2023-10-17 15:27:11來源：魔方格
摘要：中國神話故事是中國古代人們經過長期的社會實踐，在勞動生活的過程中創造出來的一種文學樣式。中國神話故事在民間口耳相傳，它的神奇、瑰麗，
(資料圖)
中國神話故事是中國古代人們經過長期的社會實踐，在勞動生活的過程中創造出來的一種文學樣式，神話故事在民間口耳相傳，它的神奇、瑰麗，反映出無窮的藝術魅力。
Once upon a time, there were no rivers and lakes on earth, but only the Eastern Sea, in which lived four dragons: the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon.
One day the four dragons flew from the sea into the sky. They soared and dived, playing at hide-and-seek in the clouds.
"Come over here quickly!" the Pearl Dragon cried out suddenly.
"What"s up?" asked the other three, looking down in the direction where the Pearl Dragon pointed. On the earth they saw many people putting out fruits and cakes, and burning incense sticks. They were praying! A white-haired woman, kneeling on the ground with a thin boy on her back, murmured:
"Please send rain quickly, God of Heaven, to give our children rice to eat.."
For there had been no rain for a long time. The crops withered, the grass turned yellow and fields cracked under the scorching sun.
"How poor the people are!" said the Yellow Dragon. "And they will die if it doesn"t rain soon."
The Long Dragon nodded. Then he suggested, "Let"s go and beg the Jade Emperor for rain."
So saying, he leapt into the clouds. The others followed closely and flew towards the Heavenly Palace.
Being in charge of all the affairs in heaven, on earth and in the sea, the Jade Emperor was very powerful. He was not pleased to see the dragons rushing in. "Why do you come here instead of staying in the sea and behaving yourselves?"
The Long Dragon stepped forward and said, "The crops on earth are withering and dying, Your Majesty. I beg you to send rain down quickly!"
"All right. You go back first, I"ll send some rain down tomorrow." The Jade Emperor pretended to agree while listening to the songs of the fairies.
"Thanks, Your Majesty!" The four dragons went happily back.
But ten days passed, and not a drop of rain came down.
The people suffered more, some eating bark, some grass roots, some forced to eat white clay when they ran out of bark and grass roots.
Seeing all this, the four dragons felt very sorry, for they knew the Jade Emperor only cared about pleasure, and never took the people to heart. They could only rely on themselves to relieve the people of their miseries. But how to do it?
Seeing the vast sea, the Long Dragon said that he had an idea.
"What is it? Out with it, quickly!" the other three demanded.
"Look, is there not plenty of water in the sea where we live? We should 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."
"Good idea!" The others clapped their hands.
"But," said the Long Dragon after thinking a bit, "We will be blamed if the Jade Emperor learns of this.
"I will do anything to save the people," the Yellow Dragon said resolutely.
"Let"s begin. We will never regret it." The Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon were not to be outdone.
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, making the sky dark all around. Before long the seawater 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 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 was enraged, and ordered the heavenly generals and their troops to arrest the four dragons. Being far outnumbered, the four dragons could not defend themselves, and they were soon arrested and brought back to the heavenly palace.
"Go and get four mountains to lay upon them so that they can never escape!" The Jade Emperor ordered the Mountain God.
The Mountain God used his magic power to make four mountains fly there, whistling in the wind from afar, and pressed them down upon the four dragons.
Imprisoned as they were, they never regretted their actions. Determined to do good for the people forever, they turned themselves into four rivers, which flowed past high mountains 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.
The Taihang and Wangwu Mountains, which had a periphery of seven hundred li and were a hundred thousand feet high, originally lay south of Jizhou and north of Heyang.
The Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain, nearly ninety years of age, lived behind these mountains. He was unhappy about the fact that the mountains blocked his way to the south and he had to walk round them whenever he went our or came back, so he called the whole family together to talk about the matter. " What would you say," he said to them,"if I suggest that all of us work hard to level the two mountains, so as to open a way to places south of Yu Prefecture and the Han River?" Many voices said they agreed to the idea.
But his wife had her doubts. "With your strength," she said, "you could hardly remove a small hill like Kuifu. What could you do with the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains? Besides, where could you deposit the earth and rocks.?"
"Carry them to the shores of the Bohai Sea and north of Yintu," said several people.
The old man, helped by his son and grandson who could carry things, began to break rocks and dig earth, which they carried in baskets and dustbins to the shores of the Bohai Sea. The seven-year-old son of a widow named Jingcheng, one of the old man"s neighbours, came running up to offer his help. One trip to the sea took them a long time: they left in winter and came back in summer.
The Wise Old Man at the River Bend stopped the old man. He laughed and said, "How unwise you are! At your age, old and feeble as you are, you cannot even remove one hair on the mountain, let alone so much earth and so many rocks!"
The Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain heaved a long sign and said, "You are so conceited that you are blind to reason. Even a widow and a child know better than you. When I die, there will be my sons, who will have their sons and grandsons. Those grandsons will have their sons and grandsons, and so on to infinity. But the mountains will not grow. Why is it impossible to level them?" The Wise Old Man at the River Bend could not answer him.
The Old Man"s words were heard by a god with snakes in his hands. He was afraid that the old man would really level the two mountains, and reported the whole thing to the Heavenly God. Moved by the old man"s determination, the Heavenly God ordered the two sons of Kua"ershi to carry the two mountains on their backs and put one east of Shuo and the other south of Yong. After this, there were no more mountains between Jizhou and the Han River.
it is said that there were no men when the sky and the earth were separated. it was nuwa who made men by moulding yellow clay. nthe work was so taxing that her strength was not equal to it. so she dipped a rope into the mud and then lifted it. the mud that dripped from the rope also became men. those made by moulding yellow clay were rich and noble, while those made by lifting the rope were poor and low.
in a ancient times, the four corners of the sky collapsed and the world with its nine regions split open. the sky could not cover all the things under it, nor could the earth carry all the things on it. a great fire raged and would not die out; a fierce flood raced about and could not be checked. savage beasts devoured innocent people; vicious birds preyed on the weak and old.
then nuwa melted rocks of five colours and used them to mend the cracks in the sky. she supported the four corners of the sky with the legs she had cut off from a giant turtle. she killed the black dragon to save the people of j1zhou(1), and blocked the flood with the ashes of reeds.
thus the sky was mended, its four corners lifted, the flood tamed, jizhou pacified, and harmful birds and beasts killed, and the innocent people were able to live on the square earth under the dome of the sky. it was a time when birds, beasts, insects and snakes no longer used their claws or teeth or poisonous stings, for they did not want to catch or eat weaker things.
nuwa"s deeds benefited the heavens above and the earth below. her name was remembered by later generations and her light shone on every creation. now she was traveling on a thunder-chariot drawn by a two-winged dragon and two green hornless dragons, with auspicious objects in her hands and a special mattress underneath, surrounded by golden clouds, a white dragon leading the way and a flying snake following behind. floating freely over the clouds, she took ghosts and gods to the ninth heaven and had an audience with the heavenly emperor at lin men(2) where she rested in peace and dignity under the emperor. she never boasted of her achievements, nor did she try to win any renown; she wanted to conceal her virtues, in line with the ways of the universe.
in the han dynasty in qiancheng lived a man by the name of dong yong. his mother died when he was a child. while living with his father, he worked hard in the fields. each time they went out, he would put his old father on a small cart and follow it on foot. when his father died, he was willing to sell himself into slavery for a little money for the funeral. knowing that he was a virtuous man, his master gave him ten thousand coins and allowed him to go home.
dong was in mourning for three years. when it was over, he decided to return to his master to work as a slave. on his way he met a woman who said to him, "i am willing to marry you." so they went together to his master. "i have given you money," the master said to him. "thanks to your generous help," dong said, "i was able to bury my father. although i am a man of low birth, i know i ought to work for you to repay your kindness." then the master asked, "what is your wife good at?" "she can weave," dong answered. "if you insist on doing something for me," said the master. "please ask your wife to weave a hundred bolts of fine silk for me." dong"s wife set to work in the master"s house. ten days later the hundred bolts were ready.
when she came out, she said to dong, "i am a weaver in heaven. the emperor of heaven ordered me to help you pay your debt because he was moved by your filial piety." after saying these words she flew into the sky and vanished.
