马跃檀溪
The Leap Across the Tan Stream
Name: ________________ Date: ________
后来，刘备又输给了曹操，只好带着大家来到荆州，住在刘表那里。刘表和刘备是一家人，对他很好。
刘备有一匹好马，叫的卢。有人看了这马，说：“这马的眼睛下面好像有眼泪，头上还有白色的点。骑它的人，会有大麻烦！”刘备笑了：“人什么时候死，是老天说了算。一匹马能怎么样？”
刘表的妻子有个弟弟，叫蔡瑁。蔡瑁非常不喜欢刘备，一直想杀了他。
有一次，刘表请大家吃饭，刘备也去了。蔡瑁让人在城的东边、南边、北边都等着，只有西边没有人。因为西边有一条大河，叫檀溪，谁也过不了。
吃饭的时候，一个好心的人偷偷对刘备说：“快走！有人要杀你！只有西门能出去！”刘备说自己要去厕所，马上骑上马，从西门跑了出去。
跑了没多远，前面是檀溪。河很宽，水很急。后面，蔡瑁的人已经追来了。刘备骑着马走进了水里。可是没走几步，马就走不动了，刘备的衣服湿了。
刘备一边打马，一边大叫：“今天你真要我死吗？”话还没说完，这匹马突然从水里跳了出来，一下子就跳到了河的那一边！蔡瑁的人跑到河边，都不敢相信自己的眼睛。
刘备在山里走着，遇到一个骑着牛的孩子。孩子看见他，就问：“你是刘备吧？我老师常常说起你。”孩子带他去见老师。老师叫司马徽，大家都叫他水镜先生。
水镜先生说：“你身边有关羽、张飞、赵云，都很能打。可是，没有一个人能帮你想办法。”他又说：“伏龙、凤雏，两人得一，可安天下。”意思是：伏龙和凤雏这两个人，你只要找到一个，天下就不会再乱了。刘备问他们是谁，水镜先生只是笑：“好，好。”
不久，一个叫徐庶的人来帮刘备。他第一次见刘备，就说：“你这匹马，会给你带来麻烦。不如先把它送给一个你不喜欢的人，等麻烦过去了，再骑它。”刘备生气了：“你怎么能让我害别人！”徐庶笑了：“我只是试试你。”从这天起，徐庶就跟着刘备，帮他打赢了好几次。
曹操知道了，就把徐庶的妈妈抓了起来，又让人学她的字，写了一封假信，叫徐庶快去救她。徐庶看了信，哭着对刘备说：“我得走了。”
刘备送了他很远很远，看着他越走越远。突然，徐庶又骑着马跑了回来：“我差点忘了一件大事！隆中住着一个人，叫诸葛亮，也叫孔明。大家叫他卧龙，他就是水镜先生说的伏龙。他比我厉害多了！你一定要自己去请他！”
卧龙到底是谁？他会来帮刘备吗？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 后来 | hòulái | afterwards; later |
| 又 | yòu | again (it already happened again); and also |
| 带 | dài | to bring; to take; to carry |
| 马 | mǎ | horse |
| 好像 | hǎoxiàng | seem; appear to be; as if |
| 骑 | qí | to ride (a horse, bike, etc.) |
| 一直 | yìzhí | all along; continuously; straight (ahead) |
| 只有 | zhíyǒu | only; only if; unless |
| 马上 | mǎshàng | right away; immediately |
| 只好 | zhíhǎo | to have no choice but to; to be forced to |
| 麻烦 | máfan | trouble; hassle; to bother; to trouble |
| 死 | sǐ | to die; dead |
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 3 · The Leap Across the Tan Stream. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 只好 and 麻烦 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 马跃檀溪 on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “The Leap Across the Tan Stream”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 只好 (zhíhǎo, to have no choice but to; to be forced to), 麻烦 (máfan, trouble; hassle; to bother; to trouble), 死 (sǐ, to die; dead), 后来 (hòulái, afterwards; later), 又 (yòu, again (it already happened again); and also), 带 (dài, to bring; to take; to carry). 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/the-leap-across-the-tan-stream-three-kingdoms-easy-chinese-7: 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 只好 and one with 麻烦, 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)
Later, Liu Bei was beaten by Cao Cao once again, and he had no choice but to bring everyone to Jing Province and stay with Liu Biao. Liu Biao and Liu Bei were of the same family, and he treated him well.
Liu Bei had a fine horse called Dilu. Someone looked the horse over and said: "This horse looks as if it has tears under its eyes, and there are white spots on its head. Whoever rides it will meet with great trouble!" Liu Bei laughed: "When a man dies is up to Heaven. What can a horse do?"
Liu Biao's wife had a younger brother called Cai Mao. Cai Mao hated Liu Bei and had long wanted to kill him.
Once, Liu Biao invited everyone to a banquet, and Liu Bei went too. Cai Mao had men waiting on the east, south and north sides of the city; only the west was left empty. That was because on the west side there was a great river called the Tan Stream, which no one could cross.
During the meal, a kind man whispered to Liu Bei: "Go, quickly! Someone means to kill you! Only the west gate is open to you!" Liu Bei said he needed the toilet, at once mounted his horse, and galloped out through the west gate.
He hadn't gone far before the Tan Stream lay ahead. The river was wide and the water was fast. Behind him, Cai Mao's men were already giving chase. Liu Bei rode his horse into the water. But after only a few steps the horse could go no further, and Liu Bei was soaked through.
Liu Bei whipped the horse and shouted: "Do you really mean to kill me today?" Before the words were out of his mouth, the horse suddenly leapt up out of the water and in one bound landed on the far bank! Cai Mao's men ran to the riverbank and could not believe their eyes.
Liu Bei was walking in the hills when he met a child riding an ox. The child saw him and asked: "You're Liu Bei, aren't you? My teacher often talks about you." The child took him to see the teacher. The teacher was Sima Hui, whom everyone called Mr Water Mirror.
Mr Water Mirror said: "You have Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun at your side, all fine fighters. But you have no one who can make your plans." Then he said: "The Sleeping Dragon, the Fledgling Phoenix: win either one, and you can bring peace to the land." That means: of these two men, the Sleeping Dragon and the Fledgling Phoenix, find just one and the land will know peace again. Liu Bei asked who they were, but Mr Water Mirror only smiled: "Good, good."
Not long after, a man called Xu Shu came to help Liu Bei. The first time he met Liu Bei, he said: "That horse of yours will bring you trouble. Better to give it first to someone you dislike, and when the trouble has passed, ride it again." Liu Bei was angry: "How can you ask me to harm someone else!" Xu Shu smiled: "I was only testing you." From that day on, Xu Shu served Liu Bei and won him several battles.
When Cao Cao found out, he seized Xu Shu's mother, had someone copy her handwriting, and wrote a false letter telling Xu Shu to come quickly and save her. Xu Shu read the letter and said to Liu Bei in tears: "I have to go."
Liu Bei rode a long, long way to see him off, and watched him ride farther and farther away. Suddenly Xu Shu came galloping back: "I nearly forgot something important! In Longzhong there lives a man named Zhuge Liang, also called Kongming. People call him the Sleeping Dragon; he is the one Mr Water Mirror meant. He is far better than I am! You must go and ask him yourself!"
Who is this Sleeping Dragon? Will he come and help Liu Bei?