The Odyssey · chapter 2 of 29
Twelve Ships
十二条船
Odysseus tells his men to leave the town by the sea at once, but they would rather feast on the beach all night; morning will show who was right.
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Read what you hear
- Narrator 离开特洛伊以后，奥德修斯和他的人，打下了海边的一座城。
Líkāi Tèluòyī yǐhòu, Àodéxiūsī hé tā de rén, dǎxià le hǎibiān de yí zuò chéng.
After leaving Troy, Odysseus and his men took a town by the sea.
- Odysseus 别动这个老人！他是给神做事的人。
Bié dòng zhège lǎorén! Tā shì gěi shén zuòshì de rén.
Leave this old man alone! He serves a god.
- Odysseus 谢谢您！这么多好酒！
Xièxie nín! Zhème duō hǎo jiǔ!
Thank you! So much good wine!
- Narrator 一个水手马上喝了一口。
Yí gè shuǐshǒu mǎshàng hē le yì kǒu.
One of the sailors took a sip at once.
- A Sailor 真甜！这是什么酒啊？
Zhēn tián! Zhè shì shénme jiǔ a?
So sweet! What wine is this?
- Odysseus 小心！这个酒，一杯要加二十杯水。
Xiǎoxīn! Zhège jiǔ, yì bēi yào jiā èrshí bēi shuǐ.
Careful! One cup of this wine needs twenty cups of water.
- A Sailor 二十杯水？那我们喝的是水，不是酒！
Èrshí bēi shuǐ? Nà wǒmen hē de shì shuǐ, bú shì jiǔ!
Twenty cups of water? Then we'd be drinking water, not wine!
- Odysseus 你喝一杯不加水的，就知道了。
Nǐ hē yì bēi bù jiā shuǐ de, jiù zhīdào le.
Drink one cup without water, and you'll find out.
- Odysseus 好了，朋友们，我们马上走！
Hǎo le, péngyoumen, wǒmen mǎshàng zǒu!
Enough. Friends, we leave right now!
- A Sailor 现在走？我们还没吃肉，没喝酒呢！
Xiànzài zǒu? Wǒmen hái méi chī ròu, méi hē jiǔ ne!
Leave now? We haven't had our meat or our wine yet!
- The Crew 我们不走！
Wǒmen bù zǒu!
We're not going!
- A Sailor 火很大，肉很好吃！我们喝到天亮！
Huǒ hěn dà, ròu hěn hǎochī! Wǒmen hēdào tiān liàng!
Big fire, good meat! We'll drink till dawn!
- Odysseus 他们不听我的话……
Tāmen bù tīng wǒ de huà…
They won't listen to me...
- A Sailor 天亮了！奥德修斯，他们来杀我们了！
Tiān liàng le! Àodéxiūsī, tāmen lái shā wǒmen le!
It's dawn! Odysseus, they're coming to kill us!
- Odysseus 他们的人，像春天的花一样多。
Tāmen de rén, xiàng chūntiān de huā yíyàng duō.
There are as many of them as flowers in spring.
- Odysseus 大家别害怕！跟他们打！
Dàjiā bié hàipà! Gēn tāmen dǎ!
Don't be afraid, everyone! Fight them!
- Narrator 他们打了一天。太阳下山的时候，十二条船都少了六个人。
Tāmen dǎ le yì tiān. Tàiyáng xià shān de shíhou, shí'èr tiáo chuán dōu shǎo le liù gè rén.
They fought all day. By sunset, each of the twelve ships had lost six men.
- A Sailor 我的好朋友……他死了！
Wǒ de hǎo péngyou… tā sǐ le!
My good friend... he's dead!
- Odysseus 上船！走以前，叫他们的名字，叫三次。
Shàng chuán! Zǒu yǐqián, jiào tāmen de míngzi, jiào sān cì.
To the ships! Before we go, call their names, three times.
- The Crew 朋友们，跟我们回家吧！
Péngyoumen, gēn wǒmen huí jiā ba!
Friends, come home with us!
- Odysseus 北风来了！宙斯送来了大北风！
Běifēng lái le! Zhòusī sònglai le dà běifēng!
Here comes the north wind! Zeus has sent a great north wind!
- A Sailor 风太大了！船要坏了！
Fēng tài dà le! Chuán yào huài le!
The wind's too strong! The ships will break!
- Odysseus 去海边！快！
Qù hǎibiān! Kuài!
Head for the shore! Quick!
- Narrator 两天两夜以后，他们又上了船。
Liǎng tiān liǎng yè yǐhòu, tāmen yòu shàng le chuán.
Two days and two nights later, they set sail again.
- Odysseus 你们看！过了那儿，就快到伊萨卡了！
Nǐmen kàn! Guò le nàr, jiù kuài dào Yīsàkǎ le!
Look! Once we're past that point, we're almost at Ithaca!
- The Crew 我们快到家了！
Wǒmen kuài dào jiā le!
We're nearly home!
- A Sailor 北风又来了！船回不去了！
Běifēng yòu lái le! Chuán huí bu qù le!
The north wind's back! The ships can't turn home!
- Narrator 北风和大海，带着十二条船走了九天九夜。
Běifēng hé dàhǎi, dàizhe shí'èr tiáo chuán zǒu le jiǔ tiān jiǔ yè.
For nine days and nine nights, the north wind and the sea carried the twelve ships away.
- A Sailor 奥德修斯，我们在哪儿？
Àodéxiūsī, wǒmen zài nǎr?
Odysseus, where are we?
What changed in the story?
- Why does Odysseus protect the old man in the town?
“他是给神做事的人”
- How much water does one cup of the old man's wine need?
“一杯要加二十杯水”
- What do the sailors do when Odysseus says to leave at once?
“我们不走”……“我们喝到天亮”
- What has happened to the twelve ships by sunset?
“十二条船都少了六个人”
- What does a sailor ask Odysseus at the end?
“我们在哪儿”