千里走单骑
A Thousand Li Alone
Name: ________________ Date: ________
刘备终于找到机会，带着人离开了许昌。曹操知道以后，非常生气，带着很多人来打他。刘备打不赢曹操，三兄弟一下子就分开了：刘备跑到了袁绍那里；张飞不知道去了哪儿；关羽要保护刘备的两位夫人，可是他被曹操的人骗到了外面的一座小山上，回不去了。
曹操很喜欢关羽，不想杀他，就让关羽的老朋友张辽去和他说。张辽说：“你死在这里，刘备的两位夫人怎么办？”
关羽想了很久，说：“好。可是我有三个条件。第一，我只是给汉朝的皇帝做事，不是给曹操做事。第二，谁也不能去打扰我的两个嫂子。第三，只要我知道大哥在哪儿，不管多远，我马上就走。”
曹操听了，说：“前两个都可以。可是第三个……那我对他这么好，有什么用？”张辽说：“刘备对关羽好，您对他更好，他还会走吗？”曹操想了想，就答应了。
关羽来到了许昌。曹操对他非常好：三天请他喝一次酒，五天请他吃一次大餐，还送给他很多钱和美女。可是关羽一点也不高兴。
有一天，曹操看见关羽骑的马很瘦，就把一匹好马送给了他。这匹马是红色的，叫赤兔马，吕布以前就骑过它。关羽非常高兴，马上向曹操拜了两次。曹操有点不高兴：“我送你那么多钱，你也没这么高兴。一匹马，怎么就让你这么高兴？”关羽说：“赤兔马一天能跑一千里。以后知道了大哥在哪儿，我一天就能见到他！”曹操听了，心里非常后悔。
关羽不想拿了曹操的东西就走。这时候，袁绍的大将颜良来打曹操。在一个叫白马的地方，颜良已经杀了曹操的两个大将，谁也不敢再出去了。关羽骑上赤兔马，一直跑到颜良面前，一刀就把颜良杀了。
没过多久，关羽终于听说：大哥刘备在袁绍那里！他马上去找曹操，想跟他说再见。可是曹操不想见他，在门口挂了一块牌子，上面写着：“不见人”。关羽去了几次，都见不到曹操。
最后，关羽把曹操送给他的钱和东西都放好，一样也不带走，又把官印挂了起来，带着两位夫人就走了。曹操的人想去把他追回来，曹操说：“他没有忘了刘备。来的时候，他把话说得很清楚；走的时候，也说得很清楚。这是个真男人。让他走吧。”
可是，关羽手里没有曹操写的信，路上的五个关口都不让他过去。关羽就一路杀了过去：过了五个关口，杀了六个将军。这就是有名的“过五关斩六将”。
后来，关羽听说，三弟张飞就在前面的古城里。他高兴得不得了，马上让人去告诉张飞。可是张飞一听，拿起丈八蛇矛，骑上马就跑出了城——他要杀的人，正是二哥关羽！
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 终于 | zhōngyú | finally; at last |
| 机会 | jīhuì | opportunity; chance |
| 离开 | líkāi | to leave; to depart; to go away from |
| 以后 | yǐhòu | later; afterwards; in the future |
| 生气 | shēngqì | to get angry; to be mad |
| 带 | dài | to bring; to take; to carry |
| 分开 | fēnkāi | to separate; to part |
| 可是 | kěshì | but; however |
| 怎么办 | zěnmebàn | what to do; what should one do |
| 久 | jiǔ | long (time) |
| 只是 | zhǐshì | merely; just; only |
| 只要 | zhǐyào | as long as; provided that; if only |
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 3 · A Thousand Li Alone. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 终于 and 机会 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 千里走单骑 on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “A Thousand Li Alone”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 终于 (zhōngyú, finally; at last), 机会 (jīhuì, opportunity; chance), 离开 (líkāi, to leave; to depart; to go away from), 以后 (yǐhòu, later; afterwards; in the future), 生气 (shēngqì, to get angry; to be mad), 带 (dài, to bring; to take; to carry). Say each one, the class says it back, then ask for its meaning with the word covered. The rest are in the handout’s table.
Listen 10 min
Play it read aloud from mandarinthewild.com/library/read/a-thousand-li-alone-three-kingdoms-easy-chinese-5: once with the text face down, once reading along. Students tap any word there for its meaning.
Read and check 10 min
Students read it alone, then tell a partner in two sentences of Chinese what it says.
Use it 10 min
In pairs, each student writes two sentences of their own, one with 终于 and one with 机会, and reads one to the class.
Homework. Students read it again at home and Review its words. Put it in a free class (mandarinthewild.com/teachers/class) and you see who read it.
English (for the teacher)
At last Liu Bei found his chance and left Xuchang with his men. When Cao Cao found out, he was furious and came after him with a great army. Liu Bei could not beat Cao Cao, and in no time the three brothers were scattered: Liu Bei fled to Yuan Shao; nobody knew where Zhang Fei had gone; and Guan Yu, who had to protect Liu Bei's two wives, was tricked by Cao Cao's men onto a small hill outside and could not get back.
Cao Cao admired Guan Yu and did not want to kill him, so he sent Guan Yu's old friend Zhang Liao to talk to him. Zhang Liao said: "If you die here, what will become of Liu Bei's two wives?"
Guan Yu thought for a long time and said: "Very well. But I have three conditions. First, I serve the emperor of the Han, not Cao Cao. Second, no one may trouble my two sisters-in-law. Third, the moment I learn where my eldest brother is, however far away, I leave at once."
Cao Cao heard them and said: "The first two are fine. But the third... Then what's the use of treating him so well?" Zhang Liao said: "Liu Bei is good to Guan Yu. If you are even better to him, will he still leave?" Cao Cao thought it over and agreed.
Guan Yu came to Xuchang. Cao Cao treated him wonderfully: wine every three days, a grand feast every five, and gifts of money and beautiful women besides. But none of it made Guan Yu happy.
One day Cao Cao saw that Guan Yu's horse was very thin, so he gave him a fine horse. The horse was red, and it was called Red Hare: Lü Bu used to ride it. Guan Yu was overjoyed and at once bowed to Cao Cao twice. Cao Cao was not pleased: "I gave you all that money and you were never this happy. Why does one horse make you so happy?" Guan Yu said: "Red Hare can run a thousand li in a day. When I learn where my brother is, I can reach him in a single day!" When Cao Cao heard this, he bitterly regretted it.
Guan Yu did not want to take Cao Cao's gifts and simply walk away. Just then, Yuan Shao's great general Yan Liang came to attack Cao Cao. At a place called Baima, Yan Liang had already killed two of Cao Cao's generals, and no one dared to go out again. Guan Yu mounted Red Hare, rode straight up to Yan Liang, and killed him with one stroke of his blade.
Not long after, Guan Yu finally heard: his brother Liu Bei was with Yuan Shao! At once he went to see Cao Cao to say goodbye. But Cao Cao did not want to see him, and hung a sign on his gate that said: "Not seeing anyone." Guan Yu went several times and never got to see him.
In the end Guan Yu packed away all the money and things Cao Cao had given him, took not a single one, hung up his seal of office, and left with the two ladies. Cao Cao's men wanted to go after him and bring him back, but Cao Cao said: "He hasn't forgotten Liu Bei. He was open with me when he came, and he has been open with me as he goes. He's a real man. Let him go."
But Guan Yu carried no letter from Cao Cao, and none of the five passes on his road would let him through. So Guan Yu fought his way through: he passed five passes and killed six generals. That is the famous "five passes, six generals slain".
Later, Guan Yu heard that his third brother Zhang Fei was in the Old City just ahead. He was overjoyed and at once sent word to Zhang Fei. But when Zhang Fei heard, he snatched up his Serpent Spear, leapt onto his horse and rode out of the city; the man he meant to kill was his own second brother, Guan Yu!