The Legend of Jin- An Oriental Fairytale

Long ago and far away in a land of the orient, there lived a very old but very wealthy merchant named Chuanli.

Chuanli was very much loved and respected by all of his community because he was a good and honest man and by all of his servants and employees because he was kind and fair.

Sadly, however, Chuanli had an evil half-brother Yu Ling, a dark sorcerer who envied his wealth and success and so one dark night, Yu Ling turned himself into a black snake and, creeping into Chuanli’s bed, he bit the old man on the toe and, calling out to his servants, “A snake! A snake has bitten me”, the old man died.

Now, Chuanli had a son; the handsome and honest Jin but he was not old enough to inherit his father’s fortune and so Yu Ling became the boy’s guardian.

But Yu Ling wanted Chuan Li’s fortune and so he planned to kill Jin and, just as before, he turned himself into a snake and he crept into the room of Jin to bite him.

Fortunately for Jin, he had a pet mongoose who always slept at the foot of his bed and, awoken by the serpent, the mongoose fought with it bravely until, surrendering, the wicked Yu Ling
slithered away to think of some other way that he could kill his nephew.

As Jin’s guardian, Yu Ling had the right to order Jin about and so he decided that he would send the boy on some dangerous errand from which he was sure the boy would not return.

High on a hillside overlooking their village lived the king of the Dragons; a very ferocious creature with fiery breath and a terrible temper and in the garden of the Dragon King, at the centre of a shining pond there was a magic lotus flower.

So Yu-Ling said to Jin, “You must go and bring me that lotus flower so that I may make medicine from it”.

“Is it not dangerous to enter the home of the Dragon king uninvited?”, asked Jin.

“Don’t worry about that”, said Yu Ling, “I have a very special sword for you. One that kills dragons”.

And then the evil wizard pretended to pick up a sword and handed the imaginary weapon to Jin.

“But I can’t see it”, said a confused and startled Jin.

“That’s because you lack faith. Only a person who has faith can see the sword”, lied Yu-Ling.

Jin tried to believe in the sword and after some effort thought that he could see it and, trying his best to feel it so that he could grip hold of its edges , he took the imaginary blade from his uncle.

“Alright”, he said, “But doesn’t the Dragon king have fiery breath?”.

“Yes, yes”, said Yu Ling, “But that’s why I also have a very special shield for you, one that will protect you from the dragons fiery breath”.

However, just like the sword, the shield that Yu Ling gave him was an imaginary one.

“Are you sure that it will protect me from Dragon fire?”, asked Jin, not entirely convinced.

“Of course”, said his uncle, “You don’t think I would lie to you? Do you?”

Jin had no reason not to trust his uncle and being the good natured person that he was he said, “No uncle. I trust you” and, taking the imaginary weapons thanked him for being so kind.

But when Jin had gone on his way, his evil uncle rubbed his hands together and cackled with glee.

“What a fool that boy is”, he said, “The dragon king will roast him and eat him for dinner and then I shall have all his father’s wealth”.

Now, for many days Jin travelled up the mountain along a long and winding but narrow path to the home of the dragon king, carrying his pet mongoose on his shoulder and, as he travelled, cherry blossom trees that grew on the side of the winding path said to him, “Do not go along this path, for this road leads to the dragon kings house and he will eat you if he catches you, he has terrible long claws and a mouth that breaths fire and spits out spears and sharp stones”.

And as the cherry blossom trees said this, they shivered with fright, scattering all their blossom petals on the ground but, listening to them, Jin just replied, “I am not afraid. I have a magic sword and shield to protect me”.

Then he showed them the imaginary sword and shield that his wicked uncle had given him and they said, because Cherry blossoms, like all trees, are very wise, “There is nothing there. Your uncle has lied to you”.

But Jin wouldn’t listen to them because he trusted his uncle and, putting away his imaginary weapons, kept on going until he reached the top of the mountain.

On the mountain top, surrounded by curling mist and cloud, he saw the golden palace of the dragon king; a giant pagoda covered in strange carvings like birds and animals with jewelled eyes and, in front of the palace was a garden with a large round pond and, at the centre of that pond he saw, floating, a beautiful white lotus flower.

“How lovely and peaceful that Lotus flower looks”, he thought, “It seems such a shame to take it but I must do as my uncle wants”.

But, just as he was about to wade into the pond and pick the white lotus flower, out of the golden palace came the ferocious and terrifying dragon king.

And, seeing Jin near the edge of the pond, the dragon king’s eyes blazed with anger and he roared, “Who are you who dares to enter my garden and try to steal my lovely lotus blossom?!”.

Shivering with fear, but trying to be brave, Jin answered, “I am Jin, son of Chuanli and I am not afraid of you”.

Then Jin reached into his pack and took out the imaginary sword and shield that his uncle had given him and, seeing this, the dragon now roared with laughter.

“What are you? A child?”, he said, softened with amusement, “Fighting me with a pretend sword and shield. Go back home little child and I will not eat you”.

But then Jin replied, “They are not pretend. They are invisible and have a powerful magic that will protect me against you”.

The dragon now thought that Jin must surely be a fool or mad and his temper hardened again, “Very well”, he said, “We will see how magical they are”.

And, swelling out his chest until it was as enormous as a hot air balloon, the dragon breathed in before, with a terrible, loud roar, he exhaled a long, blazing stream of fire.

But then, to his amazement, when Jin raised up his imaginary shield, the dragons fire could not penetrate it.

So then, puffing out his cheeks until they were as large as paper lanterns, the dragon spat out a volley of spears and sharp stones that he was sure would cut the young man to ribbons.

Astoundingly, however, even these bounced off of Jin’s imaginary shield.

Then, raising his imaginary sword bravely, Jin charged towards the dragon king, thrusting it into the creatures scaly belly and to the dragons astonishment, he felt the blade of the sword pierce him deeply again and again until the imaginary blade was red with dragons blood and, gasping, the dragon king fell onto his scaly back and died.

“Your sword and shield are magical indeed”, he whispered as the life ran out of him, “I should have known. They are the sword and shield of your courage and faith and in the magical realm those are the most powerful things of all”.

Then, when the dragon had breathed its last fiery breath and closed its scaly eyelids for the last time, Jin waded into the pond in the dragon’s garden and picked the white lotus flower before, putting the flower into his pack, he got onto his horse and rode back down the mountain to his uncle.

Now, when he rode down the mountain path, the cherry blossom trees scattered their blossoms beneath his horses hooves, whispering, “There goes Jin, the hero who slew the dragon king”.

But, when he returned to his uncle with the lotus blossom, the wicked Yu Ling was only angry to see him.

“How could you have defeated the dragon king?”, he asked, “The weapons I gave you were just make believe; a fantasy”.

Hearing this, Jin realized that his Uncle had just lied to him about the sword and shield and he saw, for the first time, how evil Yu Ling really was.

But Yu Ling still desired to see his nephew dead and so, summoning up all of the dark, evil magic he could muster, Jin’s vile uncle transformed himself into a giant hairy grey ape with long sharp teeth and claws and a twisted horn at the centre of its forehead and came towards Jin growling and snarling.

Jin went to grab the magic sword and shield to defend himself but he no longer believed in them and they vanished like illusions when he tried to pick them up.

Screaming in horror, Jin backed away from his uncle, starting to lose all hope.

But then, just at that moment, there was a blinding white flash of light and the white lotus flower that Jin had taken from the dragon kings garden turned itself into a beautiful young woman in a white silk gown with a lotus flower in her long dark hair and she transformed a lake outside Yu Lings house into sparkling gold and silver and jewels so that, seeing them, the monstrous ape became greedy and rushed towards it to grab up all the treasure but, as soon as he had dived among all the gold and silver, she turned it back into water and the hairy ape that was Yu Ling drowned.

Jin was amazed by the young woman who was so beautiful and yet so powerful but then she told him,

“I am Princess Lotus Blossom; the dragon king’s daughter. He who picks me is my husband and the new king”.

So now Jin went back with the princess to the golden palace at the top of the mountain and, as they climbed the mountain, the blossom trees all whispered, “Here comes Jin. The king of the mountain. Long live the king” and, looking down from heaven, Jin’s father Chuanli, felt proud of his son.