The River Snail Girl · chapter 2 of 5
Who Cooked Dinner?
谁做的饭？
Every evening, a hot dinner is waiting on Xie Duan's table. He's sure he knows who to thank.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第二天晚上，谢端回到家，很累很累。
Dì èr tiān wǎnshang, Xiè Duān huí dào jiā, hěn lèi hěn lèi.
The next evening, Xie Duan came home worn out.
- Xie Duan 大田螺，我回来了！今天好累啊……
Dà tiánluó, wǒ huílái le! Jīntiān hǎo lèi a…
Big Snail, I'm home! What a long day…
- Xie Duan 啊？桌子上有米饭，还有两个菜！
Á? Zhuōzi shang yǒu mǐfàn, hái yǒu liǎng gè cài!
Huh? There's rice on the table, and two dishes!
Chapter 2 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.
- Xie Duan 饭还是热的！这是谁做的？
Fàn hái shi rè de! Zhè shì shéi zuò de?
And it's still hot! Who made this?
- Xie Duan 有人吗？……没有人。
Yǒu rén ma? … Méiyǒu rén.
Is anyone here? … Nobody.
- Xie Duan 我吃一点儿吧……啊，真好吃！
Wǒ chī yìdiǎnr ba… a, zhēn hǎochī!
I'll just try a little… mm, it's delicious!
- Narrator 从那天起，天天都是这样。
Cóng nà tiān qǐ, tiāntiān dōu shì zhèyàng.
From that day on, it was the same every evening.
- Xie Duan 是谁给我做饭呢？……我知道了，是王大婶！
Shì shéi gěi wǒ zuòfàn ne? … Wǒ zhīdào le, shì Wáng dàshěn!
Who keeps cooking for me? … I know. It's Aunt Wang!
- Xie Duan 我小时候，她常常给我饭吃。一定是她！
Wǒ xiǎo shíhou, tā chángcháng gěi wǒ fàn chī. Yídìng shì tā!
When I was little, she was always feeding me. It has to be her!
- Aunt Wang 谢端，在家吗？我给你拿一点儿菜来。
Xiè Duān, zài jiā ma? Wǒ gěi nǐ ná yìdiǎnr cài lái.
Xie Duan, are you home? I've brought you some vegetables.
- Xie Duan 王大婶，快请进！谢谢您，谢谢您！
Wáng dàshěn, kuài qǐng jìn! Xièxie nín, xièxie nín!
Aunt Wang, come in, come in! Thank you, thank you!
- Aunt Wang 谢什么？一点儿菜。
Xiè shénme? Yìdiǎnr cài.
Thank me for what? It's just a few vegetables.
- Xie Duan 不是菜。您看，是这些！您天天给我做饭！
Bú shì cài. Nín kàn, shì zhèxiē! Nín tiāntiān gěi wǒ zuòfàn!
Not the vegetables. Look, these! You've been cooking for me every day!
- Aunt Wang 做饭？不是我啊！
Zuòfàn? Bú shì wǒ a!
Cooking? That wasn't me!
- Xie Duan 不是您？那……是谁？
Bú shì nín? Nà… shì shéi?
It wasn't you? Then… who was it?
- Aunt Wang 我知道了！你家里是不是有一个姑娘？
Wǒ zhīdào le! Nǐ jiā lǐ shì bu shì yǒu yí gè gūniang?
Oh, I see! You've got a girl at your place, haven't you?
- Aunt Wang 她天天给你做饭，你还不告诉我！
Tā tiāntiān gěi nǐ zuòfàn, nǐ hái bú gàosu wǒ!
She cooks for you every day, and you didn't even tell me!
- Xie Duan 没有，没有！家里就我一个人……还有一个田螺。
Méiyǒu, méiyǒu! Jiā lǐ jiù wǒ yí gè rén… hái yǒu yí gè tiánluó.
No, no! It's just me at home… and a snail.
- Aunt Wang 田螺？田螺会做饭吗？你真会开玩笑！
Tiánluó? Tiánluó huì zuòfàn ma? Nǐ zhēn huì kāi wánxiào!
A snail? Can a snail cook? Oh, you're such a joker!
- Aunt Wang 快吃吧，饭要冷了。我走了！
Kuài chī ba, fàn yào lěng le. Wǒ zǒu le!
Go on, eat before it gets cold. I'm off!
- Xie Duan 大田螺，你天天在水缸里。你看见是谁了吗？
Dà tiánluó, nǐ tiāntiān zài shuǐgāng lǐ. Nǐ kànjiàn shì shéi le ma?
Big Snail, you're in that water jar all day. Did you see who it was?
- Xie Duan 明天，我要看一看，是谁给我做的饭！
Míngtiān, wǒ yào kàn yi kàn, shì shéi gěi wǒ zuò de fàn!
Tomorrow, I'm going to find out who's been cooking for me!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What is waiting for Xie Duan when he comes home?
“桌子上有米饭，还有两个菜……饭还是热的！”
- Why is Xie Duan sure that Aunt Wang is the cook?
“我小时候，她常常给我饭吃。一定是她！”
- What does Aunt Wang guess when she hears about the dinners?
“你家里是不是有一个姑娘？”
- Why does Aunt Wang laugh at Xie Duan's answer?
“还有一个田螺……田螺会做饭吗？”
- What does Xie Duan decide at the end?
“明天，我要看一看，是谁给我做的饭！”