Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff · chapter 5 of 8
Borrowing the Wind
借东风
Zhou Yu falls ill with worry. Zhuge Liang cures him with one line of writing and promises to borrow the wind, and then plans a quiet escape.
Read what you hear
- Zhuge Liang 都督，我听说你病了。鲁兄说，你昨天在山上晕倒了，还喊着“东风”。
Dūdū, wǒ tīngshuō nǐ bìng le. Lǔ xiōng shuō, nǐ zuótiān zài shānshàng yūndǎo le, hái hǎn zhe “dōngfēng”.
Commander, I hear you're ill. Brother Lu says you fainted on the hill yesterday and kept calling out for the east wind.
- Zhou Yu 先生……你来了。请坐，请原谅我不能起来。我头疼，胸口也疼。医生说，我需要好好休息。
Xiānsheng… nǐ lái le. Qǐng zuò, qǐngyuánliàng wǒ bùnéng qǐlái. Wǒ tóuténg, xiōngkǒu yě téng. Yīshēng shuō, wǒ xūyào hǎohǎo xiūxi.
Master... you came. Please sit, and forgive me for not getting up. My head hurts and so does my chest. The doctor says I need to rest.
- Zhuge Liang 我不是医生，可是我有一个药方。你想不想看看？
Wǒ búshì yīshēng, kěshì wǒ yǒu yí gè yàofāng. Nǐ xiǎng bùxiǎng kànkan?
I'm no doctor, but I have a prescription. Would you like to see it?
Chapter 5 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Three Kingdoms: Red Cliff 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, The Odyssey, Robin Hood, Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Kitchen God from start to finish.
- Zhou Yu 药方？先生，你拿的是笔，不是药。
Yàofāng? Xiānsheng, nǐ ná de shì bǐ, búshì yào.
A prescription? Master, you're holding a brush, not medicine.
- Zhuge Liang 我只写十几个字。我写好了，都督自己念。
Wǒ zhǐ xiě shí jǐ gè zì. Wǒ xiě hǎo le, dūdū zìjǐ niàn.
I'll write just a few characters. When I'm done, Commander, read it yourself.
- Zhou Yu 让我看看……火已经准备好了……就差一阵东风……
Ràng wǒ kànkan… huǒ yǐjīng zhǔnbèi hǎo le… jiù chà yí zhèn dōngfēng…
Let me see... the fire is ready... only an east wind is missing...
- Zhou Yu 先生！你怎么知道我的心事？
Xiānsheng! Nǐ zěnme zhīdào wǒ de xīnshì?
Master! How do you know what is in my heart?
- Zhuge Liang 都督的病，来自心里，不是身体。风一来，病就好了。
Dūdū de bìng, láizì xīnlǐ, búshì shēntǐ. Fēng yìlái, bìng jiù hǎo le.
The commander's illness comes from the heart, not the body. When the wind arrives, the illness will be gone.
- Zhou Yu 可是……风是老天的事。人怎么能叫风来？
Kěshì… fēngshì lǎotiān de shì. Rén zěnme néng jiào fēnglái?
But... wind is the sky's business. How can a person make the wind come?
- Zhuge Liang 我年轻的时候，跟一位高人学过一点儿奇怪的本事。我能向老天借三天东风，让它一直吹过大江。
Wǒ niánqīng de shíhou, gēn yí wèi gāo rénxué guò yìdiǎnr qíguài de běnshì. Wǒ néng xiàng lǎotiān jiè sān tiān dōngfēng, ràng tā yìzhí chuīguò dàjiāng.
When I was young, I learned some strange skills from a wise man. I can borrow three days of east wind from the heavens, and let it blow all the way across the river.
- Zhou Yu 借风？哈哈……咳咳……先生，你太让我吃惊了！
Jièfēng? Hāhā… hāihāi… xiānsheng, nǐ tài ràng wǒ chījīng le!
Borrowing wind? Ha ha... cough, cough... Master, you never stop surprising me!
- Zhuge Liang 请都督在江边的南屏山，建一座高台。我要在台上，等风来。
Qǐng dūdū zài jiāngbiān de nánpíngshān, jiàn yízuò gāotái. Wǒ yào zài táishàng, děng fēnglái.
Please have a tall altar built on Nanping Hill by the river. I will wait for the wind up there.
- Zhou Yu 先生还需要什么？金子？马？只要你说，我都给你！
Xiānsheng huán xūyào shénme? Jīnzi? Mǎ? Zhǐyào nǐ shuō, wǒ dōu gěi nǐ!
What else do you need, Master? Gold? Horses? Say the word, and it's yours!
- Zhuge Liang 三样就够了：一百二十个拿旗的士兵、一壶清水，还有一个没有人打扰我的晚上。
Sān yàng jiùgòu le: yìbǎi'èrshí gè ná qí de shìbīng, yìhú qīngshuǐ, háiyǒu yí gè méiyǒu rén dǎrǎo wǒ de wǎnshang.
Three things are enough: one hundred twenty soldiers to hold flags, a jug of clean water, and one night with nobody bothering me.
- Zhou Yu 来人！马上去建高台！一天内，必须建好！
Lái rén! Mǎshàng qù jiàn gāotái! Yì tiān nèi, bìxū jiàn hǎo!
Guards! Build the altar at once! It must be finished within one day!
- Lu Su 都督，你的病怎么突然就好了？刚才医生还说你要躺十天呢！
Dūdū, nǐ de bìng zěnme tūrán jiù hǎo le? Gāngcái yīshēng huán shuō nǐ yào tǎng shí tiān ne!
Commander, how did your illness suddenly get better? The doctor just said you'd be in bed for ten days!
- Zhou Yu 我忽然想起来了：一个人要是有大事要做，怎么还有时间生病呢！
Wǒ hūrán xiǎng qǐlái le: yí gè rén yàoshi yǒu dàshì yào zuò, zěnme háiyǒu shíjiān shēngbìng ne!
I've suddenly realized something: when a man has great work to do, how does he have time to be ill!
- Lu Su 先借箭，现在又借风……先生，你到底还会借什么？
Xiānjiè jiàn, xiànzài yòu jièfēng… xiānsheng, nǐ dàodǐ háihuì jiè shénme?
First arrows, now wind... Master, what else can you borrow?
- Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，借来的东西，总是要还的。等打赢了，我会把风还给老天。
Lǔ xiōng, jièlái de dōngxi, zǒngshì yào hái de. Děng dǎyíng le, wǒhuì bǎfēng huángěi lǎotiān.
Brother Lu, borrowed things must always be returned. When we win, I'll give the wind back to the heavens.
- Lu Su 先生，台上好冷。你站在那里，真的不怕吗？
Xiānsheng, táishàng hǎo lěng. Nǐ zhàn zài nàlǐ, zhēnde búpà ma?
Master, it's so cold up on the altar. You stand there, and you're really not afraid?
- Zhuge Liang 鲁兄别担心，我穿了两件衣服，还有扇子挡风。我一点儿也不怕，我怕的，是明天。
Lǔ xiōng bié dānxīn, wǒ chuān le liǎng jiàn yīfu, háiyǒu shànzi dǎngfēng. Wǒ yìdiǎnr yě búpà, wǒpà de, shì míngtiān.
Don't worry, Brother Lu, I'm wearing two robes and I have my fan to block the wind. I'm not afraid at all. It's tomorrow I'm afraid of.
- Lu Su 明天？明天风就来了，不是很好吗？
Míngtiān? Míngtiān fēng jiù lái le, búshì hěn hǎo ma?
Tomorrow? The wind will come tomorrow. Isn't that good?
- Zhuge Liang 风一来，都督心里第一个想到的，就是我的头。因为我知道的事，比他还多。
Fēng yìlái, dūdū xīnlǐ dì yí gè xiǎngdào de, jiùshì wǒ de tóu. Yīnwèi wǒ zhīdào de shì, bǐ tā hái duō.
When the wind comes, the first thing on the commander's mind will be my head. Because I know more than he does.
- Lu Su 不会吧！都督不是那种人……
Búhuì ba! Dūdū búshì nà zhǒng rén…
No way! The commander isn't that kind of man...
- Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，你是一个好人。可是好人，有时候会看不见别人心里的话。
Lǔ xiōng, nǐ shì yí gè hǎorén. Kěshì hǎorén, yǒushíhou huì kàn bú jiàn biérén xīnlǐ dehuà.
Brother Lu, you're a good man. But good men sometimes can't see what is in other people's hearts.
- Zhuge Liang 所以，在风来之前，我要先走。江边有一条小船，我的朋友在那里等我。
Suǒyǐ, zài fēnglái zhīqián, wǒ yào xiān zǒu. Jiāngbiān yǒu yì tiáo xiǎochuán, wǒ de péngyou zài nàlǐ děng wǒ.
So before the wind comes, I must leave first. There's a small boat by the river, and my friend is waiting there for me.
- Lu Su 可是……高台上没有人，都督会发现的！
Kěshì… gāo táishàng méiyǒu rén, dūdū huì fāxiàn de!
But... if there's no one on the altar, the commander will notice!
- Zhuge Liang 那就请鲁兄，多陪都督喝几杯茶。让他慢一点儿发现。
Nà jiù qǐng Lǔ xiōng, duō péi dūdū hē jǐ bēi chá. Ràng tā màn yìdiǎnr fāxiàn.
Then, Brother Lu, please keep the commander busy with tea. Let him find out slowly.
- Lu Su 我……我尽量。可是先生，如果风没有来呢？那怎么办？
Wǒ… wǒ jǐnliàng. Kěshì xiānsheng, rúguǒ fēng méiyǒu lái ne? Nà zěnmebàn?
I... I'll try. But Master, what if the wind doesn't come? What then?
- Zhuge Liang 鲁兄，你听。
Lǔ xiōng, nǐ tīng.
Listen, Brother Lu.
- Lu Su 什么声音？……旗子动了！
Shénme shēngyīn?… Qízi dòng le!
What's that sound? ...The banner moved!
- Zhuge Liang 东风来了。鲁兄，我该走了。请替我告诉都督：火，让他自己去点吧。
Dōngfēng lái le. Lǔ xiōng, wǒ gāi zǒu le. Qǐng tì wǒ gàosu dūdū: huǒ, ràng tā zìjǐ qù diǎn ba.
The east wind has come. Brother Lu, I must go. Please tell the commander: let him light the fire himself.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Zhuge Liang write as the 'prescription' for Zhou Yu?
“火已经准备好了……就差一阵东风”
- What does Zhuge Liang say he can do?
“我能向老天借三天东风”
- What happens to Zhou Yu after Zhuge Liang's promise?
“你的病怎么突然就好了”
- Why does Zhuge Liang plan to leave before the wind arrives?
“都督心里第一个想到的，就是我的头”
- What is the last sign that the wind is coming?
“旗子动了”