Ye Xian, the Chinese Cinderella · chapter 2 of 5
The Fish Is Gone
鱼不见了
Suddenly the stepmother is kind: a new coat for Ye Xian, and a long walk to fetch water in the far eastern hills. Why does she want Ye Xian's old coat?
Read what you hear
- Narrator 第二天，后妈一个人来到了山上的池塘边。
Dì èr tiān, hòumā yí gè rén láidào le shān shang de chítáng biān.
The next day, the stepmother went up to the pond in the hills by herself.
- Stepmother 大鱼，大鱼，快出来吧！我给你带了好吃的。
Dà yú, dà yú, kuài chūlái ba! Wǒ gěi nǐ dài le hǎochī de.
Big fish, big fish, come on out! I've brought you something tasty.
- Stepmother 它怎么不出来呢？水里一点儿声音也没有。
Tā zěnme bù chūlái ne? Shuǐ lǐ yìdiǎnr shēngyīn yě méiyǒu.
Why won't it come out? There isn't a sound from the water.
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Ye Xian, the Chinese Cinderella 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.
- Stepmother 它只认识叶限，是吧？好，那我就变成叶限！
Tā zhǐ rènshi Yè Xiàn, shì ba? Hǎo, nà wǒ jiù biànchéng Yè Xiàn!
So it only knows Ye Xian, does it? Fine. Then I'll become Ye Xian!
- Stepmother 叶限，你每天做事，太累了。来，这件新衣服给你穿。
Yè Xiàn, nǐ měi tiān zuò shì, tài lèi le. Lái, zhè jiàn xīn yīfu gěi nǐ chuān.
Ye Xian, you work so hard every day, you must be worn out. Here, this new coat is for you.
- Ye Xian 这件新衣服，是给我的吗？
Zhè jiàn xīn yīfu, shì gěi wǒ de ma?
This new coat… is it really for me?
- Stepmother 快换上吧，旧衣服给我。然后，你去东边的山里打水。
Kuài huàn shàng ba, jiù yīfu gěi wǒ. Ránhòu, nǐ qù dōngbian de shān lǐ dǎ shuǐ.
Put it on, quick, and give me your old one. Then go and fetch water from the eastern hills.
- Ye Xian 东边的山里那么远，我要走半天呢。
Dōngbian de shān lǐ nàme yuǎn, wǒ yào zǒu bàntiān ne.
But the eastern hills are so far. It'll take me half the day.
- Stepmother 我叫你去，你就快去！
Wǒ jiào nǐ qù, nǐ jiù kuài qù!
When I tell you to go, you go!
- Ye Xian 后妈今天怎么对我这么好？是我想多了吧。
Hòumā jīntiān zěnme duì wǒ zhème hǎo? Shì wǒ xiǎng duō le ba.
Why is my stepmother so kind to me today? Maybe I'm just imagining things.
- Narrator 叶限走远了。后妈穿上她的旧衣服，又来到了池塘边。
Yè Xiàn zǒu yuǎn le. Hòumā chuān shàng tā de jiù yīfu, yòu láidào le chítáng biān.
As soon as Ye Xian was far away, the stepmother put on the girl's old coat and went back to the pond.
- Stepmother 小鱼，小鱼，我来了！快出来吧。
Xiǎo yú, xiǎo yú, wǒ lái le! Kuài chūlái ba.
Little fish, little fish, I'm here! Come on out.
- Narrator 水动了。大鱼看见了那件旧衣服，慢慢地游了上来……
Shuǐ dòng le. Dà yú kànjiàn le nà jiàn jiù yīfu, mànmàn de yóu le shànglái…
The water stirred. The big fish saw the old coat, and slowly, it swam up…
- Narrator 太阳下山的时候，叶限才打水回来。
Tàiyáng xià shān de shíhou, Yè Xiàn cái dǎ shuǐ huílái.
The sun was going down by the time Ye Xian came back with the water.
- Ye Xian 我回来了！家里今天做了什么，这么香？
Wǒ huílái le! Jiā lǐ jīntiān zuò le shénme, zhème xiāng?
I'm back! What's cooking today? It smells so good.
- Stepsister 姐姐，你回来晚了！我们吃了一条大鱼，好大好大！
Jiějie, nǐ huílái wǎn le! Wǒmen chī le yì tiáo dà yú, hǎo dà hǎo dà!
You're too late, big sister! We had a fish for dinner, a really, really big one!
- Ye Xian 你们吃的是什么大鱼？
Nǐmen chī de shì shénme dà yú?
What big fish did you eat?
- Stepmother 山上池塘里的那条啊。你看，只有骨头了。
Shān shang chítáng lǐ de nà tiáo a. Nǐ kàn, zhǐ yǒu gǔtou le.
The one from the pond in the hills, of course. Look, there's nothing left but the bones.
- Ye Xian 不会的……那是我最好的朋友啊！
Bú huì de… Nà shì wǒ zuì hǎo de péngyou a!
It can't be… That was my best friend!
- Stepmother 一条鱼，哭什么？新衣服还给我，再把骨头拿出去扔了！
Yì tiáo yú, kū shénme? Xīn yīfu huán gěi wǒ, zài bǎ gǔtou ná chūqù rēng le!
Crying over a fish? Give me back the new coat, and take those bones out and throw them away!
- Ye Xian 我不扔。小鱼，我带你回山上去。
Wǒ bù rēng. Xiǎo yú, wǒ dài nǐ huí shān shang qù.
I won't throw them away. Little fish, I'm taking you back up to the hills.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- Why won't the fish come out for the stepmother?
“它只认识叶限”
- What does the stepmother give Ye Xian?
“这件新衣服给你穿。”
- Where does the stepmother send Ye Xian?
“你去东边的山里打水。”
- How does the stepmother get the fish to come up?
“后妈穿上她的旧衣服”……“小鱼，小鱼，我来了！快出来吧。”
- What does the stepmother tell Ye Xian to do with the bones?
“再把骨头拿出去扔了！”