|| A Chinese folktale ||
Once upon a time, long time ago, there were no rivers and lakes on earth, but only the Great Eastern Sea. Four dragons lived in the sea: the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon.
The four dragons emerge from the sea and fly into the sky time to time. One day they soared and dived, playing at hide-and-seek in the clouds.
From the sky, they saw many people on earth gathered, praying, “Please send us rain quickly, God of Heaven, to give our children rice to eat.”
There had been no rain for a long time and the crops had withered.
The dragons took pity on the humans and went to request the all powerful Jade emperor for help.
The Jade Emperor was not pleased to have the dragons disturb him while he was listening to the songs of the fairies. And he did not really care for the humans.
He agreed to send rain just to get them to leave. The four dragons thanked him and left. The Jade Emperor forgot about the matter the minute the dragons left his palace.
Ten days passed, and not a drop of rain. As the people became desperate, some started eating bark of trees, some grass and some ate white clay even if it made them sick.
The four dragons felt very sorry and decided to help the people themselves.
The Yellow dragon suggested, “Let us scoop up water from the sea into our great deep throats and spray into the sky, so that it may fall back towards the earth as rain”.
The others agreed. “But,” the Long Dragon warned after thinking a bit, “we will be punished if the Jade Emperor learns of this.”
“I will do anything to save the people,” the Yellow Dragon said resolutely. “Then let’s begin. We will never regret it,” said Long Dragon.The Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon also nodded vigorously.
They flew to the sea, scooped up water in their mouths, and then flew back into the sky, where they sprayed the water out over the earth.
The four dragons flew back and forth, beyond the clouds, their shadows made regular clouds look like rain clouds. Before long the sea water became rain pouring down from the sky.
“It’s raining! It’s raining! The crops will be saved!” the people cried and leaped with joy. On the ground seeds began to germinate. Paddy and sorghum began to grow and flourish.
The god of the sea noticed these events and reported to the Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor was enraged that the dragons acted without his permission. he ordered the mountain god to make four great mountain prisons fit to hold the dragons. The mountain god got them ready.
The Jade emperor then launched an attack on the dragons with his army. The four dragons were outnumbered and could not defend themselves against the Jade emperor’s army, and they were soon arrested and imprisoned for all time.
Imprisoned as they were, they never regretted their actions.
Determined to do good for the people forever, they turned themselves into four rivers, which originated in the mountains, flowed past high hills and deep valleys, crossing the land from the west to the east and finally emptying into the sea.
And so China’s four great rivers were formed the Heilongjian (Black Dragon) in the far north, the Huanghe (Yellow River) in central China, the Changjiang (Yangtze, or Long River) farther south, and the Zhujiang (Pearl) in the very far south.
And dragons came to be celebrated as an important part of Chinese culture and heritage.
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