Before the crown, a leap

A group of monkeys follows a stream to a waterfall. They make a promise: whoever can pass through the water, discover its source and return unharmed will become their king. The stone monkey steps forward.

群猴顺着溪水来到瀑布前，约定谁能穿过水帘，寻到源头，平安回来，就拜谁为王。石猴站了出来。

He leaps through the falling water and finds a sheltered place inside. The name Water-Curtain Cave makes the waterfall part of the doorway. What seemed like a barrier becomes a way into a new home.

石猴跳进瀑布，发现里面有可以安身的地方。“水帘洞”这个名字，把瀑布写成了一道门帘。眼前的阻碍，变成了通往新家的入口。

The important movement is not only inward. He returns to the others and leads them in. Then he reminds them of their agreement. In this episode, becoming king joins a bold action to a claim that a promise should be kept.

重要的不只是跳进去。石猴又回到群猴身边，带领大家入洞，并提醒他们先前的约定。在这一段里，勇敢的行动与遵守承诺连在了一起。

This is an episode from a novel. The cave is a literary setting; this reading does not identify it with a verified tourist location. It also stops before the monkey’s later adventures. Read the first leap on its own: what changes when courage has to bring others along?

这是小说中的情节。本篇把水帘洞作为文学地点，不把它等同于某个已核实的旅游景点，也不把后面的经历混入这一回。只看最初的一跃：当勇气还要带着伙伴一起向前时，它意味着什么？