拜师学艺
A Teacher Across the Sea
Name: ________________ Date: ________
美猴王为什么哭呢？他对大家说：“我们现在每天都很快乐。可是有一天，我们都会老，都会死。到那时候，谁还能做王呢？”大家听了，也都哭了起来。
这时，一只老猴子站出来说：“大王，我听说，世界上有一种人，叫神仙。神仙不会老，也不会死。”美猴王一下子高兴了起来：“神仙住在哪儿？”“在很远很远的山里。”美猴王说：“好！我要去找神仙，学长生不老的本领！”
第二天，猴子们给他做了很多好吃的，送他下山。美猴王用老树做了一个木筏，一个人坐上去，向大海的那边出发了。风很大，海很大，可是他一点儿也不怕。
过了很多很多天，他终于到了海的那边。那里有很多人。他第一次见到人，觉得很有意思。他学人穿衣服，学人走路，学人说话。他在人中间走了八九年，到处问：“哪里有神仙？”可是大家每天都只想着钱，谁也不关心长生不老。
他又做了一个木筏，又过了一个大海。有一天，他走进一座大山，听见有人在唱歌。那是一个在山上干活的人。美猴王高兴地叫了起来：“神仙！您好！”那人笑了：“我不是神仙。教我唱歌的人，才是神仙。他就住在前面的灵台方寸山，斜月三星洞里，叫菩提祖师。”
美猴王找到了那里。门关着，他就坐在树上等。过了一会儿，门开了，一个孩子走出来说：“我师父说，今天有人来学本领，是你吗？”
祖师问他：“你叫什么名字？爸爸妈妈是谁？”美猴王说：“我没有名字，也没有爸爸妈妈。我是从石头里出来的。”祖师笑了：“那我给你起个名字，就叫孙悟空！”孙悟空高兴得跳了起来：“我有名字了！我叫孙悟空！”
孙悟空在这里住了下来。他每天扫地、打水、种花，一下子就过了七年。有一天，祖师问他：“你想学什么？我可以教你算命。”孙悟空问：“学了能长生不老吗？”“不能。”“那我不学！”祖师又说了好几种本领，孙悟空每次都问一样的问题，每次都说：“不学，不学！”
祖师生气了。他站起来，拿起尺子，在孙悟空的头上打了三下。然后，他把两只手放在身后，走进里面，关上了门。别的学生都很生气：“你这只猴子！师父不会再教你了！”
可是孙悟空一点儿也不着急，心里还很高兴。他明白了：打三下，是叫他半夜三更来；两只手放在身后，关上前门，是叫他从后门进去。
那天半夜，孙悟空轻轻地走到后门。门真的开着！祖师正在床上睡觉，孙悟空就跪在床前等着。祖师醒了，看见了他，心里想：“这只猴子真聪明！”他让孙悟空走近一点儿，小声地把长生不老的方法教给了他。
从这天起，孙悟空每天都练。三年以后，他已经不会老了。可是有一天，祖师突然对他说：“你还有很大的危险！”什么危险呢？下一次，祖师会教他一种更大的本领：七十二变！
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 哭 | kū | to cry; to weep |
| 老 | lǎo | old; aged |
| 听说 | tīngshuō | to hear (it said); to be told; reportedly |
| 世界 | shìjiè | world |
| 山 | shān | mountain; hill |
| 树 | shù | tree |
| 出发 | chūfā | to set off; to start out |
| 风 | fēng | wind |
| 海 | hǎi | sea; ocean |
| 中间 | zhōngjiān | middle; center |
| 到处 | dàochù | everywhere; all over |
| 关心 | guānxīn | to care about; to be concerned with; concern; care |
English (for the teacher)
Why was the Handsome Monkey King crying? He said to everyone: "We're all very happy every day now. But one day we'll all grow old, and we'll all die. When that time comes, who will still be king?" When they heard this, everyone began to cry too.
Just then an old monkey stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, I've heard that there is a kind of person in the world called an immortal. Immortals don't grow old, and they don't die." At once the Handsome Monkey King cheered up: "Where do immortals live?" "In mountains far, far away." The Handsome Monkey King said: "Good! I'm going to find the immortals and learn the skill of living forever!"
The next day, the monkeys made him lots of good food and saw him off down the mountain. The Handsome Monkey King made a raft out of old trees, sat on it all alone, and set off for the far side of the sea. The wind was strong and the sea was huge, but he wasn't the least bit afraid.
After many, many days, he finally reached the other side of the sea. There were lots of people there. It was the first time he had ever seen people, and he found them very interesting. He learned to wear clothes like people, to walk like people, to talk like people. He wandered among people for eight or nine years, asking everywhere: "Where can I find an immortal?" But all anyone ever thought about was money, and nobody cared about living forever.
He made another raft and crossed another sea. One day he walked into a great mountain and heard someone singing. It was a man working on the mountain. The Handsome Monkey King cried out happily: "An immortal! Hello!" The man laughed: "I'm not an immortal. The one who taught me to sing, he's the immortal. He lives just ahead on the Mountain of Mind and Heart, in the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars, and he's called Master Bodhi."
The Handsome Monkey King found the place. The door was shut, so he sat in a tree and waited. After a while the door opened, and a child came out and said: "My master says someone is coming today to learn his skills. Is that you?"
Master Bodhi asked him: "What's your name? Who are your mother and father?" The Handsome Monkey King said: "I don't have a name, and I don't have a mother or father. I came out of a stone." The master laughed: "Then I'll give you a name: Sun Wukong!" Sun Wukong jumped for joy: "I have a name! My name is Sun Wukong!"
Sun Wukong settled down there. Every day he swept the floor, fetched water and planted flowers, and seven years went by just like that. One day the master asked him: "What do you want to learn? I can teach you to tell fortunes." Sun Wukong asked: "If I learn it, can I live forever?" "No." "Then I won't learn it!" The master named several more skills, and every time Sun Wukong asked the same question, and every time he said: "Won't learn it, won't learn it!"
The master got angry. He stood up, picked up a ruler, and hit Sun Wukong on the head three times. Then he put both hands behind his back, walked inside, and shut the door. The other students were all angry: "You monkey! The master will never teach you anything now!"
But Sun Wukong wasn't worried at all; in fact, he was very pleased. He understood: three knocks meant "come at the third watch, in the middle of the night"; hands behind his back and the front door shut meant "come in by the back door."
That night, in the middle of the night, Sun Wukong crept quietly to the back door. Sure enough, it was open! The master was asleep in bed, so Sun Wukong knelt in front of the bed and waited. The master woke up, saw him, and thought: "What a clever monkey!" He told Sun Wukong to come a little closer, and in a low voice he taught him the way to live forever.
From that day on, Sun Wukong practiced every day. Three years later, he no longer grew old. But one day the master suddenly said to him: "You are still in great danger!" What danger? Next time, the master will teach him an even greater skill: the Seventy-Two Changes!