Wu Song and the Tiger · chapter 4 of 4
Two More Tigers?
两只老虎
Two striped shapes rise out of the dark grass, and Wu Song has no strength left to fight. What happens next surprises everyone, including Wu Song.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 草里的两只“老虎”，慢慢地站了起来。
Cǎo lǐ de liǎng zhī “lǎohǔ”, mànmàn de zhàn le qǐlái.
The two “tigers” in the grass slowly stood up on two legs.
- The Hunter 你、你、你是什么人？
Nǐ, nǐ, nǐ shì shénme rén?
Wh-wh-who are you?
- Wu Song 我是人啊！你们……不是老虎吗？
Wǒ shì rén a! Nǐmen… bú shì lǎohǔ ma?
I'm a man, of course! And you... you're not tigers?
Chapter 4 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 Hunter 我们是猎人！这是老虎皮。穿着它，老虎就看不出来我们是人。
Wǒmen shì lièrén! Zhè shì lǎohǔ pí. Chuānzhe tā, lǎohǔ jiù kàn bu chūlái wǒmen shì rén.
We're hunters! This is a tiger skin. With it on, the tiger can't tell we're people.
- The Hunter 小声点儿！山上有一只大老虎。我们在这儿等它，已经等了好几天了。
Xiǎo shēng diǎnr! Shān shàng yǒu yì zhī dà lǎohǔ. Wǒmen zài zhèr děng tā, yǐjīng děng le hǎo jǐ tiān le.
Keep your voice down! There's a huge tiger up there. We've been lying in wait for it for days.
- The Hunter 县官说，抓不到老虎，就要打我们。我们已经被打了好几次了！
Xiànguān shuō, zhuā bu dào lǎohǔ, jiù yào dǎ wǒmen. Wǒmen yǐjīng bèi dǎ le hǎo jǐ cì le!
The magistrate says if we don't catch the tiger, we get a beating. We've been beaten again and again already!
- Wu Song 那只老虎？你们不用等了。
Nà zhī lǎohǔ? Nǐmen bú yòng děng le.
That tiger? You can stop waiting.
- The Hunter 为、为什么？
Wèi, wèishénme?
Wh-why?
- Wu Song 它已经被我打死了。
Tā yǐjīng bèi wǒ dǎ sǐ le.
Because I've already killed it.
- The Hunter 什么？你一个人？天这么黑，你手上什么也没有……
Shénme? Nǐ yí gè rén? Tiān zhème hēi, nǐ shǒu shàng shénme yě méiyǒu…
What? By yourself? In the dark, with nothing in your hands...
- Wu Song 我有两个拳头啊，还有半根棍子！
Wǒ yǒu liǎng gè quántou a, hái yǒu bàn gēn gùnzi!
I've got two fists, haven't I? And half a staff!
- The Hunter 我的妈呀……你身上都是酒味。你是醉了吧？
Wǒ de mā ya… Nǐ shēnshang dōu shì jiǔ wèi. Nǐ shì zuì le ba?
Good grief... You reek of wine. You're drunk, aren't you?
- Wu Song 我是喝了十八碗。可是老虎是真的！不信，你们上去看看！
Wǒ shì hē le shíbā wǎn. Kěshì lǎohǔ shì zhēn de! Bú xìn, nǐmen shàngqù kànkan!
Sure, I had eighteen bowls. But the tiger's real! If you don't believe me, go up and see for yourselves!
- Narrator 猎人叫来了十几个村民。大家拿着火把，一起上了山。
Lièrén jiào lái le shí jǐ gè cūnmín. Dàjiā názhe huǒbǎ, yìqǐ shàng le shān.
The hunters rounded up a dozen or so villagers, and they all climbed the mountain together, carrying torches.
- The Hunter 慢点儿，慢点儿……它会不会突然跳起来？
Màn diǎnr, màn diǎnr… Tā huì bu huì tūrán tiào qǐlái?
Easy... easy... What if it suddenly jumps up?
- Wu Song 放心吧，它不会再跳了。
Fàngxīn ba, tā bú huì zài tiào le.
Relax. It won't be jumping again.
- The Hunter 真的是那只大老虎！大家快来看，老虎真的死了！
Zhēn de shì nà zhī dà lǎohǔ! Dàjiā kuài lái kàn, lǎohǔ zhēn de sǐ le!
It really is the big tiger! Everyone, come and look! The tiger's really dead!
- The Hunter 好汉！你是打老虎的好汉！你叫什么名字？
Hǎohàn! Nǐ shì dǎ lǎohǔ de hǎohàn! Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
Hero! You're the hero who fought the tiger! What's your name?
- Wu Song 我叫武松，清河县人。
Wǒ jiào Wǔ Sōng, Qīnghé Xiàn rén.
The name's Wu Song, from Qinghe County.
- The Hunter 走，下山！今天晚上，村里的人都要请你喝酒！
Zǒu, xià shān! Jīntiān wǎnshang, cūn lǐ de rén dōu yào qǐng nǐ hē jiǔ!
Come on, let's go down! Tonight the whole village will want to buy you a drink!
- Wu Song 喝酒？不了，不了！今天的酒，我已经喝够了！
Hē jiǔ? Bù le, bù le! Jīntiān de jiǔ, wǒ yǐjīng hē gòu le!
A drink? No, no, thank you! I've had quite enough wine for one day!
- Narrator 第二天，大家把老虎送到了阳谷县。街上的人都跑出来看。
Dì èr tiān, dàjiā bǎ lǎohǔ sòng dào le Yánggǔ Xiàn. Jiē shàng de rén dōu pǎo chūlái kàn.
The next day, they carried the tiger to the town of Yanggu, and everyone in the streets came running to look.
- The Hunter 大家看！就是他，打老虎的好汉武松！
Dàjiā kàn! Jiù shì tā, dǎ lǎohǔ de hǎohàn Wǔ Sōng!
Look, everyone! That's him, Wu Song, the hero who fought the tiger!
- Narrator 县官给了武松很多很多钱。
Xiànguān gěi le Wǔ Sōng hěn duō hěn duō qián.
The magistrate gave Wu Song a great big reward.
- Wu Song 大人，这些钱我不要。猎人们为了这只老虎，被打了好几次。给他们吧！
Dàrén, zhèxiē qián wǒ bú yào. Lièrénmen wèile zhè zhī lǎohǔ, bèi dǎ le hǎo jǐ cì. Gěi tāmen ba!
Your Honor, I don't want this money. The hunters took beating after beating over this tiger. Give it to them!
- The Hunter 给我们？我的妈呀！好汉，你真是个好人！
Gěi wǒmen? Wǒ de mā ya! Hǎohàn, nǐ zhēn shì ge hǎo rén!
For us? Good grief! Hero, you're a truly good man!
- Narrator 县官也很喜欢武松，就让他留在阳谷县，做了都头。
Xiànguān yě hěn xǐhuan Wǔ Sōng, jiù ràng tā liú zài Yánggǔ Xiàn, zuò le dūtóu.
The magistrate took a great liking to Wu Song too, and had him stay on in Yanggu as captain of the county constables.
- Wu Dalang 武都头！你当了都头，就不认识哥哥了吗？
Wǔ dūtóu! Nǐ dāng le dūtóu, jiù bú rènshi gēge le ma?
Captain Wu! Now that you're a captain, you don't know your own big brother?
- Wu Song 哥哥？是你！你怎么在阳谷县？
Gēge? Shì nǐ! Nǐ zěnme zài Yánggǔ Xiàn?
Brother? It's you! What are you doing in Yanggu?
- Wu Dalang 我们搬家了，就住在这儿！走，回家，哥哥请你喝酒！
Wǒmen bān jiā le, jiù zhù zài zhèr! Zǒu, huí jiā, gēge qǐng nǐ hē jiǔ!
We moved! We live right here in town! Come on, let's go home. Your big brother's buying the wine!
- Wu Song 好！不过今天，我只喝三碗！
Hǎo! Búguò jīntiān, wǒ zhǐ hē sān wǎn!
You're on! But today, I'm only having three bowls!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Who are the two “tigers” in the grass?
“我们是猎人！这是老虎皮。”
- Why do the hunters want so badly to catch the tiger?
“县官说，抓不到老虎，就要打我们。”
- Why does the hunter think Wu Song is drunk?
“你身上都是酒味。你是醉了吧？”
- What does Wu Song do with the magistrate's reward?
“这些钱我不要。……给他们吧！”
- Who calls out to Wu Song in the town?
“你当了都头，就不认识哥哥了吗？”……“哥哥？是你！”