Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boats · chapter 2 of 3
Six Hundred Li
六百里
The King waits for his six hundred li, and far to the south Qu Yuan meets an old fisherman who thinks any sorrow can be cured with a fish.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 楚国不和齐国做朋友了。楚王天天等着六百里地。
Chǔguó bù hé Qíguó zuò péngyou le. Chǔ wáng tiāntiān děngzhe liùbǎi lǐ dì.
So Chu stopped being friends with Qi. Day after day, the King of Chu waited for his six hundred li of land.
- The King of Chu 上官！六百里地呢？怎么还没来？
Shàngguān! Liùbǎi lǐ dì ne? Zěnme hái méi lái?
Shangguan! Where's my six hundred li of land? Why isn't it here yet?
- Grand Master Shangguan 大王……秦国的人说……是六里。
Dàwáng… Qínguó de rén shuō… shì liù lǐ.
Your Majesty… the men from Qin say… it's six li.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boats 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 King of Chu 六里？不是六百里吗？
Liù lǐ? Bú shì liùbǎi lǐ ma?
Six li? Not six hundred?
- Grand Master Shangguan 他们说，是六里，不是六百里。
Tāmen shuō, shì liù lǐ, bú shì liùbǎi lǐ.
They say it was six li. Never six hundred.
- The King of Chu 六里地！秦国说的，都是假话！
Liù lǐ dì! Qínguó shuō de, dōu shì jiǎhuà!
Six li of land! Every word Qin said was a lie!
- The King of Chu 上官！你也说过，秦国是好朋友！
Shàngguān! Nǐ yě shuō guo, Qínguó shì hǎo péngyou!
Shangguan! You said it too: “Qin is our good friend!”
- Grand Master Shangguan 大王说得对……啊，不，不对……
Dàwáng shuō de duì… a, bù, bú duì…
Your Majesty is right… I mean, no! Not right…
- The King of Chu 屈原说得对。老虎的话，不能信……
Qū Yuán shuō de duì. Lǎohǔ de huà, bù néng xìn…
Qu Yuan was right. You can't trust a tiger's word…
- Narrator 这时候，屈原在很远的南边。他天天在汨罗江边走，天天写诗。
Zhè shíhou, Qū Yuán zài hěn yuǎn de nánbian. Tā tiāntiān zài Mìluó Jiāng biān zǒu, tiāntiān xiě shī.
By then, Qu Yuan was far away in the south. Every day he walked beside the Miluo River, and every day he wrote poems.
- Qu Yuan 山很高，水很长。我的楚国，你好吗？
Shān hěn gāo, shuǐ hěn cháng. Wǒ de Chǔguó, nǐ hǎo ma?
The mountains are high, the rivers are long. My Chu, are you well?
- The Old Fisherman 喂！先生！您在跟鱼说话吗？
Wèi! Xiānsheng! Nín zài gēn yú shuōhuà ma?
Hey there, sir! Are you talking to the fish?
- Qu Yuan 我在写诗，写给楚国的山和水。
Wǒ zài xiě shī, xiě gěi Chǔguó de shān hé shuǐ.
I'm writing a poem for the mountains and rivers of Chu.
- The Old Fisherman 写诗？诗能吃吗？来，吃条鱼吧！
Xiě shī? Shī néng chī ma? Lái, chī tiáo yú ba!
A poem? Can you eat a poem? Here, have a fish!
- Qu Yuan 谢谢您，老人家。我叫屈原。
Xièxie nín, lǎorénjia. Wǒ jiào Qū Yuán.
Thank you, sir. My name is Qu Yuan.
- The Old Fisherman 屈原？您是屈大夫？您怎么在这儿？
Qū Yuán? Nín shì Qū dàfū? Nín zěnme zài zhèr?
Qu Yuan? Grand Master Qu? What are you doing all the way out here?
- Qu Yuan 大王不要我了。楚国，也不好了。
Dàwáng bú yào wǒ le. Chǔguó, yě bù hǎo le.
The King doesn't want me anymore. And things are going badly for Chu.
- The Old Fisherman 别难过。先吃鱼！吃饱了，再难过！
Bié nánguò. Xiān chī yú! Chī bǎo le, zài nánguò!
Don't be sad. Eat some fish first! You can be sad once you're full!
- Narrator 很多年过去了。老人和屈原，成了好朋友。
Hěn duō nián guòqù le. Lǎorén hé Qū Yuán, chéng le hǎo péngyou.
Many years went by, and the old man and Qu Yuan became good friends.
- The Old Fisherman 屈大夫，今天吃鱼吗？您太瘦了！
Qū dàfū, jīntiān chī yú ma? Nín tài shòu le!
Grand Master Qu, fish today? You're much too thin!
- Qu Yuan 不吃了。我心里只有楚国。
Bù chī le. Wǒ xīnli zhǐyǒu Chǔguó.
Not today. There's no room in my heart for anything but Chu.
- The Old Fisherman 楚国不要您了，您为什么还这么爱它？
Chǔguó bú yào nín le, nín wèishénme hái zhème ài tā?
Chu doesn't want you anymore. Why do you still love it so much?
- Qu Yuan 楚国是我的家。家不要我，我也爱它。
Chǔguó shì wǒ de jiā. Jiā bú yào wǒ, wǒ yě ài tā.
Chu is my home. Even if my home doesn't want me, I still love it.
- The Old Fisherman 大家都说假话。您也说一点儿，不好吗？
Dàjiā dōu shuō jiǎhuà. Nín yě shuō yìdiǎnr, bù hǎo ma?
Everybody tells lies. Wouldn't it be easier if you told a few too?
- Qu Yuan 不。我的衣服是干净的，我的心也要干净。
Bù. Wǒ de yīfu shì gānjìng de, wǒ de xīn yě yào gānjìng.
No. My clothes are clean, and my heart must stay clean too.
- Narrator 有一天，老人跑来了。他带来了一个坏消息。
Yǒu yì tiān, lǎorén pǎo lái le. Tā dài lái le yí gè huài xiāoxi.
Then one day, the old man came running. He brought terrible news.
- The Old Fisherman 屈大夫！不好了！秦国人进了郢都！
Qū dàfū! Bù hǎo le! Qínguó rén jìn le Yǐngdū!
Grand Master Qu! It's terrible! Qin's men have marched into Ying, our capital!
- Qu Yuan 郢都……我们的郢都，没有了……
Yǐngdū… wǒmen de Yǐngdū, méiyǒu le…
Ying… our Ying… is gone…
- Qu Yuan 老人家，我的诗，都送给您。请给大家看看。
Lǎorénjia, wǒ de shī, dōu sòng gěi nín. Qǐng gěi dàjiā kànkan.
Old friend, I want you to have all my poems. Please share them with everyone.
- The Old Fisherman 送给我？屈大夫……您要去哪儿？
Sòng gěi wǒ? Qū dàfū… nín yào qù nǎr?
For me? Grand Master Qu… where are you going?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How much land does Qin really give the King?
“是六里，不是六百里。”
- What does the King say at last about Qu Yuan?
“屈原说得对。老虎的话，不能信……”
- What does the old fisherman offer Qu Yuan when they first meet?
“来，吃条鱼吧！”
- Why does Qu Yuan still love Chu?
“楚国是我的家。家不要我，我也爱它。”
- What terrible news does the fisherman bring?
“秦国人进了郢都！”