Читать книгу Treasury of Chinese Folk Tales - Shelley Fu - Страница 8

Pan Gu and the Creation

The Chinese believe that in the beginning, the universe was empty except for a big ball of energy shaped like a chicken egg. This ball of energy had existed since the beginning of time and was called Chaos. Inside the egg, only mist swirled about until one day, the first living creature formed in Chaos.

His name was Pan Gu, and he is the ancestor of us all. After he was formed, he slept for a long time while his body grew bigger and bigger. At first, his body was very small. But after 18,000 years, he grew so extremely big that Chaos could no longer hold him. His strong and heavy head poked against one end of Chaos, and his sturdy feet strained against the other end.

By this time, Pan Gu was enormous beyond measure. In the small and narrow space of Chaos, Pan Gu was cramped and uncomfortable. One day, he became so uncomfortable that he awoke. He opened his eyes in amazement. Beyond the haziness of Chaos, Pan Gu saw darkness so inky that nothing else was visible.

“I’ll soon change this situation,” thought Pan Gu to himself. He stretched out his hand and made an immense fist, which he struck against the wall of Chaos with all his might. Ka-bam! The shell of the egg of Chaos cracked.

As the stuff of Chaos leaked out into the darkness, the clear and light energy, called the Yang by the Chinese, curled upwards and formed the beautiful blue sky. The heavier, murkier elements, called the Yin, sank to form the earth. After Chaos was divided, the universe became a bright wide space. But the distance between sky and earth was very small, and the elements of sky and earth would frequently mix. Pan Gu couldn’t stand up straight in this space and felt like dividing the two so that more distance separated them.

Finally one day, Pan Gu was so bothered that he planted his huge feet on the ground and his hands against the sky. Pan Gu grew an inch every day, and the sky was accordingly pushed one inch higher each day and the earth grew one inch thicker from the pressure of his heavy weight. Time passed. Day after day, Pan Gu stood between heaven and earth, not daring to let go of his hold on the sky, afraid that heaven and earth would mix and all would revert to Chaos.

His salty sweat streamed down from his forehead, stinging his eyes, but he couldn’t mop it away. It flowed down his body and fell as rain and dew onto the ground, where it collected into pools to form the seas and oceans.

The work of supporting the sky was extremely hard, and Pan Gu could not suppress a deep sigh of suffering. His breath turned into the floating clouds and the wind, and the sound of his sigh became the rumbling thunder. Over many, many years, he saw the heavens slowly rise and the earth grow thicker and thicker, and he rejoiced.

Finally, after another 18,000 years, the sky was very high and the earth very thick. There was no longer any danger of sky and earth mixing. At last, Pan Gu was satisfied and let go his hold. But the strenuous work of holding earth and sky apart for so long had exhausted Pan Gu, and he fell to the ground immediately.

His body became the massive mountains, his blood and body fluids the surging rivers. His sinews and veins transformed into narrow and crooked roads, his skin and muscles the fertile fields. The hairs on his skin turned into the beautiful and multitudinous grass, flowers, trees, and woods. Even his bones and teeth turned into bright, hard gold, brilliant jewels, and precious pearls. His beautiful hair flew up and filled the whole sky with countless bright stars.

Pan Gu was still not dead and observed the changes with great satisfaction. He knew he was dying, but he wanted to gaze upon his work forever. He winked and sent his left eye into the clear sky, where it turned into the golden sun. He winked again, and his right eye also sailed past the clouds and turned into the bright and silvery moon. Thus to this day, Pan Gu looks lovingly down upon his greatest creation, the bountiful and beautiful earth.

Nu Wo, the Mother of Mankind

THE CREATION OF MAN

According to ancient Chinese legend, after the world was created, it held only mountains, rivers, grass, flowers, and trees. There were also birds, beasts, insects, and fish, but mankind did not exist. One day, a goddess called Nu Wo looked down on the world from the Celestial Realm, where the gods lived, and decided to visit. She had lived in the Celestial Realm for tens of thousands of years, where she had been very happy at first. After a while, however, her days began to blend one into another seamlessly like a blank, endless roll of rice paper. She needed a change.

The world pleased Nu Wo greatly. She saw beautiful mountains, green waters, birds that flew in the sky, and plentiful beasts roaming the earth. The bright sun and gentle rains caressed the bountiful land, but Nu Wo didn’t see a single being that looked like her. She thought about how miraculous the world was and felt that something was missing.

She wandered down to a nearby river to wash her hands. As she knelt down, she saw her reflection in the water. This gave her an idea. The riverbank was made of yellow clay, and she grabbed a handful and began to knead it. As she rolled it into a sphere, she thought to herself, “This clay is so malleable. I can make it into anything I want.” Nu Wo began to fashion with the clay a little doll that looked like her. As soon as she set the doll on the ground, it became a living, breathing being. The little girl laughed and ran about playfully. Pulling at Nu Wo’s hands, she said, “Mother! Mother!”

When Nu Wo heard the sweet, pretty little girl call her “Mother,” she felt her heart fill with love. She caressed the little girl’s cheek and asked, “Pretty little child, am I really your mother? What are you called?”

The child answered, “I am called Human Being, Mother.”

Nu Wo and the child were inseparable and wandered the world far and wide. Nu Wo taught the little girl the names of all things on earth. She showed the little girl what birds and beasts were, which creatures were friendly, which creatures to run away from, and what was safe to eat. The little girl got into a lot of mischief at first.

One day, she disturbed a hive of bees. The bees swarmed around her. “Mother!” she cried.

“Child, don’t be afraid. Stay still and quiet, and they will not harm you. Bees are friends that make honey. If you do not disturb them, they will leave you alone.” Nu Wo tried to calm the little girl down.

Just as Nu Wo finished speaking, a rabbit ran out in front of them. It stopped and sniffed the air with its pink nose, looking at them inquisitively with its soft brown eyes. Nu Wo said, “Child, this creature is called Rabbit. It doesn’t bite. It is a friend. You can play with it.” The little girl and the rabbit cavorted around happily. Nu Wo watched them with satisfaction.

Suddenly, the rabbit ran toward the mountains, and the little girl ran off after it. They ran further and further away until they were no longer visible. Nu Wo was very anxious. “Child! Child! Come back! Please come back!” she cried, but the only answer she got were the echoes of her own desperate cries from the rocky cliffs.

Nu Wo looked for the child for a long time but couldn’t find her. Her heart was filled with worry, and her grief weighed upon her like a stone. For many years, Nu Wo wandered about, depressed. Everywhere she looked, she was reminded of her sweet little girl. Finally she gave up searching and wearily sat down on a rock to think.

She thought, “I made one human being out of the yellow clay; I can make another. In fact, I’ll make a lot of them. Yes! Then the whole world will be filled with my children. I’ll never feel lonely again.”

Nu Wo began to make doll after doll out of the yellow clay. She fashioned them to look like the gods of the Celestial Realm. Some were little boys, and some were little girls. As soon as she set them down on the ground, they came to life. They crowded around her, laughing and jumping about. They cried, “Mother! Mother!” Nu Wo had never felt such happiness before.

THE GIFTS TO MANKIND

As she did with the first little girl, Nu Wo taught her children. After many years, she had taught them everything she knew. The children learned what things were called and how to make clothing. Nu Wo showed them how to build houses to keep themselves warm and protect themselves from the sun and rain. She also showed them how to grow plants, harvest crops, and tame animals such as sheep and cattle.

As the children grew up, they began to leave their mother and roamed the world until they occupied every corner of the earth. Nu Wo missed each one of them. Instead of returning to the Celestial Realm, she gave up her godhood and stayed on earth as a mortal.

She spent all her time wandering from east to west and north to south, visiting her children. Everywhere she went, all people called her Mother, and each human being was her beloved child. Soon, however, she began to notice that something was wrong.

On a beautiful spring day, Nu Wo came to a waterfall where she saw a man sitting on a rock. The man didn’t jump up, laugh, or call her Mother. He just sat there by the waterfall. Nu Wo asked him, “Child, what’s wrong? Why don’t you greet your mother?”

The man answered, “Mother, I was listening to the song of the waterfall. Listen! It is so beautiful!” He fell silent to resume his listening. Nu Wo listened and heard that the song of the waterfall was indeed beautiful. She didn’t want to disturb the man and left silently.

A little later on, she wandered into a wood, where she saw a maiden sitting under a tree listening to two nightingales singing. She also didn’t jump up and greet Nu Wo. Nu Wo sat down next to her and asked, “Child, are you listening to the song of the nightingales?”

“Yes, Mother! Their song is so lovely. If I could sing like them, I would be so happy.” Nu Wo lowered her head, thinking, “Something is missing from their lives!”

Nu Wo walked to a nearby river whose banks were thick with reeds. After much thought, she fashioned a flute from a river reed. It was the first musical instrument ever made. After calling her children to her, she began to play the flute for them. They were entranced! Here was music even fairer than the sound of the waterfall, the song of the nightingales, or their gentle mother’s voice. Nu Wo taught them how to make flutes of their own, and soon they invented other musical instruments.

Many more years passed, and all seemed well. Everywhere she went, Nu Wo’s children greeted her happily as they had in the past. They flourished. Unfortunately, this felicity was not to last. One day, Nu Wo came upon a group of men and women weeping.

“Why are you so sad, my children?”

“Mother! Mother!” they cried. “Something is wrong with Lin! He lay down to sleep, and now we can’t wake him. Please come help us!” Nu Wo examined Lin. He was not breathing, and his heart was not beating.

Lin’s death was the first in the human realm. Nu Wo was heartbroken because there was nothing she could do. She thought, “What if all my children die? The birds, the beasts, all other creatures, even insects, have children and multiply generation after generation, as all other living creatures do. Why shouldn’t my children do the same? That way, they’ll be here forever.”

She paired her children off into couples—one male and one female. Man and woman became husband and wife. Soon, Nu Wo’s children were having babies of their own, and the permanence of mankind was assured. In time, Nu Wo was surrounded with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Now wherever she went, she was called “Mother,” “Grandmother,” and “Great-grandmother.”

THE SKY COLLAPSES

Nu Wo and her children were happy, and they had no idea that a great calamity was soon to befall them. One year, the God of Fire and the God of Water met each other on the road. They had been enemies from time immemorial. They glared at each other.

“Get out of my way!” snarled the God of Water.

“YOU get out of MY way, or I’ll send you to visit your ancestors!” thundered the God of Fire.

Without another word, they began to fight. The God of Water summoned all the creatures of the waters to help him in the battle. At his call, crab, shrimp, turtle, and lobster generals led countless troops of fish and other creatures to do his bidding in wave after giant wave. The God of Fire was not to be outdone. He summoned the creatures of fire, awe-inspiring dragons, magnificent phoenixes, and ferocious centipedes. The God of Fire also had a magical golden fan. With one wave of the fan, he kindled tiny flames into gigantic walls of fire.

Although the fire creatures were outnumbered, the God of Fire eventually prevailed, thanks to the wondrous power of the magical fan. The water creatures could not stand the onslaught of his armies. Their moist skins got scorched, and many were boiled alive as the fire evaporated the waves of water. They retreated with great losses.

In tremendous frustration, the God of Water butted his head into one of the pillars that hold up the sky. Because of his stubborn nature, his head was harder than cast iron. The pillar broke, and a large portion of the sky came tumbling down. With it came a torrential flood as waters of the Celestial River came pouring out.

At the same time, the broken pieces of the sky rained down upon the earth as fiery meteorites. The meteorites set the woods everywhere on fire and cracked giant craters in the earth. From under the ground in one of the craters, an immense black dragon emerged and flew into the sky. It began to devour all the people it saw.

Everywhere people were dying. Some died in floods and some in fiery infernos. People also died of starvation as the crops were burned or flooded away, and the dragon devoured most of the others. The survivors all flocked to Nu Wo’s side, crying, “Mother! Mother! What are we going to do?”

Nu Wo’s grief was extreme when she saw the state that her children were in. She told them to dry their tears and be brave. “In these hard times, we must have the strength and courage to help ourselves.” She advised her children to put out the great fires that raged everywhere.

While they were doing this, Nu Wo went to visit the God of Fire. She said to him, “You and the God of Water are both mankind’s good friends. When you aren’t fighting with each other, all is well for man. However, when you fight, mankind suffers horribly. Just look at all the damage you’ve caused!” The God of Fire was ashamed of his behavior. Embarrassed, he lowered his head and agreed not to fight with the God of Water anymore.

Nu Wo next visited the God of Water and also berated him. The God of Water was also repentant. “I don’t even remember why we were mad at each other in the first place,” he admitted with chagrin. “But what can I do? The sky is already broken,” he shrugged noncommittally.

Nu Wo saw that neither god would help her repair the damage, but at least they agreed not to battle anymore. She returned to her children. Her first concern was to slay the ferocious black dragon. She armed herself and her children, and together they went to find the dragon. He was dozing at the foot of a mountain after a particularly satisfying day of hunting for humans. Leading the attack, Nu Wo charged at the dragon with her sword.

The dragon saw the angry mob advancing with Nu Wo in the lead, a determined frown on her face. Frightened, it turned tail to run, but it had eaten so many people that it was sluggish and could hardly move. Together, Nu Wo and her children slew the enormous beast. But still the waters from the Celestial River rained down upon the world unceasingly from the hole in the sky. There was no other solution than to mend the hole.

NU WO FIXES THE SKY

At first, Nu Wo tried to use clay to mend the hole, but it was unreliable when it dried. One little quake, and it would collapse again. Also, its muddy color made unsightly blotches against the beautiful blue background of the sky. Nu Wo tried to use wood logs next, but the water still leaked through the gaps between them. Then she attempted to nail brass plates over the holes. This method was also unstable and leaky, and the plates clanged deafeningly when the wind blew.

“How can I fix the sky so that it is as strong and beautiful as before the catastrophe?” she wondered. She wanted a substance that was strong enough to hold the Celestial River in and yet that matched the clear radiance of the rest of the sky.

Nu Wo thought and thought. Eventually, she decided to melt down five-colored stones and use the liquid ore to mend the sky. These stones were dazzlingly beautiful and sparkled red, yellow, blue, white, and black — the primary colors from which all other colors on earth are derived. They were rarer than the finest diamonds. Some were buried deep under the ground, some were located under the sea, and some were at the tops of high mountains.

Because men and women everywhere were busy trying to put out the raging fires, Nu Wo decided to mine for the precious five-colored stones by herself. She dug deep under the ground. After she had found all of the buried five-colored stones, she dived again and again to the bottom of the sea for them. Soon she had gathered all the five-colored stones that lay underwater. Next, Nu Wo climbed all the tall mountains she could find to search for the stones.

At last, after a thousand hardships and much suffering, Nu Wo found all the five-colored stones in the world. She transported them all to a rocky peninsula near the sea. Soon she had a huge pile. Then, she and her children went to harvest straw. They gathered many thousands of bundles and carried them to a depression in the rock near the pile of stones.

Nu Wo then lit the enormous pile of straw, and she and her children began shoveling the five-colored stones into this fiery furnace. They melted slowly into an opalescent liquid. The heat was so intense that Nu Wo told her children, “Step back! You’ll get burned if you stay too close. I will take care of everything.”

The children moved away and gathered on the shore nearby. Nu Wo then took a long-handled ladle and began applying the liquid ore to a small hole in the sky. After the liquid cooled, Nu Wo patted the mended spot. It was as sound and as lovely as the rest of the sky.

Nu Wo was overjoyed. “Look!” she cried to her children, “it worked!” The children clapped and shouted and danced. They were saved!

Nu Wo began to work in earnest and poured ladle after ladle of the liquid into the holes.

The heat made her sweat pour, and she was soon blinded by perspiration and soaked to the skin. The flames from the furnace seared her skin, and her throat became parched. It was unbearable. She longed for a drink of water. But Nu Wo looked toward her children, who were still celebrating and singing. She saw them all watching, encouraging her, smiling and waving. She smiled back and bravely kept on working.

Thanks to Nu Wo’s hard work, the sky was eventually mended and made as beautiful as always. It was impossible to tell where the holes had been, and the waters of the Celestial River ceased to rain down upon the earth.

Nu Wo’s entire body was scorched and achy, and she was dead tired. She felt that if she didn’t sit down and rest, she would collapse. As she sat on the ground, her children came up to her. They had tears of joy in their eyes and thanked her for her miraculous work.

However, one man didn’t thank her or clap and sing with the others. In fact, he had a thoughtful frown on his face.

“Child, what are you thinking about? Why do you look so concerned?” Nu Wo asked the man.

“Mother, is it true that because a pillar that held up the sky got knocked down, the whole sky collapsed?”

“Yes, that is so.”

“Well, I’m worried that with no pillar to hold up the sky as before, all your hard work will have been in vain. What if the dome of heaven collapses again? The original support is gone. Can we trust that the sky is as firmly in place as before?”

Nu Wo realized that the man was right. If she didn’t think of a solution to this problem, her children were doomed to suffer the same disaster as before. She saw that she still could not rest.

With a deep sigh, she heaved herself up from the ground, saying, “He is right. Farewell, children. My work is still not done. I must leave you now, but I’ll be back when I have discovered some way to avert future disasters like the one we have suffered. Meanwhile, rebuild your houses. Replant the crops. You must carry on with your lives as before the disaster.”

She waved to them sadly and walked away.

THE PILLARS THAT HOLD UP THE SKY

Nu Wo’s first thought was to use mountains to replace the collapsed pillar, but this solution was not as simple as it first seemed. Exactly how does one go about moving a mountain? Nu Wo wandered thoughtfully toward the sea. Far off shore, a giant turtle spirit was playing in the waves.

The huge turtle was a supernatural being. It possessed great wisdom from having lived so long, and it could read minds. It swam up to Nu Wo and said, “Mother of mankind, don’t worry. I will let you chop off my four legs to use as pillars to hold up the dome of heaven.” Gentle Nu Wo felt horrible about harming another creature, especially a spirit of the Celestial Realm. She was unwilling to hurt the turtle. When the spirit saw Nu Wo hesitate, it chewed off its own legs.

Nu Wo’s kind heart broke to see this mighty being so helpless. She asked it, “Creature, how will you be able to swim without your legs?” So saying, she took her outer robe off and tore it into four pieces. She tucked the pieces into the places where the turtle’s legs had been. Now the noble turtle had four flippers instead of four legs. That is why some turtles have legs, and some have only flippers.

When Nu Wo went to place the turtle’s legs as four pillars to support the sky, she saw that the two front legs were shorter than the hind legs. This caused the sky to dip down at a slant. From that day on, all the stars, the sun, and the moon rotate in the sky, constantly sliding down toward the earth.

Now the dome of heaven was firmly supported. In fact, you can only see the places where it was mended at sunrise or sunset. They shimmer at these times because of the five-colored stones, and they look even more beautiful than the original sky because of their many colors.

PEACE AT LAST

The last task was to quench the floods that ravaged the land. Nu Wo and the people went to the furnace used to melt the five-colored stones and shoveled the ashes from the furnace into the flood waters to quench them. They started from the northwest and slowly worked their way south, using baskets to carry ashes for use in reclaiming the land.

At first, they used the ashes liberally and reclaimed much of the land. Gradually, they started to run out of ashes, but by that time, they felt that they had done enough and stopped working. That is why the land in the northwestern portion of China is more elevated than the southeastern part. All the flood waters ran toward the southeast and formed the South China Sea.

The sky was now mended, and the earth was reclaimed from the flood. All was as before the great catastrophe. Everywhere, the people rejoiced and held a great celebration that lasted many days. They played their instruments and danced. All of them yelled the traditional Chinese chant, “May Mother live 10,000 years!” When Nu Wo saw how happy they were, her face lit up with a heavenly smile.

In spite of her joy, Nu Wo was exhausted. Her hair, which had been as black and glossy as a crow’s wing, was now completely white. Every bone in her body ached. Her hands were blistered and raw from shoveling ashes, and her skin was still scorched from the fires of the furnace of five-colored stones. The pain made it impossible for her to sleep. Her back, so straight and strong when she was a goddess, was now bent, and she had to use a staff to walk. She didn’t want her children to see that she was suffering and kept on smiling throughout the festivities.

In the midst of the great celebration and still smiling, Nu Wo closed her eyes forever.

Ho Yi the Archer

HO YI AND THE NINE SUNS

In the time of the ruler Yau during China’s golden age, nine suns once appeared in the sky at the same time. It was a great catastrophe for mankind, and this is how it happened. The nine suns were all the sons of the Celestial Ruler, and they lived in a place called Hot Water Valley. There, the seawater was as warm as hot soup because that was where the nine sons bathed every day. At that place was also a great tree tens of thousands of feet tall. This tree was the home of the nine brothers.

At the top of the tall tree stood a jade rooster. Each day before dawn, the rooster would crow. When all the roosters on earth heard the jade rooster’s cry, they would all crow too. Then one of the brothers would awake, and the day would break. Before the sun rose in the sky, his mother, the Queen of Heaven, would first bathe him in Hot Water Valley. Then, in a chariot drawn by six dragons, the Queen of Heaven would drive him across the sky until they reached a place called Sorrow Spring. The mother would stop the chariot and watch to make sure the sun had safely descended into the Dim Valley. Then she would return to drive her second son across the sky.

Under the Celestial Ruler’s decree, all his sons would take turns one by one bathing and driving across the sky. In this way, no more than one son was ever allowed to be with his mother. Things went on this way for billions of years. Every ninth day, each son would take his bath and ride the chariot with his mother over the same narrow path, performing the same routine. The sons got very bored. It was even worse when it wasn’t their turn, for then they slept all day.

One day, all nine agreed to awake at once and run into the sky without even bathing or getting into their mother’s chariot. As soon as the jade rooster crowed, they ran riot gleefully, skipping and jumping all at once across the sky. Their mother was quite distressed and called loudly for them to come back, but they pretended not to hear her.

On earth, the temperature started to rise drastically, and all the plants wilted and died. People had no food or water, and many died of starvation or thirst. It was the worst disaster since the sky collapsed in Nu Wo’s time. The people decided to go to their leader Yau for help.

Yau was a good ruler. He loved his people as if they were his own sons and daughters. He saw how much his people were suffering, and his heart broke. But it was an act of the gods—what could he do to stop it? All he could do was fervently pray every day to the Celestial Ruler to remedy the problem.

The Celestial Ruler heard Yau’s prayers and agreed that something had to be done. Because he was very busy with other affairs, he referred the matter to his wife. Maybe the Queen of Heaven loved her nine sons too much and was happy to see them all at once in all their glory. Maybe she just felt that they needed to have a good time. At any rate, she upbraided them, but not very forcefully. The nine suns therefore paid her no heed and continued to wreak havoc in the sky and upon the earth.

After some time had elapsed, the Celestial Ruler noticed that he was still hearing Yau’s prayers. If anything, Yau’s prayers were even more urgent, for with the rebellion of the suns, all manner of hideous monsters and beasts were running wild on earth, for they saw that the natural order had been overturned. After looking into the matter, the Celestial Ruler realized that his sons were still running amok. He decided to rely on his friend, the famous archer god Ho Yi, to discipline them.

Once he received the Celestial Ruler’s request, Ho Yi brought his beautiful wife, Tsang-O, down from the sky, and they went to meet with Yau. When Yau heard that the Celestial Ruler had sent them, he was very happy. He took Ho Yi everywhere to see the extreme suffering of the people. Ho Yi saw nine suns hanging in the sky at once, and the weather was hot, unbearably hot. The rivers were dry, and nothing grew in the fields. Many people, cattle, and horses lay fallen in the streets, dead or near death.

When Ho Yi saw all this, he said to the nine suns, “Even though you are the sons of the Celestial Ruler, you shouldn’t be running amok. You are setting a bad example, and chaos is breaking out everywhere. Can’t you see that people are starving and thirsting to death? Why are you doing this?”

The nine suns ignored him, as if to say, “We are the sons of the Celestial Ruler. Who are you, anyway? You can’t control us. We do as we please.”

Ho Yi grew so angry that his face turned red. The nine suns surely were being unreasonable! Ho Yi debated what to do. He ignored the decree of the Celestial Ruler. He ignored everything in his anger. From his quiver, he withdrew an arrow, fitted it to his bow, and with his right hand slowly drew his bowstring back. He aimed at one sun and released the arrow.

Very rapidly, the arrow flew straight into one of the suns. Suddenly, a giant ball of fire fell from the sky. Golden feathers scattered everywhere. When the people ran to see, they saw a huge, golden phoenix on the ground. The phoenix had three legs. This is what the sun had turned into. When the other suns saw what a mighty archer Ho Yi was, they fled in all directions, but it was already too late.

Ho Yi had shot down one sun, but his anger was still not assuaged. He had brought nine arrows in his quiver, and he started to shoot down all nine suns with lightning speed. When the Queen of Heaven saw that her sons were being killed, she began to wail and tear her hair with grief. Strands of her hair fell down from the sky. Each strand was miles long and finer than the thinnest silk thread but as strong as steel. When each strand was coiled up, the entire coil was no larger than the palm of a man’s hand.

Yau, who was standing behind Ho Yi, thought, “What will happen if Ho Yi shoots down all the suns? The earth will turn cold and black. How will my people survive?”

He implored the archer god not to shoot down all of the suns, but Ho Yi was too angry to listen to reason. Yau had no recourse but to steal one arrow from Ho Yi’s quiver, so Ho Yi shot down only eight of the suns, using up all of the arrows he had left.

Only one sun was left in the sky, and the temperature quickly cooled down. Black clouds appeared in the sky. Even though Ho Yi’s quiver was empty, the last sun did not know that, and he fled into a black cloud, not daring to emerge.

The clouds grew thicker and thicker, and rain began to fall. When the people saw that it had begun to rain, they rejoiced. Some yelled, some laughed, some sang, and others started to till the fields. Suddenly, the rain increased. The people hailed the archer god with the traditional Chinese chant, “Long live Ho Yi! May he live 10,000 years!”

You could hear their cries everywhere. Ho Yi was their hero. As a reward, Yau gave Ho Yi a strand of hair from the Celestial Ruler’s wife and a golden feather from one of the phoenixes that had fallen from the sky.

But the people could not rest. Poisonous snakes and dreadful beasts still roamed the earth. In the sky flew man-eating birds. Yau begged Ho Yi to eliminate all these fearsome creatures. Altogether, Ho Yi slew many different kinds of monsters of very strange appearance. One looked like a giant ox, with a red body, a human face, and the legs of a horse. With a cry that resembled the wail of a human baby, it would lure its next meal. Ho Yi slew another monster that had the body of a man but the head of a beast. Its teeth were especially long. The ancient books say they were five or six feet long. Despite the fierceness of these creatures, they were no match for Ho Yi’s prowess in archery, and he eliminated them all.

THE CELESTIAL RULER’S DECISION

Ho Yi thought that his work in the human realm was done. He thought he would return to the sky with his wife and resume his life as a celestial spirit. He said to himself, “I have done so many good deeds on earth, the Celestial Ruler should be very pleased with me. I killed eight of his sons, but it wasn’t my fault. It was theirs for not heeding me. In all fairness, surely the Celestial Ruler will understand.”

Ho Yi was wrong. The Celestial Ruler was very angry with Ho Yi and immediately banished him and his wife, Tsang-O, to the human realm. They could not return to the sky.

“But it isn’t fair!” cried Ho Yi. “I did no wrong, why can’t we return?” Behind him, Tsang-O was crying, and Ho Yi suffered greatly. “I have done her harm!” he said to himself. He and Tsang-O were now mere mortals.

Ho Yi’s wife Tsang-O, though beautiful, was a very stubborn woman. When she made up her mind to do something, she would heed no advice or reason. Nonetheless, Ho Yi loved her to distraction. In heaven, they had a very happy marriage, but after being banished to the human realm, Ho Yi was very busy and had no time to spend with Tsang-O. She was very lonely.

She told her husband, “The human realm is unbearably dull compared to the realm of the Celestial Ruler.”

“Don’t worry, Tsang-O. Wait until I finish my business on earth, then we will try to return to the sky,” he would reply to her complaints.

Day after day passed, and Ho Yi’s business seemed interminable. As soon as he had finished one thing, a new matter would arise. He really didn’t mind the work. Every time he heard the people cry, “Long live Ho Yi! May he live 10,000 years!” he felt a deep fulfillment. In the Celestial Realm, he had never been so celebrated.

“Why are you still working? Tell me truly, when can we go back?” Tsang-O asked her husband almost every day.

“I’m almost done. Don’t worry. See how full of suffering these human lives are? How can we leave them this way?” he would reply.

Finally, Ho Yi finished his earthly business. Everything was restored to normal after the recent catastrophic events. Ho Yi was very satisfied with his work. Tsang-O thought that now they could return immediately to the Celestial Realm, and she was happy.

But the Celestial Ruler still refused to let them return. At first, both Ho Yi and Tsang-O suffered greatly. Ho Yi felt that the Celestial Ruler was being unfair. After a time, however, Ho Yi began to feel that life in the human realm wasn’t so bad. He wanted to stay, for he was a big hero. Yau showered him with favors and presents and made him a high-ranking nobleman.

“Because there is no justice for us in the Celestial Realm, why don’t we just stay here?” he would say.

Tsang-O saw things very differently and constantly complained. She couldn’t agree with her husband. She blamed Ho Yi for everything. “I don’t understand, why did you have to kill them?” she would reproachfully ask about the eight suns.

“It wasn’t my fault! You saw them, they were running wild!”

“But they were the Celestial Ruler’s sons!”

“Even so, they should not have been allowed to do whatever they pleased. Didn’t you see how much mankind was suffering?”

“Mankind! That’s all you ever talk about! How can helping mankind enable us to return to the Celestial Realm?” Tsang-O was angry.

“So what if we can’t return? We’re not bad off at all here,” was Ho Yi’s reply.

The more they talked, the angrier they became with each other.

In the end, Ho Yi would storm out of the house. Every day, Tsang-O would stay at home and cry or sulk. Ho Yi couldn’t stand it. Life between the two became unbearable. Every morning, Ho Yi would leave the house and wander he knew not where. Sometimes he stayed away for days.

THE FAIRY OF LO RIVER

One day during his wanderings, Ho Yi accidentally ran into the beautiful goddess of the Lo River, Fu Fei. It was a beautiful autumn morning, and Ho Yi got into his carriage as usual. Deeply preoccupied, he drove and drove until he had reached the Lo River. He suddenly realized that he had traveled very far from home.

“I probably won’t make it home today. Oh well, so what?” Ho Yi asked himself angrily as he thought of the crabby Tsang-O.