Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, or the Inseparable Lovebirds

Once upon a time in China, there lived a girl named Zhu Yingtai. She was beautiful and intelligent—not only could she skillfully paint dragons and embroider phoenixes, but she also knew how to read ancient books and understand Chinese characters.

Yingtai decided to go to the city of Hangzhou to study under a famous teacher and learn wisdom. But how could she go when ancestral customs forbade a girl from traveling alone to distant places? So Yingtai decided to disguise herself as a man. She put on men's clothing and set off on the road to Hangzhou.

When she arrived at the teacher's house, she first bowed before the image of Confucius, then to the teacher himself, and finally greeted the other students.

Among the students was a young man named Liang Shanbo. He immediately took a liking to Yingtai: she was handsome, kind-hearted, and, most importantly, exceptionally diligent in her studies. The two became close friends and were inseparable. Liang Shanbo never suspected that Yingtai was a girl, and she never revealed her secret. It was all the easier to deceive him because he was so absorbed in his studies. The other students also had no clue.

This might have continued if not for the teacher's wife. One day, she said to her husband:

"How have you not noticed that Yingtai is a girl?"

"What makes you think so?" the teacher asked in surprise.

"When men bow before the image of Confucius, they first kneel on their left knee, then on their right, but women do the opposite. Remember how Yingtai, when she first came to the school and bowed to Confucius, knelt on her right knee first! Didn't you notice?"

"Well, that doesn't prove anything!" the teacher replied. "If she had revealed herself in some other way, that would be a different matter."

No matter how much his wife argued, the teacher refused to believe her.

The wife, however, wouldn't let it go. How could her husband not believe her?

One day, she invited Zhu Yingtai to her home, served her wine, and, when the girl, having drunk just a little, became tipsy, she managed to extract the truth from her.

When Yingtai woke up the next morning, she remembered that she had revealed her secret to the teacher's wife. Now she could no longer stay at the school. She told Liang Shanbo that she needed to return home immediately. The young man was heartbroken and tried to persuade his friend to stay. He begged and pleaded a thousand times, but it was all in vain.

Yingtai prepared for the journey. Liang Shanbo decided to accompany her and walked with her. They walked for a long time, unable to part. It was time to say goodbye, but they kept walking. I don't even know how far they went from the city.

Yingtai wanted to reveal the truth to the young man—perhaps he would love her, and they could unite their destinies? But she was too shy to say it outright, so she began to hint and speak in riddles.

She saw two swans flying in the sky and said:

"Look, Brother Shanbo, at those swans flying high above the lake. See how the female swan flies in front, and the male swan follows behind, laughing merrily. How happy they are together!"

Shanbo didn't understand the hint.

They walked a little further. Yingtai said:

"See, Brother Shanbo, that woodcutter coming down the mountain? He's carrying firewood for his wife and children so they can stay warm."

Again, Shanbo didn't understand.

They walked a few more miles, and Yingtai said again:

"Look, Brother Shanbo, two wild geese are circling above us. One flies east, the other west. Geese, geese, why are you parting? It's better to fly forward together."

Once more, Shanbo didn't understand and said resentfully:

"Brother Yingtai, my heart is already heavy thinking about how we'll soon part, and you're talking about birds and woodcutters. Stop it!"

"Alright, if you don't want to hear it, I won't say anything more. It's probably time to say goodbye. Look how far we've come!"

"I can't bear to part with you, Yingtai. Let me walk with you a little longer!"

"Thank you, Brother Shanbo, for your friendship! But now I want to tell you something important. You don't have a fiancée, do you? Well, I have a younger sister who looks just like me and is exceptionally intelligent. She would make a good wife for you. When I return home, I'll talk to my father and arrange for her to marry you. Do you agree? Just come quickly! I'll do my best to make it happen!"

"I'll definitely come!" Shanbo replied eagerly.

They walked on, and soon a small river blocked their path. Yingtai looked at the water, listened to its murmuring, and said:

"Look, Shanbo, how deep this river is. Go quickly to the village and fetch a bamboo pole so we can find a ford and cross to the other side."

While Shanbo went to the village, Yingtai crossed to the other bank.

Shanbo returned with the pole, panting, but Yingtai was already on the other side.

"Why didn't you wait for me, Brother Yingtai?"

"Forgive me, Brother Shanbo, but it's time for us to part. Don't accompany me any further; turn back. Just don't forget your promise—come quickly."

Yingtai returned home. Time flowed like water in a river. One morning, Liang Shanbo remembered his friend's words about her sister and his promise. He quickly prepared and set off on his journey.

When he arrived at Yingtai's house, he knocked on the gate and announced who he was and why he had come.

Shanbo was seated in the main hall. He waited and waited, but his friend didn't come. It turned out that Yingtai's parents had already arranged her marriage against her will. It was too painful for her to see her friend, so she didn't come.

Shanbo had hoped and dreamed of their meeting. All in vain. The young man lost his patience, became angry, and forgot all propriety, even that "three times seven is twenty-one." He made a scene, smashing all the dishes in the hall.

Yingtai had no choice but to come out to him.

Only then did Shanbo realize that his friend was not a young man but a girl, as beautiful as a heavenly fairy, and that she had no younger sister. He looked at her sadly and asked:

"Do you remember our agreement when we parted?"

"Ah! Didn't I tell you to come quickly? You came too late. We must forget each other. My parents have given me away to the Ma family. We will never see each other again!"

Shanbo said nothing, only exclaimed, "Ah!" and, nearly crying from grief, set off on his return journey.

The young man returned home and fell ill with a sickness caused by unrequited love, called *xiangsibing*. No doctor could cure this illness. When his time came, Shanbo asked his mother to go to Zhu Yingtai and ask if she knew of any sure remedy.

The girl listened to the old woman and replied sadly:

"Only the horns of an old dragon can cure this illness."

The mother relayed Yingtai's words to her son, and the young man understood that he could not be saved from death.

He accepted his fate and said to his mother:

"Bury me by the road that leads from Zhu's house to Ma's house."

He said this and bid farewell to the world of the living.

The day of Zhu Yingtai's wedding arrived. The groom, smug and self-important, went out to meet the wedding palanquin at the gate. But he waited in vain for his bride. As the bearers carried the palanquin past Shanbo's grave, the girl suddenly ordered:

"Stop!"

At that moment, she leaped out of the palanquin and bowed several times before the grave.

A soft rustling sound was heard, and the grave suddenly opened. The girl jumped into it. The bearers rushed after her, but they were too late—the grave closed, and all they had left was a piece of Yingtai's skirt. They threw the scrap on the ground, and it turned into a butterfly. The wind caught the butterfly and carried it high into the sky.

The bearers brought the empty palanquin to the groom. Enraged, the groom began to beat the servants indiscriminately and went to the grave, ordering them to dig it up. When they opened the grave, they found no one inside. Only two lovebirds, *yuanyang*, flew out of the grave and perched on a tree near the Ma house. One bird sang merrily:

"Ma, the rich lord!
Why do you sit alone?
You took a bride yesterday,
It's time to lead her to the temple."

The other bird joined in:

"Shame, shame, Ma the groom,
Why is your house so quiet?
No guests, no wine,
Where is your wife now?"

When Ma heard the birds mocking him, he couldn't bear the shame and threw himself into the river.

To this day, a fish called the "yellow-scaled fish" lives in that river. It is said that the groom Ma turned into that fish.

More fairy tales

• The Grateful Tigress
• The Greedy Landowner
• The Tale of the Spotted Calf
• How the Mountain Mouse and the City Mouse Visited Each Other
• Zun - The Long Day