PC Translations

Yuan Tian Gang, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, said, “Don’t be so happy yet. I know you are the God of the Jing River. You are the one who had added the amount and lenghtened the time of the rainfall, causing it to flood and drowning the inhabitants of the area. The Jade Emperor is very angry. Tomorrow night he will send a minister of the monarch Tai Zong, Wei Zheng, who, in order to punish your disrespect, will cut off your head.”

When the River God heard this, he was very alarmed. He sat down and begged Yuan Tian Gang, saying, “What should I do? I beg you to point me in the right way on this matter!”

Yuan Tian Gang replied, “You just need to go ask Tai Gong to help you.”

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This is a continuation of my translation of 中国童话 (Zhong Guo Tong Hua), or “Chinese Fairy Tales,” which began here

I’m finally getting back to posting the translation of The Story of the God of the Gate. The previous post is here, and the first post in the series is located here.

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The River God happily went back to the Jing River Palace. There he received the Jade Emperor’s imperial edict, clearly stating: Tomorrow afternoon 300 ml of rain will drop on Chang’an.

Upon reading this, the River God leapt with fright. The more he thougth, the less he was convinced. He decided he could purposely extend how long or increase how much it rained the next day.

After the rain stopped, the River God gleefully ran to Chang’an. Giving a naughty kick to Yuan Tian Gang’s fortune-telling stand, he giggled and said, “The amount and the length of time you said it would rain were not accurate. Your stall is in real trouble now!”

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One thousand two hundred years ago, near the bustling booming city of Chang’an flowed the Jing River. The people living on the Jing River all made their living catching fish.

A day came when they could not catch any fish. What were they to do? Everyone thought and thought, looking for a solution to that problem. Finally, they decided sent a delegation each day to the Western Gate in Chang’an, where they sought the stall of a fortune-teller, Yuan Tian Gang. Presenting their problem to him, they asked him to tell them which day and which place would have the most fish. After consulting Yuan, they all went together to catch fish. As a result, the people staying on the Jing River caught many fish and prawns every day, and they lived a happy life.

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This is the beginning of a translation of the first story in 中国童话 (Zhong Guo Tong Hua), or “Chinese Fairy Tales.” It will be continued in subsequent posts.