The River Snail Girl · chapter 5 of 5
The Empty Shell
空空的田螺壳
Morning comes, and Xie Duan is almost afraid to look at the shelf. By spring, Aunt Wang has a few questions of her own.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 天刚亮，谢端就起床了。
Tiān gāng liàng, Xiè Duān jiù qǐchuáng le.
At first light, Xie Duan was already up.
- Xie Duan 她还在吗？她是不是回河里去了？
Tā hái zài ma? Tā shì bu shì huí hé lǐ qù le?
Is she still here? Has she gone back to the river?
- Xie Duan 架子上的壳……是空的！
Jiàzi shang de ké… shì kōng de!
The shell on the shelf… it's empty!
Chapter 5 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The River Snail Girl 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.
- River Snail Girl 谢端，早上好！快来吃早饭！
Xiè Duān, zǎoshang hǎo! Kuài lái chī zǎofàn!
Good morning, Xie Duan! Come and have breakfast!
- Xie Duan 田螺姑娘！你还在！你不走了？
Tiánluó gūniang! Nǐ hái zài! Nǐ bù zǒu le?
River Snail Girl! You're still here! You're not leaving?
- River Snail Girl 我不走了。我想住在这里，和你一起。
Wǒ bù zǒu le. Wǒ xiǎng zhù zài zhèlǐ, hé nǐ yìqǐ.
I'm not leaving. I want to stay here, with you.
- Narrator 从那天起，谢端家的桌子上，天天有两个碗。
Cóng nà tiān qǐ, Xiè Duān jiā de zhuōzi shang, tiāntiān yǒu liǎng gè wǎn.
From that day on, there were two bowls on Xie Duan's table every day.
- Narrator 春天到了。一天中午，王大婶走过谢端家的院子。
Chūntiān dào le. Yì tiān zhōngwǔ, Wáng dàshěn zǒuguò Xiè Duān jiā de yuànzi.
Spring came. One day at noon, Aunt Wang walked past Xie Duan's yard.
- Aunt Wang 谢端！桌子上有两个碗？这个姑娘是谁啊？
Xiè Duān! Zhuōzi shang yǒu liǎng gè wǎn? Zhège gūniang shì shéi a?
Xie Duan! Two bowls on the table? And who might this young lady be?
- Xie Duan 王大婶，她是田螺姑娘。现在，我们是一家人了。
Wáng dàshěn, tā shì Tiánluó gūniang. Xiànzài, wǒmen shì yì jiā rén le.
Aunt Wang, this is River Snail Girl. We're a family now.
- River Snail Girl 王大婶好！您也来吃一点儿吧！
Wáng dàshěn hǎo! Nín yě lái chī yìdiǎnr ba!
Hello, Aunt Wang! Come and have a bite with us!
- Aunt Wang 你看，我说对了吧！你家里真的有一个姑娘！
Nǐ kàn, wǒ shuō duì le ba! Nǐ jiā lǐ zhēn de yǒu yí gè gūniang!
See? I was right! There really was a girl at your place!
- Xie Duan 您说对了。好人会有好事的，对吗？
Nín shuō duì le. Hǎorén huì yǒu hǎoshì de, duì ma?
You were right. Good things come to good people, don't they?
- Aunt Wang 田螺姑娘？那……你家的田螺呢？
Tiánluó gūniang? Nà… nǐ jiā de tiánluó ne?
River Snail Girl? Then… what about that snail of yours?
- River Snail Girl 在那边，架子上。现在，壳里没有人了。
Zài nàbiān, jiàzi shang. Xiànzài, ké lǐ méiyǒu rén le.
Over there, on the shelf. There's nobody inside it now.
- Aunt Wang 没有人？……啊！田螺姑娘，是你？
Méiyǒu rén? … À! Tiánluó gūniang, shì nǐ?
Nobody? … Oh! River Snail Girl, that's you?
- River Snail Girl 是我。以前，我怕人看见我。现在，我不用回到壳里了。
Shì wǒ. Yǐqián, wǒ pà rén kànjiàn wǒ. Xiànzài, wǒ bú yòng huí dào ké lǐ le.
It's me. I used to be afraid of being seen. Now I don't need to go back into my shell.
- Aunt Wang 田螺会做饭！明天，我也去河里找一个！
Tiánluó huì zuòfàn! Míngtiān, wǒ yě qù hé lǐ zhǎo yí gè!
A snail who cooks! Tomorrow I'm going down to the river to find one too!
- River Snail Girl 王大婶，您真会开玩笑！
Wáng dàshěn, nín zhēn huì kāi wánxiào!
Aunt Wang, you're such a joker!
- Xie Duan 以前，家里就我一个人。现在，家里有人等我了。
Yǐqián, jiā lǐ jiù wǒ yí gè rén. Xiànzài, jiā lǐ yǒu rén děng wǒ le.
I used to be all alone here. Now there's someone waiting for me at home.
- Narrator 田螺壳一直放在架子上，空空的。她不用再回到壳里了。
Tiánluó ké yìzhí fàng zài jiàzi shang, kōngkōng de. Tā bú yòng zài huí dào ké lǐ le.
The snail shell stayed on the shelf, empty. She never needed to go back inside it again.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why is Xie Duan alarmed when he looks at the shelf?
“架子上的壳……是空的！”
- What does River Snail Girl decide?
“我不走了。我想住在这里，和你一起。”
- What does Aunt Wang notice on the table?
“桌子上有两个碗？”
- Why doesn't River Snail Girl go back into her shell anymore?
“以前，我怕人看见我。现在，我不用回到壳里了。”
- What joke does Aunt Wang make?
“明天，我也去河里找一个！”