Nüwa and her brother Fusi were tired of living in heaven. They decided to go down to the people and live like everyone else. But brother and sister were different from people. Above the waist, everything about them was human, but below the waist they were like snakes. Is it possible to live unnoticed among people with such an appearance? They took the form of simple peasants and settled in a small hut. They were hard workers, as peasants should be. And the fame of their kindness reached the ears of the heavenly sages. Nüwa and Fusi will meet a poor, hungry man, they will definitely invite him over, give him something to drink, feed him and even give him some clothes.
Everything was fine, but one day the Jade Emperor’s first adviser whispered something in the ear. The Emperor became terribly angry with the people and even with Nuivu and Fusi, who resembled them. He ordered the spirit of the wind, Feng-bo, and the lord of the rain, Yu-shi, to descend to earth, raise such a storm as to knock down all the houses, and then arrange such a downpour that the water would flood even the highest places.
“It will be better without people on earth,” the Jade Emperor said sternly.
And his advisers praised his wisdom. And the spirits obediently rushed to carry out the cruel order. Fleeing from trouble, people fled from destroyed huts and tried to escape on the tops of trees and on the hills. But nothing helped. Three days later, the entire earth disappeared under water. The spirits hastened to report to the Jade Emperor that the wise command had been fulfilled. Without people on earth it became quiet. The satisfied Jade Emperor sent the spirits to rest, and brought the first adviser even closer to his ear.
But no one, neither the advisers nor the spirits, knew that Nüwa and Fusi managed to escape. And it happened like this. In palaces, any secret seeps through the walls. And this time, only the Jade Emperor opened his mouth to call upon the spirits, and one of the immortals, Shen-hsien, already found out about everything. He turned into a beggar, descended to the ground and approached the hut in which Fusi and Nüwa lived to check whether the rumor about their kindness and humanity was true. Brother and sister, as always, received the beggar, gave him something to drink, fed, and warmed him. “It’s all true,” the immortal thought, “that means we need to save them.” And he said out loud:
“For your kindness, I give you my empty bamboo basket.” If there is a flood and a storm, sit in it so you don’t drown.
And so it happened. For three days the basket and the brother and sister sitting in it were carried along the waves. And when Yoda was sleeping, they stepped on the wet ground and mournfully exclaimed: “Ay, yay, yay!” There was no one else on earth except them.
“Let’s sculpt little men out of clay,” said Fusi. - You know how it's done.
Nuiva was delighted, kneaded the clay, and they got to work. But then Mother Earth appeared to Dim and forbade them to use clay, saying that she wouldn’t have enough, and said:
- Since you have decided to continue the human race, become husband and wife. And clay must be used to make bricks for huts.
For seven days and seven nights Nuwa and Fusi thought about how they could become husband and wife.
Finally Nuiva said:
- Let me run around the mountain. If you catch up, we'll get married.
And she ran. And Fusi rushed after him. They ran around the mountain several times. Fusi Nüwu will never catch up. Then a wise turtle crawled out from under a tree and advised Fusi:
- And you turn in the opposite direction and run. I immediately met Fusi Nuwu. She became terribly angry with the turtle and crushed its shell. I had to assemble it piece by piece and glue it together. Since then, the lines on the turtle's shell show how Fusi glued it together. And Nuiva said:
“The turtle helped you, so your victory doesn’t count.” Let's compete again. You see, the millstones are lying. When they are together, they grind flour from grain, and when they are separate, they are just two stones. Let's throw them off the mountain. If the millstones roll down and lie next to each other, we’ll get married.
Fusi agreed. They threw the millstones, and they rolled down and lay down next to them. Now Nuiva had nothing to object to, and she covered her face with a fan as a sign of consent to become a wife. But Nuwa and Fusi lived among people for so long that they forgot that they were gods and that in fact they looked like people from head to waist. So they gave birth to not a boy, not a girl, but a snake. Fusi got upset and began to cut this snake into pieces. But here's what's surprising. Each piece of the snake immediately turned into a little man, who immediately began to grow quickly. Fusi stopped being angry when he cut the snake into a hundred pieces. I counted how many people there were. It turned out - a hundred. They all rejoice that the human race has not died out, they run, jump, some rushed to the river, others climbed into the trees for fruits. Here Fusi and Nuiva, to make people different from each other, began to come up with surnames for them. Those who ran to the river were given the surname He, which means “river”, those who climbed the peach trees - Tao, i.e. peach, those who climbed the plum trees - Li, i.e. plum... So they came up with a hundred surnames. Those who bear these surnames are revered. After all, their family is so ancient!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru