美猴王
The Handsome Monkey King
Name: ________________ Date: ________
很久很久以前，在东方遥远的大海之中，有一座美丽的高山，叫做花果山。山上到处是鲜花和果树，最高的地方立着一块特别的石头。不知多少年来，它一直吸收着天和地的力量、太阳和月亮的光。
有一天，只听一声巨响，这块石头忽然破开了，从里面滚出一个石蛋。风一吹，石蛋竟然变成了一只石猴。这只石猴一出生就能走路、能爬树，还向东南西北四个方向各拜了一拜。
更奇怪的是，石猴的两只眼睛里发出两道金色的光，一直冲上了天。天上的玉皇大帝看见了，大吃一惊，连忙派千里眼和顺风耳去看看是怎么回事。不久，两人回来报告：“那不过是石头里生出来的一只猴子。等它吃了东西、喝了水，它眼里的光自然就会消失。”玉皇大帝听了，就放心了，不再管这件事。他怎么也没想到，这只猴子将来会给他带来多大的麻烦。
从此，石猴就和山上的猴子们生活在一起。它们白天在树林里找水果吃，在山间跑来跑去，晚上就睡在山洞里。石猴还和山里的各种动物交朋友，日子过得无忧无虑。
有一年夏天，天气特别热，猴子们一起到小河里洗澡。洗完以后，大家想知道这条河是从哪里来的，就顺着河水往上走，一直走到一座大瀑布前。只见河水从高高的山上落下来，像一块挂在天上的白布，声音大极了。
猴子们拍手说：“谁敢跳进瀑布，再平平安安地出来，我们就拜他为王！”大家你看看我，我看看你，谁也不敢上前。
这时，石猴从猴子们中间跳了出来，大声喊道：“让我去！”只见他闭上眼睛，用力一跳，就进了瀑布。猴子们都吓得叫了起来。
他睁开眼睛一看，奇怪，里面竟然没有水，只有一座铁桥。过了桥，是一个又大又亮的山洞。洞里有石头做的床、锅和碗，还有花有树，好像有人住过一样。他在洞里走了一圈，越看越喜欢。洞的中间有一块大石头，上面写着：“花果山福地，水帘洞洞天。”石猴高兴极了：“这里住得下我们所有的猴子！”
他又跳出瀑布，哈哈大笑着说：“里面没有水，是一个好地方！我们以后不用再怕风怕雨了！”猴子们听了，个个欢天喜地，跟着他一个接一个地跳了进去。石猴自己在高处坐下，说：“各位，刚才你们说过，谁能进去再出来，就拜谁为王。你们不会忘了吧？”猴子们连忙排好队，向他拜了又拜，齐声叫道：“猴王！”从此以后，石猴当上了猴王，又给自己起了个名字，叫“美猴王”。
美猴王带着猴子们在花果山上自由自在地过了几百年。然而有一天，他坐在热闹的猴子们中间，忽然想到了一件事，心里不由得担心起来：再快乐的日子，难道能一直过下去吗？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 之中 | zhīzhōng | in; among; in the midst of |
| 座 | zuò | constellation; zodiac sign (as in 巨蟹座) |
| 美丽 | měilì | beautiful |
| 鲜花 | xiānhuā | fresh flowers |
| 光 | guāng | light; ray |
| 忽然 | hūrán | suddenly; all of a sudden |
| 破 | pò | to break; to split; broken; damaged; torn |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow |
| 各 | gè | each; every; all |
| 发出 | fāchū | to send out; to issue |
| 道 | dào | to say; to express (as in 说道, 道歉) |
| 生 | shēng | to give birth to; to bear |
English (for the teacher)
Long, long ago, far away in the eastern sea, there was a beautiful high mountain called Flower Fruit Mountain. The mountain was covered with flowers and fruit trees, and on its highest point stood a very special stone. For who knows how many years, it had been taking in the power of heaven and earth and the light of the sun and moon.
One day there was a great boom, the stone suddenly split open, and a stone egg rolled out of it. The wind blew on it, and to everyone's surprise the stone egg turned into a stone monkey. From the moment it was born, this stone monkey could walk and climb trees, and it bowed once to each of the four directions: east, south, west and north.
Stranger still, two beams of golden light shot from the stone monkey's eyes straight up into the sky. Up in heaven the Jade Emperor saw it and was startled, and he quickly sent Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind-Following Ear to find out what was going on. Before long the two came back and reported: "It's nothing more than a monkey born from a stone. Once it has eaten and drunk something, the light in its eyes will fade by itself." When the Jade Emperor heard this he felt at ease and paid the matter no more attention. He never imagined how much trouble this monkey would one day bring him.
From then on, the stone monkey lived together with the monkeys of the mountain. By day they looked for fruit to eat in the woods and ran all over the mountain, and at night they slept in caves. The stone monkey also made friends with all kinds of animals on the mountain, and his days passed without a care in the world.
One summer the weather was especially hot, and the monkeys all went to bathe in a stream. After their bath, they wanted to know where the stream came from, so they followed the water upward until they reached a great waterfall. The water poured down from high on the mountain like a white cloth hanging from the sky, and its roar was tremendous.
The monkeys clapped their hands and said: "Whoever dares to jump into the waterfall and come back out safe and sound, we'll bow to him as our king!" They all looked at one another, and nobody dared to step forward.
Just then the stone monkey leapt out from among them and shouted: "Let me go!" He shut his eyes, jumped with all his strength, and went straight into the waterfall. The monkeys all cried out in fright.
He opened his eyes and looked: strange, there was no water inside at all, only an iron bridge. Across the bridge was a large, bright cave. In the cave were beds, pots and bowls made of stone, as well as flowers and trees, as if someone had lived there. He walked around the cave, and the more he looked, the more he liked it. In the middle of the cave was a big stone, and on it was written: "Blessed Land of Flower Fruit Mountain, Cave Heaven of the Water Curtain Cave." The stone monkey was overjoyed: "There's room in here for every one of us monkeys!"
He jumped back out through the waterfall and said with a hearty laugh: "There's no water inside, it's a wonderful place! From now on we won't have to fear wind or rain!" When the monkeys heard this, every one of them was overjoyed, and they followed him in, jumping through one after another. The stone monkey sat down in a high place and said: "Everyone, just now you said that whoever could go in and come back out, you would bow to as king. You haven't forgotten, have you?" The monkeys hurried to line up, bowed to him again and again, and cried out together: "Monkey King!" From then on the stone monkey was the Monkey King, and he gave himself a name: "Handsome Monkey King."
The Handsome Monkey King led the monkeys on Flower Fruit Mountain, free and easy, for several hundred years. But one day, as he sat among his lively monkeys, a thought suddenly came to him and he couldn't help starting to worry: could even the happiest days really go on forever?