The Peach Blossom Spring · chapter 3 of 4
A Village Out of Time
还是秦朝吗？
Over chicken and wine, an old villager asks the fisherman one simple question about the world outside. The answer is six hundred years long.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 小女孩的爷爷请渔夫去他家。
Xiǎo nǚhái de yéye qǐng yúfū qù tā jiā.
The girl's grandfather invited the fisherman to his home.
- The old villager 客人，请进，请坐！
Kèrén, qǐng jìn, qǐng zuò!
Come in, come in, our guest! Please, sit down!
- The fisherman 谢谢您，老人家。
Xièxie nín, lǎorénjia.
Thank you kindly, sir.
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Peach Blossom Spring 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 old villager 今天家里来了客人，我们吃鸡！
Jīntiān jiā lǐ lái le kèrén, wǒmen chī jī!
We have a guest today, so we're having chicken!
- Narrator 桌子上有鸡，有米饭，还有酒。
Zhuōzi shang yǒu jī, yǒu mǐfàn, hái yǒu jiǔ.
Soon there was chicken on the table, and rice, and wine.
- The old villager 门外都是人！大家都想看看你！
Mén wài dōu shì rén! Dàjiā dōu xiǎng kànkan nǐ!
The doorway's full of people! Everyone wants a peek at you!
- The old villager 来，客人，喝一杯！
Lái, kèrén, hē yì bēi!
Here, my guest, have a cup!
- The fisherman 这么多好吃的……你们太好了！
Zhème duō hǎochī de… nǐmen tài hǎo le!
So much good food… you're all so kind!
- The fisherman 老人家，你们在这儿住了多少年了？
Lǎorénjia, nǐmen zài zhèr zhù le duōshao nián le?
Sir, how many years have you lived here?
- The old villager 很多很多年了。那时候，外边天天打仗。
Hěn duō hěn duō nián le. Nà shíhou, wàibian tiāntiān dǎzhàng.
Many, many years. Back then, there was fighting out there every day.
- The old villager 我们的家人不想打仗。他们一起走进山里，来到了这儿。
Wǒmen de jiārén bù xiǎng dǎzhàng. Tāmen yìqǐ zǒu jìn shān lǐ, láidào le zhèr.
Our families wanted no part of the war. So they went into the mountains together and came here.
- The fisherman 以后呢？你们出去过吗？
Yǐhòu ne? Nǐmen chūqù guo ma?
And after that? Have you ever gone back out?
- The old villager 没有，一次也没有。这里什么都有。
Méiyǒu, yí cì yě méiyǒu. Zhèlǐ shénme dōu yǒu.
No, not once. We have everything we need right here.
- The old villager 客人，外边现在……还是秦朝吗？
Kèrén, wàibian xiànzài… hái shi Qín Cháo ma?
Tell me, my guest… out there, these days… is it still the Qin?
- The fisherman 秦朝？秦朝早就没有了！
Qín Cháo? Qín Cháo zǎojiù méiyǒu le!
The Qin? The Qin ended long, long ago!
- The fisherman 后来有了汉朝。现在，是晋朝了。
Hòulái yǒu le Hàn Cháo. Xiànzài, shì Jìn Cháo le.
After the Qin came the Han. And now it's the Jin.
- The old villager 汉朝？晋朝？我们都没听说过……
Hàn Cháo? Jìn Cháo? Wǒmen dōu méi tīngshuō guo…
The Han? The Jin? We've never even heard of them…
- Narrator 从秦朝到晋朝，已经快六百年了。
Cóng Qín Cháo dào Jìn Cháo, yǐjīng kuài liùbǎi nián le.
From the Qin to the Jin, nearly six hundred years had gone by.
- Narrator 渔夫在这儿住了几天，大家都请他吃饭。
Yúfū zài zhèr zhù le jǐ tiān, dàjiā dōu qǐng tā chī fàn.
The fisherman stayed for a few days, and family after family invited him to eat.
- The fisherman 老人家，我要回家了。
Lǎorénjia, wǒ yào huí jiā le.
Sir, it's time for me to go home.
- The old villager 客人，回去以后，请不要告诉外边的人。
Kèrén, huíqù yǐhòu, qǐng bú yào gàosu wàibian de rén.
My guest, when you go back, please don't tell the people out there about us.
- The fisherman 好……我不说。
Hǎo… wǒ bù shuō.
All right… I won't tell.
- The village girl 客人，你还会来吗？
Kèrén, nǐ hái huì lái ma?
Will you ever come back to see us?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does the old man serve the fisherman?
“桌子上有鸡，有米饭，还有酒。”
- Why did the villagers' families come to this place long ago?
“那时候，外边天天打仗……我们的家人不想打仗。”
- What does the old man think is happening in the world outside?
“外边现在……还是秦朝吗？”
- How does the old man react when he hears about the Han and the Jin?
“汉朝？晋朝？我们都没听说过……”
- What does the old man ask before the fisherman leaves?
“请不要告诉外边的人。”