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| Wonderful World of Learning |
| The Four Dragons- This is an ancient Chinese Tale about how the four major rivers in China were formed. |
| Once upon a time when there was no rivers or lakes on earth, only the Eastern Sea, in which four dragons lived: the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon, and the Pearl Dragon. One day the dragons flew from the sea and into the sky. They soared and dived playing hide and seek in the clouds. "Come here quickly!" the Pearl Dragon cried out. "What is it?" asked the other dragons looking down where the Pearl Dragon pointed. On the earth they saw the people praying, putting out food and burning incense for offerings. A white haired woman with a thin boy on her back was kneeling and mumuring. "Please send rain quickly, God in Heaven, to give our children rice." There had been no rain for a long time and the crops where withering, the grass was yellow, and the fields were cracking under the scorching sun. "How poor the people are and they will die without rain." the Yellow Dragon said. The Long Dragon nodded then he suggested, "Let's go and beg the Jade Emperor for rain." He leapt into the clouds with the others following close behind, flying towards the Heavenly Palace. The Jade Emperor, being in charge of all the affairs in heaven and on earth and in the sea, was very powerful. He was not pleased to see the dragons rushing in. "Why do you leave your sea and come and bother me?" The Long Dragon approached and said, "Your Majesty, the crops on earth are withering and dying. I beg you to send rain down quickly!" "All right, all right. Return to earth and I will send down rain tomorrow." The Jade Emperor waved them away while he listened to the songs of the fairies. "Thank you, Your Majesty!" The dragons bowed and returned to earth. Ten days had passed and still no rain came to the earth. The people suffered. They ate bark and grass roots then they ate white clay when that was gone. Seeing all this the four dragons felt very sorry for they knew the Jade Emperor, who only cared about pleasure and never took the people to heart, was not going to keep his promise of rain. They would have to do something for the people themselves. The Long Dragon looked over the vast sea and got an idea. He turned to the others, "Is there not plenty of water in the vast sea where we live? We could scoop it up and spray it towards the sky. The water will be like rain drops and come down to save the people and their crops." "That is a very good idea!" said the others as they clapped there hands. "We will be blamed if the Jade Emperor learns of this." said the Long Dragon. "I will do anything to save the people." the Yellow Dragon said resolutely. "Then let us begin, we will never regret it." said the Long Dragon. The Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon not to be outdone flew to the sea, scooped up the water in their mouths and flew back into the sky. They sprayed the water out over the earth. The four dragons flew back and forth, making the sky dark all around. Before long the sea water came pouring down as rain from the sky. The people cried and leapt for joy. The wheat stalks raised their heads and the sorghum stalks straightened up. The god of the sea discovered these events and reported to the Jade Emperor. "How dare the four dragons bring rain without my permission!" the Jade Emperor roared. He ordered the heavenly generals and their troops to arrest the four dragons and bring them to the Heavenly Palace. Being outnumbered the four dragons could not defend themselves and where soon arrested and brought before the Emperor. "Go get four mountains to lay upon them so that they can never escape!" The Jade Emperor ordered the mountain god. The Mountain God made four mountains to fly there, whistling in the wind from afar, and pressed them down on the dragons. Imprisoned as they were, they never regretted their actions. Determined to do good for the people forever, they turned themselves into four rivers that flowed past high mountains and deep valleys, crossing the land from the west to east and finally emptying into the sea. And so China's four great rivers were formed- Heilongjian (Black Dragon) in the far north, the Huanghe (Yellow Dragon) in central China, the Changjiang(Yangtze, or Long River) farther south and the Zhujiang(Pearl) in the very far south. |
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