Three Kingdoms: Three Visits to the Cottage · chapter 1 of 4

The Sleeping Dragon

去找卧龙

Liu Bei has swords and horses but no plan. A friend tells him about a genius called the Sleeping Dragon, and Liu Bei rides out to find him.

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Narrator 曹操的兵很多。刘备的兵很少。
Cáocāo de bīng hěn duō. Liú Bèi de bīng hěn shǎo.
Cao Cao's army was huge. Liu Bei's army was small.
Liu Bei 二弟，三弟，我们有刀，有马，可是没有好办法。
Èr dì, sān dì, wǒmen yǒu dāo, yǒu mǎ, kěshì méiyǒu hǎo bànfǎ.
Second Brother, Third Brother, we have swords and horses, but no good plan.
Zhang Fei 大哥，我不怕曹操！我一个人打他一百个！
Dàgē, wǒ bú pà Cáocāo! Wǒ yí gè rén dǎ tā yìbǎi gè!
Big Brother, I'm not afraid of Cao Cao! I can fight a hundred of his men alone!
Guan Yu 三弟，曹操有一百万兵。你打不完。
Sān dì, Cáocāo yǒu yìbǎi wàn bīng. Nǐ dǎ bù wán.
Third Brother, Cao Cao has a million soldiers. You can't beat them all.
Zhang Fei 那我打五十个。……好吧，三十个。
Nà wǒ dǎ wǔshí gè. …Hǎo ba, sānshí gè.
Then I'll fight fifty. ...All right, thirty.
Liu Bei 三弟力气大，二弟刀很快，可是我们少一个聪明人。他用脑子，我们用刀。
Sān dì lìqì dà, èr dì dāo hěn kuài, kěshì wǒmen shǎo yí gè cōngmíng rén. Tā yòng nǎozi, wǒmen yòng dāo.
Third Brother is strong and Second Brother's blade is quick, but we lack a clever man. He would use his brain, and we would use our swords.
Xu Shu 刘将军，别急。我知道一个人，他比我聪明十倍。
Liú jiāngjūn, bié jí. Wǒ zhīdào yí gè rén, tā bǐ wǒ cōngmíng shí bèi.
General Liu, I know a man. He is ten times smarter than I am.
Zhang Fei 十倍？！那他是神吗？他会飞吗？
Shí bèi?! Nà tā shì shén ma? Tā huì fēi ma?
Ten times?! Is he a god, then? Can he fly?
Xu Shu 他叫诸葛亮，住在隆中的小山上。人们叫他“卧龙”。
Tā jiào Zhūgě Liàng, zhù zài Lóngzhōng de xiǎo shānshàng. Rénmen jiào tā “Wòlóng”.
His name is Zhuge Liang. He lives at Longzhong. People call him the Sleeping Dragon.
Liu Bei 卧龙？睡觉的龙？
Wòlóng? Shuìjiào de lóng?
The Sleeping Dragon? A dragon that sleeps?
Xu Shu 对。龙现在在睡觉。他醒了，就会飞上天。
Duì. Lóng xiànzài zài shuìjiào. Tā xǐng le, jiù huì fēi shàng tiān.
Yes. The dragon is asleep now. When he wakes, he will fly up into the sky.
Zhang Fei 那你把他叫来吧！
Nà nǐ bǎ tā jiào lái ba!
Then go call him here!
Xu Shu 不行。这样的人不会来的。你要自己去请他。
Bù xíng. Zhèyàng de rén bú huì lái de. Nǐ yào zìjǐ qù qǐng tā.
No. A man like that won't come. You must go yourself.
Guan Yu 大哥是大将军。他只是个书生。让将军去见书生？
Dàgē shì dà jiāngjūn. Tā zhǐ shì gè shūshēng. Ràng jiāngjūn qù jiàn shūshēng?
Big Brother is a great general. He is only a scholar. A general goes to visit a scholar?
Liu Bei 二弟，想请一个好人，就要自己去请。
Èr dì, xiǎng qǐng yí gè hǎo rén, jiù yào zìjǐ qù qǐng.
Second Brother, if you want a good man's help, you must go and ask him yourself.
Liu Bei 好！明天早上，我们就去隆中。
Hǎo! Míngtiān zǎoshàng, wǒmen jiù qù Lóngzhōng.
Good! Tomorrow morning, we go to Longzhong.
Zhang Fei 好！我去看看这条龙有多大！
Hǎo! Wǒ qù kànkàn zhè tiáo lóng yǒu duō dà!
Fine! I'll go see how big this dragon is!
Liu Bei 山很美，房子很小。是这里吗？
Shān hěn měi, fángzi hěn xiǎo. Shì zhèlǐ ma?
The hills are lovely and the house is small. Is this the place?
Zhang Fei 这么小的房子？龙住在这里？我家的马房都比它大！
Zhème xiǎo de fángzi? Lóng zhù zài zhèlǐ? Wǒ jiā de mǎ fáng dōu bǐ tā dà!
Such a small house? The dragon lives here? Even my horse stable is bigger!
Liu Bei 请问，诸葛先生在家吗？
Qǐng wèn, Zhūgě xiānshēng zài jiā ma?
Excuse me, is Master Zhuge at home?
Servant Boy 谁呀？是找我们先生吗？
Shuí ya? Shì zhǎo wǒmen xiānshēng ma?
Who is it? Are you looking for our master?
Liu Bei 我是刘备。请你告诉先生，我来看他。
Wǒ shì Liú Bèi. Qǐng nǐ gàosù xiānshēng, wǒ lái kàn tā.
I am Liu Bei. Please tell your master I have come to see him.
Servant Boy 对不起，先生今天早上出去了。
Duì bù qǐ, xiānshēng jīntiān zǎoshàng chūqù le.
I'm sorry, the master went out this morning.
Zhang Fei 出去了？他去哪儿了？什么时候回来？
Chūqù le? Tā qù nǎr le? Shénme shíhòu huílái?
Gone out? Where did he go? When will he be back?
Servant Boy 我不知道。先生常常去山里玩。有时三天，有时五天，有时更久。
Wǒ bù zhīdào. Xiānshēng chángcháng qù shānlǐ wán. Yǒushí sān tiān, yǒushí wǔ tiān, yǒushí gèng jiǔ.
I don't know. The master often goes off to play in the hills. Sometimes three days, sometimes five, sometimes longer.
Zhang Fei 五天！我们要在这里等五天吗？
Wǔ tiān! Wǒmen yào zài zhèlǐ děng wǔ tiān ma?
Five days! Do we have to wait here for five days?
Liu Bei 不等了。小兄弟，请告诉先生：刘备来过。
Bù děng le. Xiǎo xiōngdì, qǐng gàosù xiānshēng: Liú Bèi lái guò.
We won't wait. Little brother, please tell the master: Liu Bei came by.
Zhang Fei 大哥，他不在！下次我带一根长绳子，把他绑回来！
Dàgē, tā bú zài! Xià cì wǒ dài yì gēn zhǎng shéngzi, bǎ tā bǎng huílái!
Big Brother, he's not here! Next time I'll bring a long rope and tie him up and drag him back!
Liu Bei 三弟，不用绳子。我还会再来。
Sān dì, búyòng shéngzi. Wǒ hái huì zài lái.
Third Brother, no rope. I will come again.

What changed in the story?

Why does Liu Bei need a clever man?
“我们有刀，有马，可是没有好办法”
What do people call Zhuge Liang?
“人们叫他“卧龙””
Why can't Xu Shu just call Zhuge Liang to the camp?
“这样的人不会来”
Why does Zhang Fei laugh at the cottage?
“我家的马房都比它大”
What does Liu Bei say as they leave?
“我还会再来”

All chapters in Three Kingdoms: Three Visits to the Cottage.