The White Snake · chapter 4 of 25
Sent Away to Suzhou
去苏州
The silver lands Xu in front of the magistrate and sends him far from home, but in Suzhou two familiar faces come looking for him.
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Read what you hear
- Narrator 第二天，李公甫带着许仙去见知县。
Dì èr tiān, Lǐ Gōngfǔ dàizhe Xǔ Xiān qù jiàn zhīxiàn.
The next day, Li Gongfu took Xu Xian before the magistrate.
- Xu Xian 大人，我没有偷！银子是白素贞她们给我的，我说的都是真话！
Dàrén, wǒ méiyǒu tōu! Yínzi shì Bái Sùzhēn tāmen gěi wǒ de, wǒ shuō de dōu shì zhēnhuà!
My lord, I didn't steal it! Bai Suzhen and her maid gave me the silver. Every word I say is true!
- the magistrate 好。李公甫，你带人去老花园，把那两个女人抓来！
Hǎo. Lǐ Gōngfǔ, nǐ dài rén qù lǎo huāyuán, bǎ nà liǎng gè nǚrén zhuā lái!
Very well. Li Gongfu, take your men to the old garden and arrest those two women!
- Li Gongfu 大人！我们一进门，就看见一个穿白衣服的，一个穿绿衣服的……
Dàrén! Wǒmen yí jìn mén, jiù kànjiàn yí gè chuān bái yīfu de, yí gè chuān lǜ yīfu de…
My lord! The moment we went in, we saw one woman in white and one in green...
- the magistrate 人呢？
Rén ne?
And where are they?
- Li Gongfu 火！好大的火！火没了，她们两个也看不见了！
Huǒ! Hǎo dà de huǒ! Huǒ méi le, tāmen liǎng gè yě kàn bu jiàn le!
Fire! A great burst of fire! When it was gone, the two of them had vanished too!
- the magistrate 银子呢？
Yínzi ne?
And the silver?
- Li Gongfu 房子里还有十八块银子，都在这儿。
Fángzi lǐ hái yǒu shíbā kuài yínzi, dōu zài zhèr.
There were eighteen more pieces of silver in the house. They're all here.
- the magistrate 十八块，还有许仙的两块，一块也不少。许仙，本官信你没有偷。
Shíbā kuài, hái yǒu Xǔ Xiān de liǎng kuài, yí kuài yě bù shǎo. Xǔ Xiān, běnguān xìn nǐ méiyǒu tōu.
Eighteen, plus Xu Xian's two: not one piece is missing. Xu Xian, I believe you are no thief.
- the magistrate 可是那两个女人是妖怪。你去苏州吧，离她们远一点。
Kěshì nà liǎng gè nǚrén shì yāoguài. Nǐ qù Sūzhōu ba, lí tāmen yuǎn yìdiǎn.
But those two women are demons. Go to Suzhou, and stay far away from them.
- Jiaorong 都是你！银子，银子！现在我弟弟要一个人去苏州了！
Dōu shì nǐ! Yínzi, yínzi! Xiànzài wǒ dìdi yào yí gè rén qù Sūzhōu le!
This is all your fault! Silver, silver! Now my little brother has to go off to Suzhou all alone!
- Li Gongfu 这是我的工作，我有什么办法？
Zhè shì wǒ de gōngzuò, wǒ yǒu shénme bànfǎ?
It's my job. What else could I do?
- Xu Xian 姐姐，别生姐夫的气了。王员外给了我一封信，让我去苏州找吴员外。
Jiějie, bié shēng jiěfu de qì le. Wáng yuánwài gěi le wǒ yì fēng xìn, ràng wǒ qù Sūzhōu zhǎo Wú yuánwài.
Don't be angry with him, sister. Mr. Wang gave me a letter to take to Mr. Wu in Suzhou.
- Narrator 许仙到了苏州，在吴员外的药店里工作。
Xǔ Xiān dào le Sūzhōu, zài Wú yuánwài de yàodiàn lǐ gōngzuò.
Xu Xian reached Suzhou and went to work in Mr. Wu's pharmacy.
- Mr. Wu 许官人，王员外是我的好朋友。在我这儿，你就放心住下吧。
Xǔ guānrén, Wáng yuánwài shì wǒ de hǎo péngyou. Zài wǒ zhèr, nǐ jiù fàngxīn zhù xià ba.
Mr. Xu, Mr. Wang is a good friend of mine. You're safe here with me, so make yourself at home.
- Xiaoqing 许官人！原来你在这儿！我们找了你好久！
Xǔ guānrén! Yuánlái nǐ zài zhèr! Wǒmen zhǎo le nǐ hǎo jiǔ!
Mr. Xu! So this is where you are! We've been looking for you for ages!
- Xu Xian 妖怪！你们骗了我！吴员外，快救我！
Yāoguài! Nǐmen piàn le wǒ! Wú yuánwài, kuài jiù wǒ!
Demons! You tricked me! Mr. Wu, save me!
- Bai Suzhen 许官人，我们不是妖怪！我发誓，那些银子是我爸爸留给我的。
Xǔ guānrén, wǒmen bú shì yāoguài! Wǒ fāshì, nàxiē yínzi shì wǒ bàba liú gěi wǒ de.
Mr. Xu, we're not demons! I swear, that silver was left to me by my father.
- Bai Suzhen 我走了这么远的路，就是来找你的。你不要我，我就去做尼姑！
Wǒ zǒu le zhème yuǎn de lù, jiù shì lái zhǎo nǐ de. Nǐ bú yào wǒ, wǒ jiù qù zuò nígū!
I came all this long way just to find you. If you don't want me, I'll go and become a nun!
- Xiaoqing 小姐去做尼姑，小青也去做尼姑！
Xiǎojiě qù zuò nígū, Xiǎoqīng yě qù zuò nígū!
If Miss becomes a nun, Xiaoqing becomes a nun too!
- Mr. Wu 许官人，你看她哭得多难过。我家娘子也说，这么好的妻子，你去哪儿找？
Xǔ guānrén, nǐ kàn tā kū de duō nánguò. Wǒ jiā niángzǐ yě shuō, zhème hǎo de qīzi, nǐ qù nǎr zhǎo?
Mr. Xu, look how hard she's crying. My wife says so too: where else will you find such a good wife?
- Xu Xian 娘子……你真的不是妖怪？
Niángzǐ… nǐ zhēn de bú shì yāoguài?
Miss... you're really not a demon?
- Bai Suzhen 许官人，你看我，哪里像妖怪？
Xǔ guānrén, nǐ kàn wǒ, nǎlǐ xiàng yāoguài?
Mr. Xu, look at me. Do I look like a demon?
- Narrator 几天以后，许仙和白素贞在吴员外家结婚了。
Jǐ tiān yǐhòu, Xǔ Xiān hé Bái Sùzhēn zài Wú yuánwài jiā jiéhūn le.
A few days later, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen were married in Mr. Wu's house.
- Mr. Wu 好！拜过了，从今天起，你是她的丈夫，她是你的妻子！
Hǎo! Bài guo le, cóng jīntiān qǐ, nǐ shì tā de zhàngfu, tā shì nǐ de qīzi!
There! You've made your bows. From today, you are her husband, and she is your wife!
- Xu Xian 娘子，你现在是我的妻子了！我们自己开一家药店，好不好？
Niángzǐ, nǐ xiànzài shì wǒ de qīzi le! Wǒmen zìjǐ kāi yì jiā yàodiàn, hǎo bu hǎo?
You're my wife now, my dear! Shall we open a pharmacy of our own?
- Bai Suzhen 好，官人。你是我的丈夫，都听你的。
Hǎo, guānrén. Nǐ shì wǒ de zhàngfu, dōu tīng nǐ de.
Yes, dear. You're my husband, so whatever you say.
- Xiaoqing 小姐！许官人！今天又卖了很多药！
Xiǎojiě! Xǔ guānrén! Jīntiān yòu mài le hěn duō yào!
Miss, Mr. Xu, we sold lots of medicine again today!
- Narrator 夏天到了，端午节也快到了。
Xiàtiān dào le, Duānwǔjié yě kuài dào le.
Summer came, and the Dragon Boat Festival was nearly here.
- Xiaoqing 小姐，不好了！家家都在买雄黄酒！
Xiǎojiě, bù hǎo le! Jiājiā dōu zài mǎi xiónghuángjiǔ!
Miss, this is bad! Every house is buying realgar wine!
What changed in the story?
- What did Li Gongfu and his men see at the old garden?
“火！好大的火！火没了，她们两个也看不见了！”
- Why does the magistrate send Xu to Suzhou?
“可是那两个女人是妖怪。你去苏州吧，离她们远一点”
- Who does Mr. Wang send Xu to in Suzhou?
“王员外给了我一封信，让我去苏州找吴员外”
- What does Bai say about the silver?
“那些银子是我爸爸留给我的”
- What does Bai say she will do if Xu doesn't want her?
“你不要我，我就去做尼姑！”