Once upon a time, Emperor Yan’s (炎帝) youngest daughter swam in the Eastern Sea. Suddenly a strong wind rose, and the surging waves drowned her. However, her spirit turned into a small bird. As she flew over the roaring sea, the bird cried sadly with a sound like Jingwei. People later named the bird Jingwei after her sound. The bird lived on a mountain near the sea. She looked like a crow, but had a colorful head, a white bill and two red claws. The bird hated the sea so much that she decided to fill up the sea. Every day she flew to and from between the mountain and the sea, carrying a twig or a pebble from the mountain and dropping it into the sea. It is said that she still carries out the same mission today.
The story describes the indomitable will of people who never stop in their mission until they reach their goal.
Notes：1）drown把……淹死；2）roaring咆哮的；3）pebble小卵石；4）mission任务
6.为什么女娲要补天？
Why does Nüwa mend the sky?
A long time ago, Gong Gong (共工), God of Water, and Zhu Rong (祝融), God of Fire, had a battle. Zhu Rong won, and Gong Gong, in anger, struck his head against the Buzhou Mountain (不周山). The mountain collapsed, and down came the big pillars that held the Heaven. Half the sky fell in, leaving a big black hole. Consequently fires and floods occurred, and savage animals started to hurt people. Nüwa was sad to see that the human beings which she had made underwent sufferings, so she melted rocks of five colors and used them to mend the sky. In addition, she cut off the legs of a giant turtle and used them as pillars to support the sky. She scared away all the savage beasts and blocked the flood with the ashes of reeds. Since then, people were able to live in peace.
Notes：1）collapse倒塌；2）pillar柱子；3）consequently因此；4）undergo经历；5）melt融化；6）reed芦苇
7.为什么神农要尝百草？
Why does Shennong try to taste hundreds of herbs and grass?
Shennong is also called Emperor Yan. According to Chinese myth, he invented farming and taught people how to cultivate crops, and establish markets for trade. He helped people change from a diet of meat, clams and wild fruits, to the diet based on grains and vegetables. During Shennong’s time, people drank unboiled water and ate grass and wild fruits. As a result, they often got sick. So Shennong tasted all kinds of herbs that were suitable as remedies or medicinal herbs. It is said that he once identified more than 70 poisonous plants in a day. Due to him, people learned that medical herbs could cure diseases.
It is thought that Shennong lived from 2737 B.C. to 2697 B.C., nearly 5,000 years ago, so people often say that Chinese medicine has a history of 5,000 years. However, we have little information about how herbal medicines were used prior to The Shennong Herbal Medicine Classics (《神农本草经》)， written during the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Notes：1）clam蛤蜊；2）remedy治疗；3）medicinal药用的；4）identify确认；5）poisonous有毒的；6）access接近；7）prior在前的
8.你知道嫦娥奔月的故事吗？
Do you know the story of Chang’e, who flies to the
moon?
Yi, the hero who shot down the nine of the suns, went to Mt. Kunlun (昆仑山) where he got some elixir from the Queen of the West (王母娘娘) and brought it back home. Unexpectedly his wife Chang’e ate it without his permission. Afterwards she felt herself light-footed as if she were floating on air. Gradually she couldn’t help but fly up to the sky, and eventually she landed on the moon, where she lived forever. Because the moon was cold and lonesome, she was always homesick for her past life on the earth.
Notes：1）elixir不老长寿药；2）unexpectedly未料到地；3）per-mission允许；4）lonesome寂寞的
9.你知道夸父追日的故事吗？
Do you know the story about Kuafu who ran after the sun?
A long time ago, there was a tall man whose name was Kuafu and who lived on a mountain. Every day he saw the sun rise in the east, travel across the sky, and then go down in the west. Kuafu wished to chase the sun and visit the place where the sun hid itself in the west. So he started racing after the sun.
He ran very fast and succeeded to approaching the sun. But the closer he got, the more he became eagerly desirous for water to drink. He looked round and saw the two rivers—Huanghe (黄河) and Weihe (渭河). He plunged into the rivers and soon devoured all the water. Afterwards Kuafu was still thirsty. He started to run northwards in hope to reach the Great Lake and drink more. Unfortunately, he died of thirst on the way. The cane he left became a forest of peach trees.
Notes：1）obviously明显地；2）approach接近；3）desirous渴望的；4）devour吞没；5）unfortunately不幸地