Wu Zetian and the Peonies · chapter 3 of 4
The Road to Luoyang
去洛阳的路
The peonies are sent far away to Luoyang, but the empress is not done with them. What is left after the night?
Read what you hear
- Narrator 天还没亮。人们把牡丹放上牛车，要送去很远的洛阳。
Tiān hái méi liàng. Rénmen bǎ mǔdan fàng shàng niúchē, yào sòng qù hěn yuǎn de Luòyáng.
Before dawn, people loaded the peonies onto an ox cart to send them to far-off Luoyang.
- Old Fu 慢一点，慢一点！别弄坏了我的牡丹。
Màn yì diǎn, màn yì diǎn! Bié nònghuài le wǒ de mǔdan.
Slowly, slowly! Don't hurt my peonies.
- Xiao Yue 福伯，我来送一送牡丹。我一晚上都没睡。
Fúbó, wǒ lái sòng yí sòng mǔdan. Wǒ yì wǎnshang dōu méi shuì.
Old Fu, I came to see the peonies off. I didn't sleep all night.
Chapter 3 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Wu Zetian and the Peonies 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.
- Peony 小月，你为什么哭？我又没有走远。
Xiǎoyuè, nǐ wèishénme kū? Wǒ yòu méiyǒu zǒu yuǎn.
Xiao Yue, why are you crying? I haven't gone far yet.
- Xiao Yue 我怕陛下太生气。牡丹，你冷不冷？
Wǒ pà bìxià tài shēngqì. Mǔdan, nǐ lěng bu lěng?
I'm afraid Her Majesty is too angry. Peony, are you cold?
- Peony 不冷。我是牡丹，我不怕冷。
Bù lěng. Wǒ shì mǔdan, wǒ bú pà lěng.
No. I'm a peony. I'm not afraid of the cold.
- Old Fu 洛阳很远，我们要走十天。路上还会下雪。
Luòyáng hěn yuǎn, wǒmen yào zǒu shítiān. Lùshàng hái huì xiàxuě.
Luoyang is far. It will take us ten days, and it will snow on the way.
- Peony 十天，二十天，我都不怕。我一定会开花。
Shítiān, èrshítiān, wǒ dōu bú pà. Wǒ yídìng huì kāihuā.
Ten days, twenty days, I'm not afraid. I will bloom, I promise.
- Xiao Yue 你还想开花？陛下已经不喜欢你了。
Nǐ hái xiǎng kāihuā? Bìxià yǐjīng bù xǐhuan nǐ le.
You still want to bloom? Her Majesty doesn't like you anymore.
- Peony 我开花，不是为了让陛下喜欢。
Wǒ kāihuā, bú shì wèile ràng bìxià xǐhuan.
I don't bloom to make Her Majesty like me.
- Xiao Yue 那是为了什么呢？
Nà shì wèile shénme ne?
Then what is it for?
- Peony 为了春天。春天会来的，我也会来。
Wèile chūntiān. Chūntiān huì lái de, wǒ yě huì lái.
For spring. Spring will come, and so will I.
- Narrator 十天以后，他们到了洛阳。山上冷冷的，什么花也没有。
Shítiān yǐhòu, tāmen dào le Luòyáng. Shānshàng lěnglěng de, shénme huā yě méiyǒu.
Ten days later, they reached Luoyang. The hillside was cold, and not a single flower grew there.
- Old Fu 就种在这里吧。这里有太阳，也有水。
Jiù zhǒng zài zhèlǐ ba. Zhèlǐ yǒu tàiyáng, yě yǒu shuǐ.
Let's plant them here. There is sun here, and there is water.
- Peony 福伯，你别难过。你看，天上有月亮。
Fúbó, nǐ bié nánguò. Nǐ kàn, tiānshàng yǒu yuèliàng.
Old Fu, don't be sad. Look, the moon is out.
- Old Fu 你这个牡丹，真是什么都不怕。
Nǐ zhège mǔdan, zhēnshì shénme dōu bú pà.
You really aren't afraid of anything, are you, Peony?
- Peony 怕也没有用。花要开的时候，就会开。
Pà yě méiyǒu yòng. Huā yào kāi de shíhou, jiù huì kāi.
Being afraid doesn't help. When it is time for a flower to bloom, it blooms.
- Messenger 福伯！陛下有新的命令！
Fúbó! Bìxià yǒu xīn de mìnglìng!
Old Fu! There's a new order from Her Majesty!
- Old Fu 什么命令？请你快说！
Shénme mìnglìng? Qǐng nǐ kuài shuō!
What order? Tell me quickly!
- Messenger 陛下说，牡丹不听话。明天早上，要烧了它们。
Bìxià shuō, mǔdan bù tīnghuà. Míngtiān zǎoshang, yào shāo le tāmen.
Her Majesty says the peonies won't obey. Tomorrow morning, they are to be burned.
- Old Fu 烧？可是它们是花啊！它们做错了什么？
Shāo? Kěshì tāmen shì huā a! Tāmen zuò cuò le shénme?
Burned? But they are flowers! What did they do wrong?
- Messenger 我只是送信的。对不起，福伯。
Wǒ zhǐshì sòngxìn de. Duìbùqǐ, Fúbó.
I'm only the messenger. I'm sorry, Old Fu.
- Peony 福伯，火烧得了我的叶子，烧不了我的根。
Fúbó, huǒ shāo de liǎo wǒ de yèzi, shāo bù liǎo wǒ de gēn.
Old Fu, fire can burn my leaves, but it cannot burn my roots.
- Narrator 火烧了一晚上。天亮的时候，山上只有黑黑的树枝。
Huǒ shāo le yì wǎnshang. Tiānliàng de shíhou, shānshàng zhǐyǒu hēihēi de shùzhī.
The fire burned all night. By dawn, only black branches were left on the hillside.
- Old Fu 都黑了……都完了……我的牡丹啊。
Dōu hēi le… Dōu wán le… Wǒ de mǔdan a.
All black... it's all over... my poor peonies.
- Peony 福伯……你看。看看树枝的下面。
Fúbó… Nǐ kàn. Kànkan shùzhī de xiàmiàn.
Old Fu... look. Look beneath the branches.
- Old Fu 啊！黑树枝的下面，有一个绿绿的小芽！
A! Hēi shùzhī de xiàmiàn, yǒu yí gè lǜlǜ de xiǎoyá!
Ah! Under the black branches, there's a little green bud!
- Peony 这个小芽，就是我的春天。我说过，我会开花。
Zhège xiǎoyá, jiùshì wǒ de chūntiān. Wǒ shuō guò, wǒ huì kāihuā.
This little bud is my spring. I told you I would bloom.
- Old Fu 春天，真的会来吗？
Chūntiān, zhēn de huì lái ma?
Will spring really come?
- Peony 会。到了四月，我要让女皇也来看一看！
Huì. Dào le sìyuè, wǒ yào ràng nǚhuáng yě lái kàn yí kàn!
It will. When April comes, I'll make even the empress come and see!
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How long will the trip to Luoyang take?
“洛阳很远，我们要走十天。”
- Why does the peony say she will bloom?
“为了春天。”
- What new order does the soldier bring?
“明天早上，要烧了它们。”
- What does the peony say fire cannot burn?
“火烧得了我的叶子，烧不了我的根。”
- What does Lao Fu find in the morning?
“有一个绿绿的小芽！”