Mulan · chapter 10 of 10
Back at the Loom
木兰又织布了
Spring comes around again, and Mulan is back at her loom when a familiar loud voice calls out from the gate.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第二年春天，桃花又开了。木兰又坐在门口织布。
Dì èr nián chūntiān, táohuā yòu kāi le. Mùlán yòu zuò zài ménkǒu zhībù.
The next spring, the peach trees bloomed again. Mulan sat in her doorway, weaving once more.
- Mulan 以前织布的时候，我常常叹气。现在，我不叹气了。
Yǐqián zhībù de shíhou, wǒ chángcháng tànqì. Xiànzài, wǒ bú tànqì le.
I used to sigh a lot at this loom. Now I don't sigh anymore.
- Mulan's father 木兰，休息一下吧，过来喝口茶！别太累了。
Mùlán, xiūxi yíxià ba, guòlái hē kǒu chá! Bié tài lèi le.
Mulan, take a break. Come have some tea! Don't wear yourself out.
Chapter 10 is part of SayMei Stories Unlimited ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapters 1 and 2 of Mulan are free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Captain Li 花弟！花弟在家吗？
Huā Dì! Huā Dì zài jiā ma?
Hua Di! Is Hua Di home?
- Mulan 李大哥！你怎么还叫我花弟？
Lǐ dàgē! Nǐ zěnme hái jiào wǒ Huā Dì?
Captain Li! Why are you still calling me Hua Di?
- Captain Li 叫了十二年了，改不了了！花弟，花弟，多好听！
Jiào le shí'èr nián le, gǎi bù liǎo le! Huā Dì, Huā Dì, duō hǎotīng!
Twelve years of habit. I can't stop now! Hua Di, Hua Di. It sounds nice!
- Mulan 你不穿军装，我都认不出来了！
Nǐ bù chuān jūnzhuāng, wǒ dōu rèn bù chūlái le!
Out of uniform, I hardly recognized you!
- Captain Li 你不穿军装，我也认不出来啊！
Nǐ bù chuān jūnzhuāng, wǒ yě rèn bù chūlái a!
Out of uniform, I didn't recognize you either!
- Mulan's father 是小李来了？快进来坐！我给你倒茶。
Shì Xiǎo Lǐ lái le? Kuài jìnlái zuò! Wǒ gěi nǐ dào chá.
Is that young Li? Come in and sit down! I'll pour you some tea.
- Captain Li 谢谢大爷！你们看，我带来了什么？我妈做的饼！她做了一个晚上！
Xièxie dàye! Nǐmen kàn, wǒ dài lái le shénme? Wǒ mā zuò de bǐng! Tā zuò le yí gè wǎnshang!
Thank you, Uncle! Look what I brought! My mom's flatbread! She spent all night making it!
- Mulan 你说了十二年的饼！今天终于吃到了！
Nǐ shuō le shí'èr nián de bǐng! Jīntiān zhōngyú chī dào le!
The flatbread you talked about for twelve years! At last I get to taste it!
- Captain Li 快吃！又大又香，对不对？
Kuài chī! Yòu dà yòu xiāng, duì bú duì?
Eat up! Big and delicious, right?
- Mulan 对！这是我吃过最好吃的饼！
Duì! Zhè shì wǒ chī guò zuì hǎochī de bǐng!
Yes! It's the best flatbread I've ever had!
- Mulan's father 小李，这十二年，谢谢你照顾我的女儿。
Xiǎo Lǐ, zhè shí'èr nián, xièxie nǐ zhàogù wǒ de nǚ'ér.
Young Li, thank you for looking after my daughter all these years.
- Captain Li 大爷，说真的……是她照顾我。她救了我好几次！
Dàye, shuō zhēn de…… shì tā zhàogù wǒ. Tā jiù le wǒ hǎo jǐ cì!
Uncle, to tell the truth… she looked after me. She saved my life more than once!
- Captain Li 不过啊……其实我早就知道她是女的！
Búguò a…… qíshí wǒ zǎo jiù zhīdào tā shì nǚ de!
Mind you… I actually knew she was a woman all along!
- Mulan 真的吗？那你为什么问我：“您是花弟的姐姐吗？”
Zhēn de ma? Nà nǐ wèishénme wèn wǒ: “Nín shì Huā Dì de jiějie ma?”
Really? Then why did you ask me, “Are you Hua Di's sister?”
- Captain Li 这个……好吧，我不知道！一点儿也不知道！
Zhège…… hǎo ba, wǒ bù zhīdào! Yìdiǎnr yě bù zhīdào!
Well… all right, I had no idea! Not a clue!
- Mulan's father 哈哈哈！小李，你真是一个老实人！
Hāhāhā! Xiǎo Lǐ, nǐ zhēn shì yí gè lǎoshi rén!
Ha ha ha! Young Li, you're an honest man!
- Captain Li 我说呢，你的手怎么那么小！声音也那么好听！
Wǒ shuō ne, nǐ de shǒu zěnme nàme xiǎo! Shēngyīn yě nàme hǎotīng!
So that's why your hands were so small! And your voice so nice!
- Mulan 小手也能射箭，也能织布。
Xiǎo shǒu yě néng shèjiàn, yě néng zhībù.
Small hands can shoot arrows, and weave cloth too.
- Mulan's father 小手还能做饭呢！今天的菜，都是木兰做的。
Xiǎo shǒu hái néng zuò fàn ne! Jīntiān de cài, dōu shì Mùlán zuò de.
And small hands can cook, too! She made every dish today.
- Captain Li 还有那两只兔子……我想了一年，还是看不出来！
Hái yǒu nà liǎng zhī tùzi…… Wǒ xiǎng le yì nián, háishi kàn bù chūlái!
And those two rabbits… I've thought about them for a whole year, and I still can't tell them apart!
- Mulan's father 木兰，那一天，你坐在这里叹气。今天，你坐在这里笑。
Mùlán, nà yì tiān, nǐ zuò zài zhèlǐ tànqì. Jīntiān, nǐ zuò zài zhèlǐ xiào.
Mulan, on that day long ago, you sat here sighing. Today you sit here laughing.
- Mulan 因为今天，我们都在家。
Yīnwèi jīntiān, wǒmen dōu zài jiā.
Because today, we're all home.
- Narrator 唧唧，唧唧，织布的声音又响了起来。
Jījī, jījī, zhībù de shēngyīn yòu xiǎng le qǐlái.
Click-clack, click-clack, the sound of weaving filled the air again.
- Narrator 这就是木兰的故事。一千多年以后，人们还在唱。
Zhè jiù shì Mùlán de gùshi. Yìqiān duō nián yǐhòu, rénmen hái zài chàng.
That is the story of Mulan. More than a thousand years later, people are still singing it.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How has Mulan changed at the loom?
“现在，我不叹气了。”
- What does Li still call Mulan?
“你怎么还叫我花弟？”
- What does Li bring with him?
“我妈做的饼！”
- How does Mulan prove Li didn't know her secret?
“您是花弟的姐姐吗？”
- Why is Mulan laughing today, according to her answer?
“因为今天，我们都在家。”