Qin Shi Huang: Unifying China · chapter 6 of 8
The Long Wall
北方的长城
On a freezing mountain, a tired young worker and a kind general build the emperor's wall. Then a rider gallops in with news that no one understands.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 冬天来了，北方的山上又冷又有风。很多很多人，正在建一座很长的墙。
Dōngtiān lái le, běifāng de shān shàng yòu lěng yòu yǒu fēng. Hěn duō hěn duō rén, zhèngzài jiàn yí zuò hěn cháng de qiáng.
Winter had come, and the mountains of the north were cold and windy. A great many people were building a very long wall.
- Da Shan 好重……这块石头，比我的头还要大很多！我一个人真的搬不动了。
Hǎo zhòng… zhè kuài shítou, bǐ wǒ de tóu hái yào dà hěn duō! Wǒ yí gè rén zhēn de bān bú dòng le.
So heavy... this stone is much bigger than my head! I really can't carry it alone.
- Meng Tian 大山，慢一点儿。放在这里，对，这里。
Dàshān, màn yìdiǎnr. Fàng zài zhèlǐ, duì, zhèlǐ.
Da Shan, slow down. Put it here. Yes, right here.
Chapter 6 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.
- Da Shan 谢谢将军。可是我的手太冷了，已经不听我的话了。
Xièxie jiāngjūn. Kěshì wǒ de shǒu tài lěng le, yǐjīng bù tīng wǒ de huà le.
Thank you, General. But my hands are so cold that they've stopped listening to me.
- Meng Tian 手不听话，就让它休息一下。我不会告诉别人。
Shǒu bù tīnghuà, jiù ràng tā xiūxi yíxià. Wǒ bú huì gàosu biéren.
If your hands won't listen, let them rest a moment. I won't tell anyone.
- Da Shan 将军，这座长城会有多长？
Jiāngjūn, zhè zuò Chángchéng huì yǒu duō cháng?
General, how long will this Great Wall be?
- Meng Tian 从西边的山，一直到东边的海。走很久很久，也走不完。
Cóng xībiān de shān, yìzhí dào dōngbiān de hǎi. Zǒu hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ, yě zǒu bù wán.
From the mountains in the west all the way to the sea in the east. You could walk a very long time and never finish.
- Da Shan 这么长的墙，一百年以后，它还会在吗？
Zhème cháng de qiáng, yì bǎi nián yǐhòu, tā hái huì zài ma?
A wall this long... will it still be here in a hundred years?
- Meng Tian 会的。只要石头一块一块放得好，它就不会倒。
Huì de. Zhǐyào shítou yí kuài yí kuài fàng de hǎo, tā jiù bú huì dǎo.
It will. As long as every stone is laid well, one by one, it won't fall.
- Da Shan 那我们要建到什么时候？我娘一个人在家，她的眼睛不好。
Nà wǒmen yào jiàn dào shénme shíhou? Wǒ niáng yí gè rén zài jiā, tā de yǎnjing bù hǎo.
Then how long until we finish? My mother is home alone, and her eyes are bad.
- Meng Tian 你几岁离开家的？
Nǐ jǐ suì líkāi jiā de?
How old were you when you left home?
- Da Shan 二十岁。现在……我不知道过了几个冬天了。
Èrshí suì. Xiànzài… wǒ bù zhīdào guò le jǐ gè dōngtiān le.
Twenty. Now... I don't know how many winters have passed.
- Meng Tian 我也想回家。可是皇帝有命令，我们谁也不能停下来。
Wǒ yě xiǎng huíjiā. Kěshì huángdì yǒu mìnglìng, wǒmen shéi yě bù néng tíng xiàlái.
I want to go home too. But the emperor has given an order, and none of us can stop.
- Da Shan 将军，你也想家吗？我以为将军什么都不怕。
Jiāngjūn, nǐ yě xiǎng jiā ma? Wǒ yǐwéi jiāngjūn shénme dōu bú pà.
General, you miss home too? I thought the general was afraid of nothing.
- Meng Tian 怕的事很多。我最怕的，是你们在这个冬天冻坏了。
Pà de shì hěn duō. Wǒ zuì pà de, shì nǐmen zài zhège dōngtiān dòng huài le.
I'm afraid of many things. Most of all, I'm afraid you'll freeze this winter.
- Narrator 天黑了，下起了雪。这座墙又长又难建，很多人再也没有回家。
Tiān hēi le, xià qǐ le xuě. Zhè zuò qiáng yòu cháng yòu nán jiàn, hěn duō rén zài yě méiyǒu huíjiā.
Night fell, and it began to snow. The wall was long and hard to build, and many workers never went home again.
- Da Shan 好冷……娘说过，下雪要穿两件衣服。我只有一件。
Hǎo lěng… niáng shuō guo, xià xuě yào chuān liǎng jiàn yīfu. Wǒ zhǐyǒu yí jiàn.
So cold... Mother said to wear two layers when it snows. I only have one.
- Meng Tian 拿着。我的红披风给你，穿上它，晚上就不冷了。
Ná zhe. Wǒ de hóng pīfēng gěi nǐ, chuān shàng tā, wǎnshang jiù bù lěng le.
Take this. You can have my red cloak. Put it on, and you won't be cold tonight.
- Da Shan 不行，将军！这是你的披风，你也会冷的！
Bù xíng, jiāngjūn! Zhè shì nǐ de pīfēng, nǐ yě huì lěng de!
No, General! It's your cloak. You'll be cold too!
- Meng Tian 我是将军，我命令你穿上。这是一个命令。
Wǒ shì jiāngjūn, wǒ mìnglìng nǐ chuān shàng. Zhè shì yí gè mìnglìng.
I'm the general, and I order you to wear it. That's an order.
- Da Shan 这是我在这座山上，听过的最好的命令。
Zhè shì wǒ zài zhè zuò shān shàng, tīng guo de zuì hǎo de mìnglìng.
That's the best order I've heard on this whole mountain.
- Meng Tian 告诉我，你娘做的饭，是什么味道？我想听一听。
Gàosu wǒ, nǐ niáng zuò de fàn, shì shénme wèidao? Wǒ xiǎng tīng yi tīng.
Tell me, what does your mother's cooking taste like? I'd like to hear.
- Da Shan 有葱，有一点点盐……还有很热很热的汤，喝一口，全身都热了。
Yǒu cōng, yǒu yìdiǎndiǎn yán… hái yǒu hěn rè hěn rè de tāng, hē yì kǒu, quánshēn dōu rè le.
Green onion, a little salt... and very hot soup. One sip, and your whole body is warm.
- Meng Tian 等墙建好，我请你喝一大碗热汤。
Děng qiáng jiàn hǎo, wǒ qǐng nǐ hē yí dà wǎn rè tāng.
When the wall is done, I'll treat you to a big bowl of hot soup.
- Da Shan 真的吗？将军说话要算话！
Zhēn de ma? Jiāngjūn shuō huà yào suàn huà!
Really? A general has to keep his word!
- Meng Tian 我说话，从来算话。你一定要活着回家，喝到汤。
Wǒ shuō huà, cónglái suàn huà. Nǐ yídìng yào huózhe huíjiā, hē dào tāng.
I always keep my word. You must live to go home and drink that soup.
- Rider 将军！京城来了一封很急的信！
Jiāngjūn! Jīngchéng lái le yì fēng hěn jí de xìn!
General! A very urgent letter from the capital!
- Meng Tian 什么事？这么晚，还下着雪。
Shénme shì? Zhème wǎn, hái xià zhe xuě.
What is it? At this hour, in the snow?
- Rider 皇帝下令，要烧掉很多很多书！
Huángdì xiàlìng, yào shāo diào hěn duō hěn duō shū!
The emperor has ordered that a great many books be burned!
- Da Shan 烧书？书又不会打仗，为什么要烧它们？
Shāo shū? Shū yòu bú huì dǎzhàng, wèishénme yào shāo tāmen?
Burn books? Books don't fight wars. Why burn them?
- Meng Tian 我不知道。这件事……只有李斯知道。
Wǒ bù zhīdào. Zhè jiàn shì… zhǐyǒu Lǐ Sī zhīdào.
I don't know. Only Li Si knows about this.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why is Da Shan worried about home?
“我娘一个人在家，她的眼睛不好”
- How far will the wall go?
“从西边的山，一直到东边的海”
- What does Meng Tian give Da Shan in the snow?
“我的红披风给你”
- What does Meng Tian promise Da Shan?
“等墙建好，我请你喝一大碗热汤”
- What news does the rider bring?
“皇帝下令，要烧掉很多很多书”