Chapter 9: Crossing the Flaming Mountain

Illustration for the Chinese story “Chapter 9: Crossing the Flaming Mountain”

Tap any word for its meaning

火焰山huǒ yàn shān热得rè de像xiàng蒸笼zhēng lóng。The Flaming Mountain was as hot as a steaming oven.土地公tǔ dì gōng说shuō:“须xū借jiè铁扇公主tiě shàn gōng zhǔ的de芭蕉扇bā jiāo shàn灭火miè huǒ!”The Earth Deity said, 'We must borrow Princess Iron Fan’s palm-leaf fan to extinguish the fire!'可kě悟空wù kōng曾céng得罪dé zuì她tā儿子ér zi红孩儿hóng hái ér。But Wukong had offended her son, Red Boy.公主gōng zhǔ一扇子yī shàn zi把bǎ他tā吹飞chuī fēi五万里wǔ wàn lǐ!With one wave of her fan, the Princess blew him fifty thousand li away!

悟空wù kōng变biàn虫子chóng zi钻进zuān jìn公主gōng zhǔ肚子dù zi,逼bī她tā交jiāo假扇子jiǎ shàn zi。Wukong turned into a bug, crawled into the Princess’s belly, and forced her to hand over a fake fan.火huǒ越扇yuè shān越大yuè dà!The fire grew fiercer the more it was fanned!

八戒bā jiè急得jí de扯chě耳朵ěr duo:“猴哥hóu gē,你nǐ害惨hài cǎn我们wǒ men了le!”Bajie anxiously tugged his ears: 'Monkey Brother, you’ve gotten us into big trouble!'

最后zuì hòu,众神zhòng shén帮忙bāng máng,哪吒né zhā大战dà zhàn牛魔王niú mó wáng。Finally, the gods helped as Nezha battled the Bull Demon King.公主gōng zhǔ无奈wú nài交jiāo扇shàn,悟空wù kōng连lián扇shān四十九sì shí jiǔ下xià。The Princess reluctantly surrendered the fan, and Wukong waved it forty-nine times in a row.大雨dà yǔ倾盆qīng pén,青山qīng shān绿野lǜ yě重现chóng xiàn。Torrential rain poured down, and green hills and plains reappeared.

八戒bā jiè嘀咕dí gu:“早还zǎo huán扇子shàn zi多好duō hǎo,打dǎ什么shén me架jià嘛ma!”Bajie grumbled, 'Would have been better to return the fan early; why fight at all!'

寓意yù yì:退一步tuì yī bù海阔天空hǎi kuò tiān kōng,赌气dǔ qì只会zhǐ huì两败俱伤liǎng bài jù shāng。Moral: A step back allows boundless vistas; stubbornness only leads to mutual harm.

Want to read along with audio? Every story in the Literate Chinese app is narrated by a native speaker — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin — so you can listen while you read, and tap any word to save it as a flashcard. See what's in the app.

More free stories: more HSK 5–6 stories · all Journey to the West stories · traditional characters · test your reading level

Try reading your first story

The fastest way to make characters stick is to meet them in a story you can actually finish. Literate Chinese has 1,000+ graded stories matched to the words you know — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin, Simplified or Traditional. Free on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Prefer the browser? Read a free story on the web →