Yu Tames the Great Flood · chapter 2 of 4
A Cry Behind the Door
门里的哭声
A year on the road leaves Yu with muddy, hairless legs and no time to sleep. Then, one rainy night, the road leads past his own front door.
Read what you hear
- Narrator 大禹和伯益走了很多地方。他们看山，也看河。
Dà Yǔ hé Bóyì zǒu le hěn duō dìfang. Tāmen kàn shān, yě kàn hé.
Yu and Boyi traveled far and wide, studying the mountains and the rivers.
- Boyi 大禹，我们出来快一年了！我们看了一百座山，一百条河！
Dà Yǔ, wǒmen chūlái kuài yì nián le! Wǒmen kàn le yìbǎi zuò shān, yìbǎi tiáo hé!
Yu, we've been on the road almost a year! We've seen a hundred mountains and a hundred rivers!
- Yu 现在我知道了：西边高，东边低。水要往东走，去大海！
Xiànzài wǒ zhīdào le: xībian gāo, dōngbian dī. Shuǐ yào wǎng dōng zǒu, qù dàhǎi!
Now I understand: the west is high and the east is low. The water wants to go east, to the sea!
Chapter 2 is part of SayMei Stories ($2.99 a month) and SayMei Premium. Chapter 1 of Yu Tames the Great Flood 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.
- Narrator 大禹带着大家挖河。他挖得最多，睡得最少。
Dà Yǔ dàizhe dàjiā wā hé. Tā wā de zuì duō, shuì de zuì shǎo.
Yu led the people in digging new rivers. He dug the most, and he slept the least.
- Boyi 大禹，吃饭了！今天……还是鱼。
Dà Yǔ, chīfàn le! Jīntiān… háishi yú.
Yu, dinner's ready! Today it's… fish again.
- Boyi 大禹？大禹！你怎么吃着吃着就睡了？
Dà Yǔ? Dà Yǔ! Nǐ zěnme chīzhe chīzhe jiù shuì le?
Yu? Yu! Did you just fall asleep in the middle of dinner?
- Yu 啊？我没睡！我在想……水的路。
Á? Wǒ méi shuì! Wǒ zài xiǎng… shuǐ de lù.
Huh? I wasn't asleep! I was thinking about… the water's road.
- Boyi 想水的路？你的鱼都在地上了！
Xiǎng shuǐ de lù? Nǐ de yú dōu zài dì shang le!
The water's road? Your fish is on the ground!
- Boyi 还有你的腿！天天在水里走，腿上的毛都没有了！
Hái yǒu nǐ de tuǐ! Tiāntiān zài shuǐ lǐ zǒu, tuǐ shang de máo dōu méiyǒu le!
And look at your legs! You walk in the water every day. There's not a hair left on them!
- Yu 没有毛好啊，在水里走得快！
Méiyǒu máo hǎo a, zài shuǐ lǐ zǒu de kuài!
No hair is good. It makes me faster in the water!
- Boyi 你啊！你是治水的人，还是水里的鱼？
Nǐ a! Nǐ shì zhì shuǐ de rén, háishi shuǐ lǐ de yú?
Oh, you! Are you a man taming the water, or a fish living in it?
- Narrator 一天晚上，又下雨了。他们走过一个小房子。
Yì tiān wǎnshang, yòu xià yǔ le. Tāmen zǒu guò yí gè xiǎo fángzi.
One night, it was raining again. They were walking past a small house.
- Boyi 大禹，等等！这不是你的家吗？
Dà Yǔ, děngdeng! Zhè bú shì nǐ de jiā ma?
Yu, wait! Isn't this your house?
- Yu 是……是我的家。
Shì… shì wǒ de jiā.
Yes… it's my home.
- Narrator 这时候，门里有一个孩子，哭得很大声。
Zhè shíhou, mén lǐ yǒu yí gè háizi, kū de hěn dàshēng.
Just then, behind the door, a baby began to cry, very loudly.
- Nüjiao 儿子，别哭了。你爸爸在外边治水，他会回来的……
Érzi, bié kū le. Nǐ bàba zài wàibian zhì shuǐ, tā huì huílái de…
Hush, my son, don't cry. Your daddy is out there taming the water. He'll come back…
- Boyi 儿子？大禹！你有儿子了！
Érzi? Dà Yǔ! Nǐ yǒu érzi le!
A son? Yu! You have a son!
- Yu 我……我有儿子了？
Wǒ… wǒ yǒu érzi le?
I… I have a son?
- Boyi 快进去看看吧！就看一眼！
Kuài jìnqù kànkan ba! Jiù kàn yì yǎn!
Go in and see him! Just one look!
- Yu 我想进去，很想。可是我一进去，就不想走了。
Wǒ xiǎng jìnqù, hěn xiǎng. Kěshì wǒ yí jìnqù, jiù bù xiǎng zǒu le.
I want to go in. I really do. But once I'm inside, I won't want to leave.
- Boyi 就一个晚上！一个晚上，没关系！
Jiù yí gè wǎnshang! Yí gè wǎnshang, méi guānxi!
Just one night! One night won't hurt!
- Yu 伯益，河那边的人，还住在山上。他们也有孩子，也想回家。
Bóyì, hé nàbiān de rén, hái zhù zài shān shang. Tāmen yě yǒu háizi, yě xiǎng huí jiā.
Boyi, the people across the river are still living up on the hills. They have children too, and they want to go home as much as I do.
- Yu 儿子，爸爸就在门外……别哭了。爸爸一定会回来的。
Érzi, bàba jiù zài mén wài… bié kū le. Bàba yídìng huì huílái de.
My son, Daddy's right outside the door… Don't cry. Daddy will come back, I promise.
- Narrator 大禹没有进门。他又走进了雨里。
Dà Yǔ méiyǒu jìn mén. Tā yòu zǒu jìn le yǔ lǐ.
Yu did not go in. He turned and walked back out into the rain.
- Boyi 你啊……好吧，我们走。
Nǐ a… hǎo ba, wǒmen zǒu.
Oh, you… All right. Let's go.
- Narrator 又走了很多天，他们来到了黄河边。
Yòu zǒu le hěn duō tiān, tāmen lái dào le Huáng Hé biān.
After many more days on the road, they came to the Yellow River.
- Boyi 我的天啊！大禹，你看前边！好大的山！
Wǒ de tiān a! Dà Yǔ, nǐ kàn qiánbian! Hǎo dà de shān!
Oh my heavens! Yu, look up ahead! What a huge mountain!
- Yu 大山在前边，黄河的水过不去了……
Dàshān zài qiánbian, Huáng Hé de shuǐ guò bu qù le…
With that mountain in the way, the Yellow River can't get through…
- Boyi 那怎么办？我们……能从山里挖一条路吗？
Nà zěnme bàn? Wǒmen… néng cóng shān lǐ wā yì tiáo lù ma?
Then what do we do? Can we… dig a road right through a mountain?
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- How long have Yu and Boyi been on the road?
“我们出来快一年了！”
- Why is there no hair left on Yu's legs?
“天天在水里走，腿上的毛都没有了！”
- What do they hear behind the door of Yu's house?
“门里有一个孩子，哭得很大声。”
- Why doesn't Yu go in?
“我一进去，就不想走了……他们也有孩子，也想回家。”
- What do they find at the Yellow River?
“你看前边！好大的山！……黄河的水过不去了”