The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea · chapter 5 of 5
Flowers for the Sea
海里有花了
A wall of water from all four seas rushes at the immortals, until a white cloud floats in from the South Sea and someone tells everyone to stop.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 四海的水，像一座高高的山，向八仙打了过来。
Sì hǎi de shuǐ, xiàng yí zuò gāogāo de shān, xiàng Bāxiān dǎ le guòlái.
The water of the four seas came rushing at the Eight Immortals like a towering mountain.
- The Dragon King 八仙！今天，你们谁也别想走！
Bāxiān! Jīntiān, nǐmen shéi yě bié xiǎng zǒu!
Eight Immortals! Today not one of you is getting away!
- Lü Dongbin 龙王，是你的儿子先拿了蓝采和的花篮！
Lóngwáng, shì nǐ de érzi xiān ná le Lán Cǎihé de huālán!
Dragon King, it was your son who took Lan Caihe's basket first!
Chapter 5 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea 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 Dragon King 不可能！吕洞宾，我的儿子是好孩子！
Bù kěnéng! Lǚ Dòngbīn, wǒ de érzi shì hǎo háizi!
Impossible! Lü Dongbin, my son is a good boy!
- Zhang Guolao 这么多水……老张的驴，要变成鱼了！
Zhème duō shuǐ… Lǎo Zhāng de lǘ, yào biànchéng yú le!
All this water… Old Zhang's donkey is going to turn into a fish!
- Narrator 就在这时候，一片白云从南海飞来。白云上站着观音菩萨。
Jiù zài zhè shíhou, yí piàn bái yún cóng Nán Hǎi fēi lái. Bái yún shàng zhànzhe Guānyīn Púsà.
Just then, a white cloud came flying from the South Sea. On it stood Guanyin.
- Guanyin 都住手！水，别动！
Dōu zhù shǒu! Shuǐ, bié dòng!
Stop, all of you! Water, be still!
- Narrator 观音菩萨的手一动，大水就停在了天上，一动也不动。
Guānyīn Púsà de shǒu yí dòng, dà shuǐ jiù tíng zài le tiānshàng, yí dòng yě bú dòng.
Guanyin moved her hand, and the great water stopped high in the sky, perfectly still.
- He Xiangu 是观音菩萨！
Shì Guānyīn Púsà!
It's Guanyin!
- Guanyin 龙王，八仙，你们为什么打起来？一个一个说。
Lóngwáng, Bāxiān, nǐmen wèi shénme dǎ qǐlái? Yí gè yí gè shuō.
Dragon King, Eight Immortals, why are you fighting? Speak one at a time.
- The Dragon King 他们打了我的儿子，还喝了我的大海！
Tāmen dǎ le wǒ de érzi, hái hē le wǒ de dàhǎi!
They beat my son, and they drank my sea!
- Lan Caihe 可是，是龙太子先拿了我的花篮，还把我关在贝壳里！
Kěshì, shì Lóng Tàizǐ xiān ná le wǒ de huālán, hái bǎ wǒ guān zài bèiké lǐ!
But the Dragon Prince took my basket first, and he shut me up in a shell!
- Guanyin 龙太子，你说。这是真的吗？
Lóng Tàizǐ, nǐ shuō. Zhè shì zhēn de ma?
Dragon Prince, you tell me. Is this true?
- The Dragon Prince 是……是真的。
Shì… shì zhēn de.
Yes… it's true.
- The Dragon King 什么？你不是说，他是自己掉到海里的吗？
Shénme? Nǐ bú shì shuō, tā shì zìjǐ diào dào hǎi lǐ de ma?
What? Didn't you tell me he fell into the sea by himself?
- The Dragon Prince 父王，对不起，我说了假话。海里没有花……我太想要了。
Fùwáng, duìbuqǐ, wǒ shuō le jiǎhuà. Hǎi lǐ méiyǒu huā… wǒ tài xiǎng yào le.
Father, I'm sorry. I lied. There are no flowers in the sea… and I wanted them so much.
- The Dragon King 蓝采和，是我不对。我只相信我的儿子，没有相信你。
Lán Cǎihé, shì wǒ bú duì. Wǒ zhǐ xiāngxìn wǒ de érzi, méiyǒu xiāngxìn nǐ.
Lan Caihe, I was wrong. I believed only my son, and not you.
- Narrator 天快亮了。龙王把花篮还给了蓝采和，四海的水也回去了。
Tiān kuài liàng le. Lóngwáng bǎ huālán huán gěi le Lán Cǎihé, sì hǎi de shuǐ yě huíqù le.
Dawn was coming. The Dragon King gave the basket back to Lan Caihe, and the water of the four seas went home.
- Li Tieguai 好吧。那你的水，我铁拐李也还给你！
Hǎo ba. Nà nǐ de shuǐ, wǒ Tiěguǎi Lǐ yě huán gěi nǐ!
Oh, all right. Then Li Tieguai will give you your water back too!
- Narrator 铁拐李打开葫芦，大水从葫芦里流了出来，回到了大海里。
Tiěguǎi Lǐ dǎkāi húlu, dà shuǐ cóng húlu lǐ liú le chūlái, huí dào le dàhǎi lǐ.
Li Tieguai opened his gourd, and the water came gushing out and flowed back into the sea.
- Zhang Guolao 慢点儿！老张的驴，不会游泳啊！
Màn diǎnr! Lǎo Zhāng de lǘ, bú huì yóuyǒng a!
Slow down! Old Zhang's donkey can't swim!
- Lan Caihe 龙太子，你想要花，问我就行了！
Lóng Tàizǐ, nǐ xiǎng yào huā, wèn wǒ jiù xíng le!
Dragon Prince, if you wanted flowers, you only had to ask!
- Lan Caihe 我的花篮里，花是拿不完的。这些，都送给你！
Wǒ de huālán lǐ, huā shì ná bù wán de. Zhèxiē, dōu sòng gěi nǐ!
The flowers in my basket never run out. These are all for you!
- The Dragon Prince 都给我？蓝采和，对不起，也谢谢你！以后，海里也有花了！
Dōu gěi wǒ? Lán Cǎihé, duìbuqǐ, yě xièxie nǐ! Yǐhòu, hǎi lǐ yě yǒu huā le!
All of them, for me? Lan Caihe, I'm sorry, and thank you! Now there will be flowers in the sea too!
- Guanyin 好。做朋友，是不是比打来打去好多了？
Hǎo. Zuò péngyou, shì bú shì bǐ dǎ lái dǎ qù hǎo duō le?
Good. Isn't being friends much better than all this fighting?
- The Dragon King 观音菩萨说得对。八仙，以后你们过东海，我给你们开路！
Guānyīn Púsà shuō de duì. Bāxiān, yǐhòu nǐmen guò Dōng Hǎi, wǒ gěi nǐmen kāi lù!
Guanyin is right. Eight Immortals, whenever you cross the Eastern Sea from now on, I'll clear the way for you!
- Narrator 太阳出来了。八仙拿着自己的宝贝，一起过了东海。
Tàiyáng chūlái le. Bāxiān názhe zìjǐ de bǎobèi, yìqǐ guò le Dōng Hǎi.
The sun came up, and the Eight Immortals, each on their own treasure, crossed the Eastern Sea together.
- He Xiangu 一，二，三，四，五，六，七，八！八个人，一个也不少！
Yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā! Bā gè rén, yí gè yě bù shǎo!
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! All eight of us, and not one missing!
- Lü Dongbin 朋友们，这才是真的“八仙过海，各显神通”！
Péngyoumen, zhè cái shì zhēn de “Bāxiān guò hǎi, gè xiǎn shéntōng”!
Friends, now that's what I call “The Eight Immortals cross the sea, each with their own magic!”
- Zhang Guolao 何仙姑，到了吗？老张还是看不见前边啊！
Hé Xiān'gū, dào le ma? Lǎo Zhāng háishi kàn bú jiàn qiánbian a!
He Xiangu, are we there yet? Old Zhang still can't see what's in front!
- He Xiangu 张果老，你倒过来看看吧，我们到家了！
Zhāng Guǒlǎo, nǐ dào guòlái kànkan ba, wǒmen dào jiā le!
Zhang Guolao, turn around and look. We're home!
- Lan Caihe 花儿红，花儿白，大海里边花儿开！
Huār hóng, huār bái, dàhǎi lǐbian huār kāi!
Flowers red, flowers white, flowers blooming in the sea!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Who stops the fight?
“一片白云从南海飞来。白云上站着观音菩萨……都住手！”
- Why did the Dragon Prince take the basket?
“海里没有花……我太想要了。”
- What does the Dragon King admit to Lan Caihe?
“我只相信我的儿子，没有相信你。”
- What does Lan Caihe give the Dragon Prince?
“我的花篮里，花是拿不完的。这些，都送给你！”
- What does the Dragon King promise the Eight Immortals?
“以后你们过东海，我给你们开路！”