沙和尚
Sandy of the Flowing Sand River
Name: ________________ Date: ________
他们三个人往西走，来到了一条大河边。河边有一块大石头，上面写着三个字：“流沙河”。孙悟空说：“这条河有八百里宽。一根鸟毛放在水上，也会沉下去。”
突然，水里跳出来一个妖怪。他的头发是红色的，眼睛很大，脖子上挂着九个人头。他一下子就到了唐僧面前。孙悟空马上背起唐僧，到了高的地方。猪八戒拿起钉耙，就去和他打。
猪八戒以前是天蓬元帅，管着天河，在水里很厉害。可是那个妖怪也很厉害，两个人打了很久，谁也打不赢谁。孙悟空在水里打不好，只能在河边看着。那个妖怪看自己打不赢他们两个，就回到了水里，再也不出来了。
猪八戒说：“我们没有船，这么宽的河，怎么过去？”孙悟空说：“这一定又是观音菩萨的安排。我去南海问问她。”
观音菩萨说：“他叫沙悟净，也在等去西天的人。你们没说是去西天的，他当然不出来了。”她叫来自己的徒弟惠岸，给了他一个红色的葫芦，说：“你跟悟空一起去流沙河，叫‘悟净’，他就会出来。他脖子上的九个人头，和这个葫芦放在一起，就能变成一条船。”
惠岸来到河边，大叫：“沙悟净！沙悟净！去西天的人在这里！”沙悟净马上从水里出来，见了惠岸，拜了拜。惠岸说：“这位就是你要等的唐僧。”沙悟净马上跪在唐僧面前，说：“师父，我等你很久了！”
原来，他以前是天上的卷帘大将。在蟠桃会上，他打破了一个玻璃杯，玉皇大帝很生气，不让他住在天上了，让他住在流沙河里。他饿了，就吃过路的人。
他说：“以前有九个去西天的人从这里过，都被我吃了。别人的头都沉下去了，只有这九个人的头，怎么也沉不下去。我觉得奇怪，就把它们挂在了脖子上。”这九个人头为什么沉不下去？可能，他们和唐僧有很深的关系。
唐僧给他起名叫沙和尚。惠岸把九个人头放在一起，红葫芦放在中间，它们一下子就变成了一条船。他们坐在船上，船走得又快又好，一会儿就到了河的那一边。
他们一下船，惠岸就拿回了葫芦。九个人头变成了九阵风，一下子就不见了。
现在，唐僧有了三个徒弟，还有一匹白龙马。可是，去西天的路还很长很长。这一路上，一共有八十一难在等着他们。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 西 | xī | west |
| 一块 | yíkuài | a piece; a lump |
| 河 | hé | river |
| 毛 | máo | surname Mao |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place |
| 突然 | tūrán | suddenly; abruptly; sudden; unexpected |
| 跳 | tiào | to jump; to leap |
| 头发 | tóufa | hair (on the head) |
| 面前 | miànqián | in front of; before; in the face of |
| 起 | qǐ | to rise; to get up |
| 地方 | dìfang | place |
| 以前 | yǐqián | before; previously; formerly |
English (for the teacher)
The three of them went on west and came to a great river. On the bank stood a big stone with three characters on it: "Flowing Sand River". Sun Wukong said: "This river is eight hundred li wide. Put a feather on the water, and even that will sink."
Suddenly a monster jumped out of the water. His hair was red, his eyes were huge, and around his neck hung nine human heads. In a flash he was right in front of the Tang Monk. Sun Wukong at once took the Tang Monk on his back and got him up to high ground. Zhu Bajie grabbed his rake and went to fight him.
Zhu Bajie had once been Marshal Tianpeng, in charge of the River of Heaven, and he was very good in the water. But the monster was very good too; the two of them fought for a long time and neither could beat the other. Sun Wukong was no good at fighting in water, and could only watch from the bank. When the monster saw he couldn't beat the two of them, he went back into the water and wouldn't come out again.
Zhu Bajie said: "We have no boat. How are we going to cross a river this wide?" Sun Wukong said: "This must be another of Guanyin's arrangements. I'll go to the South Sea and ask her."
Guanyin said: "His name is Sha Wujing, and he is waiting for the one going to the Western Paradise too. You never said you were going to the Western Paradise, so of course he didn't come out." She called her disciple Huian, gave him a red gourd and said: "Go with Wukong to the Flowing Sand River and call 'Wujing', and he'll come out. The nine heads around his neck, put together with this gourd, will become a boat."
Huian came to the bank and shouted: "Sha Wujing! Sha Wujing! The one going to the Western Paradise is here!" Sha Wujing came straight out of the water and bowed to Huian. Huian said: "This is the Tang Monk you've been waiting for." Sha Wujing knelt before the Tang Monk at once and said: "Master, I've waited for you for so long!"
He had once been the Curtain-Lifting General in heaven. At the Peach Banquet he broke a crystal cup, and the Jade Emperor was so angry that he banished him from heaven to live in the Flowing Sand River. When he was hungry, he ate passers-by.
He said: "Nine pilgrims going to the Western Paradise came this way before, and I ate them all. Everyone else's head sank, but these nine heads would not sink, whatever happened. I thought it was strange, so I hung them around my neck." Why wouldn't those nine heads sink? Perhaps they had something deep to do with the Tang Monk.
The Tang Monk named him Sha Heshang, Sandy the monk. Huian put the nine heads together with the red gourd in the middle, and at once they became a boat. They sat in the boat, which went fast and smooth, and soon they were on the other side.
As soon as they stepped off, Huian took the gourd back. The nine heads turned into nine gusts of wind and were gone.
Now the Tang Monk had three disciples and the White Dragon Horse. But the road to the Western Paradise was still very, very long. On the way, eighty-one trials were waiting for them.