Requiem
Xiao Sheng
望娘灘
“Xiao Sheng, a boy living in the days of cloud-breathing dragons, is both hard-working and good natured. He gathers fresh grass to sell in the market in exchange of meager income to support his mother. One year, when the village goes through a severe drought, Xiao Sheng finds a patch of grass, lush and never diminishes in size no matter how much he’s cut it. Xiao Sheng finds a pearl buried near the patch and brings it home to please his mother, and also replants the grass near his house. The grass withers next morning, but the rice jar where they keep the pearl in and only has little rice left the night before is brimming with rice. They realize that it’s the pearl that’s magical and from then on make use of the pearl and share their fortune with other villagers. However, jealousy and greed prompt two of their neighbors into robbing the pearl. Xiao Sheng swallows the pearl in haste and it burns inside him. In order to quench the burning and thirst, he drinks dry the river and turns into a dragon which brings the long-expected rain to the village. When the dragon leaves the village through the river, it turns its head many times, and each time he turns, the dragon’s massive body cuts into th e river’s edge, “sculpting the banks with his last farewell.”
From the Chinese story “The Dragon’s Pearl”
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