Once upon a time he saw a raven, who alighted on a tree with a piece
of meat in his beak. The fox seated himself beneath the tree, looked
up at him, and began to praise him.
"Your color," he began, "is pure black. This proves to me that you
possess all the wisdom of Laotzse, who knows how to shroud his
learning in darkness. The manner in which you manage to feed your
mother shows that your filial affection equals that which the Master
Dsong had for his parents. Your voice is rough and strong. It proves
that you have the courage with which King Hiang once drove his foes to
flight by the mere sound of his voice. In truth, you are the king of
birds!"
The raven, hearing this, was filled with joy and said: "I thank you! I
thank you!"
And before he knew it, the meat fell to earth from his opened beak.
The fox caught it up, devoured it and then said, laughing: "Make note
of this, my dear sir: if some one praises you without occasion, he is
sure to have a reason for doing so."
Note: Traditionally narrated, it may be taken for
granted that this is simply AEsop's fable in Chinese
dress. The manner of presentation is characteristically
Chinese. For "the wisdom of Laotzse" compare, p. 30,
"The Ancient's Book of Wisdom and Life": "Who sees his
light, yet dwells in darkness." Master Dsong was King
Dsi's most faithful pupil, renowned for his piety. The
raven is known in China as "the bird of filial love,"
for it is said that the young ravens bring forth the
food they have eaten from their beaks again, in order to
feed the old birds.
XIV
WHY DOG AND CAT ARE ENEMIES
Once upon a time there was a man and his wife and they had a ring of
gold. It was a lucky ring, and whoever owned it always had enough to
live on. But this they did not know, and hence sold the ring for a
small sum. But no sooner was the ring gone than they began to grow
poorer and poorer, and at last did not know when they would get their
next meal. They had a dog and a cat, and these had to go hungry as
well. Then the two animals took counsel together as to how they might
restore to their owners their former good fortune. At length the dog
hit upon an idea.
"They must have the ring back again," he said to the cat.
The cat answered: "The ring has been carefully locked up in the
chest, where no one can get at it."
"You must catch a mouse," said the dog, "and the mouse must gnaw a
hole in the chest and fetch out the ring. And if she does not want to,
say that you will bite her to death, and you will see that she will do
it."
This advice pleased the cat, and she caught a mouse. Then she wanted
to go to the house in which stood the chest, and the dog came after.
They came to a broad river. And since the cat could not swim, the dog
took her on his back and swam across with her. Then the cat carried
the mouse to the house in which the chest stood. The mouse gnawed a
hole in the chest, and fetched out the ring. The cat put the ring in
her mouth and went back to the river, where the dog was waiting for
her, and swam across with her. Then they started out together for
home, in order to bring the lucky ring to their master and mistress.
But the dog could only run along the ground; when there was a house in
the way he always had to go around it. The cat, however, quickly
climbed over the roof, and so she reached home long before the dog,
and brought the ring to her master.
Then her master said to his wife: "What a good creature the cat is! We
will always give her enough to eat and care for her as though she were
our own child!"
But when the dog came home they beat him and scolded him, because he
had not helped to bring home the ring again. And the cat sat by the
fireplace, purred and said never a word. Then the dog grew angry at
the cat, because she had robbed him of his reward, and when he saw her
he chased her and tried to seize her.
And ever since that day cat and dog are enemies.
Note: "Why Dog and Cat are Enemies." This fairy-tale is
given in the current popular version.
LEGENDS OF THE GODS
XV
HOW THE FIVE ANCIENTS BECAME MEN
Before the earth was separated from the heavens, all there was was a
great ball of watery vapor called chaos. And at that time the spirits
of the five elemental powers took shape, and became the five Ancients.
The first was called the Yellow Ancient, and he was the ruler of the
earth. The second was called the Red Lord, and he was the ruler of the
fire. The third was called the Dark Lord, and he was the ruler of the
water. The fourth was known as the Wood Prince, and he was the ruler
of the wood. The fifth was called the Mother of Metals, and ruled over
them. These five Ancients set all their primal spirit into motion, so
that water and earth sank down. The heavens floated upward, and the
earth grew firm in the depths. Then they allowed the waters to gather
into rivers and seas, and hills and plains made their appearance. So
the heavens opened and the earth was divided. And there were sun, moon
and all the stars, wind, clouds, rain, and dew. The Yellow Ancient set
earth's purest power spinning in a circle, and added the effect of
fire and water thereto. Then there came forth grasses and trees, birds
and beasts, and the tribes of the serpents and insects, fishes and
turtles. The Wood Prince and the Mother of Metals combined light and
darkness, and thus created the human race as men and women. And thus
the world gradually came to be.
At that time there was one who was known as the True Prince of the
Jasper Castle. He had acquired the art of sorcery through the
cultivation of magic. The five Ancients begged him to rule as the
supreme god. He dwelt above the three and thirty heavens, and the
Jasper Castle, of white jade with golden gates, was his. Before him
stood the stewards of the eight-and-twenty houses of the moon, and the
gods of the thunders and the Great Bear, and in addition a class of
baneful gods whose influence was evil and deadly. They all aided the
True Prince of the Jasper Castle to rule over the thousand tribes
under the heavens, and to deal out life and death, fortune and
misfortune. The Lord of the Jasper Castle is now known as the Great
God, the White Jade Ruler.
The five Ancients withdrew after they had done their work, and
thereafter lived in quiet purity. The Red Lord dwells in the South as
the god of fire. The Dark Lord dwells in the North, as the mighty
master of the somber polar skies. He lived in a castle of liquid
crystal. In later ages he sent Confucius down upon earth as a saint.
Hence this saint is known as the Son of Crystal. The Wood Prince
dwells in the East. He is honored as the Green Lord, and watches over
the coming into being of all creatures. In him lives the power of
spring and he is the god of love. The Mother of Metals dwells in the
West, by the sea of Jasper, and is also known as the Queen-Mother of
the West. She leads the rounds of the fairies, and watches over change
and growth. The Yellow Ancient dwells in the middle. He is always
going about in the world, in order to save and to help those in any
distress. The first time he came to earth he was the Yellow Lord, who
taught mankind all sorts of arts. In his later years he fathomed the
meaning of the world on the Ethereal Mount, and flew up to the radiant
sun. Under the rule of the Dschou dynasty he was born again as Li
Oerl, and when he was born his hair and beard were white, for which
reason he was called Laotsze, "Old Child." He wrote the book of
"Meaning and Life" and spread his teachings through the world. He is
honored as the head of Taoism. At the beginning of the reign of the
Han dynasty, he again appeared as the Old Man of the River, (Ho Schang
Gung). He spread the teachings of Tao abroad mightily, so that from
that time on Taoism flourished greatly. These doctrines are known to
this day as the teachings of the Yellow Ancient. There is also a
saying: "First Laotsze was, then the heavens were." And that must mean
that Laotsze was that very same Yellow Ancient of primal days.
Note: "How the Five Ancients Became Men." This
fairy-tale, the first of the legends of the gods, is
given in the version current among the people. In it the
five elemental spirits of earth, fire, water, wood and
metal are brought into connection with a creation myth.
"Prince of the Jasper Castle" or "The White Jade Ruler,"
Yu Huang Di, is the popular Chinese synonym for "the
good lord." The phrase "White Jade" serves merely to
express his dignity. All in all, there are 32 other Yu
Huangs, among whom he is the highest. He may be compared
to Indra, who dwells in a heaven that also comprises 33
halls. The astronomic relationship between the two is
very evident.
XVI
THE HERD BOY AND THE WEAVING MAIDEN
The Herd Boy was the child of poor people. When he was twelve years
old, he took service with a farmer to herd his cow. After a few years
the cow had grown large and fat, and her hair shone like yellow gold.
She must have been a cow of the gods.
One day while he had her out at pasture in the mountains, she suddenly
began to speak to the Herd Boy in a human voice, as follows: "This is
the Seventh Day. Now the White Jade Ruler has nine daughters, who
bathe this day in the Sea of Heaven. The seventh daughter is beautiful
and wise beyond all measure. She spins the cloud-silk for the King and
Queen of Heaven, and presides over the weaving which maidens do on
earth. It is for this reason she is called the Weaving Maiden. And if
you go and take away her clothes while she bathes, you may become her
husband and gain immortality."
"But she is up in Heaven," said the Herd Boy, "and how can I get
there?"
"I will carry you there," answered the yellow cow.
So the Herd Boy climbed on the cow's back. In a moment clouds began to
stream out of her hoofs, and she rose into the air. About his ears
there was a whistling like the sound of the wind, and they flew along
as swiftly as lightning. Suddenly the cow stopped.
"Now we are here," said she.
Then round about him the Herd Boy saw forests of chrysophrase and
trees of jade. The grass was of jasper and the flowers of coral. In
the midst of all this splendor lay a great, four-square sea, covering
some five-hundred acres. Its green waves rose and fell, and fishes
with golden scales were swimming about in it. In addition there were
countless magic birds who winged above it and sang. Even in the
distance the Herd Boy could see the nine maidens in the water. They
had all laid down their clothes on the shore.
"Take the red clothes, quickly," said the cow, "and hide away with
them in the forest, and though she ask you for them never so sweetly
do not give them back to her until she has promised to become your
wife."
Then the Herd Boy hastily got down from the cow's back, seized the red
clothes and ran away. At the same moment the nine maidens noticed him
and were much frightened.
"O youth, whence do you come, that you dare to take our clothes?" they
cried. "Put them down again quickly!"
But the Herd Boy did not let what they said trouble him; but crouched
down behind one of the jade trees. Then eight of the maidens hastily
came ashore and drew on their clothes.
"Our seventh sister," said they, "whom Heaven has destined to be
yours, has come to you. We will leave her alone with you."
The Weaving Maiden was still crouching in the water.
But the Herd Boy stood before her and laughed.
"If you will promise to be my wife," said he, "then I will give you
your clothes."
But this did not suit the Weaving Maiden.
"I am a daughter of the Ruler of the Gods," said she, "and may not
marry without his command. Give back my clothes to me quickly, or else
my father will punish you!"
Then the yellow cow said: "You have been destined for each other by
fate, and I will be glad to arrange your marriage, and your father,
the Ruler of the Gods, will make no objection. Of that I am sure."
The Weaving Maiden replied: "You are an unreasoning animal! How could
you arrange our marriage?"
The cow said: "Do you see that old willow-tree there on the shore?
Just give it a trial and ask it. If the willow tree speaks, then
Heaven wishes your union."
And the Weaving Maiden asked the willow.
The willow replied in a human voice:
"This is the Seventh day,
The Herd Boy his court to the Weaver doth pay!"
and the Weaving Maiden was satisfied with the verdict. The Herd Boy
laid down her clothes, and went on ahead. The Weaving Maiden drew them
on and followed him. And thus they became man and wife.
But after seven days she took leave of him.
"The Ruler of Heaven has ordered me to look after my weaving," said
she. "If I delay too long I fear that he will punish me. Yet, although
we have to part now, we will meet again in spite of it."
When she had said these words she really went away. The Herd Boy ran
after her. But when he was quite near she took one of the long needles
from her hair and drew a line with it right across the sky, and this
line turned into the Silver River. And thus they now stand, separated
by the River, and watch for one another.
And since that time they meet once every year, on the eve of the
Seventh Day. When that time comes, then all the crows in the world of
men come flying and form a bridge over which the Weaving Maiden
crosses the Silver River. And on that day you will not see a single
crow in the trees, from morning to night, no doubt because of the
reason I have mentioned. And besides, a fine rain often falls on the
evening of the Seventh Day. Then the women and old grandmothers say to
one another: "Those are the tears which the Herd Boy and the Weaving
Maiden shed at parting!" And for this reason the Seventh Day is a rain
festival.
To the west of the Silver River is the constellation of the Weaving
Maiden, consisting of three stars. And directly in front of it are
three other stars in the form of a triangle. It is said that once the
Herd Boy was angry because the Weaving Maiden had not wished to cross
the Silver River, and had thrown his yoke at her, which fell down just
in front of her feet. East of the Silver River is the Herd Boy's
constellation, consisting of six stars. To one side of it are
countless little stars which form a constellation pointed at both ends
and somewhat broader in the middle. It is said that the Weaving Maiden
in turn threw her spindle at the Herd Boy; but that she did not hit
him, the spindle falling down to one side of him.
Note: "The Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden" is retold
after an oral source. The Herd Boy is a constellation in
Aquila, the Weaving Maiden one in Lyra. The Silver River
which separates them is the Milky Way. The Seventh Day
of the seventh month is the festival of their reunion.
The Ruler of the Heavens has nine daughters in all, who
dwell in the nine heavens. The oldest married Li Dsing
(comp. "Notscha," No. 18); the second is the mother of
Yang Oerlang (comp. No. 17); the third is the mother of
the planet Jupiter (comp. "Sky O'Dawn," No. 34); and the
fourth dwelt with a pious and industrious scholar, by
name of Dung Yung, whom she aided to win riches and
honor. The seventh is the Spinner, and the ninth had to
dwell on earth as a slave because of some transgression
of which she had been guilty. Of the fifth, the sixth
and the eighth daughters nothing further is known.
XVII
YANG OERLANG
The second daughter of the Ruler of Heaven once came down upon the
earth and secretly became the wife of a mortal man named Yang. And
when she returned to Heaven she was blessed with a son. But the Ruler
of Heaven was very angry at this desecration of the heavenly halls. He
banished her to earth and covered her with the Wu-I hills. Her son,
however, Oerlang by name, the nephew of the Ruler of Heaven, was
extraordinarily gifted by nature. By the time he was full grown he had
learned the magic art of being able to control eight times nine
transformations. He could make himself invisible, or could assume the
shape of birds and beasts, grasses, flowers, snakes and fishes, as he
chose. He also knew how to empty out seas and remove mountains from
one place to another. So he went to the Wu-I hills and rescued his
mother, whom he took on his back and carried away. They stopped to
rest on a flat ledge of rock.
Then the mother said: "I am very thirsty!"
Oerlang climbed down into the valley in order to fetch her water, and
some time passed before he returned. When he did his mother was no
longer there. He searched eagerly, but on the rock lay only her skin
and bones, and a few blood-stains. Now you must know that at that time
there were still ten suns in the heavens, glowing and burning like
fire. The Daughter of Heaven, it is true, was divine by nature; yet
because she had incurred the anger of her father and had been banished
to earth, her magic powers had failed her. Then, too, she had been
imprisoned so long beneath the hills in the dark that, coming out
suddenly into the sunlight, she had been devoured by its blinding
radiance.
When Oerlang thought of his mother's sad end, his heart ached. He took
two mountains on his shoulders, pursued the suns and crushed them to
death between the mountains. And whenever he had crushed another
sun-disk, he picked up a fresh mountain. In this way he had already
slain nine of the ten suns, and there was but one left. And as Oerlang
pursued him relentlessly, he hid himself in his distress beneath the
leaves of the portulacca plant. But there was a rainworm close by who
betrayed his hiding-place, and kept repeating: "There he is! There he
is!"
Oerlang was about to seize him, when a messenger from the Ruler of the
Heaven suddenly descended from the skies with a command: "Sky, air and
earth need the sunshine. You must allow this one sun to live, so that
all created beings may live. Yet, because you rescued your mother, and
showed yourself to be a good son, you shall be a god, and be my
bodyguard in the Highest Heaven, and shall rule over good and evil in
the mortal world, and have power over devils and demons." When Oerlang
received this command he ascended to Heaven.
Then the sun-disk came out again from beneath the portulacca leaves,
and out of gratitude, since the plant had saved him, he bestowed upon
it the gift of a free-blooming nature, and ordained that it never need
fear the sunshine. To this very day one may see on the lower side of
the portulacca leaves quite delicate little white pearls. They are the
sunshine that remained hanging to the leaves when the sun hid under
them. But the sun pursues the rainworm, when he ventures forth out of
the ground, and dries him up as a punishment for his treachery.
Since that time Yang Oerlang has been honored as a god. He has
oblique, sharply marked eyebrows, and holds a double-bladed,
three-pointed sword in his hand. Two servants stand beside him, with a
falcon and a hound; for Yang Oerlang is a great hunter. The falcon is
the falcon of the gods, and the hound is the hound of the gods. When
brute creatures gain possession of magic powers or demons oppress men,
he subdues them by means of the falcon and hound.
Note: Yang Oerlang is a huntsman, as is indicated by his
falcon and hound. His Hound of the Heavens, literally
"the divine, biting hound" recalls the hound of Indra.
The myth that there were originally ten suns in the
skies, of whom nine were shot down by an archer, is also
placed in the period of the ruler Yau. In that story the
archer is named Hou I, or I (comp. No. 19). Here,
instead of the shooting down of the suns with arrows, we
have the Titan motive of destruction with the mountains.
XVIII
NOTSCHA
The oldest daughter of the Ruler of Heaven had married the great
general Li Dsing. Her sons were named Gintscha, Mutscha and Notscha.
But when Notscha was given her, she dreamed at night that a Taoist
priest came into her chamber and said: "Swiftly receive the Heavenly
Son!" And straightway a radiant pearl glowed within her. And she was
so frightened at her dream that she awoke. And when Notscha came into
the world, it seemed as though a ball of flesh were turning in circles
like a wheel, and the whole room was filled with strange fragrances
and a crimson light.
Li Dsing was much frightened, and thought it was an apparition. He
clove the circling ball with his sword, and out of it leaped a small
boy whose whole body glowed with a crimson radiance. But his face was
delicately shaped and white as snow. About his right arm he wore a
golden armlet and around his thighs was wound a length of crimson
silk, whose glittering shine dazzled the eyes. When Li Dsing saw the
child he took pity on him and did not slay him, while his wife began
to love the boy dearly.
When three days had passed, all his friends came to wish him joy. They
were just sitting at the festival meal when a Taoist priest entered
and said: "I am the Great One. This boy is the bright Pearl of the
Beginning of Things, bestowed upon you as your son. Yet the boy is
wild and unruly, and will kill many men. Therefore I will take him as
my pupil to gentle his savage ways." Li Dsing bowed his thanks and the
Great One disappeared.
When Notscha was seven years old he once ran away from home. He came
to the river of nine bends, whose green waters flowed along between
two rows of weeping-willows. The day was hot, and Notscha entered the
water to cool himself. He unbound his crimson silk cloth and whisked
it about in the water to wash it. But while Notscha sat there and
whisked about his scarf in the water, it shook the castle of the
Dragon-King of the Eastern Sea to its very foundations. So the
Dragon-King sent out a Triton, terrible to look upon, who was to find
out what was the matter. When the Triton saw the boy he began to
scold. But the latter merely looked up and said: "What a
strange-looking beast you are, and you can actually talk!" Then the
Triton grew enraged, leaped up and struck at Notscha with his ax. But
the latter avoided the blow, and threw his golden armlet at him. The
armlet struck the Triton on the head and he sank down dead.
Notscha laughed and said: "And there he has gone and made my armlet
bloody!" And he once more sat down on a stone, in order to wash his
armlet. Then the crystal castle of the dragon began to tremble as
though it were about to fall apart. And a watchman also came and
reported that the Triton had been slain by a boy. So the Dragon-King
sent out his son to capture the boy. And the son seated himself on the
water-cleaving beast, and came up with a thunder of great waves of
water. Notscha straightened up and said: "That is a big wave!"
Suddenly he saw a creature rise out of the waves, on whose back sat an
armed man who cried in a loud voice: "Who has slain my Triton?"
Notscha answered: "The Triton wanted to slay me so I killed him. What
difference does it make?" Then the dragon assailed him with his
halberd. But Notscha said: "Tell me who you are before we fight." "I
am the son of the Dragon-King," was the reply. "And I am Notscha, the
son of General Li Dsing. You must not rouse my anger with your
violence, or I will skin you, together with that old mud-fish, your
father!" Then the dragon grew wild with rage, and came storming along
furiously. But Notscha cast his crimson cloth into the air, so that it
flashed like a ball of fire, and cast the dragon-youth from his
breast. Then Notscha took his golden armlet and struck him on the
forehead with it, so that he had to reveal himself in his true form as
a golden dragon, and fall down dead.
Notscha laughed and said: "I have heard tell that dragon-sinews make
good cords. I will draw one out and bring it to my father, and he can
tie his armor together with it." And with that he drew out the
dragon's back sinew and took it home.
In the meantime the Dragon-King, full of fury, had hastened to
Notscha's father Li Dsing and demanded that Notscha be delivered up to
him. But Li Dsing replied: "You must be mistaken, for my boy is only
seven years old and incapable of committing such misdeeds." While they
were still quarreling Notscha came running up and cried: "Father, I'm
bringing along a dragon's sinew for you, so that you may bind up your
armor with it!" Now the dragon broke out into tears and furious
scolding. He threatened to report Li Dsing to the Ruler of the Heaven,
and took himself off, snorting with rage.