Lu Ban the Master Builder · chapter 3 of 4
The Walking Pavilion
会走的亭子
Lu Ban builds shelters all along the rainy roads, but A-Yun says a real shelter should walk with you, and she's secretly making one.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 这年夏天，天天下雨。鲁班在路边做了很多亭子。
Zhè nián xiàtiān, tiāntiān xià yǔ. Lǔ Bān zài lùbiān zuò le hěn duō tíngzi.
That summer, it rained every single day. Lu Ban built pavilions all along the roads.
- Little Stone 又下雨了！师父，我的包子都是水！
Yòu xià yǔ le! Shīfu, wǒ de bāozi dōu shì shuǐ!
Raining again! Master, my buns are soaking wet!
- Lu Ban 阿云，小石头，快进亭子里！有了亭子，下雨也不怕！
Ā Yún, Xiǎo Shítou, kuài jìn tíngzi lǐ! Yǒu le tíngzi, xià yǔ yě bú pà!
A-Yun, Little Stone, quick, into the pavilion! With a pavilion, who's afraid of the rain?
Chapter 3 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.
- A-Yun 亭子真好。可是，大木头，亭子不会走啊。
Tíngzi zhēn hǎo. Kěshì, dà mùtou, tíngzi bú huì zǒu a.
Pavilions are lovely. But, my big blockhead, a pavilion can't walk.
- Lu Ban 亭子会走？阿云，你又开玩笑了！
Tíngzi huì zǒu? Ā Yún, nǐ yòu kāi wánxiào le!
A pavilion that walks? A-Yun, you're joking again!
- A-Yun 我没开玩笑。人在路上，大雨来了，亭子还很远呢！
Wǒ méi kāi wánxiào. Rén zài lù shang, dà yǔ lái le, tíngzi hái hěn yuǎn ne!
I'm not joking. You're out on the road, down comes the rain, and the pavilion is still miles away!
- A-Yun 我想要一个小亭子，能拿在手上，跟我走！
Wǒ xiǎng yào yí gè xiǎo tíngzi, néng ná zài shǒu shang, gēn wǒ zǒu!
I want a little pavilion I can hold in my hand, one that walks along with me!
- Lu Ban 哈哈！拿在手上的亭子？那太小了！谁能做？
Hāhā! Ná zài shǒu shang de tíngzi? Nà tài xiǎo le! Shéi néng zuò?
Ha ha! A pavilion you hold in your hand? That's much too small! Who could ever make one?
- A-Yun 你不能做？好，我自己做！
Nǐ bù néng zuò? Hǎo, wǒ zìjǐ zuò!
You can't? Fine. I'll make it myself!
- Narrator 那几天，阿云一个人在房间里，天天关着门。
Nà jǐ tiān, Ā Yún yí gè rén zài fángjiān lǐ, tiāntiān guānzhe mén.
For days after that, A-Yun stayed alone in her room with the door shut tight.
- Lu Ban 阿云，你在做什么？让我看看，就看一下！
Ā Yún, nǐ zài zuò shénme? Ràng wǒ kànkan, jiù kàn yíxià!
A-Yun, what are you making? Let me see, just one little peek!
- A-Yun 不行！大木头，走开！
Bù xíng! Dà mùtou, zǒukāi!
No way! Off you go, you big blockhead!
- Little Stone 师父，我看见师母拿了很多竹子，还有布。
Shīfu, wǒ kànjiàn shīmǔ ná le hěn duō zhúzi, hái yǒu bù.
Master, I saw your wife carrying lots of bamboo, and some cloth too.
- Lu Ban 竹子？布？她要做什么呢？
Zhúzi? Bù? Tā yào zuò shénme ne?
Bamboo? Cloth? What on earth is she making?
- Narrator 一天下午，天黑了，大雨来了。
Yì tiān xiàwǔ, tiān hēi le, dà yǔ lái le.
Then one afternoon, the sky went dark, and a great storm came.
- Little Stone 师父，快跑！最近的亭子，还很远呢！
Shīfu, kuài pǎo! Zuì jìn de tíngzi, hái hěn yuǎn ne!
Master, run! The nearest pavilion is still a long way off!
- A-Yun 鲁班！小石头！别跑了，你们看我！
Lǔ Bān! Xiǎo Shítou! Bié pǎo le, nǐmen kàn wǒ!
Lu Ban! Little Stone! Stop running, and look at me!
- Narrator 阿云手上拿着一个东西，像一个小亭子。
Ā Yún shǒu shang názhe yí gè dōngxi, xiàng yí gè xiǎo tíngzi.
In her hand, A-Yun held something that looked like a little pavilion.
- Lu Ban 这是什么？雨那么大，你身上没有水！
Zhè shì shénme? Yǔ nàme dà, nǐ shēnshang méiyǒu shuǐ!
What is that? It's pouring, and you're not even wet!
- A-Yun 这就是会走的亭子！我叫它“伞”。
Zhè jiù shì huì zǒu de tíngzi! Wǒ jiào tā “sǎn”.
This is the pavilion that walks! I call it an “umbrella.”
- Little Stone 伞？打开，像亭子。关上，像一根木头！
Sǎn? Dǎkāi, xiàng tíngzi. Guānshàng, xiàng yì gēn mùtou!
An umbrella? Open, it's a pavilion. Closed, it's a stick!
- Lu Ban 阿云，你比我还会做东西！
Ā Yún, nǐ bǐ wǒ hái huì zuò dōngxi!
A-Yun, you're even better at making things than I am!
- A-Yun 现在知道了吧？大木头，快进伞里来！
Xiànzài zhīdào le ba? Dà mùtou, kuài jìn sǎn lǐ lái!
Now you know! Come on, you big blockhead, get under the umbrella!
- Little Stone 师母，我呢？我也要进伞里！
Shīmǔ, wǒ ne? Wǒ yě yào jìn sǎn lǐ!
Ma'am, what about me? I want to get under it too!
- Narrator 这时候，雨里走来一个老奶奶。
Zhè shíhou, yǔ lǐ zǒu lái yí gè lǎo nǎinai.
Just then, an old woman came walking toward them through the rain.
- Old Grandma 请问，您是鲁班师父吗？我从赵州来，走了十天！
Qǐngwèn, nín shì Lǔ Bān shīfu ma? Wǒ cóng Zhàozhōu lái, zǒu le shí tiān!
Excuse me, are you Master Lu Ban? I've come all the way from Zhaozhou. I've been walking for ten days!
- Old Grandma 我们那儿有一条大河，没有桥。大水来了，谁都过不去！
Wǒmen nàr yǒu yì tiáo dà hé, méiyǒu qiáo. Dà shuǐ lái le, shéi dōu guò bú qù!
There's a great river where we live, and no bridge. When the floods come, nobody can get across!
- Lu Ban 老奶奶，别急。我去给你们做一座桥！
Lǎo nǎinai, bié jí. Wǒ qù gěi nǐmen zuò yí zuò qiáo!
Don't worry, Grandma. I'll come and build you a bridge!
- A-Yun 那么大的河？你要做多久？一年？两年？
Nàme dà de hé? Nǐ yào zuò duō jiǔ? Yì nián? Liǎng nián?
Over a river that big? How long will that take? A year? Two?
- Lu Ban 不用。一个晚上，我就做好！
Bú yòng. Yí gè wǎnshang, wǒ jiù zuò hǎo!
It won't take that long. I'll have it done in one night!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does A-Yun say is wrong with pavilions?
“亭子不会走啊……大雨来了，亭子还很远呢！”
- What does Lu Ban think of A-Yun's idea at first?
“亭子会走？阿云，你又开玩笑了！”
- What did Little Stone see A-Yun carrying?
“我看见师母拿了很多竹子，还有布。”
- How does Little Stone describe the umbrella?
“打开，像亭子。关上，像一根木头！”
- Why has the old woman come all the way from Zhaozhou?
“我们那儿有一条大河，没有桥。”