Three Kingdoms: The Empty Fort · chapter 3 of 3
The Shaking Hands
手在抖
The army rides away doubting, but the night on the wall holds one more secret about the bravest man in Xicheng.
Read what you hear
- Sima Zhao 父亲，我们已经走了十里路，可是我还是不明白。
Fùqīn, wǒmen yǐjīng zǒu le shí lǐ lù, kěshì wǒ háishi bù míngbai.
Father, we've already gone ten li, and I still don't understand.
- Sima Yi 你哪里不明白？说吧。
Nǐ nǎlǐ bù míngbai? Shuō ba.
What don't you understand? Go on.
- Sima Zhao 那些扫地的人那么老，他们真的是老兵吗？
Nàxiē sǎodì de rén nàme lǎo, tāmen zhēn de shì lǎobīng ma?
Those men sweeping were so old. Were they really soldiers?
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Three Kingdoms: The Empty Fort 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 and Jiang Ziya Goes Fishing from start to finish.
- Sima Yi 你看的是那些老人，我看的是诸葛亮。
Nǐ kàn de shì nàxiē lǎorén, wǒ kàn de shì Zhūgě Liàng.
You looked at the old men. I looked at Zhuge Liang.
- Sima Zhao 可是他只有一个人啊！城墙上没有别人！
Kěshì tā zhǐ yǒu yí gè rén a! Chéngqiáng shàng méiyǒu biéren!
But he was all alone! There was nobody else on the wall!
- Sima Yi 他一个人坐在那里，好像什么都不怕，这才最可怕。
Tā yí gè rén zuò zài nàlǐ, hǎoxiàng shénme dōu bú pà, zhè cái zuì kěpà.
He sat there alone as if he feared nothing. That is what's most frightening.
- Sima Zhao 也许他真的没有兵。也许他只是想让我们走！
Yěxǔ tā zhēn de méiyǒu bīng. Yěxǔ tā zhǐshì xiǎng ràng wǒmen zǒu!
Maybe he really had no soldiers. Maybe he just wanted us to leave!
- Sima Yi 也许吧。
Yěxǔ ba.
Maybe.
- Sima Zhao 那我们回去吧！现在回去，还来得及！
Nà wǒmen huíqù ba! Xiànzài huíqù, hái láidejí!
Then let's go back! If we go now, there's still time!
- Sima Yi 如果城里真的有埋伏，我们一进城，就回不来了。
Rúguǒ chéng lǐ zhēn de yǒu máifu, wǒmen yí jìn chéng, jiù huí bù lái le.
If there really is an ambush in the town, we won't come back once we go in.
- Sima Zhao 可是我们有那么多人，还怕他一把琴吗？
Kěshì wǒmen yǒu nàme duō rén, hái pà tā yì bǎ qín ma?
But we have so many men. Are we afraid of one zither?
- Sima Yi 他只用一段琴声，就让我们走了十里路。
Tā zhǐ yòng yí duàn qínshēng, jiù ràng wǒmen zǒu le shí lǐ lù.
With one stretch of zither music, he made us march ten li away.
- Narrator 那天晚上，城墙上很安静，只有风在吹。
Nà tiān wǎnshang, chéngqiáng shàng hěn ānjìng, zhǐyǒu fēng zài chuī.
That night it was very quiet on the town wall, and only the wind blew.
- Old Chen 先生！他们走了，真的走了！我们赢了！
Xiānsheng! Tāmen zǒu le, zhēn de zǒu le! Wǒmen yíng le!
Sir! They're gone, really gone! We won!
- Zhuge Liang 我知道了。老陈，请你过来，我有点儿站不住了。
Wǒ zhīdào le. Lǎo Chén, qǐng nǐ guòlái, wǒ yǒudiǎnr zhàn bú zhù le.
I know. Old Chen, come here, I can't quite stand anymore.
- Old Chen 先生，您怎么了？是不是生病了？
Xiānsheng, nín zěnme le? Shì bú shì shēngbìng le?
Sir, what's wrong? Are you sick?
- Zhuge Liang 没有。你看我的手，它一直在抖，腿也是。
Méiyǒu. Nǐ kàn wǒ de shǒu, tā yìzhí zài dǒu, tuǐ yě shì.
No. Look at my hand, it has been shaking all day, and so have my legs.
- Old Chen 您也怕？我一直以为您什么都不怕！
Nín yě pà? Wǒ yìzhí yǐwéi nín shénme dōu bú pà!
You were afraid too? I always thought you feared nothing!
- Zhuge Liang 我怕，怕得很。可是我不能让司马懿看出来。
Wǒ pà, pà de hěn. Kěshì wǒ bù néng ràng Sīmǎ Yì kàn chūlái.
I was, very much. But I couldn't let Sima Yi see it.
- Old Chen 哈哈，原来我们两个人都怕！
Hā hā, yuánlái wǒmen liǎng gè rén dōu pà!
Ha ha, so we were both scared!
- Zhuge Liang 对。你笑着扫地，我坐着弹琴，我们一起过了这一天。
Duì. Nǐ xiào zhe sǎodì, wǒ zuò zhe tán qín, wǒmen yìqǐ guò le zhè yì tiān.
Yes. You swept with a smile and I sat and played, and together we got through this day.
- Old Chen 我笑了一整天，现在我的脸都疼了！
Wǒ xiào le yì zhěng tiān, xiànzài wǒ de liǎn dōu téng le!
I smiled the whole day, and now my face hurts!
- Zhuge Liang 谢谢你，老陈。你比一万个兵还有用。
Xièxie nǐ, Lǎo Chén. Nǐ bǐ yíwàn gè bīng hái yǒuyòng.
Thank you, Old Chen. You were worth ten thousand soldiers.
- Old Chen 一万个兵？我只是一个扫地的老头儿啊！
Yíwàn gè bīng? Wǒ zhǐshì yí gè sǎodì de lǎotóur a!
Ten thousand soldiers? I'm only an old man with a broom!
- Zhuge Liang 不，今天你是最好的兵。
Bù, jīntiān nǐ shì zuì hǎo de bīng.
No. Today you were the best soldier of all.
- Old Chen 那现在怎么办？是不是要关城门了？
Nà xiànzài zěnme bàn? Shì bú shì yào guān chéngmén le?
So what do we do now? Should we close the gate?
- Zhuge Liang 对，关上城门，我们今晚就走。司马懿想明白以后，可能会回来。
Duì, guānshàng chéngmén, wǒmen jīnwǎn jiù zǒu. Sīmǎ Yì xiǎng míngbai yǐhòu, kěnéng huì huílái.
Yes, close the gate, and we leave tonight. Once Sima Yi works it out, he may come back.
- Old Chen 那我们快走吧！我去拿我的东西！
Nà wǒmen kuài zǒu ba! Wǒ qù ná wǒ de dōngxi!
Then let's hurry! I'll go get my things!
- Zhuge Liang 好，不过，先让我喝完这杯茶。
Hǎo, búguò, xiān ràng wǒ hēwán zhè bēi chá.
All right. But first, let me finish this cup of tea.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Sima Yi say he looked at, while Sima Zhao looked at the old men?
“你看的是那些老人，我看的是诸葛亮。”
- Why won't Sima Yi turn back?
“我们一进城，就回不来了。”
- What does Zhuge Liang confess to Old Chen?
“你看我的手，它一直在抖，腿也是。”……“我怕，怕得很。”
- What does Old Chen say hurts after the long day?
“现在我的脸都疼了！”
- What does Zhuge Liang want before they leave?
“先让我喝完这杯茶。”