Once upon a time, there were no rivers in China. There were four dragons. The black dragon, yellow dragon, long dragon, and pearl dragon. One day they heard a child crying. When they went to investigate, they found villagers starving in a drought.
The villagers prayed for rain.
The dragons visited the emperor of the gods in his cloud palace and asked him to make it rain.
The selfish emperor said he would get around to it next week.
Another week passed and the villagers suffered even more.
The dragons decided to help, even if it would make the emperor cross. They took water from the sea and sprayed it into the clouds.
When it rained, the villagers were overjoyed.
The furious emperor summoned the dragons to the palace. "How dare you give the villagers rain?" he shouted. "That's my job. Not yours!"
He was so angry, he got the mountain god to trap the four dragons under four mountains.
The dragons worked their magic and turned themselves into rivers. The black dragon became the Heilongjiang in the far north. The yellow dragon became the Huang He of central China. The long dragon became the Yangzi Jiang farther south and the pearl dragon became the southern most river of all, the Zhujiang. Now, when it doesn't rain, the people still have water. All thanks to the four dragons.
Remember storytellers, you have access to the exemplar if you're feeling stuck. Simply click below to see the original story and the way language is used to tell the story.
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