Mulan · chapter 5 of 10
Twelve Winters
十二个冬天
Ten winters go by. On a snowy night Captain Li brings warm flatbread, and while Mulan bandages his arm, he notices something about her hands.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Narrator 一个冬天，两个冬天，五个冬天，十个冬天……
Yí gè dōngtiān, liǎng gè dōngtiān, wǔ gè dōngtiān, shí gè dōngtiān…
One winter, two winters, five winters, ten…
- Narrator 又是一个下雪的晚上。木兰一个人坐在火边，看着天上的雪。
Yòu shì yí gè xià xuě de wǎnshang. Mùlán yí gè rén zuò zài huǒ biān, kànzhe tiān shang de xuě.
It was another snowy night. Mulan sat alone by the fire, watching the snow fall.
- Captain Li 花弟！你猜，我给你拿什么来了？
Huā Dì! Nǐ cāi, wǒ gěi nǐ ná shénme lái le?
Hua Di! Guess what I brought you?
- Mulan 饼？还是热的！哪儿来的？
Bǐng? Hái shi rè de! Nǎr lái de?
Flatbread? And it's still warm! Where did you get it?
- Captain Li 我跟做饭的说了半天好话，他才给了我一个！
Wǒ gēn zuò fàn de shuō le bàntiān hǎo huà, tā cái gěi le wǒ yí gè!
I sweet-talked the cook for ages before he gave me one!
- Mulan 谢谢李大哥。你也吃。
Xièxie Lǐ dàgē. Nǐ yě chī.
Thank you, Captain Li. You have some too.
- Captain Li 我不饿……好吧，一人一半！
Wǒ bú è… hǎo ba, yì rén yíbàn!
I'm not hungry… Oh, all right. Half each!
- Mulan 李大哥，我们来这里多少年了？
Lǐ dàgē, wǒmen lái zhèlǐ duōshao nián le?
Captain Li, how many years have we been here?
- Captain Li 我数一数……一、二、三……十个冬天了。
Wǒ shǔ yi shǔ… yī, èr, sān… shí gè dōngtiān le.
Let me count… one, two, three… Ten winters now.
- Mulan 十年了……我的小弟弟，现在应该比我高了。
Shí nián le… wǒ de xiǎo dìdi, xiànzài yīnggāi bǐ wǒ gāo le.
Ten years… My little brother must be taller than me by now.
- Captain Li 我妈的头发，一定全白了。
Wǒ mā de tóufa, yídìng quán bái le.
My mom's hair must be all white by now.
- Captain Li 别想了！想家的时候，就多吃一口饼！
Bié xiǎng le! Xiǎng jiā de shíhou, jiù duō chī yì kǒu bǐng!
Enough of that! When you miss home, just eat another bite of flatbread!
- Mulan 李大哥，你的胳膊怎么了？你受伤了！
Lǐ dàgē, nǐ de gēbo zěnme le? Nǐ shòushāng le!
Captain Li, what happened to your arm? You're hurt!
- Captain Li 小伤，小伤！今天打仗的时候，被敌人的刀碰了一下。
Xiǎo shāng, xiǎo shāng! Jīntiān dǎzhàng de shíhou, bèi dírén de dāo pèng le yíxià.
Just a scratch! An enemy blade caught me in the fight today.
- Mulan 别动，我给你包一下。
Bié dòng, wǒ gěi nǐ bāo yíxià.
Hold still. Let me bandage it.
- Captain Li 花弟，你的手……怎么这么小？
Huā Dì, nǐ de shǒu… zěnme zhème xiǎo?
Hua Di, your hands… why are they so small?
- Mulan 我……我从小就瘦。别说话，快吃饼！
Wǒ… wǒ cóngxiǎo jiù shòu. Bié shuōhuà, kuài chī bǐng!
I… I've always been thin. Stop talking and eat your bread!
- Captain Li 哈哈！手这么小，箭射得那么好！
Hāhā! Shǒu zhème xiǎo, jiàn shè de nàme hǎo!
Ha! Such small hands, and such a good shot!
- Captain Li 对了，花弟，老将军的伤很重，要回家了。
Duì le, Huā Dì, lǎo jiāngjūn de shāng hěn zhòng, yào huí jiā le.
Oh, and Hua Di: the old general is badly wounded. He's going home.
- Captain Li 他说，以后……你来做我们的将军！
Tā shuō, yǐhòu… nǐ lái zuò wǒmen de jiāngjūn!
He says that from now on… you're going to be our general!
- Mulan 我？做将军？
Wǒ? Zuò jiāngjūn?
Me? A general?
- Captain Li 花将军！哈哈，以后我要叫你“花将军”了！
Huā jiāngjūn! Hāhā, yǐhòu wǒ yào jiào nǐ “Huā jiāngjūn” le!
General Hua! Ha ha, from now on I'll have to call you “General Hua”!
- Mulan 做了将军，看着我的人就更多了……
Zuò le jiāngjūn, kànzhe wǒ de rén jiù gèng duō le…
As a general, even more eyes will be on me…
What changed in the story?
- What does Captain Li bring Mulan on the snowy night?
“饼？还是热的！”
- How long have they been at war by now?
“十个冬天了。”
- What does Captain Li notice while Mulan bandages his arm?
“你的手……怎么这么小？”
- How does Mulan explain it?
“我从小就瘦。”
- Why will Mulan become the new general?
“老将军的伤很重，要回家了……你来做我们的将军！”