The Magic Lotus Lantern · chapter 5 of 6
The Thunder Immortal
霹雳大仙
High above the clouds, a tiny old immortal with a voice like thunder agrees to teach Chenxiang, but his first lesson is not what Chenxiang expected.
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Read what you hear
- Narrator 白云带着沉香，飞到了一座很高很高的山上。
Bái yún dàizhe Chénxiāng, fēi dào le yí zuò hěn gāo hěn gāo de shān shang.
The white cloud carried Chenxiang away to the top of a very, very high mountain.
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 到了！这是我的家！我是霹雳大仙，哈哈哈！
Dào le! Zhè shì wǒ de jiā! Wǒ shì Pīlì Dàxiān, hāhāhā!
Here we are! This is my home! I am Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal! Ha ha ha!
- Chenxiang 老爷爷，您的声音……好大啊！跟打雷一样！
Lǎo yéye, nín de shēngyīn… hǎo dà a! Gēn dǎléi yíyàng!
Grandpa, your voice... it's so loud! Just like thunder!
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 当然！我的名字，就是“打雷”！我一笑，山下就下大雨！
Dāngrán! Wǒ de míngzi, jiù shì “dǎléi”! Wǒ yí xiào, shān xià jiù xià dà yǔ!
Of course! My name means “thunder”! Whenever I laugh, it pours down below!
- Chenxiang 老爷爷，谢谢您救了我。请您教我本领，我要去救我的妈妈！
Lǎo yéye, xièxie nín jiù le wǒ. Qǐng nín jiāo wǒ běnlǐng, wǒ yào qù jiù wǒ de māma!
Grandpa, thank you for saving me. Please teach me your skills. I have to save my mother!
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 你的妈妈，我知道。你的舅舅，是天上最有本领的神仙。你不怕吗？
Nǐ de māma, wǒ zhīdào. Nǐ de jiùjiu, shì tiānshàng zuì yǒu běnlǐng de shénxiān. Nǐ bú pà ma?
I know about your mother. But your uncle is the most powerful god in heaven. Aren't you afraid?
- Chenxiang 怕。可是，妈妈等了我十四年。我不能再让她等了。
Pà. Kěshì, māma děng le wǒ shísì nián. Wǒ bù néng zài ràng tā děng le.
I am. But Mom has waited fourteen years for me. I can't make her wait any longer.
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 好！从明天开始，你天天去山下拿水，再劈木头。
Hǎo! Cóng míngtiān kāishǐ, nǐ tiāntiān qù shān xià ná shuǐ, zài pī mùtou.
Very well! Starting tomorrow, you'll fetch water from the foot of the mountain every day, and then chop wood.
- Chenxiang 拿水？劈木头？这是学本领吗？
Ná shuǐ? Pī mùtou? Zhè shì xué běnlǐng ma?
Fetching water? Chopping wood? How is that learning anything?
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 做一百天，你就知道了！
Zuò yìbǎi tiān, nǐ jiù zhīdào le!
Do it for a hundred days, and you'll find out!
- Chenxiang 一百天……妈妈只抱了我一百天。
Yìbǎi tiān… māma zhǐ bào le wǒ yìbǎi tiān.
A hundred days... Mom only got to hold me for a hundred days.
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal ……那好。一百天学本领，一百天以后，你去抱你的妈妈！
… Nà hǎo. Yìbǎi tiān xué běnlǐng, yìbǎi tiān yǐhòu, nǐ qù bào nǐ de māma!
...Then it's settled. A hundred days to learn, and after that, you go and hold your mother!
- Narrator 一天，两天，三天……沉香天天拿水上山，下山，再上山。
Yì tiān, liǎng tiān, sān tiān… Chénxiāng tiāntiān ná shuǐ shàng shān, xià shān, zài shàng shān.
One day, two days, three... Every day Chenxiang carried water up the mountain, went back down, and climbed up again.
- Chenxiang 好累啊……天天拿水，天天劈木头。师父教的，真的是本领吗？
Hǎo lèi a… tiāntiān ná shuǐ, tiāntiān pī mùtou. Shīfu jiāo de, zhēn de shì běnlǐng ma?
I'm so tired... Water every day, wood every day. Is Master really teaching me anything?
- Chenxiang 不，我不能回家。妈妈等了十四年，我也能等一百天！
Bù, wǒ bù néng huí jiā. Māma děng le shísì nián, wǒ yě néng děng yìbǎi tiān!
No, I can't go home. Mom has waited fourteen years. I can wait a hundred days!
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 累了吧？想回家吗？山下有好吃的包子呢！
Lèi le ba? Xiǎng huí jiā ma? Shān xià yǒu hǎochī de bāozi ne!
Tired, eh? Want to go home? There are tasty buns down there, you know!
- Chenxiang 师父，我不累！不回家！包子……我也不想！
Shīfu, wǒ bú lèi! Bù huí jiā! Bāozi… wǒ yě bù xiǎng!
Master, I'm not tired! I'm not going home! And the buns... I don't want those either!
- Narrator 一百天过去了。这天早上，霹雳大仙拿出了一把很大的斧头。
Yìbǎi tiān guòqù le. Zhè tiān zǎoshang, Pīlì Dàxiān ná chū le yì bǎ hěn dà de fǔtou.
A hundred days went by. That morning, Pili Daxian brought out an enormous axe.
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 这把斧头，一百个人也拿不起来。你来，劈一劈那块大石头！
Zhè bǎ fǔtou, yìbǎi gè rén yě ná bu qǐlái. Nǐ lái, pī yi pī nà kuài dà shítou!
A hundred men together couldn't lift this axe. Come on, try it on that big boulder!
- Chenxiang 好重……啊！石头开了！我劈开了！
Hǎo zhòng… à! Shítou kāi le! Wǒ pīkāi le!
So heavy... Whoa! The rock's split open! I did it!
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 哈哈哈！你天天拿水上山，天天劈木头，就是在学本领啊！
Hāhāhā! Nǐ tiāntiān ná shuǐ shàng shān, tiāntiān pī mùtou, jiù shì zài xué běnlǐng a!
Ha ha ha! All that water you carried up the mountain, all that wood you chopped... that was the lesson!
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 这是神仙的斧头，能劈开华山。
Zhè shì shénxiān de fǔtou, néng pīkāi Huà Shān.
This is an immortal's axe. It can split Mount Hua.
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 可是你舅舅的第三只眼睛，什么都能看见。你怎么办？
Kěshì nǐ jiùjiu de dì sān zhī yǎnjing, shénme dōu néng kànjiàn. Nǐ zěnme bàn?
But your uncle's third eye can see everything. What will you do about that?
- Chenxiang 他什么都能看见……那我就不让他看见！
Tā shénme dōu néng kànjiàn… nà wǒ jiù bú ràng tā kànjiàn!
He can see everything... Then I just won't let him see!
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 哈哈！怎么不让他看见？你自己好好想吧！
Hāhā! Zěnme bú ràng tā kànjiàn? Nǐ zìjǐ hǎohǎo xiǎng ba!
Ha ha! And how will you stop him seeing? That's for you to work out!
- Chenxiang 师父，谢谢您！我走了！
Shīfu, xièxie nín! Wǒ zǒu le!
Thank you, Master! I'm off!
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 去吧，去吧！包子带上！别哭，我最怕小孩子哭！
Qù ba, qù ba! Bāozi dài shàng! Bié kū, wǒ zuì pà xiǎo háizi kū!
Go on, go on! Take these buns with you! And don't cry. I can't stand it when children cry!
- Chenxiang 师父，是您在哭吧？
Shīfu, shì nín zài kū ba?
Master, aren't you the one who's crying?
- Pili Daxian, the Thunder Immortal 我没哭！是……是下雨了！
Wǒ méi kū! Shì… shì xià yǔ le!
I'm not crying! It's... it's just raining!
- Narrator 沉香拿着斧头，下了山。华山，就在前面了。
Chénxiāng názhe fǔtou, xià le shān. Huà Shān, jiù zài qiánmiàn le.
Chenxiang took the axe and went down the mountain. Mount Hua lay just ahead.
- Chenxiang 妈妈，我来了！这一次，我一定能救你出来！
Māma, wǒ lái le! Zhè yí cì, wǒ yídìng néng jiù nǐ chūlái!
Mom, I'm coming! This time, I'm going to get you out!
- Erlang Shen 沉香。舅舅等你很久了。
Chénxiāng. Jiùjiu děng nǐ hěn jiǔ le.
Chenxiang. Your uncle has been waiting a long time for you.
What changed in the story?
- Why does Pili Daxian say his voice is so loud?
“我的名字，就是‘打雷’！”
- Why does Chenxiang agree to train for a hundred days?
“一百天……妈妈只抱了我一百天。”
- What does Chenxiang do every day on the mountain?
“沉香天天拿水上山，下山，再上山。”
- What happens when Chenxiang tries the axe?
“石头开了！我劈开了！”
- What problem does Pili Daxian warn Chenxiang about?
“可是你舅舅的第三只眼睛，什么都能看见。”