The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea · chapter 2 of 5
The Dragon Prince
龙太子
Halfway across the sea, a boy with golden horns rises from the waves beside Lan Caihe's basket. He has never seen a flower, and he wants the whole basket.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 月亮又大又亮。八仙在东海上走着，已经走了一半。
Yuèliang yòu dà yòu liàng. Bāxiān zài Dōng Hǎi shàng zǒuzhe, yǐjīng zǒu le yíbàn.
The moon was big and bright. The Eight Immortals were crossing the Eastern Sea, and they were already halfway across.
- Zhang Guolao 前边到哪儿了？老张只能看后边！
Qiánbian dào nǎr le? Lǎo Zhāng zhǐ néng kàn hòubian!
Where are we now? Old Zhang can only see what's behind us!
- Lü Dongbin 张果老，你倒过来坐，不就看见了？
Zhāng Guǒlǎo, nǐ dào guòlái zuò, bú jiù kànjiàn le?
Zhang Guolao, just sit the other way round, and you'll see!
Chapter 2 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.
- Zhang Guolao 不行，吕洞宾！老张这样坐了一千年了，不能换！
Bù xíng, Lǚ Dòngbīn! Lǎo Zhāng zhèyàng zuò le yìqiān nián le, bù néng huàn!
No way, Lü Dongbin! Old Zhang has ridden this way for a thousand years, and he's not changing now!
- Lan Caihe 花儿红，花儿白，花篮里边花儿开！
Huār hóng, huār bái, huālán lǐbian huār kāi!
Flowers red, flowers white, flowers blooming in my basket!
- He Xiangu 蓝采和，你的歌真好听。可是你已经唱了一百遍了！
Lán Cǎihé, nǐ de gē zhēn hǎotīng. Kěshì nǐ yǐjīng chàng le yìbǎi biàn le!
Lan Caihe, your song is lovely. But you've already sung it a hundred times!
- Lan Caihe 一百遍？那我再唱一百遍，好不好，好不好？
Yìbǎi biàn? Nà wǒ zài chàng yìbǎi biàn, hǎo bù hǎo, hǎo bù hǎo?
A hundred times? Then I'll sing it a hundred more. All right? All right?
- Narrator 这时候，花篮旁边的水，忽然动了起来。
Zhè shíhou, huālán pángbiān de shuǐ, hūrán dòng le qǐlái.
Just then, the water beside the basket suddenly began to stir.
- The Dragon Prince 好亮，好香……对，是它！
Hǎo liàng, hǎo xiāng… Duì, shì tā!
So bright, so sweet… Yes, that's the one!
- Lan Caihe 你是谁？你怎么从水里出来了？头上还有两个角！
Nǐ shì shéi? Nǐ zěnme cóng shuǐ lǐ chūlái le? Tóu shàng hái yǒu liǎng gè jiǎo!
Who are you? How did you just pop up out of the water? And you've got two horns on your head!
- The Dragon Prince 我是东海龙王的儿子，龙太子！这是我的海！
Wǒ shì Dōng Hǎi Lóngwáng de érzi, Lóng Tàizǐ! Zhè shì wǒ de hǎi!
I am the son of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, the Dragon Prince! This is my sea!
- The Dragon Prince 你篮子里的东西，是什么？
Nǐ lánzi lǐ de dōngxi, shì shénme?
What are those things in your basket?
- Lan Caihe 这是花！你没见过花吗？
Zhè shì huā! Nǐ méi jiàn guo huā ma?
They're flowers! Haven't you ever seen flowers?
- The Dragon Prince 海里有鱼，有很多宝贝，可是没有花。
Hǎi lǐ yǒu yú, yǒu hěn duō bǎobèi, kěshì méiyǒu huā.
The sea has fish and lots of treasures, but it has no flowers.
- The Dragon Prince 这个花篮，给我吧！
Zhège huālán, gěi wǒ ba!
Give me that basket!
- Lan Caihe 不行，不行！花篮是我的宝贝，没有它，我怎么过海？
Bù xíng, bù xíng! Huālán shì wǒ de bǎobèi, méiyǒu tā, wǒ zěnme guò hǎi?
No, no! The basket is my treasure. Without it, how would I get across the sea?
- Lan Caihe 我送你一朵花吧。你看，多好看！
Wǒ sòng nǐ yì duǒ huā ba. Nǐ kàn, duō hǎokàn!
Let me give you a flower instead. Look, isn't it pretty?
- The Dragon Prince 花？我不要花，我要花篮，我就要！
Huā? Wǒ bú yào huā, wǒ yào huālán, wǒ jiù yào!
A flower? I don't want a flower, I want the basket! I want it!
- He Xiangu 蓝采和！你在跟谁说话？
Lán Cǎihé! Nǐ zài gēn shéi shuōhuà?
Lan Caihe! Who are you talking to?
- Lan Caihe 何仙姑，是一个小龙！他想要我的花篮！
Hé Xiān'gū, shì yí gè xiǎo lóng! Tā xiǎng yào wǒ de huālán!
He Xiangu, it's a little dragon! He wants my basket!
- He Xiangu 小龙？蓝采和，小心！
Xiǎo lóng? Lán Cǎihé, xiǎoxīn!
A little dragon? Lan Caihe, be careful!
- The Dragon Prince 你不给，我就自己拿！
Nǐ bù gěi, wǒ jiù zìjǐ ná!
If you won't give it to me, I'll take it myself!
- Narrator 龙太子拉住花篮，往海里拉。蓝采和不放手，也被拉了下去。
Lóng Tàizǐ lā zhù huālán, wǎng hǎi lǐ lā. Lán Cǎihé bú fàng shǒu, yě bèi lā le xiàqù.
The Dragon Prince grabbed the basket and pulled it down into the sea. Lan Caihe wouldn't let go, so down he went too.
- Lan Caihe 放手，放手，那是我的花篮！朋友们，快来……
Fàng shǒu, fàng shǒu, nà shì wǒ de huālán! Péngyoumen, kuài lái…
Let go, let go, that's my basket! Friends, come quick…
- Narrator 一个大浪打了过来。等水安静下来，海上只有一些花了。
Yí gè dà làng dǎ le guòlái. Děng shuǐ ānjìng xiàlái, hǎi shàng zhǐ yǒu yìxiē huā le.
A big wave came crashing over. When the water was calm again, only a few flowers were left floating on the sea.
- Zhang Guolao 什么声音？老张好像听见有人在叫……
Shénme shēngyīn? Lǎo Zhāng hǎoxiàng tīngjiàn yǒu rén zài jiào…
What was that? Old Zhang thought he heard someone shout…
- He Xiangu 一，二，三，四，五，六，七……我们八个人，怎么少了一个？
Yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī… Wǒmen bā gè rén, zěnme shǎo le yí gè?
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… There are eight of us. Why is one missing?
- Lü Dongbin 蓝采和呢？蓝采和去哪儿了？
Lán Cǎihé ne? Lán Cǎihé qù nǎr le?
Where's Lan Caihe? Where did Lan Caihe go?
- Li Tieguai 你们看，水上的花……是蓝采和的花！
Nǐmen kàn, shuǐ shàng de huā… shì Lán Cǎihé de huā!
Look, those flowers on the water… They're Lan Caihe's flowers!
- He Xiangu 是那个小龙！一定是他，把蓝采和拉到海里去了！
Shì nàge xiǎo lóng! Yídìng shì tā, bǎ Lán Cǎihé lā dào hǎi lǐ qù le!
It was that little dragon! It must have been him. He's dragged Lan Caihe down into the sea!
- Lü Dongbin 小龙？好！我们到海里去，一定把蓝采和找回来！
Xiǎo lóng? Hǎo! Wǒmen dào hǎi lǐ qù, yídìng bǎ Lán Cǎihé zhǎo huílái!
A little dragon, is it? Fine! We're going down into the sea, and we're bringing Lan Caihe back!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why won't Zhang Guolao turn around on his donkey?
“老张这样坐了一千年了，不能换！”
- Why does the Dragon Prince want the flowers so much?
“海里有鱼，有很多宝贝，可是没有花。”
- What does Lan Caihe offer the prince instead of the basket?
“我送你一朵花吧。”
- Why is Lan Caihe pulled down into the sea?
“蓝采和不放手，也被拉了下去。”
- How does He Xiangu know that someone is missing?
“一，二，三，四，五，六，七……我们八个人，怎么少了一个？”