Culture

Hou Yi Shooting Nine Suns

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[古]  尧之时，十日并出，焦禾稼，杀草木，而民无所食。猰貐、凿齿、九婴、大风、封豨、修蛇，皆为民害。尧乃使羿诛凿齿于畴华之野，杀九婴于凶水之上，缴大风于青邱之泽，上射十日，而下杀猰貐，断修蛇于洞庭，擒 封豨于桑林。万民皆喜，置尧以为天子。

[今] 尧未当帝王的时候,天上有十个太阳一齐出来, 庄稼被晒焦,草木被晒死,老百姓没有吃的。猰貐、凿齿、九头怪、大鸟、野猪、长蟒蛇，都出来伤害百姓。尧便派羿在畴华湖畔杀死了凿齿，在 凶水边上杀死了九头怪，在青邱湖上射死了大鸟，把天上的十个太阳射掉了九个，还把地上的猰貐杀死，又在洞庭湖滨斩断了长蟒蛇，在桑林捉住了大野猪。千千万万的老百姓都非常高兴，于是便推举尧作了天子。

Far back, in the time of Yao (a virtuous emperor in ancient fables), ten suns rose into the sky. They burned the crops and scorched the bushes and trees, leaving the ordinary people with nothing to eat.

Monsters began to roam about and cause suffering for the people, including ya yu (a fabled monster which can run quickly, make sounds like the cries of a baby, and eat human flesh), zao chi (or "chisel tooth," a fabled monster who, with three-chi-long teeth, could attack like a dagger-axe and lance), jiu ying (a nine-headed monster, spurting flames and floods), da feng (or "big wind," a kind of ferocious bird, large in size), feng xi (or heavy boar) and python (a long, fierce serpent).

Yao sent Hou Yi (an archer in ancient Chinese mythology) to kill chisel-tooth in the wilderness by the Chou Hua lake (a lake in the south) and the nine-headed monster by the Inauspicious River (a river in the north), and shoot the great bird near the marshland by Qing Qiu lake (a lake in the east). Hou Yi then shot down nine suns with his arrow. He killed ya yu, beheaded the python by Dong Ting lake, and caught the boar at White Mulberry Wood. 

Hundreds of thousands of commoners were overjoyed by this and so elected Yao as their "Son of Heaven" (a title for ancient Chinese emperors). 

Source: Selected Chinese Legends and Fables(《中国古代神话寓言选读》), Produced by ChineseSavvy.

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