Last week I promised a dragon story for the Lunar New Year of the Dragon. It seems appropriate to hunt for an Asian version for this very Asian celebration.
Usually a book's editor is credited with authorship, but translator, Frederick H. Martens, is often listed for today's story. The original 1921 book edited by Dr. Richard Wilhelm is indexed in the reference classic Index to Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends as being by Martens. Added to that the Dover Children's Thrift Classics adaptation of the book, renamed Chinese Fairy Tales, lists Martens as the author.
The original book merely says Martens "TRANSLATED AFTER ORIGINAL SOURCES" going on to list "
WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY GEORGE W. HOOD." (The Dover version omits Hood's illustrations, substituting their own copyrighted black and white illustrations.)
Gutenberg gives the full original book. Dragons are throughout the book, but especially in the section called NATURE AND ANIMAL TALES. Within that section the dragon stories start with the 43d brief little story of "The Dragon After His Winter Sleep." I was particularly drawn to the final story (number 47) there of "The Disowned Princess." It is one of two dragon tales in the Dover book. I find it an interesting view of dragon society, a society mirroring the old imperial China.
THE DISOWNED PRINCESS
AT the time that the Tang dynasty was reigning
there lived a man named Liu I, who had failed
to pass his examinations for the doctorate. So he
traveled home again. He had gone six or seven miles
when a bird flew up in a field, and his horse shied and
ran ten miles before he could stop him. There he saw
a woman who was herding sheep on a hillside. He
looked at her and she was lovely to look upon, yet her
face bore traces of hidden grief. Astonished, he asked
her what was the matter.
The woman began to sob and said: “Fortune has
forsaken me, and I am in need and ashamed. Since
you are kind enough to ask I will tell you all. I am the
youngest daughter of the Dragon-King of the Sea of
Dungting, and was married to the second son of the
Dragon-King of Ging Dschou. Yet my husband ill-treated
and disowned me. I complained to my step-parents,
but they loved their son blindly and did
nothing. And when I grew insistent they both became
angry, and I was sent out here to herd sheep.”
When she had done, the woman burst into tears and
lost all control of herself. Then she continued: “The
Sea of Dungting is far from here; yet I know that
you will have to pass it on your homeward journey.
I should like to give you a letter to my father, but I
do not know whether you would take it.”
Liu I answered: “Your words have moved my
heart. Would that I had wings and could fly away with
you. I will be glad to deliver the letter to your father.
Yet the Sea of Dungting is long and broad, and how am
I to find him?”
“On the southern shore of the Sea stands an orange-tree,”
answered the woman, “which people call the tree
of sacrifice. When you get there you must loosen
your girdle and strike the tree with it three times in
succession. Then some one will appear whom you
must follow. When you see my father, tell him in
what need you found me, and that I long greatly for
his help.”
Then she fetched out a letter from her breast and
gave it to Liu I. She bowed to him, looked toward the
east and sighed, and, unexpectedly, the sudden tears
rolled from the eyes of Liu I as well. He took the letter
and thrust it in his bag.
Then he asked her: “I cannot understand why you
have to herd sheep. Do the gods slaughter cattle like
men?”
“These are not ordinary sheep,” answered the
woman; “these are rain-sheep.”
“But what are rain-sheep?”
"They are the thunder-rams,” replied the woman.
And when he looked more closely he noticed that these
sheep walked around in proud, savage fashion, quite
different from ordinary sheep.
Liu I added: “But if I deliver the letter for you,
and you succeed in getting back to the Sea of Dungting
in safety, then you must not use me like a stranger.”
The woman answered: “How could I use you as a
stranger? You shall be my dearest friend.”
And with these words they parted.
In course of a month Liu I reached the Sea of
Dungting, asked for the orange-tree and, sure enough,
found it. He loosened his girdle, and struck the tree
with it three times. At once a warrior emerged from
the waves of the sea, and asked: “Whence come you,
honored guest?”
Liu I said: “I have come on an important mission
and want to see the King.”
The warrior made a gesture in the direction of the
water, and the waves turned into a solid street along
which he led Liu I. The dragon-castle rose before
them with its thousand gates, and magic flowers and
rare grasses bloomed in luxurious profusion. The
warrior bade him wait at the side of a great hall.
Liu I asked: “What is this place called?”
“It is the Hall of the Spirits,” was the reply.
Liu I looked about him: all the jewels known to earth
were there in abundance. The columns were of white
quartz, inlaid with green jade; the seats were made of
coral, the curtains of mountain crystal as clear as water,
the windows of burnished glass, adorned with rich
lattice-work. The beams of the ceiling, ornamented
with amber, rose in wide arches. An exotic fragrance
filled the hall, whose outlines were lost in darkness.
Liu I had waited for the king a long time. To all
his questions the warrior replied: “Our master is
pleased at this moment to talk with the priest of the
sun up on the coral-tower about the sacred book of the
fire. He will, no doubt, soon be through.”
Liu I went on to ask: “Why is he interested in the
sacred book of the fire?”
The reply was: “Our master is a dragon. The
dragons are powerful through the power of water.
They can cover hill and dale with a single wave. The
priest is a human being. Human beings are powerful
through fire. They can burn the greatest palaces by
means of a torch. Fire and water fight each other,
being different in their nature. For that reason our
master is now talking with the priest, in order to find
a way in which fire and water may complete each
other.”
Before they had quite finished there appeared a man
in a purple robe, bearing a scepter of jade in his hand.
The warrior said: “This is my master!”
Liu I bowed before him.
The king asked: “Are you not a living human being?
What has brought you here?”
Liu I gave his name and explained: “I have been
to the capital and there failed to pass my examination.
When I was passing by the Ging Dschou River, I
saw your daughter, whom you love, herding sheep in
the wilderness. The winds tousled her hair, and the
rain drenched her. I could not bear to see her trouble
and spoke to her. She complained that her husband
had cast her out and wept bitterly. Then she gave me
a letter for you. And that is why I have come to visit
you, O King!”
With these words he fetched out his letter and handed
it to the king. When the latter had read it, he hid his
face in his sleeve and said with a sigh: “It is my own
fault. I picked out a worthless husband for her. Instead
of securing her happiness I have brought her
to shame in a distant land. You are a stranger and
yet you have been willing to help her in her distress,
for which I am very grateful to you.” Then he once
more began to sob, and all those about him shed tears.
Thereupon the monarch gave the letter to a servant
who took it into the interior of the palace; and soon
the sound of loud lamentations rose from the inner
rooms.
The king was alarmed and turned to an official:
“Go and tell them within not to weep so loudly! I
am afraid that Tsian Tang may hear them.”
“Who is Tsian Tang?” asked Liu I.
“He is my beloved brother,” answered the king.
“Formerly he was the ruler of the Tsian-Tang River,
but now he has been deposed.”
Liu I asked: “Why should the matter be kept from
him?”
“He is so wild and uncontrollable,” was the reply,
“that I fear he would cause great damage. The deluge
which covered the earth for nine long years in the
time of the Emperor Yau was the work of his anger.
Because he fell out with one of the kings of heaven,
he caused a great deluge that rose and covered the tops
of five high mountains. Then the king of heaven grew
angry with him, and gave him to me to guard. I had
to chain him to a column in my palace.”
Before he had finished speaking a tremendous turmoil
arose, which split the skies and made the earth
tremble, so that the whole palace began to rock, and
smoke and clouds rose hissing and puffing. A red
dragon, a thousand feet long, with flashing eyes, blood-red
tongue, scarlet scales and a fiery beard came surging
up. He was dragging along through the air
the column to which he had been bound, together with
its chain. Thunders and lightnings roared and darted
around his body; sleet and snow, rain and hail-stones
whirled about him in confusion. There was a crash
of thunder, and he flew up to the skies and disappeared.
Liu I fell to earth in terror. The king helped him
up with his own hand and said: “Do not be afraid!
That is my brother, who is hastening to Ging Dschou
in his rage. We will soon have good news!”
Then he had food and drink brought in for his guest.
When the goblet had thrice made the rounds, a gentle
breeze began to murmur and a fine rain fell. A youth
clad in a purple gown and wearing a lofty hat entered.
A sword hung at his side. His appearance was manly
and heroic. Behind him walked a girl radiantly beautiful,
wearing a robe of misty fragrance. And when
Liu I looked at her, lo, it was the dragon-princess
whom he had met on his way! A throng of maidens in
rosy garments received her, laughing and giggling,
and led her into the interior of the palace. The king,
however, presented Liu I to the youth and said:
“This is Tsian Tang, my brother!”
Tsian Tang thanked him for having brought the
message. Then he turned to his brother and said:
“I have fought against the accursed dragons and have
utterly defeated them!”
“How many did you slay?”
“Six hundred thousand.”
“Were any fields damaged?”
“The fields were damaged for eight hundred miles
around.”
“And where is the heartless husband?”
“I ate him alive!”
“TSIAN TANG BROUGHT OUT A PLATTER OF RED AMBER
ON WHICH LAY A CARBUNCLE.”
Then the king was alarmed and said: “What the
fickle boy did was not to be endured, it is true. But
[157]
still you were a little too rough with him; in future
you must not do anything of the sort again.” And
Tsian Tang promised not to.
That evening Liu I was feasted at the castle. Music
and dancing lent charm to the banquet. A thousand
warriors with banners and spears in their hands stood
at attention. Trombones and trumpets resounded, and
drums and kettledrums thundered and rattled as the
warriors danced a war-dance. The music expressed
how Tsian Tang had broken through the ranks of the
enemy, and the hair of the guest who listened to it rose
on his head in terror. Then, again, there was heard
the music of strings, flutes and little golden bells.
A thousand maidens in crimson and green silk danced
around. The return of the princess was also told in
tones. The music sounded like a song of sadness and
plaining, and all who heard it were moved to tears.
The King of the Sea of Dungting was filled with joy.
He raised his goblet and drank to the health of his
guest, and all sorrow departed from them. Both rulers
thanked Liu I in verses, and Liu I answered them in
a rimed toast. The crowd of courtiers in the palace-hall
applauded. Then the King of the Sea of Dungting
drew forth a blue cloud-casket in which was the horn
of a rhinoceros, which divides the water. Tsian Tang
brought out a platter of red amber on which lay a
carbuncle. These they presented to their guest, and
the other inmates of the palace also heaped up embroideries,
brocades and pearls by his side. Surrounded
by shimmer and light Liu I sat there, smiling, and
bowed his thanks to all sides. When the banquet was
ended he slept in the Palace of Frozen Radiance.
On the following day another banquet was held.
Tsian Tang, who was not quite himself, sat carelessly
on his seat and said: “The Princess of the Dungting
Sea is handsome and delicately fashioned. She has
had the misfortune to be disowned by her husband, and
to-day her marriage is annulled. I should like to find
another husband for her. If you were agreeable it
would be to your advantage. But if you were not
willing to marry her, you may go your way, and should
we ever meet again we will not know each other.”
Liu I was angered by the careless way in which Tsian
Tang spoke to him. The blood rose to his head and he
replied: “I served as a messenger, because I felt
sorry for the princess, but not in order to gain an advantage
for myself. To kill a husband and carry off a
wife is something an honest man does not do. And
since I am only an ordinary man, I prefer to die rather
than do as you say.”
Tsian Tang rose, apologized and said: “My words
were over-hasty. I hope you will not take them ill!”
And the King of the Dungting Sea also spoke kindly to
him, and censured Tsian Tang because of his rude
speech. So there was no more said about marriage.
On the following day Liu I took his leave, and the
Queen of the Dungting Sea gave a farewell banquet in
his honor.
With tears the queen said to Liu I: “My daughter
owes you a great debt of gratitude, and we have not had
an opportunity to make it up to you. Now you are going
away and we see you go with heavy hearts!”
Then she ordered the princess to thank Liu I.
The princess stood there, blushing, bowed to him and
said: “We will probably never see each other again!”
Then tears choked her voice.
It is true that Liu I had resisted the stormy urging
of her uncle, but when he saw the princess standing before
him in all the charm of her loveliness, he felt sad
at heart; yet he controlled himself and went his way. The treasures which he took with him were incalculable.
The king and his brother themselves escorted
him as far as the river.
When, on his return home, he sold no more than a
hundredth part of what he had received, his fortune
already ran into the millions, and he was wealthier
than all his neighbors. He decided to take a wife, and
heard of a widow who lived in the North with her
daughter. Her father had become a Taoist in his later
years and had vanished in the clouds without ever returning.
The mother lived in poverty with the daughter;
yet since the girl was beautiful beyond measure
she was seeking a distinguished husband for her.
Liu I was content to take her, and the day of the
wedding was set. And when he saw his bride unveiled
on the evening of her wedding day, she looked just like
the dragon-princess. He asked her about it, but she
merely smiled and said nothing.
After a time heaven sent them a son. Then she told
her husband: “To-day I will confess to you that I
am truly the Princess of Dungting Sea. When you had
rejected my uncle’s proposal and gone away, I fell ill
of longing, and was near death. My parents wanted to
send for you, but they feared you might take exception
to my family. And so it was that I married you disguised
as a human maiden. I had not ventured to tell
you until now, but since heaven has sent us a son, I
hope that you will love his mother as well.”
Then Liu I awoke as though from a deep sleep, and
from that time on both were very fond of each other.
One day his wife said: “If you wish to stay with me
eternally, then we cannot continue to dwell in the world
of men. We dragons live ten thousand years, and you
shall share our longevity. Come back with me to the
Sea of Dungting!”
Ten years passed and no one knew where Liu I, who
had disappeared, might be. Then, by accident, a relative
went sailing across the Sea of Dungting. Suddenly
a blue mountain rose up out of the water.
The seamen cried in alarm: “There is no mountain
on this spot! It must be a water-demon!”
While they were still pointing to it and talking, the
mountain drew near the ship, and a gaily-colored boat
slid from its summit into the water. A man sat in
the middle, and fairies stood at either side of him.
The man was Liu I. He beckoned to his cousin, and
the latter drew up his garments and stepped into the
boat with him. But when he had entered the boat it
turned into a mountain. On the mountain stood a
splendid castle, and in the castle stood Liu I, surrounded
with radiance, and with the music of stringed
instruments floating about him.
They greeted each other, and Liu I said to his cousin:
“We have been parted no more than a moment, and
your hair is already gray!”
His cousin answered: “You are a god and blessed:
I have only a mortal body. Thus fate has decreed.”
Then Liu I gave him fifty pills and said: “Each
pill will extend your life for the space of a year. When
you have lived the tale of these years, come to me and
dwell no longer in the earthly world of dust, where
there is nothing but toil and trouble.”
Then he took him back across the sea and disappeared.
His cousin, however, retired from the world, and
fifty years later, and when he had taken all the pills,
he disappeared and was never seen again.
Note: The outcast princess is represented as “herding sheep.” In
Chinese the word sheep is often used as an image for clouds. (Sheep
and goats are designated by the same word in Chinese.) Tsian
Tang is the name of a place used for the name of the god of that
place. The deluge is the flood which the great Yu regulated as minister
of the Emperor Yau. It is here represented in an exaggerated
sense, as a deluge.
****
Like many literary and older stories, I might simplify telling this story getting to the essence of dragons and their society as seen by Chinese of long ago. Dragons were so commonly a part of their thinking that when early paleontologists sought dinosaur bones, people took them to "dragon bones." Dragons in Asia are identified with the weather and especially water. Other aspects also show in this tale, along with my mentioning dragon society was a parallel of the imperial Chinese royal family. This means it would show how a princess in an unsuccessful marriage might be rescued.
With Valentine's Day also this past week, it's an interesting romantic tale for teens and adults without getting too "mushy."
**********************
This
is part of a series of postings of stories under the category,
"Keeping the Public in Public Domain." The idea
behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the
authors and their immediate heirs were compensated. I feel
strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the
20th century. My
own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public
Domain I decided to share stories from them. I hope you enjoy
discovering new stories.
At
the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates
projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an
audience. Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing
of Public Domain stories will not occur that week. This is a return to
my regular posting of a research project here. (Don't worry, this
isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future
storytelling to an audience.) Response has convinced me that "Keeping
the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other
postings as often as I can manage it.
Other
Public Domain story resources I recommend-
There
are many online resources for Public Domain stories, maybe none for
folklore is as ambitious as fellow storyteller, Yoel Perez's
database, Yashpeh,
the International Folktales Collection. I have long
recommended it and continue to do so. He has loaded
Stith Thompson's Motif Index into his server as a database so
you can search the whole 6 volumes for whatever word or expression
you like by pressing one key. http://folkmasa.org/motiv/motif.htm
You may have noticed I'm no
longer certain Dr. Perez has the largest database, although his
offering the Motif Index certainly qualifies for those of us seeking
specific types of stories. There's another site, FairyTalez
claiming to be the largest, with "over 2000 fairy tales,
folktales, and fables" and they are "fully optimized for
phones, tablets, and PCs", free and presented without ads.
Between those two sites, there
is much for story-lovers, but as they say in infomercials, "Wait,
there's more!"
The
email list for storytellers, Storytell,
discussed Online Story Sources and came up with these additional
suggestions:
-
Story-Lovers - http://www.story-lovers.com/ is now only accessible
through the Wayback Machine, described below, but the late Jackie Baldwin's
wonderful site lives on there, fully searchable manually (the Google
search doesn't work), at https://archive.org/ . It's not easy, but go to Story-lovers.com snapshot for December 22 2016 and you can click on SOS: Searching Out Stories to scroll down through the many story topics and click on the story topic that interests you.
- Zalka Csenge Virag - http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com
doesn't give the actual stories, but her recommendations, working her
way through each country on a continent, give excellent ideas for
finding new books and stories to love and tell.
You're
going to find many of the links on these sites have gone down, BUT
go to the Internet Archive
Wayback Machine to find some of these old links. Tim's
site, for example, is so huge probably updating it would be a
full-time job. In the case of Story-Lovers, it's great that
Jackie Baldwin set it up to stay online as long as it did after she
could no longer maintain it. Possibly searches maintained it.
Unfortunately Storytell list member, Papa Joe is on both Tim
Sheppard's site and Story-Lovers, but he no longer maintains his old
Papa Joe's Traveling Storytelling Show website and his Library
(something you want to see!) is now only on the Wayback Machine. It
took some patience working back through claims of snapshots but finally
in December of 2006 it appears!
Somebody
as of this writing whose stories can still be found by his website
is the late Chuck Larkin - http://chucklarkin.com/stories.html.
I prefer to list these sites by their complete address so they can
be found by the Wayback Machine, a.k.a. Archive.org, when that
becomes the only way to find them.
You
can see why I recommend these to you.
Have fun
discovering even more stories
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