Ma Liang's Magic Paintbrush · chapter 4 of 5
The Emperor's Gold Mountain
皇帝的金山
Far from home, Ma Liang hides his gift by never painting eyes, until one small slip brings him face to face with the emperor.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 马良骑着马，走了很多天，来到了一个很远的地方。
Mǎ Liáng qízhe mǎ, zǒu le hěn duō tiān, lái dào le yí gè hěn yuǎn de dìfang.
Ma Liang rode for many days, until he came to a place far, far away.
- Ma Liang 奶奶，你的老腰好吗？我很想你……
Nǎinai, nǐ de lǎo yāo hǎo ma? Wǒ hěn xiǎng nǐ…
Granny, how's your poor old back? I miss you so much…
- Ma Liang 这里没有人认识我。我画画，卖画……可是，我不画眼睛！
Zhèlǐ méiyǒu rén rènshi wǒ. Wǒ huà huà, mài huà… kěshì, wǒ bú huà yǎnjing!
Nobody knows me here. I'll paint pictures and sell them… but I won't paint any eyes!
Chapter 4 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.
- The Customer 小画家，你的鸟真好看！我要这只。它怎么没有眼睛？
Xiǎo huàjiā, nǐ de niǎo zhēn hǎokàn! Wǒ yào zhè zhī. Tā zěnme méiyǒu yǎnjing?
Little painter, your birds are lovely! I'll take this one. But why doesn't it have any eyes?
- Ma Liang 有了眼睛，它会飞走的。
Yǒu le yǎnjing, tā huì fēi zǒu de.
If it had eyes, it would fly away.
- The Customer 哈哈！你这个孩子，真会开玩笑！
Hāhā! Nǐ zhège háizi, zhēn huì kāi wánxiào!
Ha ha! What a joker you are!
- Ma Liang 我没有开玩笑……
Wǒ méiyǒu kāi wánxiào…
But I'm not joking…
- Narrator 一天，马良在给那个客人画一只白鹤。
Yì tiān, Mǎ Liáng zài gěi nàge kèrén huà yì zhī báihè.
One day, Ma Liang was painting a white crane for that same customer.
- Ma Liang 哎呀，不好！我的笔，点到了白鹤的眼睛！
Āiyā, bù hǎo! Wǒ de bǐ, diǎn dào le báihè de yǎnjing!
Oh no! My brush touched the crane's eye!
- The Customer 你看！白鹤动了！白鹤飞起来了！
Nǐ kàn! Báihè dòng le! Báihè fēi qǐlái le!
Look! The crane moved! The crane is flying!
- The Customer 大家快来看！画上的白鹤飞了！他有一支神笔！
Dàjiā kuài lái kàn! Huà shang de báihè fēi le! Tā yǒu yì zhī shén bǐ!
Everyone, come and look! The crane flew right out of the picture! He has a magic brush!
- Ma Liang 不好……现在，大家都知道了！
Bù hǎo… xiànzài, dàjiā dōu zhīdào le!
Oh no… now everyone knows!
- Narrator 这件事，很快就到了皇帝那里。皇帝叫人带来了马良。
Zhè jiàn shì, hěn kuài jiù dào le huángdì nàlǐ. Huángdì jiào rén dài lái le Mǎ Liáng.
The news soon reached the emperor, and the emperor had Ma Liang brought to his palace.
- The Emperor 你就是马良？好！给我画金子！很多很多金子！
Nǐ jiù shì Mǎ Liáng? Hǎo! Gěi wǒ huà jīnzi! Hěn duō hěn duō jīnzi!
So you're Ma Liang? Good! Paint me gold! Lots and lots of gold!
- Ma Liang 金子，我不画。我只给穷人画。
Jīnzi, wǒ bú huà. Wǒ zhǐ gěi qióngrén huà.
I don't paint gold. I only paint for the poor.
- The Emperor 什么？你知道我是谁吗？我是皇帝！
Shénme? Nǐ zhīdào wǒ shì shéi ma? Wǒ shì huángdì!
What? Do you know who I am? I'm the emperor!
- Ma Liang 我知道。皇帝不是穷人啊。
Wǒ zhīdào. Huángdì bú shì qióngrén a.
I know. And an emperor isn't poor.
- The Emperor 你……！好，你不画，我自己画！笔给我！
Nǐ…! Hǎo, nǐ bú huà, wǒ zìjǐ huà! Bǐ gěi wǒ!
Why, you…! Fine! If you won't paint it, I'll paint it myself! Give me that brush!
- Narrator 皇帝拿过神笔，画了一座金山。
Huángdì ná guò shén bǐ, huà le yí zuò jīnshān.
The emperor snatched the magic brush and painted a mountain of gold.
- The Emperor 金山！我的金山！再大一点儿……再大一点儿！
Jīnshān! Wǒ de jīnshān! Zài dà yìdiǎnr… zài dà yìdiǎnr!
A gold mountain! My gold mountain! Bigger… bigger!
- Narrator 金山很大很大了。可是，它变成了很多大石头！
Jīnshān hěn dà hěn dà le. Kěshì, tā biànchéng le hěn duō dà shítou!
The gold mountain grew bigger and bigger. And then it turned into a heap of big rocks!
- The Emperor 哎哟！我的脚！我的脚！金子呢？怎么是石头？
Āiyō! Wǒ de jiǎo! Wǒ de jiǎo! Jīnzi ne? Zěnme shì shítou?
Ow! My foot! My foot! Where's the gold? Why is it rocks?
- Ma Liang 神笔只帮穷人。您要金子，它就给您石头！
Shén bǐ zhǐ bāng qióngrén. Nín yào jīnzi, tā jiù gěi nín shítou!
The magic brush only helps the poor. Ask it for gold, and it gives you rocks!
- The Emperor 这笔不好！还给你！马良，那你给我画别的！要大的，很大很大的！
Zhè bǐ bù hǎo! Huán gěi nǐ! Mǎ Liáng, nà nǐ gěi wǒ huà bié de! Yào dà de, hěn dà hěn dà de!
This brush is no good! Take it back! Ma Liang, then paint me something else! Something big, really, really big!
- Ma Liang 很大很大的……您看过大海吗？
Hěn dà hěn dà de… nín kàn guo dàhǎi ma?
Really, really big… Have you ever seen the sea?
- The Emperor 大海？没看过！我要看大海！我是皇帝，我要最大的大海！
Dàhǎi? Méi kàn guo! Wǒ yào kàn dàhǎi! Wǒ shì huángdì, wǒ yào zuì dà de dàhǎi!
The sea? Never! I want to see the sea! I'm the emperor, so I want the biggest sea of all!
- Ma Liang 好！明天，我给您画一个很大很大的大海！
Hǎo! Míngtiān, wǒ gěi nín huà yí gè hěn dà hěn dà de dàhǎi!
Very well! Tomorrow I'll paint you a very, very big sea!
- Ma Liang 还有……很大很大的风。
Háiyǒu… hěn dà hěn dà de fēng.
And… a very, very big wind.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why does Ma Liang never paint eyes on his birds?
“有了眼睛，它会飞走的。”
- What does the customer think when Ma Liang explains?
“哈哈！你这个孩子，真会开玩笑！”
- What happens after the brush touches the crane's eye?
“白鹤动了！白鹤飞起来了！”
- What happens to the gold mountain the emperor paints?
“可是，它变成了很多大石头！”
- What does Ma Liang offer to paint for the emperor instead of gold?
“您看过大海吗？……我给您画一个很大很大的大海！”