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 4 Dragons: A Chinese Tale
The Legend of the Marble Cat
Deep, deep in the rainforest, a very long time ago, a jungle mother gave birth to six, perfect little kittens and the Spirit of the Forest was pleased.
Four of them looked just like their mother, soft and gold and spotted all over, like tiny leopards, a pattern designed by nature to hide them in the deep forest from ancient and fearful enemys who liked kittens for lunch.
The other two, however, were different. They, too, had coats as soft as velvet, but one of them was all gold, as bright as the sun and the other was as white as the full moon! Mother named them Sunlight and Moonbeam.
She named her other kittens more traditional names, names that had been passed from mother cat to daughter cat, on and on, down through the generations: Panthera, Tiger Lily, Orchid and Raven.
Deep in the nest, hidden in the secret glen behind the waterfall, in the thickest part of the rainforest where the trailing orchids bloomed in a wild and colorful profusion, Mother cared for her kittens and worried.
She knew that her son Moonbeam and her daughter Sunshine would soon be exposed to a very dangerous world and with their beautiful, bright coats, they would stand out like lights on the jungle floor, easy for enemies to see.
As the kittens grew and the day approached when they would be venturing from the safety of the den, Mother began to council them in the ways of concealment: To Sunshine and Moonbeam she said: "Now, remember, until you are grown and can run very fast, you must stay under leaves and vines so you will be hidden from above. Never venture into the open jungle unless you can sit in a spot of bright sun or a beam of the full moon, for that is what you look like.
To her spotted children she said: "You must also be cautious, but you may use the pattern of the forest floor as your camouflage. When stalking your prey, move only when they look away and when you freeze in place, your spots will help you to disappear into the sun dappled jungle.
And so it was that the two kittens learned to hide their special beauty, venturing out from beneath the leaves and vines only rarely, while their spotted brothers and sisters came and went as they pleased, carrying their concealment with them. The Spirit of the Forest was pleased.
One bright, sunny day, Mother took her four tiny leopards on a hunting lesson, warning Sunlight and Moonbeam to stay hidden until they returned.
"I don't want to stay here all day." complained Sunshine, "Me either. I want to watch Mother." replied Moonbeam. "Why don't we just creep from plant to plant and keep hidden. She will never know we're there." suggested Sunshine. Off they went, excited to be on an adventure, and, being the good kittens they were, proceeding cautiously as well, remembering all the lessons their mother had taught them.
They could smell the scent of their family and followed it. They scampered on, always under the leaves of low growing plants, while the sunlight painted beautiful, undulating patterns of deep shade on their bright coats.
Suddenly, the smell of danger raised the hairs on their backs and they froze like statues even before they saw the horrible sight. As their eyes adjusted to the pure sunlight, the kittens saw they were at the edge of a brightly lit clearing, filled with dry weeds and golden grasses. Up against a rock wall were their brothers and sisters, cringing in the presence of... Jackel! A very large Jackel! He was in between Mother and her kittens. Mother was crouched and snarling behind him. Everyone knew, Jackels eat kittens!
Glancing back and forth between the kittens and their mother, Jackel sneered and boasted to her, "You know I'm going to get at least one of them, maybe even two. Why, I'll be out of here with my lunch before you can reach me. I just don't know which one to take first. They are all so fat and yummy looking."
Under the cover of a leaf, Sunshine and Moonbeam looked at each other and passed a single thought between them. "Mother's lessons!". They silently circled the small clearing, keeping to the cover of the forest. Now they were on opposite sides of Jackel and entered the dry weeds. Softly. Quietly. Keeping as flat to the ground as the dry, dusty rocks, they inched toward their ancient enemy, each moving only when he turned his attention to gloat to Mother or frighten the kittens. As they neared the Jackel, Mother's crouching posture changed just slightly, subtlety. She knew they were there! She couldn't smell them because they had wisely placed themselves down wind of the enemy, but she could just barely see her bright and beautiful children in the bright sunlight of the field! Intent on the kittens he had cornered, Jackel was oblivious, he never knew what hit him.
Jackel took half a step toward the frightened kittens frozen against the rock face and Wham! The earth before him erupted in a squalling, screaming fury of knives and teeth! Stunned and frightened, Jackel felt Mother's teeth sink deeply into his rear haunches and her claws rack his sides. Slashing, screaming demons were fastened to his head! Leaping madly about the clearing and crashing into trees and rocks, Jackel finally managed to dislodge his attackers and all he could see with the eye that was still open, was the tail end of Mother, as she disappeared into the jungle.
Panthera, Tiger Lily, Orchid and Raven had been stunned by the apparently sudden appearance of their brother and sister, but wasted no time streaking past the besieged Jackel, into the safety of the rainforest. They were followed shortly by Sun, Moon and Mother. Together, they ran swiftly through the jungle, to the safety of their hidden den, in the secret glen, behind the waterfall, in the thickest part of the rainforest where the trailing orchids bloomed.
It had been a miracle. Nothing needed to be said. Mother cleaned her kittens and purred them to sleep.
Sunlight and Moonbeam awoke at dusk, from a deep slumber of complete exhaustion. They crept out of the den, called by a silent summons. There! Under the big tree, or was it part of it? They thought they could see the faint form of the Spirit of the Forest. They knew it was she who had summoned them.
Her voice was like the whisper of the leaves or maybe the passing breeze, but the kittens could hear her plainly in their heads. This was strange, indeed. Not in the time of any ancestor they could remember, had anyone actually seen the Spirit of the Forest, but, oddly, they were not frightened.
She spoke, "You are all my children and I love you. Even the Jackel is one of my children, but it was not his destiny to eat kitten for lunch today. You have performed a selfless act of incredible bravery and shall be rewarded. I give you something you have always wanted, the gift of concealment."
To Moonbeam she said: "You will be a cat of the night: I bless you with the misty shadows of the leaves and vines, falling across your back by the light of the full moon. You will be able to pass by unnoticed in the night jungle."
To Sunshine she said: "You are to be a cat of the day, wearing the deep shadows of the leaves and twisting creepers across your body, letting your glittering sunlit coat sparkle through in bits and swirls. You will be impossible to see in the jungle on a sunny day. Step forward now."
The kittens stepped out from under the leaves they had instinctively stood under and were amazed to see that their coats now had the patterns of the vines and leaves.
As her image and voice began to fade, The Spirit of the Forest said, "From now on, your names will be Secret Sun and Hiding Moon. All of your unspotted descendants will be blessed with these marking as well, to conceal them safely in either sun or moonlight. I am pleased."
To this day, marbled kittens carry with them the patterns of the leaves and vines of that long ago jungle, the reward of their ancestors' uncommon courage: the shadows cast upon them through the trees, by the sun and the moonlight.
Discovered by Susan Dunsworth after countless hours of research, pouring over ancient texts and speaking with cats.
© 2004
funnymady1992 and Star
A very cute video about me and Star, my mare...hope you enjoy the video, as well as the song :)
