Hello and welcome to Chinese Folk Tales.
This is Beibei.
Do you remember the first female giant that appeared in our series?
That's right.
It's the lady giant named Nuwa.
She not only created humans, at least the Chinese ones, but also saved them later by patching up a leaky sky.
Nuwa patched up the sky with rocks that she had burned in a mountain called the Big Barren Mountain.
Doesn't that sound desolate or what?
Big Barren Mountain.
It does have a happier name, though.
The Heaven Pillar.
The Heaven Pillar must have been the preferred abode of ancient giants.
Another household name in Chinese mythology also lived there.
His name is Kuafu.
Kuafu was enormous and very powerful.
He had yellow snakes around his ears and two more in his hands.
This might sound really odd for us, but in Chinese mythology, many gods and tribal leaders have snakes around their bodies, since snakes were considered magical animals.
A lot of people admired giants.
They were so strong and could do so many things that tiny people simply can't.
Quaffle was so capable that life was too easy for him.
He needed some challenges.
One day, at dusk, Quaffle was hunting in the forest.
He almost caught up with his prey when the sun set behind the mountains.
So Quaffle couldn't see clearly anymore, and his prey got away.
Now, Quafu the giant didn't have many opportunities to feel frustrated, so he wasn't very used to it.
In other words, he didn't take failures so well.
I gotta fix this, he thought.
I'm going to make the sun stay where he belongs so everyone can always see clearly.
Quafu was a powerful giant.
But he was no scientist and it was a while before anyone figured out how the planets behaved anyway.
Kuafu heard from someone that the sun set in a place called the Yu Valley and that it was far away in the west.
No one had ever been there.
Well, that's about to change, thought Kuafu.
He was going to go to Yu Valley and ask the sun to change his work hours.
The next day, Guafu got up really early and had a big meal.
Then he looked up at the sun in the sky and started chasing, just like that.
The oriental and ancient version of Forrest Gump, planted his giant feet on the ground and started pounding one giant step after another.
As we now would expect, no matter how fast Quaffle ran, he was getting no closer to the sun.
Hmm, isn't this odd?
Quaffle reflected.
No prey has stayed so far away from him for so long, and it was getting really hot.
Quafu had found his challenge.
He was nowhere near his destination, and he was scorched and thirsty.
Just then, he came to a wild river with rushing waters.
It was the Yellow River.
And the water was still clear back then.
Kuafu was parched.
And now the Yellow River was about to be parched instead.
He had drunk all the water in a few galps.
Poor river.
And the sun, it's got its temper too.
It did not like being challenged.
It shone with all its might. and the earth grew so hot that the ground started smoking.
But that didn't stop Quafu from chasing the sun.
Too hot!
Too hot! shouted the giant.
By now, he probably want to yank the sun out of the sky altogether.
His vision was blurred by sweat, and his lips cracked.
Water!
Water!
His whole body shouted for water.
Suddenly, he recalled that he was getting close to the River Wei.
So he picked up his pace and ran toward the river.
Poor River Wei, with its green waters like a belt made of jade, was soon to be licked dry.
Quafu drank and drank till there was no water left in the river.
Now that his thirst was quenched, Quafu remembered his mission.
The sun, the Yu Valley, I must get going.
Quafu kept running.
He was a powerful giant.
But there was still a limit to how much he could do.
His legs grew heavier and he sweated so much that he soon felt like he needed another drink, which means another river, or maybe a lake.
Kuafu headed toward the Daze Lake, but he was getting burned out by them.
He pulled up a big tree to use as a cane, and his run slowed down to a walk.
His steps grew slower and heavier until at last he was so overcome with dizziness and his legs went soft.
Quafu fell from exhaustion and the earth shook in shock.
Quafu the giant never got up again.
Many eons later, the cane that he used turned into a forest.
Enriched by the remains of Quafu's body, the forest flourished and went on for endless miles.
Quafu didn't accomplish what he had set out to do, but I guess it was a good thing too.
And his daring spirit touched many, and his story is long-remembered.
One might laugh at the feat that Quafu set out to accomplish.
But just imagine the threats that nature posed to humans in the ancient times.
And maybe we can understand why they admired people with unusual strength and courage.
Someone has got to dare to challenge, to sacrifice for a better future.
Speaking of which, the old man in our next story fits the bell exactly, and he's been called the foolish old man admiringly for as long as people can remember in China.
Who is he?
Well, let's wait till our next episode.
I'll see you then.
This is a China Plus podcast.
Special thanks go out to Sanlian Zhongdu for their help in creating the content for this show.
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