The Tale of the Cunning Wu-gen and the Loyal Shi-ye

Once upon a time, there lived two brothers surnamed Wan. Their father and mother had passed away, and they had no wives yet. The brothers gathered firewood in the mountains, and that was how they made their living.

The elder brother was named Wu-gen. People would say about someone like him: "Healthy when it comes to eating, but sickly when it comes to working." They also said: "His tongue is sweet as honey, but his heart is bitter as garlic." Wu-gen was exceedingly lazy and cunning, which is why he was called Wu-gen.

The younger brother was named Shi-ye. He was an exceptionally hardworking, honest, and truthful young man. He always did good for others and never forgot his duty. No one within dozens of miles around could say a bad word about him. And so, the young man was called Shi-yi.

Whenever Shi-yi gathered firewood, he would take it to the city to sell it to the house of the wealthy Mr. Zhang. After delivering the firewood, he would sit on a stone bench in the backyard and wait for his payment. One day, as he sat on the bench, he suddenly noticed a window across from him, covered with light silk, open slightly. A girl of about eighteen years old peeked out. She gazed at the young man with big, clear eyes, like water from a spring.

Her name was Ming-zhu—Pure Pearl. She was the daughter of the wealthy Mr. Zhang. Though she grew up in comfort, she disliked idleness and always worked diligently. She had noticed the young man for some time and had deliberately opened the window that day so he would notice her too.

Shi-yi had never seen such a beauty and fell in love at first sight. "If only I could marry her," he thought, "but these are just empty dreams. She is the daughter of a wealthy man, and I am just a woodcutter."

He took his money and returned home sadly.

A few days later, Shi-yi again carried firewood to Mr. Zhang's house. He sat on the bench as usual and waited for a long time. Suddenly, he saw the window across from him open again, just like before. The beauty peeked out, smiled, and threw a pink handkerchief to him. The young man turned around, tucked the handkerchief into his shirt, smiled at the girl, and ran home happily.

From then on, whenever Shi-yi came to Mr. Zhang's house, the beauty would immediately open the window. The young man and the girl exchanged glances, and when no one was around, they would exchange a few words. Days passed. The girl and the young man fell deeply in love and agreed that Shi-yi would come with firewood every three days until he had a chance to meet Ming-zhu.

One day, just when the young man was supposed to go to the city, he had been working hard in the mountains for a long time. Tired, he lay down to rest under a large green pine tree. He took out the handkerchief from his shirt, looked at it, and felt a sweet sensation in his heart, as if Ming-zhu herself had appeared before him. Lost in his dreams, he didn't notice how much time had passed.

Meanwhile, Ming-zhu waited and waited for the young man, and her anxiety grew. She opened the window and looked out into the courtyard.

Suddenly, a whirlwind swept through, filling people's eyes with sand and dust. Following the whirlwind came a Black Eagle, which grabbed Ming-zhu with its iron claws and flew away.

The eagle flew to the mountains, grew tired, and landed on a pine tree. Coincidentally, Shi-yi was sleeping under that very tree. In his sleep, he heard someone crying. Surprised, he raised his head. He saw a black monster, a full zhang in length, sitting on the branches—neither bird nor beast, hard to tell—and in its claws was a girl in red clothing. Enraged, Shi-yi grabbed a carrying pole, jumped up, and struck the eagle, breaking its wing and leg.

The eagle let out a terrible roar, tightened its grip on the girl, flapped its broken wing, and flew away. Shi-yi chased after it.

The young man ran for a long time, but the eagle flew to a cave at the top of a steep mountain. With its beak, it moved a huge stone—hidden by tall grass—and disappeared into the cave with the girl, blocking the entrance with the stone.

Shi-yi ran to the cave and tried to lift the stone, but it wouldn't budge.

The sun was about to set behind the mountain. The young man returned to the pine tree, picked up his bundles of firewood, and went home. "I must call my elder brother," he thought. "Together, maybe we can move the stone and rescue the girl."

When Shi-yi returned home, Wu-gen said to him:

"I heard in the city today, when I went shopping, that the daughter of Mr. Zhang was carried off by an eagle. No one knows where she is. Posters are hung all over the city: 'Whoever can tell where Miss Ming-zhu is will be rewarded with two hundred taels of silver. And whoever rescues her and brings her home will marry her and receive twenty thousand taels of gold as a dowry.' Ah, it's a pity I don't know where the young lady is."

Shi-yi realized that the girl taken by the eagle was Ming-zhu. He told his brother everything that had happened and asked for his help to rescue his beloved. Wu-gen was delighted, nodded his head, and said:

"Hey! Congratulations, brother! This time, fortune and happiness will come to our house. We must go to the city immediately and tell her father everything."

Shi-yi replied:

"I don't need gold or silver. Why should I go to the city? Let's think about how to save Ming-zhu."

Then Wu-gen spoke differently:

"Even if you don't need gold, we should still reassure her poor parents and tell them where their daughter is. If you don't want to go, I'll go myself." With that, Wu-gen lit a lantern.

He hurried to the wealthy man's house to tell everything he knew about his daughter.

Wu-gen was known in Mr. Zhang's house, as he sometimes brought firewood there too. He sat on a bench and began to lie: he claimed he had seen the bird, chased it, but couldn't catch it. He didn't say where the eagle's cave was but promised to bring the young lady home in a few days.

Wu-gen returned from the city the next morning. The brothers took a large willow basket, a rope, a log, and set off for the mountains. They reached the summit, approached the cave, and both pushed against the stone! They managed to move the stone. They secured the log at the cave entrance, tied the basket to it, and Shi-yi, with an axe at his belt, sat in the basket. Wu-gen slowly lowered him down until he reached the bottom of the cave. Shi-yi climbed out of the basket, firmly holding the axe, and began to feel his way through the darkness. He walked and walked until he saw light ahead and a path paved with gravel. On both sides of the path were piles of bones. Shi-yi looked at this and felt anger rising: "How many lives has this cursed bird destroyed? I won't rest until I destroy it!" He walked further and saw a dark, gloomy forest ahead. In the forest was a black house, and it was as quiet as a grave, with no sound to be heard. Shi-yi hid behind a tall tree and looked around. He saw a fence, and near the fence was a stone. On the stone sat a girl, crying. The girl raised her head. Shi-yi looked closely—it was Ming-zhu! Overjoyed, the young man stepped out from behind the tree and called softly:

"Ming-zhu!"

The girl saw Shi-yi, rushed to him, and wept.

"How did you get here?" she asked.

Shi-yi quickly told her everything that had happened. Then he asked about the eagle.
— Someone broke the eagle's wing and leg yesterday. Now it lies there, groaning. Last night, it got up and drank some kind of potion. "Wait," it said, "once I recover, we'll get married." It will devour me if I resist. And it will take revenge on people for this. It will devour all the dogs and chickens within a hundred and fifty li around...

Before the girl could finish her story, the young man whispered in her ear:

— It was I who crippled the eagle. It still threatens revenge! But I will kill the monster so it can no longer harm people. I have figured out how to do it, but you must help me.

Min-zhu nodded her head and disappeared into the house. Shi-yi took an axe, approached the window, and looked inside—there lay a young man on the bed, his face black, with a sharp beak instead of a mouth. His leg was bandaged, and he was groaning loudly. Shi-yi realized that this was the cursed eagle. He gritted his teeth in anger and gripped the axe even tighter.

Meanwhile, Min-zhu approached the eagle and said softly:

— Lie on your back, and I'll give you the potion. Once you recover, we'll get married.

The eagle was delighted.

— Alright, — it said, — I'll turn over now.

It lay on its back. Meanwhile, Shi-yi sneaked into the house, crept up to the eagle, raised the axe, swung it, and struck! He killed the vile creature.

Shi-yi and Min-zhu began to make their way out of the cave. They approached the exit. The basket and rope were still in place. The young man placed Min-zhu in the basket and signaled to Wu-gen. Wu-gen began to pull the rope and lifted the basket to the surface. Wu-gen took a liking to the beauty and began to plot evil. He thought, "I'll get rid of Shi-yi and take the girl as my wife."

Wu-gen lowered the basket down, waited for Shi-yi to give him the signal, and then pulled the rope. He had pulled the basket more than halfway up when he deliberately let go of the rope and shouted:

— Oh no! The rope broke! I'll run home and fetch another one.

He descended the mountain, leading Min-zhu with him. When they reached the middle of the mountain, the elder brother said to Min-zhu:

— Oh no! I left something by the cave. Wait here, I'll run back and return in a moment.

Wu-gen ran to the cave and began to block the entrance with stones.

He thought his brother had fallen to his death. But Shi-yi was still alive. He climbed out of the basket and looked around: the pit was deep, with sheer walls. He began to think about how to escape from the pit. Suddenly, stones came crashing down from above. Shi-yi then realized that his elder brother had plotted against him. Now there was no way to climb out. So Shi-yi went deeper into the cave.

Shi-yi wandered through the cave, searching for a way out. But all he saw were stone walls. Suddenly, he heard someone cry out:

— Brother Shi-yi! Save me!

He approached and saw a huge carp, more than three chi long, nailed to the wall with three nails.

Shi-yi asked:

— Who nailed you to the wall?

— The eagle did. I am the third son of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. I was frolicking in the water when the eagle seized me, carried me away, and nailed me to the wall. It would have eaten me, but someone injured its leg when it kidnapped a girl. Save me, young man!

Shi-yi took pity on the carp, carefully removed the nails from its body, and freed the poor creature. The carp flipped three times and transformed into a handsome young man. The young man began to thank Shi-yi.

Shi-yi said:

— Don't thank me. Instead, tell me how to get out of this cave. You are the son of the Dragon King and must know the way.

— Getting out of here is not difficult at all! Close your eyes and lie on my back.

Shi-yi did as he was told. The wind howled and whistled in his ears: woo-woo. Before he knew it, he heard:

— Hey! Open your eyes!

The young man opened his eyes and saw a smooth road stretching before him. On either side of the road were green grass and bright flowers. In an emerald forest, a golden house gleamed. The young man had never seen such beauty and asked:

— Where have we come to?

The prince laughed and said:

— The eagle's cave is now far, far behind us. This is the palace of the Dragon King. Be my guest, brother, come in, even if just for a little while!
— I cannot, — replied Shi-i, — I need to find out what has happened to the girl I saved. I beg you, brother, take me home quickly!

The son of the Dragon King answered:

— You are my guest and must first see the palace.

"When will I ever get the chance to visit the palace of the Dragon King again?" thought Shi-i. "I have already rescued Min-zhu, so I can stay here for a while." Thinking this, Shi-i followed the young man into the palace.

They entered a hall where countless precious stones sparkled. In the center of the hall sat an old man with snow-white beard and mustache. Beside him was a beautiful maiden, and they were engaged in conversation.

The young man said:

— Here is my father, and here is my younger sister.

The Dragon King and the princess rose to greet their guest. The young man told them how Shi-i had saved him from death, and the Dragon King ordered his servants to bring treasures to reward Shi-i.

Shi-i said:

— I need nothing—neither gold nor silver. I did not save your son for a reward.

Hearing his words, the Dragon King thought: "This Shi-i is a noble young man; I shall give him my daughter in marriage."

The Dragon King said:

— It has long been known: what is yellow in the Dragon King's palace is gold, what is white is silver; what is round is pearl, what shines is precious stones; and corals and agates can be scooped up by the bucketful. There are clothes beyond count, food beyond measure, and spacious, luxurious halls. Would you like to become my son-in-law? You will live happily for the rest of your days.

The Dragon King was indeed wealthy, and the princess was so beautiful that even Min-zhu could not compare. But Shi-i did not even think about it and said to the Dragon King:

— Thank you for your kind words, but I already have a wife. I beg you to take me home as soon as possible. I will be forever grateful to you.

The Dragon King sighed and replied:

— If you already have a wife, there is nothing to be done.

He ordered his son to take a gourd and escort the guest. Shi-i closed his eyes and lay on the back of the prince. The wind whistled and roared in the young man's ears, and before he knew it, he found himself on the seashore.

The prince took out the gourd, shook it a few times, and whispered:

— Gourd, gourd! Turn into a swift red horse!

And indeed, a swift horse leaped out of the gourd. Shi-i mounted it, bid farewell to the prince, and galloped home.

In an instant, the horse brought Shi-i to the village. He dismounted, and before he could look back, the horse had vanished.

Later, I heard from people that Wu-gen was not pleased when Min-zhu was brought home. No sooner had they arrived than the girl urged them to return to the mountains quickly to rescue Shi-i. The elder brother refused to save the younger. Soon after, he began to persuade Min-zhu to marry him. Min-zhu refused, and Wu-gen said to her:

— You wait in vain. Shi-i has long been dead. He either fell to his death or starved.

Hearing this, Min-zhu felt a heavy weight in her heart. The girl realized that greed had consumed Wu-gen and decided to lure him into the city, where she would figure out how to rescue Shi-i from trouble.

The girl said to Wu-gen:

— I agree to become your wife, but first, you must secure my father's consent. Let him decorate the house with colorful lanterns and flags, and let the wedding be grand. I am the only child of my parents, with no brothers or sisters, so all the wealth will go to you. If you do not go to my father, I would rather end my life than become your wife!

As soon as Wu-gen heard about the wealth, he hurried to the city.

The next morning, Wu-gen and Min-zhu set off on their journey. They did not expect to encounter Shi-i along the way. When Wu-gen saw his brother, he was so ashamed that he did not know where to hide, and he began to flee like a hare.

I heard from people that the lazy and idle Wu-gen wandered from village to village, begging for alms, and soon died of hunger.

But Shi-i and Min-zhu lived happily for the rest of their lives. They did not seek wealth, did not go to Zhang's house, but returned to the village, worked together, and spent their days in joy.

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The Tale of the Cunning Wu-gen and the Loyal Shi-ye

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