英语绘本 ▏每日一读之《三国演义—草船借箭 Borrow Arrows With Thatched Boats》

曹操的军队来到长江北岸的赤壁，准备渡过长江攻打孙权。

Cao Cao's army came to Chibi on the north bank of the Yangtze River, preparing to cross the Yangtze River to attack Sun Quan.

一天，诸葛亮来到吴国游说孙权，希望他能和刘备联合起来对付曹操。

One day, Zhuge Liang came to Wu to lobby Sun Quan, hoping that he could unite with Liu Bei to defeat Cao Cao. 

周瑜心想：人人都说诸葛亮聪明，我出个难题，让他丢丢脸。

Zhou Yu thought: Everyone says Zhuge Liang is smart, I will give him a difficult question to embarrass him.

周瑜对诸葛亮说：“水上作战需要很多箭，请你在十天之内打造出十万支箭吧。”诸葛亮说：“放心吧，三天就够了。如果我不能完成任务，甘愿受罚。”

Zhou Yu said to Zhuge Liang: "A lot of arrows are needed for water warfare. Please make 100,000 arrows within ten days." Zhuge Liang said: "Don't worry, three days will be enough. If I can't complete the task, I am willing to be punished."

周瑜听了暗自高兴，他觉得诸葛亮怎么都不可能做到。

Zhou Yu was secretly happy when he heard it, he felt that Zhuge Liang could never do it.

诸葛亮没有要造箭的材料，只是向鲁肃借了二十条轻快的小船，又派人在船的两边立好很多草人。

Zhuge Liang did not ask for materials to make arrows, but borrowed 20 light boats from Lu Su, and sent people to set up many straw men on both sides of the boats.

到了第三天晚上，诸葛亮把鲁肃请来，邀请他上了一条小船和自己喝酒聊天。

On the third night, Zhuge Liang invited Lu Su to come and invited him to get on a boat to drink and chat with him.

诸葛亮命人把二十条小船连在一起，然后便向着北岸的曹营划去。

Zhuge Liang ordered people to connect the 20 boats together, and then rowed towards Cao Ying on the north bank. 

这天晚上的雾非常大，两人面对面站立，稍微远一点就看不见了。

The fog was very thick that night. The two stood face to face, but could not see each other if they were a little further away.

快到曹营的时候，诸葛亮命令船上的士兵击鼓呐喊。鼓声震天响，鲁肃吓得浑身发抖，害怕曹军出来迎战。

When they were about to reach Cao's camp, Zhuge Liang ordered the soldiers on the boat to beat the drums and shout. The drums were so loud that Lu Su was trembling with fear, afraid that Cao's army would come out to fight.

诸葛亮却一脸的轻松，对鲁肃说道：“来来来，喝酒，喝酒。”

Zhuge Liang looked relaxed and said to Lu Su: "Come on, drink, drink."

曹操见江面上驶来那么多船，以为周瑜来进攻了，大雾弥漫，也看不清楚敌军有多少，曹操不敢轻易出兵，只是命令弓箭手不停地向船队射箭。

Seeing so many boats coming on the river, Cao Cao thought Zhou Yu was attacking. The fog was thick and it was unclear how many enemy troops there were. Cao Cao did not dare to send troops easily, but ordered the archers to shoot arrows at the fleet continuously.

很快二十条小船上的草人上都插满了箭。“撤退！”诸葛亮一声令下，二十条小船快速地往回划去。

Soon, the straw men on the twenty boats were full of arrows. "Retreat!" Zhuge Liang gave an order, and the twenty boats rowed back quickly.

等到大雾散去，曹操看清楚船上都是草人的时候，诸葛亮早已带着船队回到南岸了。

When the fog dissipated and Cao Cao saw clearly that the boats were full of straw men, Zhuge Liang had already led the fleet back to the south bank.

原来，诸葛亮善于观察天象，知道第三天晚上会有一场大雾。.

It turned out that Zhuge Liang was good at observing astronomical phenomena and knew that there would be a heavy fog on the third night.

周瑜虽然得到了十万支箭，却更加嫉妒诸葛亮了。

Although Zhou Yu got 100,000 arrows, he became even more jealous of Zhuge Liang.