Role:

Willy: drawing, Chinese Speaker, Edit,

Kathleen: drawing
Yunha: drawing
Holina: drawing
English speaker: Kathleen (willy you contact more with her, since she might would ask you
about when the submission for recording the voice)
Cover: Holina
Who will draw the cover and English speaker?

The secret of the water jug

《 水缸的秘密 》shuǐgāng de mìmì

Pg.1: Younha
杨大娘是红军家属。大儿子参加红军以后，家里少了一个劳动力，里里外外什么事都要她
自己操心。
Yáng dàniáng shì jiāshǔ。dàérzi cānjiā hóngjūn yǐhòu，jiālǐ shǎo le yíge láodònglì shénme shì
dōu yào tā zìjǐ cāoxīn。
Aunt Yang was from a Red Army family. After her elder son went to join the Red Army,
there was one less laborer at home, so she had to look after everything herself.

Pg.2: Younha (divide into 2 scenes in one page) scene 1

1933 年 7 月的一个傍晚，杨大娘浇完菜园，回家准备挑水做饭。她刚拿起扁担，却发现水缸里的
水满满的。大娘奇怪了：前天水缸满，昨天水缸满，今天水缸又满了。这是怎么回事？她问小儿
子：“下午你挑水了吗？”

Nián yuè dí yíge bàngwǎn，yáng dàniáng jiāo wán càiyuán，huíjiā zhǔnbèi tiāoshuǐ
zuòfàn。Gāng ná qǐ biǎndan，què fāxiàn shuǐgāng lǐ de shuǐ mǎnmǎn de。dàniáng qíguài le：
qiántiān shuǐgāng mǎn，zuótiān shuǐgāng mǎn，jīntiān shuǐgāng yòu mǎn le。zhè shì zěnme
huí shì? tā wèn xiǎo érzi：“xiàwǔ nǐ tiāoshuǐ le ma？”

One night in July 1933, Aunt Yang had finished irrigating the vegetable garden, and
returned home to fetch water for cooking. She had just picked up the carrying pole,
when she noticed that the water jug was [already] full. Auntie thought this was strange:
two days ago the water jug was full, yesterday the water jug was full, and now today the
water jug was full again. How could this be? She asked her son, “Did you fetch water
this afternoon?”

11 岁的儿子摇头说：“我没挑。” scene 2
11 Suì de érzi yáotóu shuō: “Wǒ méi tiāo.”

Her 11-year-old son shook his head and said, “I didn’t fetch it.”

Pg.3: Holina

杨大娘越想越觉得奇怪，就跑到田头问代耕队长：“我屋里那口水缸，天天都满满的。是你派人
给我家挑水了吧？”

Yáng dàniáng yuè xiǎng yuè juédé qíguài, jiù pǎo dào tián tóu wèn dài gēng duìzhǎng:“Wǒ wū li
nà kǒushuǐ gāng, tiāntiān dū mǎn mǎn de. Shì nǐ pài rén gěi wǒjiā tiāo shuǐle ba?”

The more Auntie Yang thought about it the more strange it seemed, so she ran to the
field and asked the head contract laborer: “The water jug in my rooms, they’re full every
day. Did you send someone to fetch water for our family?”

Pg.4: Holina

“没有啊，”代耕队长也感到奇怪， “真有这样的事？”

“Méiyǒu a,” dài gēng duìzhǎng yě gǎndào qíguài, “zhēnyǒu zhèyàng de shì?”

“I didn’t,” the head contract laborer also thought this was strange, “Did that really
happen?”

Pg.5: Holina

正说着，二婶也提着菜蓝子走过来说：“是啊，我屋里的水缸也是干了又会满，不知道是谁在做
好事。”

Zhèng shuōzhe, èr shěn yě tízhe cài lán zi zǒu guòlái shuō:“Shì a, wǒ wū li de shuǐ gāng yěshì
gànle yòu huì mǎn, bù zhīdào shì shéi zài zuò hǎoshì.”

Just as he said this, Second Brother’s Wife walked over carrying a vegetable basket
and said: “Yes, the water jug in my room also fills up as soon as it goes dry, I don’t
know who’s doing these good deeds.”

Pg.6: Holina

代耕队长笑笑说：“毛主席主张调查研究，你们该去调查调查呀！”

Dài gēng duìzhǎng xiào xiào shuō:“Máo zhǔxí zhǔzhāng diàochá yánjiū, nǐmen gāi qù diàochá
diàochá ya!”
The head contract laborer smiled and said, “Chairman Mao encourages us to
investigate and research, you two should look into it!”

Pg.7: Kathleen

杨大娘和二婶觉得这话有道理，俩人商量了一阵，就各自回家了。

Yáng dàniáng hé èr shěn juédé zhè huà yǒu dàolǐ, liǎ rén shāngliángle yīzhèn, jiù gèzì huí jiāle.

Auntie Yang and Second Brother’s Wife thought what he said made sense, so they
discussed it for a bit, and then each went back to their home.

Pg.8: Kathleen (divide into 2 scenes in one page) scene 1

第二天，杨大娘擦桌子、洗衣服，不到下午，满满一缸水就用完了。她故意不去挑，也不下地干
活，拿起一双鞋底，坐在门口，和二婶一起纳起鞋底来。

Scene 2 她俩四只耳朵听动静，两双眼睛观八方，边做针线活，边搞起“调查”来。

Dì èr tiān, yáng dàniáng cā zhuōzi, xǐ yīfú, bù dào xiàwǔ, mǎn mǎn yī gāng shuǐ jiù yòng
wánliǎo. Tā gùyì bù qù tiāo, yě bù xiàdì gàn huó, ná qǐ yīshuāng xiédǐ, zuò zài ménkǒu, hé èr
shěn yīqǐ nà qǐ xiédǐ lái. Tā liǎ sì zhǐ ěrduǒ tīng dòngjìng, liǎng shuāng yǎnjīng guān bāfāng,
biān zuò zhēnxiàn huó, biān gǎo qǐ “diàochá” lái.

The second day, Auntie Yang wiped the table, washed the clothes, and before the
afternoon had come, all the water in the full water jug had been used up. She
purposefully didn’t go fetch any more, nor did she go to the fields to work, but took up a
pair of shoe soles, and sitting by the door with Second Brothers Wife, began to stitch
the soles. The two of them listened with all four ears for any sounds of movement, and
with two pairs of eyes looked about in all directions, sewing while “investigating”.

Pg.9: Kathleen (divide into 2 scenes in 1 page)

Scene 1 太阳离西山只有两竿高的时候，杨大娘忽然听见屋里的后门响了，接着又听到水桶铁钩
碰撞的声音。

Scene 2 她俩惊喜地互相丢了个眼色，不约而同地喊了出来：“这回捉到了！”说着站起身就往
屋里跑。

Tàiyáng lí xīshān zhǐyǒu liǎng gān gāo de shíhòu, yáng dàniáng hūrán tīngjiàn wū li de hòumén
xiǎngle, jiēzhe yòu tīng dào shuǐtǒng tiě gōu pèngzhuàng de shēngyīn. Tā liǎ jīngxǐ dì hùxiāng
diūle gè yǎnsè, bùyuē'értóng de hǎnle chūlái:“Zhè huí zhuō dàole!” Shuōzhe zhàn qǐshēn jiù
wǎng wū li pǎo.

When the sun [had sunk close] to the western mountains, Auntie Yang suddenly heard
the back door of the house make a sound, and soon after she heard the iron hook of the
water pot clang. Pleasantly excited, they shot each other a knowing look, and shouted
in unison, “We’ve got him this time!” As they spoke they stood up and ran into the
house.
Pg.10: Kathleen (divide into 2 scenes in 1 page)

Scene 1 杨大娘刚进门，差点跟一个挑着水桶的人撞个满怀。她抬头一看，见这人身材高大魁梧，
穿一身红军制服，正冲着她和二婶笑。

Scene 2 望着他那双明亮的大眼睛，她觉得很面熟，但是又记不起在什么地方见过。二婶一下就
认出来了：“呀，这不是毛主席吗！”

Yáng dàniáng gāng jìnmén, chàdiǎn gēn yīgè tiāozhe shuǐtǒng de rén zhuàng gè mǎnhuái. Tā
táitóu yī kàn, jiàn zhè rén shēncái gāodà kuíwú, chuān yīshēn hóngjūn zhìfú, zhèng chōngzhe
tā hé èr shěn xiào. Wàngzhe tā nà shuāng míngliàng de dà yǎnjīng, tā juédé hěn miànshú,
dànshì yòu jì bù qǐ zài shénme dìfāng jiànguò. Èr shěn yīxià jiù rèn chūláile:“Ya, zhè bùshì máo
zhǔxí ma!”

As soon as Auntie Yang entered the house, she almost ran smack into the person who
was fetching water. She lifted her head up to look, and saw this person was tall and
stalwart, wearing the uniform of the Red Army, and was smiling at her and Second
Brother’s Wife. Looking at that pair of big, bright eyes, she thought he seemed a little
familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she’d seen him before. [But] Second
Brother’s Wife recognized him: “Ah! If it isn’t Chairman Mao!”

Pg.11: Willy

二婶拉着毛主席坐下，杨大娘赶忙端上一碗茶，说：“毛主席，你来这里不久，可处处爱护体贴
老百姓，叫我们怎么感谢你呀！”

Èr shěn lāzhe máo zhǔxí zuò xià, yáng dàniáng gǎnmáng duān shàng yī wǎn chá, shuō:“Máo
zhǔxí, nǐ lái zhèlǐ bùjiǔ, kě chùchù àihù tǐtiē lǎobǎixìng, jiào wǒmen zěnme gǎnxiè nǐ ya!”

Second Brother’s Wife pulled Chairman Mao into a seat, and Auntie Yang quickly
brought some tea and said, “Chairman Mao, you haven’t been [in town] long, but
everywhere you go, you are caring and considerate towards the common people, tell us
how can we ever thank you!”

Pg.12: Willy (divide into 2 scenes in 1 page)

Scene 1 毛主席喝着茶，和两位红军家属聊起家常来，问她们：生活有没有困难？房子漏雨不漏
雨？

Scene 2 小孩子在小学的功课好不好？一直谈到天擦黑，毛主席又要去挑水，非要把水缸挑满不
可。杨大娘拗不过，只好答应了。

Máo zhǔxí hēzhe chá, hé liǎng wèi hóngjūn jiāshǔ liáo qǐ jiācháng lái, wèn tāmen: Shēnghuó
yǒu méiyǒu kùnnán? Fángzi lòu yǔ bù lòu yǔ? Xiǎo háizi zài xiǎoxué de gōngkè hǎobù hǎo?
Yīzhí tán dào tiān cāhēi, máo zhǔxí yòu yào qù tiāo shuǐ, fēi yào bǎ shuǐ gāng tiāo mǎn bùkě.
Yáng dàniáng niùbuguò, zhǐhǎo dāyìngle.

Chairman Mao drank his tea, and chatted with the two [ladies] from Red Army families
about their daily lives, asking them: “Are there any difficulties in your lives? Is your [roof]
leaking water? How’s your children’s primary schoolwork?” They talked until darkness
swept over the sky, and then Chairman Mao once again made to go fetch water,
insisting on filling the water jugs again. Auntie Yang couldn’t talk him out of it, and she
had to agree.

Link to go to the story: 水缸的秘密 - shuǐgāng de mìmì

http://chinesereadingpractice.com/2020/05/29/
communist-folk-tales-the-secret-of-the-water-jug/