The White Snake · chapter 19 of 25
Leifeng Pagoda
雷峰塔
At the foot of Leifeng Pagoda, Bai tells the family who she really is, and why she came to Hangzhou at all.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 许仙一家人跟着法海，来到了西湖边的雷峰塔下。
Xǔ Xiān yì jiā rén gēnzhe Fǎhǎi, láidào le Xī Hú biān de Léifēng Tǎ xià.
Xu Xian's family followed Fahai to the foot of Leifeng Pagoda, beside West Lake.
- Li Gongfu 许仙，这个金钵里，真的是你娘子吗？
Xǔ Xiān, zhège jīnbō lǐ, zhēn de shì nǐ niángzǐ ma?
Xu Xian, in that golden bowl... is that really your wife?
- Xu Xian 是她，姐夫。她是一条白蛇，可是她是我的娘子。
Shì tā, jiěfu. Tā shì yì tiáo báishé, kěshì tā shì wǒ de niángzǐ.
It's her. She's a white snake, but she's my wife.
Chapter 19 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Part 1 of The White Snake (chapters 1–5) is free, and The Second Cup of Tea, The Great Race: The Twelve Animals, The Kitchen God, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Chang'e and the Moon, Alice in Wonderland and Judge Dee's Cases are free from start to finish.
- Jiaorong 梦蛟，别哭，我们来看妈妈了。
Mèngjiāo, bié kū, wǒmen lái kàn māma le.
Don't cry, Mengjiao. We've come to see your mother.
- Narrator 法海拿起了盖着她的金钵。白素贞又变回了原来的样子。
Fǎhǎi ná qǐ le gàizhe tā de jīnbō. Bái Sùzhēn yòu biàn huí le yuánlái de yàngzi.
Fahai lifted the golden bowl that covered her, and Bai Suzhen changed back into the woman they knew.
- Xu Xian 娘子！
Niángzǐ!
My dear!
- Bai Suzhen 官人，姐姐，姐夫。今天，我要告诉你们真话。
Guānrén, jiějie, jiěfu. Jīntiān, wǒ yào gàosu nǐmen zhēnhuà.
Dear... sister... brother-in-law. Today I'll tell you the truth.
- Bai Suzhen 我不是人。我是峨眉山的一条白蛇，修行了一千多年。
Wǒ bú shì rén. Wǒ shì Éméi Shān de yì tiáo báishé, xiūxíng le yìqiān duō nián.
I'm not human. I'm a white snake from Mount Emei, and I have practiced for more than a thousand years.
- Li Gongfu 白蛇？那钱塘县的银子，也是你拿的？
Báishé? Nà Qiántáng Xiàn de yínzi, yě shì nǐ ná de?
A white snake? Then the Qiantang County silver, was that you too?
- Bai Suzhen 是我偷的，姐夫，对不起。
Shì wǒ tōu de, jiěfu, duìbuqǐ.
I stole it. I'm sorry.
- Jiaorong 都什么时候了，你还说银子！
Dōu shénme shíhou le, nǐ hái shuō yínzi!
At a time like this, and you're still on about the silver!
- Jiaorong 妹妹，那你为什么要来找我弟弟？
Mèimei, nà nǐ wèishénme yào lái zhǎo wǒ dìdi?
Sister, then why did you come looking for my brother?
- Bai Suzhen 很久很久以前，我是一条小小的蛇。有人抓了我，要拿去卖。
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, wǒ shì yì tiáo xiǎoxiǎo de shé. Yǒu rén zhuā le wǒ, yào ná qù mài.
Long, long ago, I was a tiny snake. A man caught me and was going to sell me.
- Bai Suzhen 一个好心人花了一百个钱，放了我。
Yí gè hǎoxīnrén huā le yìbǎi gè qián, fàng le wǒ.
A kind man paid a hundred coins and set me free.
- Bai Suzhen 官人，那个好心人，就是很久以前的你。
Guānrén, nàge hǎoxīnrén, jiù shì hěn jiǔ yǐqián de nǐ.
Dear, that kind man was you, in another life long ago.
- Xu Xian 那个人，是我？
Nàge rén, shì wǒ?
That man... was me?
- Bai Suzhen 是你。所以，我来杭州，就是来报恩的。
Shì nǐ. Suǒyǐ, wǒ lái Hángzhōu, jiù shì lái bào'ēn de.
It was you. That's why I came to Hangzhou: to repay your kindness.
- Bai Suzhen 可是在金山，我做了一件大错事。我的水，害了很多很多人。
Kěshì zài Jīnshān, wǒ zuò le yí jiàn dà cuòshì. Wǒ de shuǐ, hài le hěn duō hěn duō rén.
But at Jinshan I did a terrible wrong. My flood hurt so many, many people.
- Bai Suzhen 我以前发誓：如果做了坏事，就压在雷峰塔下。
Wǒ yǐqián fāshì: rúguǒ zuò le huàishì, jiù yā zài Léifēng Tǎ xià.
I once swore that if I did wrong, I would be pressed under Leifeng Pagoda.
- Jiaorong 妹妹，你别说了……
Mèimei, nǐ bié shuō le…
Sister, please, don't...
- Bai Suzhen 姐姐，梦蛟就交给你了。请你帮我把他养大。
Jiějie, Mèngjiāo jiù jiāo gěi nǐ le. Qǐng nǐ bāng wǒ bǎ tā yǎng dà.
Sister, I'm leaving Mengjiao with you. Please raise him for me.
- Jiaorong 妹妹放心。从今天起，他就是我的儿子。
Mèimei fàngxīn. Cóng jīntiān qǐ, tā jiù shì wǒ de érzi.
Don't worry, sister. From today, he is my son.
- Li Gongfu 还有我。我教他读书，教他做一个好人。
Hái yǒu wǒ. Wǒ jiāo tā dúshū, jiāo tā zuò yí gè hǎorén.
And me. I'll teach him to read, and teach him to be a good man.
- Bai Suzhen 让我再抱一抱他……梦蛟，妈妈的好孩子。
Ràng wǒ zài bào yi bào tā… Mèngjiāo, māma de hǎo háizi.
Let me hold him once more... Mengjiao, Mother's good boy.
- Bai Suzhen 梦蛟，你长大了，要像你爸爸一样，做一个好心人。
Mèngjiāo, nǐ zhǎngdà le, yào xiàng nǐ bàba yíyàng, zuò yí gè hǎoxīnrén.
Mengjiao, when you grow up, be kind-hearted, like your father.
- Xu Xian 师父，求求您，放了我娘子吧！
Shīfu, qiúqiu nín, fàng le wǒ niángzǐ ba!
Master, I beg you, let my wife go!
- Fahai 许仙，这是她自己发誓说的话。
Xǔ Xiān, zhè shì tā zìjǐ fāshì shuō de huà.
Xu Xian, she swore those words herself.
- Xu Xian 那她什么时候能出来？
Nà tā shénme shíhou néng chūlái?
Then when can she come out?
- Fahai 西湖的水干了，雷峰塔倒了，白蛇才会出来。
Xī Hú de shuǐ gān le, Léifēng Tǎ dǎo le, báishé cái huì chūlái.
Only when West Lake runs dry and Leifeng Pagoda falls will the white snake come out.
- Xu Xian 西湖的水，怎么会没有了呢？
Xī Hú de shuǐ, zěnme huì méiyǒu le ne?
West Lake... how could it ever run dry?
- Fahai 白蛇，时候到了。
Báishé, shíhou dào le.
White snake, it is time.
- Xu Xian 姐姐，你看！塔下的地开了！
Jiějie, nǐ kàn! Tǎ xià de dì kāi le!
Sister, look! The ground under the pagoda is opening!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Fahai do with the bowl at the pagoda?
“法海拿起了盖着她的金钵。白素贞又变回了原来的样子”
- Who once set Bai free when she was a tiny snake?
“那个好心人，就是很久以前的你”
- What does Bai call her great wrong?
“在金山，我做了一件大错事。我的水，害了很多很多人”
- Who promises to raise Mengjiao as her own son?
“从今天起，他就是我的儿子”
- According to Fahai, when will the white snake come out?
“西湖的水干了，雷峰塔倒了，白蛇才会出来”