Urashima Taro · chapter 4 of 4
Three Hundred Years
三百年
Taro is home at last, but the village is full of strangers, and a little girl knows his name from a very old story. The princess's box is still in his hands.
Read what you hear
- The Turtle 浦岛先生，你自己去看看吧。我要回龙宫了。记住公主的话，千万……
Pǔdǎo xiānsheng, nǐ zìjǐ qù kànkan ba. Wǒ yào huí Lónggōng le. Jìzhù gōngzhǔ de huà, qiānwàn…
Mr. Urashima, go and see for yourself. I have to go back to the Dragon Palace. Remember what the princess said: never...
- Urashima Taro ……千万不要打开盒子！我记得。谢谢你，海龟！
…Qiānwàn bú yào dǎkāi hézi! Wǒ jìde. Xièxie nǐ, hǎiguī!
...never open the box! I remember. Thank you, Turtle!
- The Turtle 那……再见了。别急，慢慢走。
Nà… zàijiàn le. Bié jí, mànmàn zǒu.
Well then... goodbye. No rush. Take it slowly.
Chapter 4 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Urashima Taro 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 and The Odyssey from start to finish.
- Narrator 太郎走进了村子。房子是新的，路也是新的。
Tàiláng zǒujìn le cūnzi. Fángzi shì xīn de, lù yě shì xīn de.
Taro walked into the village. The houses were new, and so were the roads.
- Urashima Taro 奇怪……村子里的人，我一个也不认识。我只走了几天啊！
Qíguài… cūnzi lǐ de rén, wǒ yí gè yě bú rènshi. Wǒ zhǐ zǒu le jǐ tiān a!
How strange... I don't know a single person in the village. I've only been gone a few days!
- Narrator 太郎的家不见了。那里只有一棵很大很大的老树。
Tàiláng de jiā bú jiàn le. Nàlǐ zhǐ yǒu yì kē hěn dà hěn dà de lǎo shù.
Taro's house was gone. In its place stood only a huge old tree.
- Urashima Taro 这棵树……是我家门口的小树？它怎么这么大了？
Zhè kē shù… shì wǒ jiā ménkǒu de xiǎo shù? Tā zěnme zhème dà le?
This tree... is this the little tree by my door? How did it grow so big?
- Urashima Taro 妈！妈！我回来了！你在哪儿？
Mā! Mā! Wǒ huílái le! Nǐ zài nǎr?
Mom! Mom! I'm home! Where are you?
- Little Girl 大哥哥，你在找人吗？村子里的人，我都认识！
Dà gēge, nǐ zài zhǎo rén ma? Cūnzi lǐ de rén, wǒ dōu rènshi!
Mister, are you looking for someone? I know everybody in the village!
- Urashima Taro 小妹妹，这里的浦岛家呢？浦岛太郎的家！
Xiǎo mèimei, zhèlǐ de Pǔdǎo jiā ne? Pǔdǎo Tàiláng de jiā!
Little girl, where's the Urashima house that stood here? Urashima Taro's house!
- Little Girl 浦岛太郎？那是故事里的人啊！我奶奶常常讲。
Pǔdǎo Tàiláng? Nà shì gùshi lǐ de rén a! Wǒ nǎinai chángcháng jiǎng.
Urashima Taro? He's someone in a story! My grandma tells it all the time.
- Urashima Taro 故事？什么故事？
Gùshi? Shénme gùshi?
A story? What story?
- Little Girl 很久以前，浦岛太郎去海边钓鱼，再也没有回来。有人说，他坐着海龟去了龙宫！
Hěn jiǔ yǐqián, Pǔdǎo Tàiláng qù hǎibiān diàoyú, zài yě méiyǒu huílái. Yǒu rén shuō, tā zuòzhe hǎiguī qù le Lónggōng!
Long ago, Urashima Taro went down to the sea to fish, and he never came back. Some people say he rode a turtle to the Dragon Palace!
- Little Girl 我奶奶说，那是三百年以前的事了！
Wǒ nǎinai shuō, nà shì sānbǎi nián yǐqián de shì le!
Grandma says that was three hundred years ago!
- Urashima Taro 三百年？！
Sānbǎi nián?!
Three hundred years?!
- Little Girl 他妈妈天天在这棵树下等他，等到很老很老……
Tā māma tiāntiān zài zhè kē shù xià děng tā, děng dào hěn lǎo hěn lǎo…
His mother waited for him under this tree every single day, until she was very, very old...
- Urashima Taro 我……我就是浦岛太郎。
Wǒ… wǒ jiù shì Pǔdǎo Tàiláng.
I... I am Urashima Taro.
- Little Girl 你？别开玩笑了！三百岁的人？你又不是海龟！
Nǐ? Bié kāi wánxiào le! Sānbǎi suì de rén? Nǐ yòu bú shì hǎiguī!
You? Don't be silly! A person who's three hundred years old? You're not a turtle!
- Little Girl 大哥哥，你饿了吧？等我一下，我回家给你拿饭！
Dà gēge, nǐ è le ba? Děng wǒ yíxià, wǒ huí jiā gěi nǐ ná fàn!
Mister, you must be hungry. Wait here, I'll run home and bring you some rice!
- Urashima Taro 三百年……妈妈，对不起。我没有回来吃晚饭。
Sānbǎi nián… māma, duìbuqǐ. Wǒ méiyǒu huílái chī wǎnfàn.
Three hundred years... Mom, I'm so sorry. I never came home for dinner.
- Narrator 太阳下山了。太郎一个人坐在海边，看着大海。
Tàiyáng xià shān le. Tàiláng yí gè rén zuò zài hǎibiān, kànzhe dàhǎi.
The sun went down. Taro sat all alone by the sea, gazing out at the water.
- Urashima Taro 妈妈不在了，家也没有了。我还能去哪儿呢？
Māma bú zài le, jiā yě méiyǒu le. Wǒ hái néng qù nǎr ne?
Mom is gone, and so is my home. Where can I go now?
- Urashima Taro 乙姬说，千万不要打开。可是，里面会不会有回去的路？
Yǐjī shuō, qiānwàn bú yào dǎkāi. Kěshì, lǐmiàn huì bu huì yǒu huíqù de lù?
Otohime said never to open it. But... what if the way back is inside?
- Narrator 太郎拉开红带子，打开了盒子。
Tàiláng lākāi hóng dàizi, dǎkāi le hézi.
Taro pulled off the red cord and opened the box.
- Narrator 盒子里飞出了白白的烟。太郎的头发白了，脸也老了。他变成了一个老爷爷。
Hézi lǐ fēi chū le báibái de yān. Tàiláng de tóufa bái le, liǎn yě lǎo le. Tā biànchéng le yí gè lǎo yéye.
White smoke came drifting out of the box. Taro's hair turned white, and his face grew old. He had become an old man.
- Urashima Taro 我的手……我的头发……我老了？
Wǒ de shǒu… wǒ de tóufa… wǒ lǎo le?
My hands... my hair... I'm old?
- Urashima Taro 原来，盒子里放的，是我的三百年。乙姬，你是为了我好啊。
Yuánlái, hézi lǐ fàng de, shì wǒ de sānbǎi nián. Yǐjī, nǐ shì wèile wǒ hǎo a.
So that's it. What she kept in the box was my three hundred years. Otohime, you were only trying to protect me.
- Little Girl 大哥哥，饭来了！……咦，老爷爷，你看见一个大哥哥了吗？
Dà gēge, fàn lái le!… Yí, lǎo yéye, nǐ kànjiàn yí gè dà gēge le ma?
Mister, here's your rice! ...Oh. Grandpa, have you seen a young man around here?
- Urashima Taro 看见了。他……回家了。
Kànjiàn le. Tā… huí jiā le.
I have. He... went home.
- Little Girl 那这碗饭，给你吃吧！老爷爷，你也知道浦岛太郎的故事吗？
Nà zhè wǎn fàn, gěi nǐ chī ba! Lǎo yéye, nǐ yě zhīdào Pǔdǎo Tàiláng de gùshi ma?
Then the rice is for you! Grandpa, do you know the story of Urashima Taro too?
- Urashima Taro 知道。我知道得最清楚。来，坐下，我讲给你听。
Zhīdào. Wǒ zhīdào de zuì qīngchu. Lái, zuòxià, wǒ jiǎng gěi nǐ tīng.
I do. Nobody knows it better than I do. Come, sit down, and I'll tell it to you.
- Urashima Taro 很久很久以前，日本的海边住着一个年轻人，叫浦岛太郎……
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, Rìběn de hǎibiān zhùzhe yí gè niánqīngrén, jiào Pǔdǎo Tàiláng…
Long, long ago, on the coast of Japan, there lived a young man called Urashima Taro...
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Taro find where his house used to be?
“那里只有一棵很大很大的老树。”
- Who is Urashima Taro, according to the little girl?
“那是故事里的人啊！……那是三百年以前的事了！”
- Why doesn't the girl believe that Taro is Urashima Taro?
“三百岁的人？你又不是海龟！”
- Why does Taro open the box?
“可是，里面会不会有回去的路？”
- What does Taro tell the girl about the young man she is looking for?
“他……回家了。”