General Prosperity

All the people were loud in praise of the beauty and strength of the newly built city.  Merchants from every province hastened to Peking, attracted by the news they heard of its magnificence and the prospect there was of profitably disposing of their wares.  In short, the people were prosperous and happy, food was plentiful, the troops brave, the monarch just, his ministers virtuous, and all enjoyed the blessings of peace.

A Drought and its Cause

While everything was thus tranquil, a sudden and untoward event occurred which spread dismay and consternation on all sides.  One day when the Prince went into the hall of audience one of his ministers reported that “the wells are thirsty and the rivers dried up”—­there was no water, and the people were all in the greatest alarm.  The Prince at once called his counsellors together to devise some means of remedying this disaster and causing the water to return to the wells and springs, but no one could suggest a suitable plan.

It is necessary to explain the cause of this scarcity of water.  There was a dragon’s cave outside the east gate of the city at a place called Lei-chen K’ou, ‘Thunder-clap Mouth’ or ‘Pass’ (the name of a village).  The dragon had not been seen for myriads of years, yet it was well known that he lived there.

In digging out the earth to build the wall the workmen had broken into this dragon’s cave, little thinking of the consequences which would result.  The dragon was exceedingly wroth and determined to shift his abode, but the she-dragon said:  “We have lived here thousands of years, and shall we suffer the Prince of Yen to drive us forth thus?  If we do go we will collect all the water, place it in our yin-yang baskets [used for drawing water], and at midnight we will appear in a dream to the Prince, requesting permission to retire.  If he gives us permission to do so, and allows us also to take our baskets of water with us, he will fall into our trap, for we shall take the waler with his own consent,”

The Prince’s Dream

The two dragons then transformed themselves into an old man and an old woman, went to the chamber of the Prince, who was asleep, and appeared to him in a dream.  Kneeling before him, they cried:  “O Lord of a Thousand Years, we have come before you to beg leave to retire from this place, and to beseech you out of your great bounty to give us permission to take these two baskets of water with us.”

The Prince readily assented, little dreaming of the danger he was incurring.  The dragons were highly delighted, and hastened out of his presence; they filled the baskets with all the water there was in Peking, and carried them off with them.