Qin Shi Huang: Unifying China · chapter 8 of 8
The Last Road
最后一条路
The emperor travels east, weak and waiting for a ship that never comes. His ministers keep a secret on the road, and in 1974 a well finally answers a little girl's wish.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 皇帝出门去看他的天下。这一次，他走得很远，人也病了。
Huángdì chūmén qù kàn tā de tiānxià. Zhè yí cì, tā zǒu de hěn yuǎn, rén yě bìng le.
The emperor set out to see his land once more. This time he traveled far, and he fell ill.
- Li Si 皇帝，你的脸很白，手也很凉。请停下来，休息一下。
Huángdì, nǐ de liǎn hěn bái, shǒu yě hěn liáng. Qǐng tíng xiàlái, xiūxi yíxià.
Emperor, your face is so pale and your hands are cold. Please stop and rest.
- Qin Shi Huang 朕不能休息。李斯，海边有徐福的船吗？
Zhèn bù néng xiūxi. Lǐ Sī, hǎibiān yǒu Xú Fú de chuán ma?
Zhen cannot rest. Li Si, is Xu Fu's ship at the coast?
Chapter 8 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Qin Shi Huang: Unifying China 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.
- Li Si 没有，皇帝。徐福和他的大船，已经很多年，一直没有消息。
Méiyǒu, huángdì. Xú Fú hé tā de dà chuán, yǐjīng hěn duō nián, yìzhí méiyǒu xiāoxi.
No, Emperor. For many years now there has been no word from Xu Fu or his ship.
- Qin Shi Huang 仙药……朕等了这么多年。朕还是老了。
Xiānyào… zhèn děng le zhème duō nián. Zhèn háishi lǎo le.
The magic medicine... zhen waited so many years. And still zhen has grown old.
- Li Si 皇帝，你做的事，比仙药更长久。字，钱，路，还有长城。
Huángdì, nǐ zuò de shì, bǐ xiānyào gèng chángjiǔ. Zì, qián, lù, hái yǒu Chángchéng.
Emperor, what you built will last longer than any medicine. The writing, the money, the roads, and the Great Wall.
- Qin Shi Huang 也有人恨朕。烧掉的书，累坏的人……朕都知道。
Yě yǒu rén hèn zhèn. Shāo diào de shū, lèi huài de rén… zhèn dōu zhīdào.
There are people who hate zhen. The burned books, the worn-out workers... zhen knows it all.
- Qin Shi Huang 朕的山下，有很多很多泥兵。他们会站在朕的身边，一直陪着朕。
Zhèn de shān xià, yǒu hěn duō hěn duō ní bīng. Tāmen huì zhàn zài zhèn de shēnbiān, yìzhí péi zhe zhèn.
Beneath zhen's mountain there are so many clay soldiers. They will stand beside zhen and keep zhen company.
- Qin Shi Huang 朕不想一个人……
Zhèn bù xiǎng yí gè rén…
Zhen doesn't want to be alone...
- Li Si 皇帝？皇帝！
Huángdì? Huángdì!
Emperor? Emperor!
- Narrator 那天晚上，皇帝闭上眼睛，再也没有醒来。
Nà tiān wǎnshang, huángdì bì shàng yǎnjing, zài yě méiyǒu xǐng lái.
That night the emperor closed his eyes and never woke again.
- Zhao Gao 李斯大人，现在不能说。天下还不知道皇帝去世了。
Lǐ Sī dàrén, xiànzài bù néng shuō. Tiānxià hái bù zhīdào huángdì qùshì le.
Lord Li Si, we can't tell anyone yet. The world doesn't know the emperor has died.
- Li Si 我们要送他回京城。可是路还很远，天气又这么热……
Wǒmen yào sòng tā huí jīngchéng. Kěshì lù hái hěn yuǎn, tiānqì yòu zhème rè…
We must take him back to the capital. But the road is still long, and the weather is so hot...
- Zhao Gao 我有办法。买一车一车的咸鱼，放在后面。
Wǒ yǒu bànfǎ. Mǎi yí chē yí chē de xiányú, fàng zài hòumiàn.
I have a plan. Buy cartload after cartload of salted fish and put them at the back.
- Li Si 咸鱼？为什么？
Xiányú? Wèishénme?
Salted fish? Why?
- Zhao Gao 鱼的味道很大。别人闻到了，只会说：“啊，鱼车。”
Yú de wèidao hěn dà. Biéren wén dào le, zhǐ huì shuō: “Ā, yú chē.”
Fish smell strong. Anyone who catches the smell will only say, "Ah, the fish carts."
- Li Si 皇帝做了一辈子的大事，最后是和鱼一起回家。
Huángdì zuò le yí bèizi de dà shì, zuìhòu shì hé yú yìqǐ huíjiā.
The emperor spent his life doing great things, and at the end he goes home with fish.
- Guard 哎呀，这些鱼好臭啊！
Āiyā, zhèxiē yú hǎo chòu a!
Ugh, these fish stink!
- Zhao Gao 走吧！快走！不要停，也不要说话！
Zǒu ba! Kuài zǒu! Bú yào tíng, yě bú yào shuōhuà!
Move! Hurry! Don't stop, and don't talk!
- Narrator 皇帝回到了京城，睡在骊山下面。泥兵站在他的身边，一站就是两千多年。
Huángdì huí dào le jīngchéng, shuì zài Líshān xiàmiàn. Ní bīng zhàn zài tā de shēnbiān, yí zhàn jiùshì liǎng qiān duō nián.
The emperor returned to the capital and was laid to rest beneath Mount Li. The clay soldiers stood beside him for more than two thousand years.
- Xiao Lan 爷爷，你看！这些泥兵的脸，全都不一样！
Yéye, nǐ kàn! Zhèxiē ní bīng de liǎn, quán dōu bù yíyàng!
Grandpa, look! These clay soldiers all have different faces!
- Lao Yang 对。这个在笑，那个好像在想事情，还有一个好像在生气。
Duì. Zhège zài xiào, nàge hǎoxiàng zài xiǎng shìqing, hái yǒu yí gè hǎoxiàng zài shēngqì.
Yes. This one is smiling, that one looks like he's thinking, and another looks angry.
- Xiao Lan 徐福呢？他回来了吗？
Xú Fú ne? Tā huílái le ma?
What about Xu Fu? Did he ever come back?
- Lao Yang 没有。到今天，也没有人知道他去了哪里。
Méiyǒu. Dào jīntiān, yě méiyǒu rén zhīdào tā qù le nǎlǐ.
No. Even today, nobody knows where he went.
- Xiao Lan 爷爷，秦始皇是好人，还是坏人？
Yéye, Qín Shǐhuáng shì hǎorén, háishi huàirén?
Grandpa, was Qin Shi Huang a good man or a bad man?
- Lao Yang 一个人，不会只有一种样子。他做了很大的事，也让很多人受了苦。
Yí gè rén, bú huì zhǐyǒu yì zhǒng yàngzi. Tā zuò le hěn dà de shì, yě ràng hěn duō rén shòu le kǔ.
A person is never just one thing. He did very big things, and he made many people suffer.
- Lao Yang 一样的字，一样的钱，长城……这些我们今天还看得到。好的和不好的，都要记住。
Yíyàng de zì, yíyàng de qián, Chángchéng… zhèxiē wǒmen jīntiān hái kàn de dào. Hǎo de hé bù hǎo de, dōu yào jìzhù.
The same writing, the same money, the Great Wall... we can still see these today. Remember the good and the bad both.
- Xiao Lan 我记住了！明天，我要告诉全村的人：我们挖到了皇帝的兵！
Wǒ jìzhù le! Míngtiān, wǒ yào gàosu quán cūn de rén: wǒmen wā dào le huángdì de bīng!
I'll remember! Tomorrow I'll tell the whole village: we dug up the emperor's soldiers!
- Lao Yang 好。可是先把井挖完，好不好？我们还要喝水。
Hǎo. Kěshì xiān bǎ jǐng wā wán, hǎo bu hǎo? Wǒmen hái yào hē shuǐ.
All right. But first let's finish the well, okay? We still need water to drink.
- Xiao Lan 爷爷！你看！井底，有水了！
Yéye! Nǐ kàn! Jǐng dǐ, yǒu shuǐ le!
Grandpa! Look! There's water at the bottom of the well!
- Lao Yang 哈哈！两千多年的泥兵，还给我们送来了水！
Hāha! Liǎng qiān duō nián de ní bīng, hái gěi wǒmen sòng lái le shuǐ!
Ha! Soldiers made of clay two thousand years ago, and they've sent us water too!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What is the emperor waiting to hear about?
“已经很多年，一直没有消息”
- What does Li Si say will last longer than magic medicine?
“你做的事，比仙药更长久”
- Why do they buy carts of salted fish?
“鱼的味道很大”
- What does Lao Yang say about the emperor?
“他做了很大的事，也让很多人受了苦”
- What happens at the very end?
“井底，有水了”