*Taiwan fairy tale: The Legend of Muddy River*

*The longest river in Taiwan names Zhuo Shui Xi which means muddy river. The river brings lots of fertile soils downstream which produce many delicious watermelons and rice. By legend, the name of this river originally was Qing Shui Xi (Clearwater River). On one side of the river, there was a huge mountain called Neng Gao Shan. On the other side, there lived a lonely young man called SuoYa. One day, SuoYa saved a rabbit from a snow leopard. After the wound was cured, the rabbit ran back into the forest. On a very hot afternoon, after a hard working day, SuoYa was very thirsty. Looking around, he just found pine trees and grass. He wished there would be some sweet and sour fruits nearby. Suddenly, he heard a singing voice of a young lady. She told him she would give him a purple bead as a gift, he just buried the bead in the soil and stepped on it then he would see the mountain valleys full of rattan and many soured-sweet fruits. Suddenly, she showed up like a wind, gave him the bead and then disappeared. SuoYa followed the instruction from the lady. He was very surprised to see many fruits that began to form on the rattan grown from the soil where he buried the bead. He ate lots of fruits happily. When he climbed down the rattan, his shirt was torn a big hole. He wished there would be someone to fix the shirt for him. When he got back home, he found the lady in his house. She told him he saved her several days before, so she just made his wishes become true. Since that day, they lived happily together.*

*One day when SuoYa was picking the fruits, the rattan tore his shirt again. The lady brought it back their house to fix it. When he was back home, he didn’t find the lady. She was kidnapped by bad guys. SuoYa chased them. He ran through many grasslands and forests. His feet were bleeding but he still ran to find her. On the way, he met a white bearded old man who showed him the way and gave him an ax and bamboo basket. When he reached a house, he found the lady there and put her into the basket then begun to run home. At that time, these bunch of bad guys carrying knives chased them. When SuoYa ran to a pine tree, he hid behind it. When the bad guys reached a cliff, they thought that SuoYa must climb down the rattan nearby and escaped. They started climbing down. SuoYa quickly jumped out and chopped down the rattan. The bad guys fell into the river. They struggled in the river and caused the river to become muddy. After this incident, Qing Shui Xi was no longer clear. The water become very dirty and murky. The people began to call the river Zhuo Shui Xi (MuddyWater River), instead of Qing Shui Xi (Clearwater River). They also called the portion of the river near the mountain Neng Gao Shan the Duan Teng Wan (Broken Rattan Gulf). As for Suo Ya and the lady, they lived a happy and wonderful life on Neng Gao Shan, and they were never separated again.*