龙宫借宝
The Dragon King’s Treasure
Name: ________________ Date: ________
孙悟空翻了个筋斗，回到花果山，一群小猴子马上围了上来，抱着他哭个不停。原来，他离开的这些年里，北边的山里来了一个混世魔王，经常来花果山抢东西，还把不少小猴子抓回了自己的洞里。悟空一听，气得跳了起来：“竟敢欺负我的孩子们！看我去收拾他！”
他马上翻了个筋斗，很快就到了魔王的洞前。混世魔王拿着一把大刀走出来，看了他半天，哈哈大笑：“你这猴子，个子这么矮，手里连件兵器都没有，也敢来找我？”两个人没打几下，魔王举起大刀就打。悟空拔下一些毛，放进嘴里，往空中一吹，喊了声“变！”那些毛立刻变成了两三百个小猴子，有的抱住他，有的抓他的头发，把魔王围得团团转。悟空夺过大刀，一刀就结果了他，救出小猴子们，一起回了家。
这件事让悟空明白：以后再遇到敌人，猴子们光靠两只手可不行，得有真正的兵器才行。于是，他飞到附近的傲来国，吹出一阵大风，把城里的刀枪剑戟全都带回了花果山。从此，猴子们个个都有了真兵器，每天练得热火朝天。
可是大家都有了，猴王自己手里却什么也没有。那些刀拿在他手里，轻得像玩具。一只年老的猴子说：“大王，咱们桥下的水，一直通到东海龙宫。您为什么不去找东海龙王借一件呢？”
悟空跳进水里，分开海水，一路来到了东海龙宫。东海龙王连忙出来迎接。悟空说：“我是花果山的孙悟空，是你的邻居。听说龙宫里宝贝很多，我专门来借一件兵器。”
龙王不好拒绝，叫人抬出一把大刀。悟空摇摇头：“我用不惯刀。”龙王又叫人抬出一件三千六百斤的兵器。悟空接过来，随手玩了几下：“这也太轻了吧！”龙王心里开始发毛，又叫人抬来一件七千二百斤的。悟空玩了一会儿，摇摇头：“这个也太轻了吧！”
龙王急得满头大汗。这时，龙婆从后面走出来，小声说：“海底的定海神针，这几天一直在发光，难道就是在等这只猴子？”龙王说：“那是大禹治水时用来测江海深浅的，又粗又重，谁举得起来？”龙婆说：“举不起来，他自己就走了。”
到了海底，只见定海神针金光闪闪，有水桶那么粗，两丈多高。悟空抱住它用力一摇：“太大了，要是再短一点、细一点就好了。”他刚说完，它竟然真的短了一些！他又说：“再小一点！再小一点！”它越变越小，最后只有碗口那么粗，拿在手里正合适。两头各有一个金箍，中间刻着几个字：“如意金箍棒，重一万三千五百斤。”悟空高兴极了：“这才是我的宝贝！”
他拿着金箍棒，在龙宫里打来打去，吓得龙王说不出话，虾兵蟹将都躲了起来。悟空却还不满意：“有了兵器，还缺一身盔甲。你就再送我一套吧！”龙王说：“我这里实在没有了。”悟空举起金箍棒：“没有？那我就拿它跟你试试！”
龙王没办法，只好敲响了钟和鼓，把南、西、北三海的龙王兄弟都叫了过来。四海龙王找了半天，送上了帽子、盔甲和鞋子，件件都是宝贝。悟空穿戴整齐，拿着金箍棒，大摇大摆地回了花果山，还把金箍棒变成一根针，放进了耳朵里。
四海龙王一个个都气坏了。东海龙王一拍桌子：“这只猴子无法无天！我马上去天宫，向玉皇大帝告他一状！”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 抱 | bào | to hold in one's arms; to hug; to embrace |
| 气 | qì | air; gas |
| 收拾 | shōushi | to tidy up; to put in order |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow |
| 喊 | hǎn | to shout; to yell |
| 结果 | jiéguǒ | as a result; in the end; result; outcome |
| 光 | guāng | light; ray |
| 翻 | fān | to turn over; to flip |
| 群 | qún | group; crowd; herd |
| 猴子 | hóuzi | monkey |
| 围 | wéi | to surround; to encircle |
| 抢 | qiǎng | to snatch; to grab; to rob |
English (for the teacher)
Sun Wukong turned a somersault and landed back on Flower Fruit Mountain, and at once a crowd of little monkeys gathered round him, clinging to him and crying and crying. It turned out that in the years he had been away, a Demon King of Chaos had come to the mountains up north, and he kept coming to Flower Fruit Mountain to steal things, and had even carried lots of little monkeys off to his cave. When Wukong heard this he leapt up in a rage: "How dare he bully my children! Watch me go and sort him out!"
He turned another somersault at once and was soon outside the demon king's cave. The Demon King of Chaos came out holding a broadsword, looked him up and down for a long time, and roared with laughter: "You little monkey, so short, without so much as a weapon in your hands, and you dare come looking for me?" The two of them had barely traded a few blows when the demon king raised his broadsword and swung. Wukong pulled out some hairs, put them in his mouth, blew them into the air and shouted "Change!" At once the hairs turned into two or three hundred little monkeys; some grabbed hold of him, some pulled his hair, and they had the demon king spinning round and round. Wukong snatched the broadsword, finished him off with a single stroke, freed the little monkeys and took them all home.
This taught Wukong a lesson: if enemies came again, the monkeys couldn't rely on their bare hands; they needed real weapons. So he flew to the nearby Aolai Kingdom, blew up a great wind, and carried every blade, spear, sword and halberd in the city back to Flower Fruit Mountain. From then on every monkey had a real weapon, and they drilled every day with tremendous energy.
But although everyone else was armed, the Monkey King himself had nothing in his hands. Those blades felt as light as toys in his grip. An old monkey said: "Your Majesty, the water under our bridge runs all the way to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea. Why not go and borrow one from the Dragon King of the East Sea?"
Wukong jumped into the water, parted the sea, and made his way to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea. The Dragon King of the East Sea hurried out to welcome him. Wukong said: "I'm Sun Wukong of Flower Fruit Mountain, your neighbour. I hear the Dragon Palace is full of treasures, so I've come specially to borrow a weapon."
The Dragon King couldn't very well refuse, and had his men carry out a broadsword. Wukong shook his head: "I'm not used to broadswords." The Dragon King had them carry out a weapon weighing three thousand six hundred jin. Wukong took it and twirled it a few times without effort: "Isn't this way too light?" The Dragon King began to feel uneasy, and had them bring one weighing seven thousand two hundred jin. Wukong played with it for a while and shook his head: "This one's way too light too!"
The Dragon King was so anxious he broke out in a sweat. Just then the Dragon Queen came out from the back and whispered: "The Sea-Calming Needle down on the seabed has been glowing these past few days. Could it be waiting for this monkey?" The Dragon King said: "That's what Yu the Great used to measure the depth of the rivers and seas when he tamed the floods. It's so thick and heavy, who could ever lift it?" The Dragon Queen said: "If he can't lift it, he'll leave on his own."
When they reached the seabed, there stood the Sea-Calming Needle, glittering with golden light, as thick as a water barrel and more than two zhang tall. Wukong wrapped his arms round it and gave it a hard shake: "Too big. If only it were a bit shorter and a bit thinner." The moment he said it, it actually got shorter! He said again: "A bit smaller! A bit smaller!" It got smaller and smaller, until in the end it was only as thick as the rim of a bowl, just right to hold in his hand. There was a golden band at each end, and in the middle were carved the words: "As-You-Will Gold-Banded Staff, weight thirteen thousand five hundred jin." Wukong was overjoyed: "Now this is my treasure!"
Gold-banded staff in hand, he laid about him all over the Dragon Palace, leaving the Dragon King speechless with fright and the shrimp soldiers and crab generals all hiding. But Wukong still wasn't satisfied: "Now I've got a weapon, I still need a suit of armour. Give me a set as well!" The Dragon King said: "I really have none here." Wukong raised the gold-banded staff: "None? Then I'll try this on you!"
The Dragon King had no choice but to sound his bell and drum, and he called over his brothers, the dragon kings of the Southern, Western and Northern Seas. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas searched for ages and presented a cap, armour and shoes, every piece a treasure. Wukong put everything on, and with the gold-banded staff in hand he swaggered back to Flower Fruit Mountain, where he turned the staff into a needle and tucked it in his ear.
The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas were all absolutely furious. The Dragon King of the East Sea pounded the table: "That monkey respects no law on earth or in heaven! I'm going up to the Palace of Heaven right now to file a complaint against him with the Jade Emperor!"