Yu Tames the Great Flood · chapter 1 of 4
Water Everywhere
到处都是水
The land is under water, and walls can't hold it back. Yu has a new idea, a new job from the king, and a wife he married just four days ago.
Hear the chapter
Read what you hear
- Narrator 很久很久以前，雨下了一天又一天。
Hěn jiǔ hěn jiǔ yǐqián, yǔ xià le yì tiān yòu yì tiān.
Long, long ago, the rain fell day after day after day.
- Narrator 到处都是洪水，人们都住到了山上。
Dàochù dōu shì hóngshuǐ, rénmen dōu zhù dào le shān shang.
Floodwater covered everything, and everyone had moved up onto the hills.
- Yu 水，水，都是水……房子都看不见了。
Shuǐ, shuǐ, dōu shì shuǐ… fángzi dōu kàn bu jiàn le.
Water, water, nothing but water… You can't even see the houses anymore.
- Boyi 大禹！你看，今天有鱼吃！
Dà Yǔ! Nǐ kàn, jīntiān yǒu yú chī!
Yu! Look, we've got fish today!
- Yu 伯益，昨天吃鱼，今天也吃鱼？
Bóyì, zuótiān chī yú, jīntiān yě chī yú?
Boyi, fish yesterday, and fish again today?
- Boyi 水里都是鱼！我天天吃鱼，快变成鱼了！
Shuǐ lǐ dōu shì yú! Wǒ tiāntiān chī yú, kuài biànchéng yú le!
The water's full of fish! I eat fish every day. I'm turning into a fish!
- Yu 大水不走，大家就不能回家。我要让大水走！
Dàshuǐ bù zǒu, dàjiā jiù bù néng huí jiā. Wǒ yào ràng dàshuǐ zǒu!
As long as the flood stays, nobody can go home. I'm going to make the flood leave!
- Boyi 让大水走？你爸爸也想过。他修了九年的墙！
Ràng dàshuǐ zǒu? Nǐ bàba yě xiǎng guo. Tā xiū le jiǔ nián de qiáng!
Make the flood leave? Your father wanted that too. He spent nine years building walls!
- Yu 我知道。墙很高，可是大水一来，墙就倒了。
Wǒ zhīdào. Qiáng hěn gāo, kěshì dàshuǐ yì lái, qiáng jiù dǎo le.
I know. The walls were high, but the moment the flood came, they fell.
- Boyi 那怎么办？水太大了，我们打不过它！
Nà zěnme bàn? Shuǐ tài dà le, wǒmen dǎ bu guò tā!
Then what can we do? The water's too big. We can't beat it!
- Narrator 这时候，又下雨了。山上的水，都往房子那边跑。
Zhè shíhou, yòu xià yǔ le. Shān shang de shuǐ, dōu wǎng fángzi nàbiān pǎo.
Just then, it began to rain again, and the water on the hill came running toward the huts.
- Boyi 水来了！水来了！快，修一个小墙！
Shuǐ lái le! Shuǐ lái le! Kuài, xiū yí gè xiǎo qiáng!
Here comes the water! Here it comes! Quick, build a little wall!
- Boyi 好了！水，你过不来了吧？
Hǎo le! Shuǐ, nǐ guò bu lái le ba?
There! Can't get past that now, can you, water?
- Boyi 我的天啊！墙倒了！水过来了！
Wǒ de tiān a! Qiáng dǎo le! Shuǐ guòlái le!
Oh my heavens! The wall fell down! The water's getting past!
- Yu 别修墙了。你看，水喜欢往低的地方走。
Bié xiū qiáng le. Nǐ kàn, shuǐ xǐhuan wǎng dī de dìfang zǒu.
Forget the wall. Look, water likes to run downhill.
- Boyi 往低的地方走？那又怎么样？
Wǎng dī de dìfang zǒu? Nà yòu zěnmeyàng?
Downhill? So what?
- Yu 那我们就给它一条路！来，挖！
Nà wǒmen jiù gěi tā yì tiáo lù! Lái, wā!
So let's give it a road! Come on, dig!
- Narrator 大禹挖了一条小水路。水跟着小路，跑到了河里。
Dà Yǔ wā le yì tiáo xiǎo shuǐlù. Shuǐ gēnzhe xiǎolù, pǎo dào le hé lǐ.
Yu dug a little channel, and the water followed it all the way down into the river.
- Boyi 水走了！水真的走了！房子都没事！
Shuǐ zǒu le! Shuǐ zhēnde zǒu le! Fángzi dōu méi shì!
The water's gone! It's really gone! The huts are all safe!
- Yu 水有了路，就会自己走。大水也一样！
Shuǐ yǒu le lù, jiù huì zìjǐ zǒu. Dàshuǐ yě yíyàng!
Give water a road, and it leaves on its own. The flood will too!
- King Shun 说得好！年轻人，你就是大禹吧？
Shuō de hǎo! Niánqīngrén, nǐ jiù shì Dà Yǔ ba?
Well said! Young man, you must be Yu.
- Yu 舜帝！您怎么来了？
Shùn Dì! Nín zěnme lái le?
King Shun! What are you doing here?
- King Shun 你爸爸没有做完的事，你能做吗？
Nǐ bàba méiyǒu zuò wán de shì, nǐ néng zuò ma?
The work your father couldn't finish: can you do it?
- Yu 我能！我要给洪水挖一条路，一条去大海的路！
Wǒ néng! Wǒ yào gěi hóngshuǐ wā yì tiáo lù, yì tiáo qù dàhǎi de lù!
I can! I'll dig the flood a road, a road all the way to the sea!
- King Shun 好！从今天起，治水的事，就交给你了！
Hǎo! Cóng jīntiān qǐ, zhì shuǐ de shì, jiù jiāo gěi nǐ le!
Good! From this day on, taming the flood is your job!
- Narrator 那天晚上，大禹回到家。
Nà tiān wǎnshang, Dà Yǔ huí dào jiā.
That night, Yu went home.
- Yu 女娇，我明天就要去治水了。
Nǚjiāo, wǒ míngtiān jiù yào qù zhì shuǐ le.
Nüjiao, tomorrow I'm going away to tame the flood.
- Nüjiao 明天？我们才结婚四天……你什么时候回来？
Míngtiān? Wǒmen cái jiéhūn sì tiān… nǐ shénme shíhou huílái?
Tomorrow? We've only been married four days… When will you be back?
- Yu 大水不走，我就不回家。
Dàshuǐ bù zǒu, wǒ jiù bù huí jiā.
Until the flood is gone, I won't come home.
- Nüjiao 好……一年，两年……十年，我都在家门口等你。
Hǎo… yì nián, liǎng nián… shí nián, wǒ dōu zài jiā ménkǒu děng nǐ.
All right… One year, two years… even ten years, I'll be at our door, waiting for you.
What changed in the story?
- Where do people live during the flood?
“到处都是洪水，人们都住到了山上。”
- What is Boyi's problem with fish?
“我天天吃鱼，快变成鱼了！”
- What happened to the walls Yu's father built?
“大水一来，墙就倒了。”
- How does Yu save the huts from the rainwater?
“大禹挖了一条小水路。水跟着小路，跑到了河里。”
- What does Yu tell Nüjiao the night before he leaves?
“大水不走，我就不回家。”