Ma Liang's Magic Paintbrush · chapter 5 of 5
More Wind!
风，再大一点！
The emperor wants the biggest sea in the world, and Ma Liang is happy to paint it for him, along with a boat and exactly as much wind as he asks for.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第二天，马良拿起神笔，画了一个大海。
Dì èr tiān, Mǎ Liáng ná qǐ shén bǐ, huà le yí gè dàhǎi.
The next day, Ma Liang took up his magic brush and painted a sea.
- The Emperor 大海！真的是大海！好大，好大啊！
Dàhǎi! Zhēnde shì dàhǎi! Hǎo dà, hǎo dà a!
The sea! It really is the sea! It's huge, simply huge!
- The Emperor 可是，大海里怎么没有鱼？马良，快画鱼！
Kěshì, dàhǎi lǐ zěnme méiyǒu yú? Mǎ Liáng, kuài huà yú!
But why aren't there any fish in it? Ma Liang, paint some fish, quick!
Chapter 5 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Ma Liang's Magic Paintbrush 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.
- Ma Liang 好。大鱼，小鱼，金色的鱼……
Hǎo. Dà yú, xiǎo yú, jīnsè de yú…
All right. Big fish, little fish, golden fish…
- The Emperor 很多很多鱼！我要去大海上看鱼！马良，给我画一条大船！
Hěn duō hěn duō yú! Wǒ yào qù dàhǎi shang kàn yú! Mǎ Liáng, gěi wǒ huà yì tiáo dà chuán!
So many fish! I want to go out on the sea and look at them! Ma Liang, paint me a big boat!
- Ma Liang 好，一条大船。您请上船吧。
Hǎo, yì tiáo dà chuán. Nín qǐng shàng chuán ba.
Very well, one big boat. Please, step aboard.
- The Emperor 我上船了！船怎么不走？马良，画风！
Wǒ shàng chuán le! Chuán zěnme bù zǒu? Mǎ Liáng, huà fēng!
I'm aboard! Why isn't the boat moving? Ma Liang, paint some wind!
- Ma Liang 好，我画一点儿风。
Hǎo, wǒ huà yìdiǎnr fēng.
All right, I'll paint a little wind.
- Narrator 风来了，大船走了，走得很慢。
Fēng lái le, dà chuán zǒu le, zǒu de hěn màn.
The wind came, and the big boat began to move, very slowly.
- The Emperor 太慢了！风，再大一点儿！
Tài màn le! Fēng, zài dà yìdiǎnr!
Too slow! More wind! Bigger!
- Ma Liang 好，再大一点儿。
Hǎo, zài dà yìdiǎnr.
All right. A bit bigger.
- The Emperor 还是太慢！再大一点儿！再大一点儿！
Háishi tài màn! Zài dà yìdiǎnr! Zài dà yìdiǎnr!
Still too slow! Bigger! Bigger!
- Narrator 马良画了很大很大的风。大海的水，像山一样高！
Mǎ Liáng huà le hěn dà hěn dà de fēng. Dàhǎi de shuǐ, xiàng shān yíyàng gāo!
Ma Liang painted a huge, huge wind. The waves rose as high as mountains!
- The Emperor 够了！够了！马良，风太大了！别画了！
Gòu le! Gòu le! Mǎ Liáng, fēng tài dà le! Bié huà le!
Enough! Enough! Ma Liang, the wind's too strong! Stop painting!
- Ma Liang 您不是说，再大一点儿吗？
Nín bú shì shuō, zài dà yìdiǎnr ma?
But you said bigger, didn't you?
- The Emperor 我的帽子！我的船！马良！马良……
Wǒ de màozi! Wǒ de chuán! Mǎ Liáng! Mǎ Liáng…
My crown! My boat! Ma Liang! Ma Liang…
- Narrator 大风带着大船，走了很远很远，到了一个小岛上。
Dàfēng dàizhe dà chuán, zǒu le hěn yuǎn hěn yuǎn, dào le yí gè xiǎodǎo shang.
The great wind carried the boat far, far away, all the way to a tiny island.
- The Emperor 这是哪儿？一个小岛？有人吗？来人啊！我饿了！
Zhè shì nǎr? Yí gè xiǎodǎo? Yǒu rén ma? Lái rén a! Wǒ è le!
Where am I? A tiny island? Is anybody here? Servants! I'm hungry!
- The Emperor 没有人？那……谁给我做饭？
Méiyǒu rén? Nà… shéi gěi wǒ zuò fàn?
Nobody? Then… who's going to cook for me?
- Narrator 马良骑上他的大马，回到了家。
Mǎ Liáng qí shàng tā de dà mǎ, huí dào le jiā.
Ma Liang climbed onto his big horse and rode home.
- Granny Li 马良！真的是你！你回来了！
Mǎ Liáng! Zhēnde shì nǐ! Nǐ huílái le!
Ma Liang! It's really you! You've come back!
- Ma Liang 奶奶，我说过，我会回来的！
Nǎinai, wǒ shuō guo, wǒ huì huílái de!
Granny, I told you I'd come back!
- Granny Li 我听说，你给皇帝画了一个大海？皇帝呢？
Wǒ tīngshuō, nǐ gěi huángdì huà le yí gè dàhǎi? Huángdì ne?
I hear you painted the emperor a sea? So where's the emperor now?
- Ma Liang 他在一个小岛上。以后，他要自己做饭了！
Tā zài yí gè xiǎodǎo shang. Yǐhòu, tā yào zìjǐ zuò fàn le!
He's on a little island. From now on, he'll have to cook for himself!
- Granny Li 哈哈哈！好，好！财主也听说了，现在很怕你呢！
Hāhāhā! Hǎo, hǎo! Cáizhu yě tīngshuō le, xiànzài hěn pà nǐ ne!
Ha ha ha! Good, good! The rich man's heard about it too. He's scared stiff of you now!
- Granny Li 哎哟，我的老腰……
Āiyō, wǒ de lǎo yāo…
Oh, my poor old back…
- Ma Liang 奶奶，别动！我给你画一把椅子！
Nǎinai, bié dòng! Wǒ gěi nǐ huà yì bǎ yǐzi!
Don't move, Granny! I'll paint you a chair!
- Granny Li 好椅子！马良，你回来了，真好。
Hǎo yǐzi! Mǎ Liáng, nǐ huílái le, zhēn hǎo.
What a lovely chair! Ma Liang, it's so good to have you home.
- Ma Liang 小猫，你也来了？我给你画一条鱼。这一次，能吃！
Xiǎo māo, nǐ yě lái le? Wǒ gěi nǐ huà yì tiáo yú. Zhè yí cì, néng chī!
Kitty, you're here too? I'll paint you a fish. This time, you can eat it!
- Narrator 从那天起，马良还是天天画画。他只给穷人画。
Cóng nà tiān qǐ, Mǎ Liáng háishi tiāntiān huà huà. Tā zhǐ gěi qióngrén huà.
From that day on, Ma Liang painted every day, just as before. And he painted only for the poor.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does the emperor ask for after the fish?
“马良，给我画一条大船！”
- Why does the emperor keep asking for more wind?
“太慢了！风，再大一点儿！”
- What does Ma Liang say when the emperor shouts “Enough!”?
“您不是说，再大一点儿吗？”
- Where does the wind carry the emperor's boat?
“大风带着大船，走了很远很远，到了一个小岛上。”
- What does Ma Liang paint when Granny Li's back hurts?
“奶奶，别动！我给你画一把椅子！”