The Cat Teaches the Tiger · chapter 3 of 3
The Last Lesson
最后一课
The hungry tiger pounces on his teacher! But the cat still has one skill left, and it is the one skill she never taught.
Read what you hear
- Cat 老虎！你说什么？
Lǎohǔ! Nǐ shuō shénme?
Tiger! What did you say?
- Tiger 老师，谢谢你教我。可是我的肚子太饿了。
Lǎoshī, xièxie nǐ jiāo wǒ. Kěshì wǒ de dùzi tài è le.
Teacher, thank you for teaching me. But my stomach is just too hungry.
- Cat 我是你的老师！你不能吃老师！
Wǒ shì nǐ de lǎoshī! Nǐ bù néng chī lǎoshī!
I'm your teacher! You can't eat your teacher!
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Cat Teaches the Tiger 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.
- Tiger 我不听。我要扑了！
Wǒ bù tīng. Wǒ yào pū le!
I won't listen. I'm going to pounce!
- Cat 等一下！你听我说……老师有话说！
Děng yíxià! Nǐ tīng wǒ shuō… Lǎoshī yǒu huà shuō!
Wait a moment! Listen to me… your teacher has something to say!
- Tiger 一，二，三……扑！
Yī, èr, sān… pū!
One, two, three… pounce!
- Cat 哈！你太慢了！我在这儿！你的老师在这儿！
Hā! Nǐ tài màn le! Wǒ zài zhèr! Nǐ de lǎoshī zài zhèr!
Ha! You're too slow! I'm over here! Your teacher is over here!
- Tiger 别跑！老师，我还饿！
Bié pǎo! Lǎoshī, wǒ hái è!
Don't run! Teacher, I'm still hungry!
- Cat 你跑不过我！我跑得比你快！
Nǐ pǎo bú guò wǒ! Wǒ pǎo de bǐ nǐ kuài!
You can't outrun me! I run faster than you!
- Tiger 我不累！我一定要扑到你！
Wǒ bú lèi! Wǒ yídìng yào pū dào nǐ!
I'm not tired! I will pounce on you!
- Cat 看，那棵大树！这一课，我没教你！
Kàn, nà kē dà shù! Zhè yí kè, wǒ méi jiāo nǐ!
Look, that big tree! This is the lesson I never taught you!
- Cat 我上树了！老虎，你也来吧！很好玩！
Wǒ shàng shù le! Lǎohǔ, nǐ yě lái ba! Hěn hǎowán!
I'm up the tree! Tiger, come on up too!
- Tiger 我也会！你看，我爬树！你等着！
Wǒ yě huì! Nǐ kàn, wǒ pá shù! Nǐ děngzhe!
I can do it too! Look, I'm climbing! Just wait!
- Tiger 哎哟！我又掉下来了！
Āiyō! Wǒ yòu diào xiàlái le!
Ouch! I fell down again!
- Tiger 再来一次！哎哟！爪子怎么上不去？
Zài lái yí cì! Āiyō! Zhuǎzi zěnme shàng bú qù?
One more time! Ouch! Why won't my paws hold on?
- Cat 哈哈哈！你的爪子太大了。爪子太重了。
Hāhāhā! Nǐ de zhuǎzi tài dà le. Zhuǎzi tài zhòng le.
Ha ha ha! Your paws are too big. Your paws are too heavy.
- Tiger 老师，你为什么不教我爬树？
Lǎoshī, nǐ wèishénme bù jiāo wǒ pá shù?
Teacher, why didn't you teach me to climb trees?
- Cat 因为我知道，你有一天会饿。
Yīnwèi wǒ zhīdào, nǐ yǒu yì tiān huì è.
Because I knew that one day you would get hungry.
- Cat 老师要留一个本领，才可以回家。
Lǎoshī yào liú yí gè běnlǐng, cái kěyǐ huí jiā.
A teacher must always keep one skill, so she can get home safely.
- Tiger 老师……我错了。对不起。我太笨了。
Lǎoshī… wǒ cuò le. Duìbuqǐ. Wǒ tài bèn le.
Teacher… I was wrong. I'm sorry. I was so foolish.
- Cat 你不是坏老虎。你就是太饿了。
Nǐ bú shì huài lǎohǔ. Nǐ jiùshì tài è le.
You're not a bad tiger. You were just too hungry.
- Tiger 我给你找吃的，好吗？找一条大鱼！大大的！
Wǒ gěi nǐ zhǎo chī de, hǎo ma? Zhǎo yì tiáo dà yú! Dàdà de!
Let me find you food, okay? A big fish!
- Cat 好啊！可是我要在树上吃。
Hǎo a! Kěshì wǒ yào zài shù shàng chī.
Great! But I'll eat it up in the tree.
- Tiger 哈哈，好！我在树下等你。
Hāhā, hǎo! Wǒ zài shù xià děng nǐ.
Ha ha, okay! I'll wait for you under the tree.
- Narrator 从那天起，森林里的老虎都不会爬树了。
Cóng nà tiān qǐ, sēnlín lǐ de lǎohǔ dōu bú huì pá shù le.
From that day on, the tigers of the forest could never climb trees.
- Cat 老虎，记住！好老师总有一课不教！
Lǎohǔ, jìzhù! Hǎo lǎoshī zǒng yǒu yí kè bù jiāo!
Tiger, remember! A good teacher always keeps one lesson back!
- Tiger 我记住了！谢谢你，老师！我明天再来！
Wǒ jìzhù le! Xièxie nǐ, lǎoshī! Wǒ míngtiān zài lái!
I'll remember! Thank you, Teacher! I'll come again tomorrow!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How does the cat get away from the pounce?
“哈！你太慢了！我在这儿！”
- Which lesson did the cat never teach?
“看，那棵大树！这一课，我没教你！”
- What happens when the tiger tries to climb?
“哎哟！我又掉下来了！”
- Why does the cat keep one skill for herself?
“老师要留一个本领，才可以回家。”
- What does the tiger promise to do at the end?
“我给你找吃的，好吗？找一条大鱼！”