Seven Brothers

In ancient times, there was a small village nestled at the foot of high mountains by the shore of an endless sea. An old man lived there with his seven sons. The sons were tall, strong, and well-built. The eldest was called Zhuang-shi — Extraordinary Strength, the second Gua-feng — Blow Away the Wind, the third Te-han — Iron Lad, the fourth Bu Pa-zhe — Heat Doesn’t Bother Him, the fifth Gao-tui — Long Leg, the sixth Da-jiao — Big Foot, and the seventh Da-kou — Big Mouth.

One day, the old man said to his sons:

"Our village is in an inconvenient place. If you go west, there are high mountains; if you turn east, there’s the endless sea. It’s as if we can’t even step out of the gate! If only you could move the mountains and the sea a little."

The sons agreed and went in different directions: some to the west, others to the east. The old man waited a while, then stepped outside the gate and looked around: neither the mountains nor the sea were there anymore. In all four directions, a plain stretched out, the black soil gleaming — neither loose nor sticky, neither wet nor dry.

Then the old man said to his sons:

"It’s a shame to leave such good land empty. We should sow various grains on it."

The sons agreed and began to plow and sow. Soon, crops grew on that plain — more than the eye could see. The wheat, like golden treasure, was almost ripe, and the millet stretched toward the sky, shining like gold. The old man and his sons looked at it with joy. Little did they know that this bounty would turn into misfortune for them.

Word of this fertile land reached the emperor himself in the capital. He sent officials with an order to take all the grain for the imperial treasury.

The old man grew sorrowful, sighed, and said to his sons:

"My children, we won’t see good days anymore. The emperor’s stomach is like a bottomless well — no matter how much you pour into it, it’s never enough. If we submit, we’ll spend our lives working like oxen for him, hauling loads like beasts."

At this, all seven sons grew angry and said in unison:

"Don’t worry, Father. We’ll seek justice and go to the emperor in the capital."

As the brothers approached the city walls, the generals guarding the gates saw them. Terrified, they quickly locked the gates, slid iron bolts into place, and secured them with huge, creaking locks. Then they hid in the towers.

The brothers reached the gates, and the eldest, Extraordinary Strength, shouted:

"Open the gates! We’ve come to the capital to seek justice from the emperor!"

The generals trembled with fear, peeked out, and said:

"Since when do common peasants reason with the emperor?"

The eldest brother grew angry, shoved the gates, and with a loud crash, the gates and towers collapsed. Dust rose in a column to the sky, bricks and stones tumbled down — some rolling one way, others the opposite — and crushed all the generals.

The seven brothers entered the city and approached the palace gates. They, too, were tightly locked: not a crack or crevice to be seen. Then the second brother, Blow Away the Wind, said to the eldest:

"Rest a bit, I’ll do the shouting."

He stretched his neck and shouted:

"Open the gates! We’ve come to the capital to seek justice from the emperor!"

He shouted and shouted, but no one answered. Enraged, he took a deep breath and blew! A hurricane-force wind swept through; the gates didn’t just shake — the stone pillars with dragons toppled instantly. The courtiers and military leaders were terrified and didn’t dare show themselves. The seven brothers approached the emperor’s chambers unhindered. Then the third brother, Iron Lad, said to the second:

"Rest, brother. I’ll go talk to the emperor."

He headed toward the emperor’s chambers. The emperor, pale with fear, quickly said:

"Since when does a peasant speak to the emperor? Drive him away and cut off his head!"

Hearing this, Iron Lad laughed and replied:

"Your Majesty, first take a look at my hands!"

He wanted to show his hand to one of the generals but accidentally struck a gleaming sword right at its tip. A loud clang rang out, sparks flew in all directions, and the sword shattered into four, no, five pieces. The emperor, terrified, tumbled off his throne. The courtiers rushed to lift him and barely managed to drag him to the inner chambers. Seeing that he couldn’t kill the brothers, the emperor ordered them to be burned alive.

In an instant, fiery balls ignited. There were so many of them they couldn’t be counted. Thick smoke billowed toward the brothers.

Then the fourth brother, Heat Doesn’t Bother Him, said:

"Step aside and rest. I’ll handle this alone!"

He stepped on a fiery ball, grinned, and said:

"It’s a bit cold. Add more fire!"

The emperor, trembling with fear, immediately ordered a huge army to be gathered and all seven brothers to be thrown into the sea.

Then the fifth brother, Long Leg, said:

"Don’t worry. It’s high time I took a swim in the sea!"

He took one step, then another, and walked straight into the blue sea. The water didn’t even reach his ankles.

The young man shook his head and said:

"How shallow! I can’t even swim properly. Maybe I’ll catch some fish?"

He bent over, grabbed fish from the sea with both hands, and tossed them onto the shore. Black fish, white fish, some a zhang long, others ten zhang, and enormous fish a hundred zhang long — he pulled them all out. A whole pile of fish grew on the shore, as big as a small mountain.

The brothers waited for Long Leg but couldn’t wait any longer. Then the sixth brother, Big Foot, said:

"I’ll go and call him."

He took a step and found himself on the seashore. He said to the fifth brother:

"Looks like you’ve forgotten why we came to the emperor, since you’re busy catching fish!"

Before the sixth brother could finish, the seventh brother, Big Mouth, said:

"The emperor won’t discuss justice. If he does, he’ll stop being the emperor."

Without consulting his brothers, Big Mouth drank the entire sea in one gulp. Then he turned, opened his mouth, and water gushed out in a torrent. The sea waves surged toward the palace, roaring menacingly, toppling the high walls, and drowning the emperor along with his courtiers and generals in the waves.

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Seven Brothers

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