唐僧取经
The Monk Sets Out
Name: ________________ Date: ________
五行山压着孙悟空，他在山下等了五百年。这些年里，西天的如来佛祖一直在想一件事。
有一天，他对大家说：“东边的人做了很多坏事，常常打来打去。我这里有三藏真经，能让人变好。可是，这些真经不能自己走过去。得有一个东边的人，走很远很远的路，自己来拿。谁愿意去东边，找一个这样的人？”观音菩萨说：“我去。”
观音菩萨往东边走。走到一条大河边，一个妖怪从水里跳出来，想吃她。观音菩萨说：“你别再吃人了。以后会有一个从东边来的人，要去西天。你就跟着他走，帮他做事，以后你也会变好的。”妖怪马上说：“好，我等他。”
后来，她又见到了一个长着猪脸的妖怪，还有一条做错了事的小白龙。他们也都说好了：等那个人来。
最后，她来到了五行山。孙悟空看见她，大叫：“观音菩萨，快让我出去吧！”观音菩萨问：“你还想出来吗？”孙悟空说：“想！太想了！”观音菩萨说：“那你再等等。以后有一个人会来帮你出来，你就跟着他，送他去西天。”孙悟空马上说：“好！我等！”
观音菩萨到了长安。长安是唐朝最大的城市，那时候的皇帝叫唐太宗。这时，唐太宗正在开一个很大的会，请了很多和尚来。会上最好的和尚，是一个年轻人，叫玄奘。
观音菩萨变成了一个又老又脏的和尚，拿着一件袈裟和一根禅杖，在大街上卖。袈裟上有很多宝贝，还会发光。有人问多少钱，老人说：“袈裟要五千两银子，禅杖要两千两银子。”大家都笑了：“这个老人一定是疯了！”
唐太宗听说了，叫人把老人带来。老人说：“好人穿上这件袈裟，就不会遇到坏事。”唐太宗说：“我想把它送给玄奘。”老人说：“那我不要钱了，送给他吧！”说完就走了。
玄奘穿上袈裟，在大会上给大家讲经。突然，那个老人也来到了大会上，大声说：“你讲的这些，只能帮一点点人。西天的真经，能帮所有的人！”大家正在奇怪，老人飞到了天上，变成了观音菩萨。她说：“谁愿意去西天，把真经带回来？”说完，她就不见了。
唐太宗问：“谁愿意去？”大家你看看我，我看看你，谁也不说话。这时，玄奘站了出来：“我去！”唐太宗非常高兴，说：“从今天起，你就是我的弟弟了。真经有三藏，你就叫三藏吧。”从这以后，大家都叫他唐僧。
出发那天，唐太宗请唐僧喝酒。他从地上拿起一点土，放进酒里，说：“家里的一点土，也比别的地方的金子好。喝了这杯酒，早点回来！”唐僧喝了酒，带着两个跟他一起走的人和一匹马，往西走了。
几个星期以后，唐僧走在一条安静的山路上。突然，他听见山下有人大叫：“师父！你终于来了！”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 山 | shān | mountain; hill |
| 一直 | yìzhí | always; all along; continuously |
| 常常 | chángcháng | often; frequently |
| 变 | biàn | to change; to become; change; transformation |
| 跳 | tiào | to jump; to leap |
| 以后 | yǐhòu | later; afterwards; in the future |
| 后来 | hòulái | afterwards; later |
| 脸 | liǎn | face |
| 最后 | zuìhòu | finally; in the end; last; final |
| 城市 | chéngshì | city; town |
| 最好 | zuìhǎo | best |
| 变成 | biànchéng | to change into; to turn into; to become |
English (for the teacher)
Five-Element Mountain held Sun Wukong down, and he waited under it for five hundred years. All those years, the Buddha in the Western Paradise kept thinking about one thing.
One day he said to everyone: "The people in the East do many bad things and are always fighting. I have the true scriptures here, in three collections, and they can make people good. But the scriptures can't walk there by themselves. Someone from the East has to walk a very, very long way and come for them himself. Who will go east and find such a person?" Guanyin said: "I'll go."
Guanyin set off toward the east. When she reached a big river, a monster jumped out of the water and tried to eat her. Guanyin said: "Stop eating people. One day a man will come from the East on his way to the Western Paradise. Follow him, work for him, and one day you'll become good too." The monster said at once: "All right, I'll wait for him."
Later she met a monster with a pig's face, and a little white dragon who had done something wrong. They all agreed too: they would wait for that man.
At last she came to Five-Element Mountain. Sun Wukong saw her and shouted: "Guanyin, let me out, please!" Guanyin asked: "Do you still want to get out?" Sun Wukong said: "Yes! More than anything!" Guanyin said: "Then wait a little longer. One day someone will come and help you out. Follow him and take him to the Western Paradise." Sun Wukong said at once: "Yes! I'll wait!"
Guanyin came to Chang'an. Chang'an was the greatest city of the Tang dynasty, and the emperor at that time was Taizong. Just then, Emperor Taizong was holding a great ceremony and had invited many monks. The best monk there was a young man named Xuanzang.
Guanyin turned herself into a dirty old monk and went selling a cassock and a monk's staff in the street. The cassock was covered in treasures, and it could even shine. Someone asked the price, and the old monk said: "Five thousand taels of silver for the cassock, two thousand for the staff." Everyone laughed: "This old man must be mad!"
Emperor Taizong heard about it and had the old monk brought to him. The old monk said: "A good man who wears this cassock will never meet with harm." Emperor Taizong said: "I'd like to give it to Xuanzang." The old monk said: "Then I won't take any money. Give it to him!" And with that, he left.
Xuanzang put on the cassock and taught the scriptures to everyone at the ceremony. Suddenly the old monk turned up at the ceremony too and said loudly: "What you're teaching can only help a few people. The true scriptures in the Western Paradise can help everyone!" While everyone was wondering, the old monk flew up into the sky and turned into Guanyin. She said: "Who will go to the Western Paradise and bring back the true scriptures?" Then she was gone.
Emperor Taizong asked: "Who will go?" Everyone looked at each other, and no one said a word. Then Xuanzang stepped forward: "I'll go!" Emperor Taizong was overjoyed and said: "From today, you are my brother. The true scriptures come in three collections, so you shall be called Sanzang." From then on, everyone called him the Tang Monk.
On the day he set out, Emperor Taizong gave the Tang Monk a farewell drink. He picked up a pinch of earth from the ground, dropped it in the wine and said: "A little earth from home is better than gold from anywhere else. Drink this cup, and come back soon!" The Tang Monk drank the wine and set off west with two men to travel with him and a horse.
A few weeks later, the Tang Monk was walking along a quiet mountain road. Suddenly he heard someone shouting from under the mountain: "Master! You've come at last!"