嫦娥的故事Chang’e’s story (The Moon Lady)

中秋節的晚上，At the night of the mid-autumn festival(the moon festival),

明明全家坐在院子里看月亮吃月餅。

Ming-Ming’s family sat in the yard to admire the moon and share the mooncakes.

奶奶說了一個中秋節的神話故事。

Grandma told a fairy tale about the Mid-Autumn Festival.

很久以前，有一年，天上出現十個太陽，

Once upon a time, in one year, ten suns appeared in the sky,

太陽把花草樹木曬死了，

The sun scorched the flowers and trees to death, (All the plants got dry in the sun.)

人們餓得活不下去了。

People are too hungry to survive. (Humans could hardly survive)

那時候有一個人叫后羿，

At that time there was a man named Hou Yi,

他的力氣很大，他站在高山上，

His strength is great, he climbed up and stands on a high mountaintop,

拉開大弓，射掉了九個太陽。

He drew his big bow (he pulled his powerful arch) and shot down nine suns.

最後，天上只剩下一個太陽。

Finally, there is only one sun left in the sky.

天氣正常了，When the weather was normal again,

人們很高興，就推后羿做國王。可是—

people were very happy, so they all elected Hou Yi to be their king. But—

后羿天天吃喝玩樂，還到處找長生不老的葯。

Hou Yi was busy eating, drinking and having fun he whole time, and also wanted to search the elixir of life because he hoped to live forever. (the medicine of immortality.)

他的太太嫦娥勸她做個好國王，他不聽。

His wife Chang’e advised(urged) him to be a good king, but he refused to listen.

仙人送來兩顆長生不老的葯。

One day an immortal (fairy) sent two pills of immortality. (two tablets of the elixir of life)

他說要在八月十五日晚上吃，

The immortal told them that taking one tablet on the night of August 15th would make them live forever.

只能吃一顆，如果多吃了，就會飛到月亮上去。

You can only eat one, and if you are taking more, you will fly to the moon.

後羿把藥放在盒子裡，Hou Yi put the medicine in the box,

嫦娥心想，不能讓後裔永遠當國王。

Chang’e thought to herself that Hou yi is not a good king, he should not be the kings forever.

於是，他把兩顆葯都吃了。

So(therefore) she swallowed both of the tablets.

嫦娥飛走了，后羿很傷心。

As a result, Chang’e flew away, and Hou Yi was heartbroken.

他不明白嫦娥為什麼要離開他？

He didn’t understand why Chang’e left him.

後來，他想起了嫦娥勸他的話。

Later(after a while), he remembered what Chang’e had said to persuade him.

后羿開始努力工作。 Hou Yi began to make efforts to work.

不久，后羿變成一個很好的國王。

Soon, Hou Yi became a very good king.

可是，嫦娥在月亮上，再也回不來了。

However, Chang’e was on the moon and never came back.

月亮里有一棵大樹，嫦娥常常坐在樹下，

There is a big tree in the moon, Chang’e often sits under the tree,

旁邊有一口井，還有一隻玉兔陪著他呢！

There is a well next to her, and there is a jade rabbit accompanying her!

大家抬頭看月亮。

Everyone looked up at the moon.

明明問：這個故事是真的嗎？

Mingming asked: Is this story true? (is this a real story?)

奶奶笑了，沒有回答。

Grandma laughed (smiled mysteriously) and didn’t answer.