Mazu, Goddess of the Sea · chapter 2 of 4
The Girl and the Clouds
默娘看天
Moniang beats her brother at swimming and reads the red clouds. Her father goes fishing anyway, and a strange wind starts to rise.
Read what you hear
- Brother 默娘！你等等我！
Mòniáng! Nǐ děngdeng wǒ!
Moniang! Wait for me!
- Moniang 哥哥，你游泳太慢了！我在等你呢！
Gēge, nǐ yóuyǒng tài màn le! Wǒ zài děng nǐ ne!
Brother, you swim too slowly! I'm waiting for you!
- Brother 我是哥哥！我怎么会慢？是水太冷了！
Wǒ shì gēge! Wǒ zěnme huì màn? Shì shuǐ tài lěng le!
I'm your big brother! How could I be slow? The water is too cold!
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Mazu, Goddess of the Sea 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, The Odyssey, Robin Hood, Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Kitchen God from start to finish.
- Moniang 你是慢哥哥！
Nǐ shì màn gēge!
You're Slow Brother!
- Brother 再来一次！这次，游到那条船那儿！
Zài lái yí cì! Zhè cì, yóu dào nà tiáo chuán nàr!
One more time! This time, swim to that boat!
- Moniang 好！一，二，三！
Hǎo! Yī, èr, sān!
Okay! One, two, three!
- Brother 又是你先到！你真的是鱼吗？
Yòu shì nǐ xiān dào! Nǐ zhēn de shì yú ma?
You got there first again! Are you really a fish?
- Moniang 我是海的孩子！
Wǒ shì hǎi de háizi!
I'm a child of the sea!
- Brother 你会游泳，会看天，还会看书。我呢？
Nǐ huì yóuyǒng, huì kàn tiān, hái huì kàn shū. Wǒ ne?
You can swim, read the sky, and read books. What about me?
- Moniang 你会吃鱼！你吃得比谁都多！
Nǐ huì chī yú! Nǐ chī de bǐ shéi dōu duō!
You can eat fish! You eat more than anyone!
- Brother 哈哈，这个我最会！
Hāhā, zhège wǒ zuì huì!
Ha ha, that I'm best at!
- Narrator 太阳下山了。大家都在海边。
Tàiyáng xiàshān le. Dàjiā dōu zài hǎibiān.
The sun went down. Everyone gathered by the sea.
- Moniang 老爷爷！明天别出海！天气要变了！
Lǎoyéye! Míngtiān bié chūhǎi! Tiānqì yào biàn le!
Grandpa! Don't go out to sea tomorrow! The weather is about to change!
- Old Fisherman 为什么？今天天气很好啊。海也很安静。
Wèishénme? Jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo a. Hǎi yě hěn ānjìng.
Why? The weather is lovely today. The sea is calm too.
- Moniang 您看，云是红的，红得很怪。大风要来了。
Nín kàn, yún shì hóng de, hóng de hěn guài. Dà fēng yào lái le.
Look, the clouds are red, strangely red. A big wind is coming.
- Old Fisherman 我七十岁了。我出海五十年，不怕风。
Wǒ qīshí suì le. Wǒ chūhǎi wǔshí nián, bú pà fēng.
I'm seventy years old. I've gone to sea for fifty years. I'm not afraid of wind.
- Moniang 老爷爷，请听我说。大海要生气了。
Lǎoyéye, qǐng tīng wǒ shuō. Dàhǎi yào shēngqì le.
Grandpa, please listen. The sea is about to get angry.
- Old Fisherman 上次她也说对了……好，我不去。
Shàng cì tā yě shuō duì le… Hǎo, wǒ bú qù.
She was right last time too... All right, I won't go.
- Father 别担心。我和你哥哥去，一天就回来。
Bié dānxīn. Wǒ hé nǐ gēge qù, yì tiān jiù huílái.
Don't worry. Your brother and I will go, and we'll be back in one day.
- Moniang 爸爸，别去！明天真的有大风！
Bàba, bié qù! Míngtiān zhēn de yǒu dà fēng!
Papa, don't go! There really will be a big wind tomorrow!
- Father 好，好。给你带一条大鱼回来！
Hǎo, hǎo. Gěi nǐ dài yì tiáo dà yú huílái!
All right, all right. I'll bring you back a big fish!
- Narrator 第二天，爸爸和哥哥出海了。中午，风来了。
Dì-èr tiān, bàba hé gēge chūhǎi le. Zhōngwǔ, fēng lái le.
The next day, Papa and Brother went out to sea. At noon, the wind came.
- Mother 默娘，你怎么了？
Mòniáng, nǐ zěnme le?
Moniang, what's wrong?
- Moniang 妈妈，你听。风来了，来得好快。
Māma, nǐ tīng. Fēng lái le, lái de hǎo kuài.
Mama, listen. The wind is here, and it came so fast.
- Mother 风大一点，没什么。你爸爸很会开船，很快回来。
Fēng dà yìdiǎn, méi shénme. Nǐ bàba hěn huì kāi chuán, hěn kuài huílái.
A bit of wind is nothing. Your papa sails well, he'll be back soon.
- Moniang 不，妈妈。这不是小风。这是很大很大的风。
Bù, māma. Zhè bú shì xiǎo fēng. Zhè shì hěn dà hěn dà de fēng.
No, Mama. This is not a small wind. This is a huge wind.
- Mother 那怎么办？
Nà zěnme bàn?
Then what do we do?
- Moniang 爸爸和哥哥在哪儿？他们会没事吗？
Bàba hé gēge zài nǎr? Tāmen huì méishì ma?
Where are Papa and Brother? Will they be all right?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Who wins the swimming race?
“又是你先到！你真的是鱼吗？”
- What does Moniang read in the red clouds?
“大风要来了。”
- What does the old fisherman decide?
“好，我不去。”
- What does Father promise to bring back?
“给你带一条大鱼回来！”
- Why is Moniang afraid at the end?
“这不是小风。”……“爸爸和哥哥在哪儿？”