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.
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…
- Mulan 又下雪了。家里的桃花，已经开了十次了吧？
Yòu xià xuě le. Jiā lǐ de táohuā, yǐjīng kāi le shí cì le ba?
Snowing again. The peach trees at home must have bloomed ten times by now.
- Mulan 好冷啊……我的手都快动不了了。
Hǎo lěng a…… Wǒ de shǒu dōu kuài dòng bù liǎo le.
So cold… I can barely move my hands.
Chapter 5 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！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 shì 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 hǎohuà, 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。这么冷的天，你也吃。
Xièxie Lǐ dàgē. Zhème lěng de tiān, nǐ yě chī.
Thank you, Captain Li. On a night this cold, you have some too.
- Captain Li 我不饿……好吧，一人一半！你一半，我一半！
Wǒ bú è…… Hǎo ba, yì rén yíbàn! Nǐ yíbàn, wǒ yíbàn!
I'm not hungry… Oh, all right. Half each! Half for you, half for me!
- Mulan 李大哥，我们来这里多少年了？我都忘了。
Lǐ dàgē, wǒmen lái zhèlǐ duōshao nián le? Wǒ dōu wàng le.
Captain Li, how many years have we been here? I've lost count.
- 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。她每天都在门口等我。
Wǒ mā de tóufa, yídìng quán bái le. Tā měi tiān dōu zài ménkǒu děng wǒ.
My mom's hair must be all white by now. She waits at the door for me every day.
- Captain Li 别想了，别想了！想家的时候，就多吃一口饼！
Bié xiǎng le, 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。伤口不大，可是不能不管。
Bié dòng, wǒ gěi nǐ bāo yíxià. Shāngkǒu bú dà, kěshì bù néng bù guǎn.
Hold still. Let me bandage it. It's not a big cut, but you can't just leave it.
- Captain Li 哎哟！轻点儿，轻点儿！
Āiyō! Qīng diǎnr, qīng diǎnr!
Ow! Gently, gently!
- Mulan 打仗的时候什么都不怕，包伤口倒怕了？
Dǎzhàng de shíhou shénme dōu bú pà, bāo shāngkǒu dào pà le?
Not scared of anything in battle, but scared of a bandage?
- 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，手也小。别说话了，快吃饼吧！
Wǒ…… wǒ cóngxiǎo jiù shòu, shǒu yě xiǎo. Bié shuōhuà le, kuài chī bǐng ba!
I… I've always been thin, with small hands. Stop talking and eat your bread!
- Captain Li 哈哈！手这么小，箭还射得那么好！真奇怪！
Hāha! Shǒu zhème xiǎo, jiàn hái shè de nàme hǎo! Zhēn qíguài!
Ha! Such small hands, and such a good shot! Strange!
- 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？可是，我……
Wǒ? Zuò jiāngjūn? Kěshì, wǒ……
Me? A general? But I…
- Captain Li 花将军！哈哈，以后我要叫你“花将军”了！
Huā jiāngjūn! Hāha, yǐhòu wǒ yào jiào nǐ “Huā jiāngjūn” le!
General Hua! Ha ha, from now on I'll have to call you “General Hua”!
- Captain Li 老将军说，你是最好的士兵，大家都听你的！
Lǎo jiāngjūn shuō, nǐ shì zuì hǎo de shìbīng, dàjiā dōu tīng nǐ de!
The old general says you're the best soldier we have, and everyone will follow you!
- 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…
- Mulan 我的秘密，还能不能守住呢？
Wǒ de mìmì, hái néng bù néng shǒu zhù ne?
Can I still keep my secret?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How many winters have Mulan and Li been at war in this chapter?
“一、二、三……十个冬天了。”
- How did Li get the warm flatbread?
“我跟做饭的说了半天好话，他才给了我一个！”
- What does Mulan notice about Li?
“你的胳膊怎么了？你受伤了！”
- What does Li notice while Mulan bandages him?
“你的手……怎么这么小？”
- Why is Mulan uneasy about becoming general?
“做了将军，看着我的人就更多了……”