Wu Gang and the Moon Tree · chapter 2 of 3
The First Flower
第一朵花
Wu Gang has chopped for thirty days and the tree is still whole. When he throws the axe away, Chang'e arrives and something small and golden falls.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 吴刚在月亮上，天天砍树。他砍了很多很多天。
Wú Gāng zài yuèliang shàng, tiāntiān kǎn shù. Tā kǎn le hěn duō hěn duō tiān.
Wu Gang chopped the tree on the moon every day. He chopped for many, many days.
- Wu Gang 九十八，九十九，一百！
Jiǔshíbā, jiǔshíjiǔ, yì bǎi!
Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!
- Wu Gang 玉兔，你看，今天口子更大了！
Yùtù, nǐ kàn, jīntiān kǒuzi gèng dà le!
Yutu, look, the gash is bigger today!
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Wu Gang and the Moon Tree 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.
- Yutu 我看见了。你再看，它在动。
Wǒ kànjiàn le. Nǐ zài kàn, tā zài dòng.
I see it. Now look again, it's moving.
- Wu Gang 又好了！这棵树太坏了！
Yòu hǎo le! Zhè kē shù tài huài le!
Healed again! This tree is so mean!
- Yutu 树不坏。是你太急了。
Shù bú huài. Shì nǐ tài jí le.
The tree isn't mean. You're just too hasty.
- Wu Gang 我不急？我砍了三十天了！
Wǒ bù jí? Wǒ kǎn le sānshí tiān le!
Not hasty? I've chopped for thirty days!
- Yutu 三十天？我在这儿三百年了。
Sānshí tiān? Wǒ zài zhèr sān bǎi nián le.
Thirty days? I've been here three hundred years.
- Wu Gang 三百年？！那你不累吗？
Sān bǎi nián?! Nà nǐ bú lèi ma?
Three hundred years?! Aren't you tired?
- Yutu 我不砍树。我只是玩儿。
Wǒ bù kǎn shù. Wǒ zhǐshì wánr.
I don't chop trees. I just play.
- Wu Gang 你这只兔子，真会说话！
Nǐ zhè zhī tùzi, zhēn huì shuōhuà!
You rabbit, you're quite the talker!
- Wu Gang 学飞的时候，我说累。砍树，我又说累。
Xué fēi de shíhou, wǒ shuō lèi. Kǎn shù, wǒ yòu shuō lèi.
When I studied flying, I said I was tired. Chopping trees, I say I'm tired again.
- Wu Gang 我总是做一半，就不做了。
Wǒ zǒngshì zuò yí bàn, jiù bú zuò le.
I always do half of a thing and then quit.
- Wu Gang 我不砍了！斧子给你！
Wǒ bù kǎn le! Fǔzi gěi nǐ!
I'm done chopping! Here, you take the axe!
- Chang'e 谁在这儿生气？
Shéi zài zhèr shēngqì?
Who is angry up here?
- Yutu 嫦娥姐姐！你来了！
Cháng'é jiějie! Nǐ lái le!
Sister Chang'e! You came!
- Chang'e 玉兔，你好。吴刚，我看你砍了很多天。
Yùtù, nǐ hǎo. Wú Gāng, wǒ kàn nǐ kǎn le hěn duō tiān.
Hello, Yutu. Wu Gang, I've watched you chop for many days.
- Wu Gang 您好。您……知道我的名字？
Nín hǎo. Nín... zhīdào wǒ de míngzi?
Hello. You... know my name?
- Chang'e 月亮上的事，我都知道。
Yuèliang shàng de shì, wǒ dōu zhīdào.
I know everything that happens on the moon.
- Wu Gang 那您告诉我，树为什么不倒？
Nà nín gàosu wǒ, shù wèishénme bù dǎo?
Then tell me, why doesn't the tree fall?
- Chang'e 我也在这儿等了很久。我也想过回家。
Wǒ yě zài zhèr děng le hěn jiǔ. Wǒ yě xiǎng guo huíjiā.
I have waited here a long time too. I also wanted to go home.
- Wu Gang 那您怎么办？
Nà nín zěnme bàn?
Then what did you do?
- Chang'e 我不生气。我看着下面的家，慢慢地等。
Wǒ bù shēngqì. Wǒ kànzhe xiàmiàn de jiā, mànmàn de děng.
I don't get angry. I look down at home and wait, slowly.
- Wu Gang 慢慢地……好吧，我再砍一下。玉兔，斧子呢？
Mànmàn de... hǎo ba, wǒ zài kǎn yí xià. Yùtù, fǔzi ne?
Slowly... all right, I'll chop one more time. Yutu, where's the axe?
- Yutu 在这儿。给你。
Zài zhèr. Gěi nǐ.
Right here. Take it.
- Wu Gang 一，二，三！
Yī, èr, sān!
One, two, three!
- Yutu 咦？有东西掉下来了！
Yí? Yǒu dōngxi diào xiàlái le!
Huh? Something is falling!
- Chang'e 是一朵小花！金色的小花！
Shì yì duǒ xiǎo huā! Jīnsè de xiǎo huā!
It's a little flower! A little golden flower!
- Wu Gang 花？这棵树……开花了？
Huā? Zhè kē shù... kāi huā le?
A flower? This tree... is blooming?
- Chang'e 你看，小花飞到下面去了。你想知道它去了哪儿吗？
Nǐ kàn, xiǎo huā fēi dào xiàmiàn qù le. Nǐ xiǎng zhīdào tā qù le nǎr ma?
Look, the little flower flew down below. Do you want to know where it went?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How long has Yutu been on the moon?
“三十天？我在这儿三百年了。”
- Why does Wu Gang throw the axe away?
“又好了！这棵树太坏了！”……“我不砍了！斧子给你！”
- What does Wu Gang admit about himself?
“我总是做一半，就不做了。”
- How does Chang'e wait for her way home?
“我不生气。我看着下面的家，慢慢地等。”
- What falls from the tree when Wu Gang chops again?
“是一朵小花！金色的小花！”