kǎn dào míngnián, yě kǎn bù wán!
That much wood! We could chop till next year and still not be done!
- Lu Ban 斧子太慢了……还有更快的办法吗？
Fǔzi tài màn le… hái yǒu gèng kuài de bànfǎ ma?
Axes are just too slow… Isn't there a faster way?
- Narrator 第二天，鲁班和小石头上山找大树。
Dì èr tiān, Lǔ Bān hé Xiǎo Shítou shàng shān zhǎo dà shù.
The next day, Lu Ban and Little Stone climbed the mountain to look for big trees.
- Little Stone 师父，我们先吃饭，好不好？
Shīfu, wǒmen xiān chī fàn, hǎo bù hǎo?
Master, how about we eat first?
- Lu Ban 你刚吃了三个包子！快走吧……啊！我的手！
Nǐ gāng chī le sān gè bāozi! Kuài zǒu ba… ā! Wǒ de shǒu!
You just ate three buns! Come on, let's keep going… Ow! My hand!
- Little Stone 师父，您的手流血了！怎么了？
Shīfu, nín de shǒu liúxuè le! Zěnme le?
Master, your hand is bleeding! What happened?
- Lu Ban 我拉了一下小草，就这样了。
Wǒ lā le yíxià xiǎo cǎo, jiù zhèyàng le.
I just grabbed a bit of grass, and this happened!
- Little Stone 小草那么小，怎么会这样？
Xiǎo cǎo nàme xiǎo, zěnme huì zhèyàng?
But grass is so tiny. How could it do that?
- Lu Ban 别动，让我看看……你看！小草的边上，有很多小牙！
Bié dòng, ràng wǒ kànkan… nǐ kàn! Xiǎo cǎo de biān shang, yǒu hěn duō xiǎo yá!
Don't touch it! Let me take a look… Look! All along the edge of the grass, there are tiny teeth!
- Little Stone 真的！小牙很小，可是很快！
Zhēn de! Xiǎo yá hěn xiǎo, kěshì hěn kuài!
You're right! The teeth are tiny, but they're sharp!
- Lu Ban 小草有牙！我的师父说得对，小草会教我！
Xiǎo cǎo yǒu yá! Wǒ de shīfu shuō de duì, xiǎo cǎo huì jiāo wǒ!
The grass has teeth! My old master was right: the grass really can teach me!
- Little Stone 师父，您看那个小虫子！它吃叶子，吃得真快！
Shīfu, nín kàn nàge xiǎo chóngzi! Tā chī yèzi, chī de zhēn kuài!
Master, look at that little grasshopper! Look how fast it's eating that leaf!
- Lu Ban 它的嘴上，也有小牙！小牙动一动，叶子就没了。
Tā de zuǐ shang, yě yǒu xiǎo yá! Xiǎo yá dòng yi dòng, yèzi jiù méi le.
Its mouth has little teeth too! The teeth go back and forth, and the leaf is gone.
- Lu Ban 我明白了！我要做一个有牙的东西！
Wǒ míngbai le! Wǒ yào zuò yí gè yǒu yá de dōngxi!
I've got it! I'm going to make something with teeth!
- Little Stone 有牙的东西？师父，它会吃我的包子吗？
Yǒu yá de dōngxi? Shīfu, tā huì chī wǒ de bāozi ma?
Something with teeth? Master, is it going to eat my buns?
- Narrator 回到家，鲁班找人做了一条长长的铁片，上边都是小牙。
Huí dào jiā, Lǔ Bān zhǎo rén zuò le yì tiáo chángcháng de tiěpiàn, shàngbian dōu shì xiǎo yá.
Back home, Lu Ban had a long strip of iron made, with little teeth all along it.
- Lu Ban 这是锯子！小石头，你拉那边，我拉这边。
Zhè shì jùzi! Xiǎo Shítou, nǐ lā nàbiān, wǒ lā zhèbiān.
This is a saw! Little Stone, you pull that end, and I'll pull this one.
- Little Stone 拉一拉，就能砍树？我不信！
Lā yi lā, jiù néng kǎn shù? Wǒ bú xìn!
Just pull it back and forth, and down comes a tree? I don't believe it!
- Narrator 锯子拉过来，拉过去。大树很快就倒了。
Jùzi lā guòlái, lā guòqù. Dà shù hěn kuài jiù dǎo le.
Back and forth went the saw, back and forth. In no time at all, the big tree came down.
- Little Stone 倒了！倒了！师父，比斧子快多了！
Dǎo le! Dǎo le! Shīfu, bǐ fǔzi kuài duō le!
It's down! It's down! Master, that's way faster than an axe!
- Lu Ban 是小草教我的！
Shì xiǎo cǎo jiāo wǒ de!
A little blade of grass taught me that!
- Narrator 晚上，鲁班的妻子阿云来送饭。
Wǎnshang, Lǔ Bān de qīzi Ā Yún lái sòng fàn.
That evening, Lu Ban's wife, A-Yun, brought them their dinner.
- A-Yun 大木头，听说你做了一个新东西？
Dà mùtou, tīngshuō nǐ zuò le yí gè xīn dōngxi?
Well, my big blockhead, I hear you've made something new?
- Lu Ban 阿云，你看！这是锯子。有了它，砍树很快！
Ā Yún, nǐ kàn! Zhè shì jùzi. Yǒu le tā, kǎn shù hěn kuài!
Look, A-Yun! It's a saw. With this, cutting down trees is quick!
- A-Yun 不错。可是，我有一个想法，比你的锯子还有用！
Búcuò. Kěshì, wǒ yǒu yí gè xiǎngfǎ, bǐ nǐ de jùzi hái yǒuyòng!
Not bad. But I have an idea that's even more useful than your saw!
- Lu Ban 什么想法？快告诉我！
Shénme xiǎngfǎ? Kuài gàosu wǒ!
What idea? Tell me, quick!
- A-Yun 不告诉你！下雨的时候，你就知道了！
Bú gàosu nǐ! Xià yǔ de shíhou, nǐ jiù zhīdào le!
Not telling! Next time it rains, you'll find out!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why is Lu Ban worried at the start of the chapter?
“大王的新宫殿，要很多木头。……斧子太慢了”
- What cuts Lu Ban's hand on the mountain?
“我拉了一下小草，就这样了。”
- What does Little Stone notice about the grasshopper?
“它吃叶子，吃得真快！”
- What is Little Stone afraid the thing with teeth will do?
“师父，它会吃我的包子吗？”
- What does A-Yun say about her own idea?
“我有一个想法，比你的锯子还有用！”