Wu Song and the Tiger · chapter 3 of 4
The Broken Staff
棍子断了
The tiger has three famous moves, Wu Song has one wooden staff, and the sun has already set on Jingyang Ridge.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 一只大老虎从树后面跳了出来！它的头上白白的，眼睛又大又亮。
Yì zhī dà lǎohǔ cóng shù hòumiàn tiào le chūlái! Tā de tóu shàng báibái de, yǎnjing yòu dà yòu liàng.
A huge tiger sprang out from behind the trees! Its forehead was white, and its eyes were big and bright.
- Wu Song 啊！老虎！真的是老虎！
Ā! Lǎohǔ! Zhēn de shì lǎohǔ!
Ah! A tiger! A real tiger!
- Wu Song 十八碗酒，都变成了冷汗……快，我的棍子！
Shíbā wǎn jiǔ, dōu biànchéng le lěnghàn… Kuài, wǒ de gùnzi!
All eighteen bowls of wine just turned into cold sweat... Quick, my staff!
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Wu Song and the Tiger 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.
- The Tiger 他醒了？醒了也没用！第一下：扑！
Tā xǐng le? Xǐng le yě méi yòng! Dì yī xià: pū!
He's awake? Much good that'll do him! Move one: the pounce!
- Narrator 老虎扑了过来。武松往旁边一跳，老虎扑了个空。
Lǎohǔ pū le guòlái. Wǔ Sōng wǎng pángbiān yí tiào, lǎohǔ pū le ge kōng.
The tiger pounced. Wu Song leapt aside, and the tiger landed on nothing but air.
- Wu Song 没扑到吧？来啊！
Méi pū dào ba? Lái a!
Missed me, didn't you? Come on!
- The Tiger 第二下：我的后腿！
Dì èr xià: wǒ de hòu tuǐ!
Move two: my back legs!
- Wu Song 往这边跳……差一点儿！
Wǎng zhè biān tiào… Chà yìdiǎnr!
Dodge this way... Whoa, that was close!
- The Tiger 第三下：我的尾巴！它像铁一样！
Dì sān xià: wǒ de wěiba! Tā xiàng tiě yíyàng!
Move three: my tail! It's as hard as iron!
- Wu Song 又没打到！哈哈！你的三下，还不如店家的三碗酒！
Yòu méi dǎ dào! Hāhā! Nǐ de sān xià, hái bùrú diànjiā de sān wǎn jiǔ!
Missed again! Ha! Your three moves can't even beat the innkeeper's three bowls!
- The Tiger 三下都没打到……他喝了那么多酒，怎么还这么快？
Sān xià dōu méi dǎ dào… Tā hē le nàme duō jiǔ, zěnme hái zhème kuài?
All three moves missed... He's full of wine. How can he still be so quick?
- Wu Song 你的三下用完了吧？现在，该我了！看我的棍子！
Nǐ de sān xià yòng wán le ba? Xiànzài, gāi wǒ le! Kàn wǒ de gùnzi!
Used up all three of your moves, have you? Now it's my turn! Have a taste of my staff!
- Narrator 武松用力打下去。可是他太急了，一棍子打在了大树上。
Wǔ Sōng yònglì dǎ xiàqù. Kěshì tā tài jí le, yí gùnzi dǎ zài le dà shù shàng.
Wu Song swung down with all his might. But he was in too much of a hurry, and the blow landed on a big tree.
- Wu Song 啊？我的棍子……断了！只有一半了！
Á? Wǒ de gùnzi… duàn le! Zhǐ yǒu yíbàn le!
What? My staff... it broke! There's only half left!
- The Tiger 哈哈！他没有棍子了！这一次，我一定抓到他！
Hāhā! Tā méiyǒu gùnzi le! Zhè yí cì, wǒ yídìng zhuā dào tā!
Ha! He's got no stick now! This time I'll get him for sure!
- Narrator 老虎大叫一声，又扑了过来。武松往后面一跳，跳出了十几步。
Lǎohǔ dà jiào yì shēng, yòu pū le guòlái. Wǔ Sōng wǎng hòumiàn yí tiào, tiào chū le shí jǐ bù.
With a great roar, the tiger pounced again. Wu Song sprang backward, a good ten paces.
- Wu Song 没有棍子，我还有两个拳头！来吧，老虎！
Méiyǒu gùnzi, wǒ hái yǒu liǎng gè quántou! Lái ba, lǎohǔ!
No staff? I've still got two fists! Come on, tiger!
- Wu Song 抓住你了！我按住你的头，看你往哪儿跑！
Zhuāzhù nǐ le! Wǒ ànzhù nǐ de tóu, kàn nǐ wǎng nǎr pǎo!
Got you! I've got your head pinned down. Let's see you run now!
- Wu Song 一下！两下！三下！看你还吃不吃人！
Yí xià! Liǎng xià! Sān xià! Kàn nǐ hái chī bu chī rén!
One! Two! Three! Let's see you eat anyone now!
- Narrator 武松的拳头打了五十下，六十下，七十下……老虎慢慢地不动了。
Wǔ Sōng de quántou dǎ le wǔshí xià, liùshí xià, qīshí xià… Lǎohǔ mànmàn de bú dòng le.
Wu Song's fists struck fifty blows, sixty, seventy... and slowly the tiger stopped moving.
- Wu Song 它……不动了。
Tā… bú dòng le.
It's... stopped moving.
- Wu Song 我用半根棍子再看看……好，它真的不动了。
Wǒ yòng bàn gēn gùnzi zài kànkan… Hǎo, tā zhēn de bú dòng le.
Let me give it a poke with what's left of my staff... Good. It really has stopped.
- Wu Song 店家说得对，山上真的有老虎。可是现在……没有了！
Diànjiā shuō de duì, shān shàng zhēn de yǒu lǎohǔ. Kěshì xiànzài… méiyǒu le!
The innkeeper was right. There really was a tiger up here. But now... there isn't!
- Wu Song 哈……我的手，我的腿，一点儿力气也没有了。
Hā… Wǒ de shǒu, wǒ de tuǐ, yìdiǎnr lìqi yě méiyǒu le.
Whew... My arms, my legs... I haven't got an ounce of strength left.
- Wu Song 我要把它拉下山去……太重了，拉不动！
Wǒ yào bǎ tā lā xià shān qù… Tài zhòng le, lā bu dòng!
I'll drag it down the mountain... Too heavy. I can't budge it!
- Wu Song 天黑了。要是再来一只老虎，我就打不动了。
Tiān hēi le. Yàoshi zài lái yì zhī lǎohǔ, wǒ jiù dǎ bu dòng le.
It's dark now. If another tiger turns up, I won't have the strength to fight it.
- Wu Song 先下山，明天再来！哥哥，我差一点儿就见不到你了……
Xiān xià shān, míngtiān zài lái! Gēge, wǒ chà yìdiǎnr jiù jiàn bu dào nǐ le…
Down the mountain first, and back tomorrow! Oh, brother, I came so close to never seeing you again...
- Narrator 武松慢慢地往山下走。忽然，草里有东西动了一下。
Wǔ Sōng mànmàn de wǎng shān xià zǒu. Hūrán, cǎo lǐ yǒu dōngxi dòng le yíxià.
Wu Song made his slow way down the mountain. Suddenly, something moved in the grass.
- Wu Song 啊？又是老虎！一只……两只！两只老虎！
Á? Yòu shì lǎohǔ! Yì zhī… liǎng zhī! Liǎng zhī lǎohǔ!
What? More tigers! One... two! Two tigers!
- Wu Song 这一次，我真的完了！
Zhè yí cì, wǒ zhēn de wán le!
This time I'm really done for!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What happens to all the wine in Wu Song when he sees the tiger?
“十八碗酒，都变成了冷汗……”
- What is the tiger's third move?
“第三下：我的尾巴！”
- How does Wu Song's staff break?
“可是他太急了，一棍子打在了大树上。”
- What does Wu Song fight with after his staff breaks?
“没有棍子，我还有两个拳头！”
- Why does Wu Song decide to go down the mountain?
“要是再来一只老虎，我就打不动了。”