Yu Tames the Great Flood · chapter 4 of 4
Home at Last
回家了
Ten years on, Yu's son has hold of his hand and won't let go. Can Yu keep his promise to the people on the hills, and to the family waiting at his door?
Read what you hear
- Qi 妈妈说，你走过我们家两次，都没有进来。这是第三次了！
Māma shuō, nǐ zǒu guò wǒmen jiā liǎng cì, dōu méiyǒu jìnlái. Zhè shì dì sān cì le!
Mom says you've walked past our house twice and never come in. This is the third time!
- Yu 启……对不起。爸爸很想你们。
Qǐ… duìbuqǐ. Bàba hěn xiǎng nǐmen.
Qi… I'm sorry. I've missed you both so much.
- Qi 妈妈说，你在治水。治水是什么？
Māma shuō, nǐ zài zhì shuǐ. Zhì shuǐ shì shénme?
Mom says you're taming the water. What's taming the water?
Chapter 4 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.
- Yu 就是给水一条路，让它去大海。水走了，大家就能回家。
Jiù shì gěi shuǐ yì tiáo lù, ràng tā qù dàhǎi. Shuǐ zǒu le, dàjiā jiù néng huí jiā.
It means giving the water a road, so it can go to the sea. Once the water's gone, everyone can go home.
- Qi 那我们家呢？你什么时候回我们家？
Nà wǒmen jiā ne? Nǐ shénme shíhou huí wǒmen jiā?
What about our home? When are you coming home to us?
- Nüjiao 启，让爸爸去吧。东边还有很多人，住在山上。
Qǐ, ràng bàba qù ba. Dōngbian hái yǒu hěn duō rén, zhù zài shān shang.
Qi, let your father go. Out east, lots of people are still living on the hills.
- Yu 女娇……谢谢你。
Nǚjiāo… xièxie nǐ.
Nüjiao… thank you.
- Nüjiao 去吧。我们在家门口等你。
Qù ba. Wǒmen zài jiā ménkǒu děng nǐ.
Go on. We'll be waiting for you at the door.
- Yu 启，等水都到了大海，爸爸就回家，哪儿也不去了！
Qǐ, děng shuǐ dōu dào le dàhǎi, bàba jiù huí jiā, nǎr yě bú qù le!
Qi, when all the water has reached the sea, I'll come home, and I'll never go away again!
- Qi 你说的！那我也帮你挖！你看，我也有一个！
Nǐ shuō de! Nà wǒ yě bāng nǐ wā! Nǐ kàn, wǒ yě yǒu yí gè!
You promised! Then I'll help you dig! Look, I've got one too!
- Boyi 我的天啊，又来了一个小大禹！
Wǒ de tiān a, yòu lái le yí gè xiǎo Dà Yǔ!
Oh my heavens, here comes another little Yu!
- Narrator 又过了三年。洪水跟着大禹挖的河，都跑到了东海。
Yòu guò le sān nián. Hóngshuǐ gēnzhe Dà Yǔ wā de hé, dōu pǎo dào le Dōng Hǎi.
Three more years went by. The floodwater followed the rivers Yu had dug, all the way to the Eastern Sea.
- Boyi 大禹，你看！水都到大海里了！山下的地，都出来了！
Dà Yǔ, nǐ kàn! Shuǐ dōu dào dàhǎi lǐ le! Shān xià de dì, dōu chūlái le!
Yu, look! All the water's gone into the sea! The land below the hills is showing again!
- Boyi 十三年了……我们终于做到了！
Shísān nián le… wǒmen zhōngyú zuò dào le!
Thirteen years… and we finally did it!
- Yu 大家都可以回家了。我……也可以回家了。
Dàjiā dōu kěyǐ huí jiā le. Wǒ… yě kěyǐ huí jiā le.
Everyone can go home now. And I… I can go home too.
- Boyi 没有大禹，我们现在都是鱼了！
Méiyǒu Dà Yǔ, wǒmen xiànzài dōu shì yú le!
If it weren't for Yu, we'd all be fish by now!
- King Shun 做得好，大禹！大家都说，以后要你做王。我也这么想！
Zuò de hǎo, Dà Yǔ! Dàjiā dōu shuō, yǐhòu yào nǐ zuò wáng. Wǒ yě zhème xiǎng!
Well done, Yu! The people all say they want you to be their king one day, and so do I!
- Yu 谢谢舜帝，谢谢大家。可是，我现在最想做的事，是回家。
Xièxie Shùn Dì, xièxie dàjiā. Kěshì, wǒ xiànzài zuì xiǎng zuò de shì, shì huí jiā.
Thank you, King Shun. Thank you, everyone. But right now, what I want most is to go home.
- King Shun 好，好！快回家吧！
Hǎo, hǎo! Kuài huí jiā ba!
Of course, of course! Hurry home!
- Narrator 这一次，大禹走进了自己的家门。
Zhè yí cì, Dà Yǔ zǒu jìn le zìjǐ de jiāmén.
This time, Yu walked in through his own front door.
- Qi 爸爸！爸爸真的回来了！
Bàba! Bàba zhēnde huílái le!
Dad! Dad's really home!
- Nüjiao 你回来了。
Nǐ huílái le.
You're home.
- Yu 我回来了。女娇，你等了我十三年……
Wǒ huílái le. Nǚjiāo, nǐ děng le wǒ shísān nián…
I'm home. Nüjiao, you waited thirteen years for me…
- Nüjiao 我说过，我等你。
Wǒ shuō guo, wǒ děng nǐ.
I told you I would wait.
- Qi 妈妈，今天我们吃什么？
Māma, jīntiān wǒmen chī shénme?
Mom, what are we having today?
- Nüjiao 今天……不吃鱼！
Jīntiān… bù chī yú!
Today… no fish!
- Boyi 太好了！不吃鱼了！
Tài hǎo le! Bù chī yú le!
Hooray! No more fish!
- Narrator 那天晚上，一家人一起吃饭。
Nà tiān wǎnshang, yì jiā rén yìqǐ chīfàn.
That evening, the whole family sat down to eat together.
- Qi 妈妈，你看，爸爸吃着吃着，就睡了。
Māma, nǐ kàn, bàba chīzhe chīzhe, jiù shuì le.
Mom, look. Dad fell asleep in the middle of dinner.
- Nüjiao 让他睡吧。他回家了。
Ràng tā shuì ba. Tā huí jiā le.
Let him sleep. He's home.
Hear the chapter
What changed in the story?
- What does Qi tell his father on the road?
“你走过我们家两次，都没有进来。这是第三次了！”
- How does Yu explain taming the water to Qi?
“就是给水一条路，让它去大海。”
- What does Qi offer to do?
“那我也帮你挖！你看，我也有一个！”
- What do the people want Yu to be one day?
“大家都说，以后要你做王。”
- What does Nüjiao say when Yu falls asleep at dinner?
“让他睡吧。他回家了。”