The Liu Brothers A Chinese story
written by Nikolay Erdman directed by Dmitriy Babichenko art director Aleksandr Trusov
music Klimentiy Korchmaryov camera Nikolay Voinov sound Georgiy Martynyuk
consultants: Zhou Song-Yuan, O. Gluhareva animators: Boris Chani, Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin,
Grigoriy Kozlov, Roman Kachanov, Renata Mirenkova, D. Belov, Lidiya Reztsova, M. Kuprach,
Mihail Botov, Viktor Lihachov Background artists: Irina Svetlitsa, I. Troyanova, V. Rodzhero, K. Malyshev
Assistants: Ye. Novoselskaya, L. Azarkh, Yuriy Prytkov montage N. Mayorova
Long ago in China there were three brothers: the Liu brothers
They looked so much alike that even their mother could only tell them apart by using coloured ribbons
The first Liu could command fire
The second Liu could drink up the sea...
and then spit it back out again
The third Liu knew the language of birds, fish and beasts
One day...
Woe is me, woe is me...
What are you crying about, old man?
The only wealth I had...
was a single coin, and now I've dropped it into the sea.
What shall I return home with now?
What shall I use to buy rice for my old wife?
Do not cry, old man! This is something we can help with.
I will drink up the entire sea, and then you'll be able to find your coin!
Don't drink! Don't drink any further!
See that fish? It's yelling something at us!
I can't hear a thing.
The fish language isn't audible for us! But it's yelling with all its might.
What does it say?
It says that if you drink up the entire sea...
...all the fish will die.
Tell the fish that as soon as we find the lost coin
I will put the water back!
Put the water back now...
and they will try to find the coin themselves.
Themselves? Well, all right!
They want to know what sort of coin it was.
It was this big.
Woe is me, woe is me!
My coin is not amongst them!
Mine was copper and these are all golden!
Why do you need copper ones? Take the gold coins!
Take them!
For this...
...I thank you! - Quiet!
A terrible thing has happened.
Let's run! Quickly!
A woodcutter is chopping a tree
in which this bird has her nest.
Her children are in that nest: two sons and a daughter.
Let's hurry!
Stop!
Wait!
Don't chop it down...
See that nest?
If you chop down the tree, this bird's children will die!
Two sons and a daughter!
Two sons and a daughter...
Soon night will be upon us and I need to have cut ten more trees by then.
Don't sigh like that, kind lumberjack! We will help you.
Okay, let's see... For today's lesson,
you were supposed to learn words starting with the letter M.
Isn't that right? Very good!
Go on, speak. Well? I'm listening... - Meeh
Well, what can I say... your memory's good, but your diction could be better.
Let's repeat it again.
Mail!
Well done!
- Let's continue! - Mye-e-ed
No, not Mye but Mea. Got it? Ea
Mead (Honey)
- Mead. - That's right!
So now tell me: what's this?
My-i-i-i
Don't interfere.
That was in goat language. But what is it in human language? You forgot?
Oh, dear...
We studied it only yesterday.
Mee. - No.
Bee.
Not "mee" and not "bee", but "tree"
"Tree", "Tr". Do you understand? - T-r-ee
Very good! And in bird language?
Tweet, tweet.
And now say "tree" in fish language!
Blub, blub
Well done!
I guarantee, before the year is done, you'll speak all three languages
Well... now you can go and play!
Run away!
Run!
Couldn't you see that the great mandarin wanted to kill that little goat?!
- I saw. - So why did you cry out?
The reason I cried out was because I saw.
Arrest him!
And feed him to the tiger!
Halt!
This is not a tiger, but a damn purring kitten.
Take him away!
We will burn the boy instead. Tomorrow at noon.
You're asking me how you can help?
How could you help me?
You're such a small bird!
Here! Fly!
And let my mother and my brothers know...
that in my last minutes
I think of them.
I couldn't find him anywhere.
What could have happened to him?
I searched through the whole forest...
but there is no sign of him.
Where is he?
Where is he, my little one?
That's him! That's him!
My little one... where is he?
We do not understand your language
Who could understand it? - Me-e-e!...
You? - Me-e-e!
How can you help us?
I ca-a-n tra-an-sla-ate!
You can translate? - Please translate!
Trou-ble!
Trouble? Where is he? - What happened to him?
In pri-son.
In prison?
Hey, executioner! Take this boy!
Don't let him out of your sight!
That boy is wily like a fox.
He could escape from you!
He could escape you say?
I won't even look at him, and he still won't escape from me.
Oh, executioner, don't brag!
Want to bet?! - On what?
Anything you want!
How much will the mandarin pay you for today's execution?
He will give as much as he wants.
So we'll bet against half of that!
Won't that be a little much? - Aha! Are you scared?
Me?!!... Scared?!!
Hey, guards. Cover up the boy with that barrel!
Well? What do you say now, guard?
Do I have him in my sight? No.
But can he escape from me? Nope!!
Well, where is the boy?
I'm over here!
Why aren't you under guard?
I tricked the executioner and escaped.
But then I had second thoughts and... returned.
So... the executioner let you escape?!
Guards!
Arrest the executioner!
Come, executioner! Come, you braggart!
Go and receive your reward!
Give him a hundred canings!
O, noble mandarin!
I can receive only 50...
because I lost half of my reward...
...to that guard!
You shall receive all 100 first, and then hand over what you owe...
...to the guard!
Tongues of fire, let me be, Move yourselves away from me!
Like a sheer, unmoving wall Stand around me, burning tall!
Do not throw hot sparks up high, But diminish by and by.
Burn! Burn!
Help!
Water! Water! Water! Water!
As he did not die by fire, let him be drowned by water!
Bring him aboard my fast ship.
When the sun comes up I will join you there myself!
Look! Look!
Hold on, hold on, I'll ask!
The fish ask if they should bring back the mandarin to the surface.
Tell the fish that they needn't bother!
The End Subs by Eus (2012) after Esperanto translation, ed. by Niffiwan (2022)