七十二变
Seventy-Two Changes
Name: ________________ Date: ________
孙悟空跟着菩提祖师偷偷修行，转眼已经三年了。一天，祖师把他叫到面前，说：“悟空，你虽然学会了长生的方法，可是以后还会遇到三次大灾难。想躲过它们，你还得再学一种本领。我这里的变化有两种：一种是三十六变，一种是七十二变。你想学哪一种？”悟空马上说：“我想多学一点，那我选七十二变！”
祖师便在他耳边悄悄地传了口诀。悟空本来就聪明，学什么会什么，没多久，七十二变就全部练成了。
有一天，祖师问他：“悟空，你能飞吗？”悟空说：“能！”说完，他往上一跳，飞到了半空中。可是飞了半天，也只飞了三里路，又回到祖师面前，得意地问：“师父，我飞得怎么样？”祖师笑道：“这不叫飞，只能叫爬云！真正的神仙，早上还在北边的大海，晚上就到了南边的山上。我看你飞的时候，总是一跳一跳的，我就顺着你的样子，把筋斗云教给你。”从此，悟空只要翻一个筋斗，就能飞出十万八千里！
夏天的一天，师兄们正在松树下聊天，看见悟空走过来，都围上去问：“悟空，师父把躲灾难的变化都教给你了，你真的全学会了吗？”悟空笑着说：“说实话，一是师父教得好，二是我自己每天都很努力，全学会了。”大家说：“那就现在变一个给我们看看！”
悟空最爱热闹，一听这话，马上兴奋起来：“请师兄们出个题目，要我变什么？”大家说：“就变一棵松树吧！”悟空念了几句口诀，摇身一变，大家面前多了一棵又高又直的松树，看上去和真的一模一样。师兄们看了，都拍手大笑：“好猴子！好猴子！”
笑声传到了祖师那里。他走出来，大声问：“是谁在这里大吵大闹？”大家吓得不敢出声，悟空也连忙变回原来的样子。有人说：“刚才悟空变了一棵松树，我们觉得好玩，就笑了起来。”
祖师让其他人都离开，只留下悟空，很生气地说：“悟空，你过来！本领是拿来给人看的吗？别人看见你有这个本领，一定会求你教他。你要是不教，他就会想办法害你，到时候你的命就保不住了。”悟空赶紧跪下：“我知道错了，求师父原谅！”
祖师说：“我不怪你，可你不能再留在这里了。你从哪里来，就回哪里去吧。”悟空的眼泪一下子流了出来：“师父的恩情，我还没有报答，怎么敢走呢？”
祖师摇摇头：“你这一去，一定会出事。记住，不管你在外面做了什么，都不能说是我的徒弟。你只要说出半个字，我马上就会知道，一定不放过你！”悟空连声答应：“我一个字也不提，就说是我自己会的。”
悟空拜别了师父，翻了一个筋斗，直往东方飞去。风在耳边呼呼地响，不到一个时辰，他就看见了大海那边的花果山。他心里高兴极了：“离家这么多年，猴子们一定很想念我吧！”
可他刚在山上站稳，就听见四处传来一阵阵哭声。一群猴子从草里、树后面钻出来，围着他又哭又拜：“大王，您可回来了！您走了以后，我们天天被人欺负，连家都快保不住了！”悟空一听，火冒三丈：谁这么大胆，敢在花果山欺负他的猴子们？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 全部 | quánbù | all; whole; entire; completely |
| 得意 | déyì | pleased with oneself; proud; complacent |
| 躲 | duǒ | to hide |
| 本领 | bénlǐng | skill; ability |
| 便 | biàn | then; and so |
| 悄悄 | qiāoqiāo | quietly; secretly |
| 传 | chuán | to pass on; to transmit |
| 翻 | fān | to turn over; to flip |
| 围 | wéi | to surround; to encircle |
| 念 | niàn | to read aloud |
| 直 | zhí | continuously; all the time |
| 猴子 | hóuzi | monkey |
English (for the teacher)
Sun Wukong had been practising in secret under Patriarch Bodhi, and in the blink of an eye three years had gone by. One day the Patriarch called him in and said: "Wukong, you have learned the secret of long life, but there are still three great disasters ahead of you. To escape them, you must learn one more skill. I have two kinds of transformations: one is the Thirty-Six Changes, the other the Seventy-Two Changes. Which do you want to learn?" Wukong said at once: "I want to learn as much as I can. I choose the Seventy-Two Changes!"
So the Patriarch whispered the secret words into his ear. Wukong was clever to begin with, and he mastered each thing as soon as he learned it; before long he had perfected all seventy-two changes.
One day the Patriarch asked him: "Wukong, can you fly?" Wukong said: "I can!" With that he jumped up into the air. But after flying for a good while he had covered only three li, and he came back to the Patriarch and asked proudly: "Master, how was my flying?" The Patriarch laughed: "That's not flying, that's only crawling on the clouds! A true immortal is at the northern sea in the morning and on the southern mountains by evening. I see you always hop and bounce when you fly, so I'll go along with that and teach you the Somersault Cloud." From then on, all Wukong had to do was turn one somersault, and he could fly a hundred and eight thousand li!
One summer day, the other students were chatting under a pine tree when they saw Wukong coming, and they all crowded round to ask: "Wukong, the Master has taught you the transformations for escaping disaster. Do you really know them all now?" Wukong smiled and said: "To tell the truth, first, the Master teaches well, and second, I've worked hard every day. I know them all." Everyone said: "Then change into something for us to see, right now!"
Wukong loved a bit of excitement, and the moment he heard this he got all excited: "Give me a subject, brothers. What shall I change into?" Everyone said: "Change into a pine tree!" Wukong recited a few secret words, gave himself a shake, and there in front of everyone stood one more tall, straight pine tree, exactly like a real one. When the students saw it, they all clapped and roared with laughter: "Good monkey! Good monkey!"
The laughter reached the Patriarch. He came out and called loudly: "Who is making all this racket out here?" Everyone was too frightened to make a sound, and Wukong quickly changed back into his own shape. Someone said: "Wukong just changed into a pine tree. We thought it was fun, so we started laughing."
The Patriarch sent the others away and kept only Wukong behind, and said angrily: "Wukong, come here! Are your skills for showing off to people? When others see you have this skill, they will certainly beg you to teach them. If you won't, they will find a way to harm you, and then your life will be in danger." Wukong quickly knelt down: "I know I was wrong. Please forgive me, Master!"
The Patriarch said: "I don't blame you, but you can't stay here any longer. Go back to wherever you came from." Tears suddenly streamed down Wukong's face: "I haven't yet repaid your kindness, Master. How can I dare to leave?"
The Patriarch shook his head: "Once you go, there's sure to be trouble. Remember: whatever you do out there, you must never say you are my disciple. If you breathe so much as half a word, I'll know at once, and I will not let you off!" Wukong promised over and over: "I won't say a single word. I'll say I learned it all myself."
Wukong bowed farewell to his master, turned a somersault, and flew straight east. The wind whistled past his ears, and in less than two hours he could see Flower Fruit Mountain on the far side of the sea. He was overjoyed: "I've been away so many years, my monkeys must miss me!"
But the moment he landed on the mountain, he heard waves of crying from every side. A crowd of monkeys crept out of the grass and from behind the trees, surrounded him, and wept and bowed: "Your Majesty, you're back at last! Ever since you left, we've been bullied every day, and we're about to lose even our home!" When Wukong heard this, he flew into a rage: who would dare to come to Flower Fruit Mountain and bully his monkeys?