马跃檀溪
The Leap Across the Tan Stream
Name: ________________ Date: ________
后来，曹操打败了袁绍，又带兵来打刘备。刘备又被打败了，只好带着大家去荆州，投靠也姓刘的刘表。刘表让他住在一座叫新野的小城里。
刘表对刘备不错，可刘表妻子的弟弟蔡瑁却一直想除掉刘备。有一天，刘表在襄阳请客，让刘备替他招待客人。蔡瑁在城的东门、南门、北门都派了兵，只等动手。西门外是又宽又急的檀溪，他觉得不用派人守。
酒喝到一半，一位好心的官员端着酒走到刘备面前，看了他一眼，小声说：“请去换件衣服。”刘备明白了，起身走到后院。那位官员跟过来说：“蔡瑁想杀你！东、南、北三个门都有兵，只有西门能走！”
刘备骑上自己的马，一个人从西门冲了出去。这匹马叫的卢，额头上有一块白点。有人说过，这种马会害死骑它的主人，可刘备还是一直骑着它。他说：“人的生死是天定的，跟马有什么关系？”
跑了没多远，前面就是檀溪。后面喊声越来越近，追兵就要到了。刘备硬着头皮冲进水里，没走几步，马的前腿就陷了下去，刘备的衣服全湿了。
刘备急得用鞭子打马，大叫：“你今天真要害死我吗？”话音刚落，那匹马忽然从水里一跃而起，一下子跳了三丈多远，落在了对岸。蔡瑁追到岸边，只能眼睁睁地看着他走了。
天慢慢黑了，刘备在山里迷了路。一个放牛的孩子骑着牛，吹着笛子走过来，把他带到了一位隐士家里。这个人叫司马徽，大家都叫他“水镜先生”。
水镜先生问他：“你这么有名，为什么到现在还到处逃难？”刘备说是自己运气不好。水镜先生笑道：“不是运气不好，是你身边没有对的人。关羽、张飞、赵云都是猛将，可惜没有会用他们的人。”他又说，有两个人，一个叫“卧龙”，一个叫“凤雏”，这两个人只要得到一个，就能让天下太平。刘备连忙问他们是谁，水镜先生只是笑着说：“好！好！”他什么也不肯多说。
回到新野不久，刘备认识了一个叫徐庶的读书人，请他做了军师。徐庶果然厉害，帮刘备打了好几个大胜仗。曹操知道以后，派人把徐庶的母亲抓到了许昌，又让人照着她的笔迹写了一封信，叫徐庶快去许昌。徐庶是个孝子，看了信，只好哭着向刘备告别。
刘备舍不得他，送了很远很远。徐庶走远了，刘备还站在原地，说：“这些树挡住了我看他的眼睛，真想把它们都砍掉！”
正在这时，徐庶又骑着马跑了回来：“我心里太乱，差点忘了一件大事！隆中住着一位奇人，他叫诸葛亮，字孔明，大家叫他‘卧龙’。他比我强多了，你一定要亲自去见他，请他出来帮你！”刘备这才明白，水镜先生说的“卧龙”，原来就是他。
卧龙到底是一个什么样的人？刘备亲自上门，他肯出山吗？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 只好 | zhíhǎo | to have no choice but to; to be forced to |
| 座 | zuò | seat |
| 却 | què | but; yet; however (contrary to expectation) |
| 城 | chéng | city; town |
| 就是 | jiùshì | exactly; precisely; is (emphatic) |
| 步 | bù | step; pace |
| 全 | quán | whole; all; entire; complete; completely; entirely |
| 忽然 | hūrán | suddenly; all of a sudden |
| 吹 | chuī | to blow |
| 替 | tì | to take the place of; to substitute for |
| 派 | pài | to send; to dispatch |
| 宽 | kuān | wide; broad; width |
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 5 · The Leap Across the Tan Stream. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 替 and 派 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 替 (tì, to take the place of; to substitute for), 派 (pài, to send; to dispatch), 宽 (kuān, wide; broad; width), 只好 (zhíhǎo, to have no choice but to; to be forced to), 座 (zuò, seat), 却 (què, but; yet; however (contrary to expectation)). 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-intermediate-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 替 and one with 派, 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, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and then led his army against Liu Bei. Liu Bei was beaten again and had to take everyone to Jing Province, to seek shelter with Liu Biao, who was also named Liu. Liu Biao let him live in a small town called Xinye.
Liu Biao treated Liu Bei well, but Cai Mao, the brother of Liu Biao's wife, had long wanted to get rid of him. One day Liu Biao gave a banquet in Xiangyang and had Liu Bei receive the guests in his place. Cai Mao posted soldiers at the city's east, south and north gates and waited for his moment. Outside the west gate ran the Tan Stream, wide and fast, so he thought there was no need to guard it.
Halfway through the drinking, a kind-hearted official came up to Liu Bei with his cup, gave him a look and said quietly: "Please go and change your clothes." Liu Bei understood, got up and went into the back garden. The official followed him and said: "Cai Mao means to kill you! There are soldiers at the east, south and north gates; only the west gate is open to you!"
Liu Bei mounted his horse and galloped out of the west gate alone. This horse was called Dilu, and it had a white spot on its forehead. People had said that this kind of horse would bring death to its master, but Liu Bei had always kept riding it. He said: "Life and death are decided by heaven; what has a horse got to do with it?"
He had not gone far when the Tan Stream lay in front of him. The shouts behind him came closer and closer; the pursuers were almost upon him. Liu Bei steeled himself and plunged into the water, but after only a few steps the horse's forelegs sank, and Liu Bei was soaked through.
In desperation Liu Bei whipped the horse and cried: "Are you really going to be the death of me today?" No sooner had he said it than the horse sprang up out of the water and leapt more than three zhang in a single bound, landing on the far bank. Cai Mao reached the bank and could only watch helplessly as he got away.
Darkness slowly fell, and Liu Bei lost his way in the hills. A cowherd boy came by riding an ox and playing a flute, and led him to the home of a hermit. This man was Sima Hui, whom everyone called "Mr Water Mirror".
Mr Water Mirror asked him: "You are so famous, so why are you still on the run after all this time?" Liu Bei said it was just his bad luck. Mr Water Mirror smiled: "It isn't bad luck; it's that you don't have the right people around you. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun are fierce warriors, but sadly you have no one who knows how to use them." He went on to say that there were two men, one called the Sleeping Dragon and one called the Fledgling Phoenix, and that whoever won just one of them could bring peace to the land. Liu Bei hurriedly asked who they were, but Mr Water Mirror only smiled and said: "Good! Good!" He would not say a word more.
Not long after returning to Xinye, Liu Bei met a scholar named Xu Shu and made him his military adviser. Xu Shu truly was brilliant, and he won several great battles for Liu Bei. When Cao Cao found out, he had Xu Shu's mother seized and brought to Xuchang, then had a letter written in an imitation of her handwriting, telling Xu Shu to come to Xuchang at once. Xu Shu was a devoted son; when he read the letter, he had no choice but to take a tearful leave of Liu Bei.
Liu Bei couldn't bear to let him go and saw him off a long, long way. Even when Xu Shu was far off, Liu Bei still stood on the same spot and said: "These trees are blocking my view of him; I'd like to cut them all down!"
Just then, Xu Shu came galloping back: "My mind is in such a mess that I almost forgot something important! In Longzhong there lives a remarkable man; his name is Zhuge Liang, his courtesy name Kongming, and people call him the Sleeping Dragon. He is far better than I am; you must go and see him yourself and ask him to come and help you!" Only then did Liu Bei realise that the Sleeping Dragon Mr Water Mirror had spoken of was this man.
What kind of man was the Sleeping Dragon, really? If Liu Bei came to his door himself, would he agree to come out of the hills?