温酒斩华雄
Slaying Hua Xiong Before the Wine Cools
Name: ________________ Date: ________
几年过去了，三兄弟打了不少胜仗，可刘备还只是一个小小的县令。这时候，国家出了一个大坏人，叫董卓。他带兵进了京城，换掉了皇帝，做了很多坏事，谁也拿他没办法。
于是，曹操发出号召，请各地有兵有马的诸侯都来打董卓。一共来了十八位诸侯，大家选袁绍做盟主。三兄弟也跟着刘备的一位老同学来了。
董卓让大将华雄去守一个关口。华雄个子很高，力气大得不得了，诸侯们连着输了好几场。这一天，华雄又带着人来到营前大声叫骂。袁绍的弟弟袁术派出一位大将，没打几下，就被华雄杀了。另一位诸侯说：“我手下的潘凤，一定能打败华雄！”潘凤拿着大斧出去了。没过多久，就有人跑回来报告：“潘凤也被华雄杀了！”
大家都吓得脸色发白。袁绍叹了口气：“可惜我手下的颜良还没到！只要他在这里，还怕什么华雄！”
话还没说完，有人大声说：“我去把华雄的头带回来！”大家一看，这个人个子很高，胡子很长，脸红得像枣。袁绍问他是谁，有人回答：“他是刘备的二弟关羽。”袁绍又问他现在做什么，回答是：“在刘备手下当马弓手。”马弓手，就是骑在马上射箭的普通小兵。
袁术一听就火了，大骂道：“你是笑我们这里没有大将吗？一个小小的弓手，也敢在这里说大话！把他赶出去！”
曹操连忙拦住他：“别生气。这个人敢说这样的话，一定有些本领。让他去试试吧，要是他输了，你们再怪他。”袁绍还是不放心：“让这样一个人出去，华雄会笑话我们的。”曹操说：“我看这个人长得不像普通人，华雄怎么会知道他是做什么的？”关羽说：“要是我赢不了，就请杀了我！”
曹操让人倒了一杯热酒，递给关羽，让他喝了再上马。关羽没有喝，他说：“酒且斟下，某去便来。”意思是：酒先倒在这里，我去一下就回来。说完，他提着大刀走出去，跳上马，冲向了华雄。
大家只听见外面鼓声震天，喊声一阵比一阵大，好像天要掉下来、山要倒下去一样，每个人都吓了一跳。正要派人出去看看，关羽已经骑着马回来了。他提着华雄的头走进来，往地上一扔。
那杯酒，还是热的。
张飞在旁边大叫：“我二哥杀了华雄，咱们快冲进关去，抓住董卓！”袁术又生气了：“我们这些大官都还没说话，一个县令手下的小兵，也敢在这里乱叫！把他们都赶走！”曹操说：“立了功就应该奖励，管他是大官还是小兵？”他先让三兄弟回营，后来又偷偷派人给他们送去了酒和肉。
华雄死了的消息传到董卓那里，董卓大吃一惊。可是他手下还有一个人没有派出去，这个人比华雄可怕得多。这个人就是天下第一猛将——吕布。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 兄弟 | xiōngdì | brother; bro (friendly address among men) |
| 掉 | diào | (after a verb) away; off (as in 吃掉, 扔掉) |
| 于是 | yúshì | so; and so; thereupon |
| 发出 | fāchū | to send out; to issue |
| 各地 | gèdì | everywhere; all over (a country or the world) |
| 力气 | lìqi | strength; effort |
| 连 | lián | to link; to join; in a row |
| 输 | shū | to lose; to be defeated |
| 场 | chǎng | place; field; site |
| 另 | lìng | other; another |
| 打败 | dǎbài | to defeat; to beat |
| 报告 | bàogào | report; speech; to report; to make known |
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 5 · Slaying Hua Xiong Before the Wine Cools. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 报告 and 兄弟 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 温酒斩华雄 on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “Slaying Hua Xiong Before the Wine Cools”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 报告 (bàogào, report; speech; to report; to make known), 兄弟 (xiōngdì, brother; bro (friendly address among men)), 掉 (diào, (after a verb) away; off (as in 吃掉, 扔掉)), 于是 (yúshì, so; and so; thereupon), 发出 (fāchū, to send out; to issue), 各地 (gèdì, everywhere; all over (a country or the world)). 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/slaying-hua-xiong-three-kingdoms-intermediate-chinese-2: 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 报告 and one with 兄弟, 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)
A few years went by and the three brothers won quite a few battles, but Liu Bei was still only a minor county magistrate. Around this time a truly wicked man rose up in the country: Dong Zhuo. He marched his troops into the capital, replaced the emperor and did all kinds of evil, and no one could do a thing about him.
So Cao Cao sent out a call to every lord in the land with troops and horses to come and fight Dong Zhuo. Eighteen lords came in all, and they chose Yuan Shao as leader of the alliance. The three brothers came too, following an old classmate of Liu Bei's.
Dong Zhuo sent his general Hua Xiong to hold a pass. Hua Xiong was tall and tremendously strong, and the lords lost several fights in a row. One day Hua Xiong came up to their camp again with his men, shouting insults. Yuan Shao's younger brother Yuan Shu sent out a general, who was killed by Hua Xiong after only a few blows. Another lord said: "My man Pan Feng will surely beat Hua Xiong!" Pan Feng went out with his great axe. Before long someone came running back to report: "Pan Feng has been killed by Hua Xiong too!"
Everyone went pale with fear. Yuan Shao sighed: "What a pity my general Yan Liang isn't here yet! If only he were here, we'd have nothing to fear from Hua Xiong!"
Before he had finished speaking, someone said loudly: "I'll go and bring back Hua Xiong's head!" Everyone looked: the man was tall, with a long beard and a face as red as a date. Yuan Shao asked who he was, and someone answered: "He is Liu Bei's second brother, Guan Yu." Yuan Shao then asked what post he held, and the answer was: "He's a mounted archer under Liu Bei." A mounted archer was just an ordinary soldier who shot arrows from horseback.
Yuan Shu flew into a rage the moment he heard this and shouted: "Are you laughing at us for having no generals? A lowly archer, daring to talk big in here! Throw him out!"
Cao Cao quickly stopped him: "Don't be angry. If this man dares to say such a thing, he must have some skill. Let him try, and if he loses, you can blame him then." Yuan Shao was still uneasy: "If we send a man like that out, Hua Xiong will laugh at us." Cao Cao said: "He doesn't look like an ordinary fellow to me. How would Hua Xiong know what he does?" Guan Yu said: "If I don't win, you may have me killed!"
Cao Cao had a cup of hot wine poured and handed it to Guan Yu, telling him to drink it before he mounted. Guan Yu didn't drink. He said: "Pour the wine and set it down; I shall go and be straight back." In other words: leave the wine poured here, I'll be gone a moment and come straight back. With that he strode out with his blade, leapt onto his horse and charged at Hua Xiong.
All they could hear outside were drums shaking the sky and shouts growing louder and louder, as if the sky were falling and the mountains toppling, and every one of them was startled. Just as they were about to send someone out to look, Guan Yu had already ridden back. He walked in carrying Hua Xiong's head and threw it on the ground.
The wine was still warm.
Zhang Fei shouted from beside him: "My second brother has killed Hua Xiong! Let's charge through the pass and catch Dong Zhuo!" Yuan Shu was angry again: "Not even we high officials have spoken, and a common soldier under a county magistrate dares to yell in here! Throw them all out!" Cao Cao said: "Merit should be rewarded. What does it matter whether a man is a high official or a common soldier?" He sent the three brothers back to their camp, and later he secretly sent them wine and meat.
When the news of Hua Xiong's death reached Dong Zhuo, he was shocked. But he still had one man he had not yet sent out, a man far more fearsome than Hua Xiong. That man was the greatest warrior under heaven: Lü Bu.