A long time ago, in the Changbai Mountains there lay eternal snow and a dense, dense forest where the sun did not shine. There were wolves, evil reptiles and poisonous tigers and leopards in that forest; no human had ever set foot there.
There lived at that time a young man nicknamed Liu Yong-jun - Liu the Eternally Beautiful. He lived at the very foot of the mountains, and everyone in his family hunted. Grandfather was an excellent shooter. He passed on his art to his father, and the father to his son. The young man trained day and night, and when he was seventeen years old, he could handle a heavy bow weighing three hundred jin.
Every day the young man went hunting, rode on horseback through the thickets at the foot of the mountain, but never entered the dense, dense forest that grew above. The young man was strong, dexterous and brave, he was not afraid of anything. But he didn’t go to the mountains, so as not to disobey his mother, not to upset her, not to anger her.
Every time he got ready to go hunting, took his tight bow in his hands, filled his quiver with sharp arrows and jumped on his horse, his mother would leave the house, take the horse by the bridle and say:
- You’re the only one I have, son! Remember very firmly what I tell you: you can hunt at the foot, but don’t go deep. This is what your grandfather punished your father, and your father bequeathed it to you.
The young man will drive far from home, turn around, and his mother is still standing at the gate, looking after him with alarm.
Sometimes it seemed to Liu Yong-jun that his mother was too cowardly and timid, he tried to argue, but she cried so bitterly, so pitifully, and held the bridle so tightly that the young man had to ask for forgiveness two or even three times, promise not to go to the mountains, only then did his mother let him go. Liu Yong-jun was a respectful son, did not want to upset his mother and never went into the mountains. But time passed, and every year the young man became a more and more skilled hunter. He got tired of hunting at the foot of the mountain, and he often began to think about how to go further. Now he’s reached twenty, and he’s become even stronger. I couldn’t stand it somehow and asked my mother:
- Tell me, why don’t you let me into the mountains? Maybe you think I’m a bad shot, are you afraid that the tiger will eat me? But I have more than a dozen tigers on my account!
The mother sighed and answered:
“You’ve grown up, son, you’ve become big, so I’ll tell you the whole truth.” Do you know how your grandfather and father died?
The young man marveled and asked:
“Aren’t they plagued by illnesses?”
Mother answers:
“You don’t know, son, that they were both killed by huge boa constrictors.” After his death, my father became completely swollen and blackened - this is from snake venom.
The mother said this, wiped away her tears and said again:
“Only boa constrictors live in the Changbai Mountains, so people are afraid to go to the mountains.” Your grandfather relied on his hunting skills, five of his brothers came to the mountains, and settled here. Day after day they waged war with the boa constrictors, I don’t know how many they shot with bows, and there were still many left. Snakes often attacked them at night, they killed four brothers, but only your grandfather remained alive. He killed all the snakes around the mountain, cleared these places for hunting, and then built a house. Now there are two more boa constrictors living in the mountains - the king and the queen, each about the thickness of a good clay vat, and several dozen zhangs long. They heard that your grandfather had killed all their sons and grandchildren, and they came down from the mountains to take revenge on their grandfather. One day, my grandfather was hunting under the mountain, and suddenly he saw two people jumping from an old pine tree - a man and a woman, dressed in black, their hats also black, thin and tall themselves. They grabbed the horse by the bridle and said to their grandfather:
“Hey, Liu, you won’t leave us! We are your enemies forever and ever!”
These were the king and queen of the serpents. They said that they wanted to fight tooth and nail with my grandfather, to measure their strength. Three days later we agreed to meet him on a scree of red stones. On the designated day, the grandfather took a bow, hung a bag of food on his back, mounted a horse, and set off for the mountains. And three days later the horse brought him home. All black, face swollen. Your grandmother brought him into the house and saw that his lips were trembling.
It turns out that he left home, only the next day he found that scattering of red stones. At the very top there is a snake hole, in the hole both snakes are curled up in a ring, they lie guarding a priceless treasure, two ginshen roots, those roots are ten thousand years old. Whoever kills the snakes will get three treasures: two ginseng roots and snake eyes - they turn into pearls that glow in the night. They also have no price.
The snake kings saw their grandfather, rushed faster than the wind, and rushed at him. They opened their huge, red mouths, well, like basins of blood, they released a poisonous spirit, ten zhangs around that spirit could destroy a person. The grandfather shot, released a well-aimed, strong arrow, it hit the snake king straight in the head. He fell at the bottom edge of the scree and disappeared from view. Grandfather pulled his bow, quickly, well, just like fire runs, he wanted to shoot a second arrow. The tale is told slowly, but the deed is done quickly. As soon as the queen snake crawled up to him, she sprayed her venom on him. The grandfather fell on his horse, and the horse rushed towards the house. He ran far away, then his grandfather heard someone laugh angrily and say:
“This time we managed to weed out the grass and pull out the roots. Now Changbai Mountain is ours forever. No one will dare to appear here again.”
The grandfather looked around and saw two boa constrictors lying on the red scree, their heads raised up, their tongues hanging out - they were rejoicing. It turns out that their king, who was hit by the arrow, is alive. The queen sprinkled water on him from a spring that flowed under the mountain, and the snake came to life. The water from that spring could revive the dead. Your grandfather soon died, because whoever gets the poison of the king-boa constrictor will no longer live. Before he died, your grandfather said to your grandmother:
“When my son grows up, let him take revenge for me. Just remember: he must study well, do not let him go to the mountains until he learns to shoot two arrows at once from one bow and knock out a hundred out of a hundred. And so he will go, he will ruin himself in vain. Remember my words very firmly.”
When your grandfather died, your father became twelve. At first his grandmother didn’t tell him anything, only when he turned eighteen did she reveal the whole truth. The father wanted to immediately go to the mountains to take revenge, but he did not know how to shoot two arrows from a bow at once, and from then on he began to practice with a bow and arrow every day. You're already twelve, he's thirty, but he still couldn't shoot two arrows.
The father once says:
“Until my death I will not learn to shoot two arrows at once, but I must take revenge. I’ll go to the mountains, if I don’t turn around, I’ll die in the mouth of a boa constrictor. Take care of your son, let him take revenge for me when he grows up.”
The father hung the bow on his back, loaded his quiver with arrows, took some food, mounted his horse and set off for the mountains. On the third day, your father’s horse brought him home on his back. All black, his face swollen, the king of snakes killed his father with a poisonous spirit.
My father arrived in the mountains, in the distance he saw a red stone scree, on the scree there were two huge boa constrictors curled up in a ring. During the day, my father hid in the grass, secretly keeping an eye on the boa constrictors. And when night came, the snake’s eyes lit up with a bright light - well, just four huge lanterns illuminated the scree, you can see around it as if it were white day. There's no way you can get close to the boa constrictors. As soon as it dawned, the boas wanted to eat, opened their mouths, and began to swallow all the animals for several miles around, even tigers and wild boars. And when the sun rose high, the king and queen grew tired, closed their eyes, and dozed off. Your father wanted revenge with all his heart, and he bravely crawled forward. It was necessary that at that very time his horse, which had been tied to a tree all night, neighed loudly from hunger. The boas see that a man has come to the mountains to take revenge. Their eyes bulged, their huge mouths opened, the snake king was in front, they rushed at their father. The father fired one arrow and the king fell. Just as he was about to draw his bow again and shoot a second arrow, he heard something hiss. At that same moment, the father found himself in the air, and then it was as if he had fallen into a black bag. I immediately realized that I had hit the king’s boa constrictor in the belly. He grabbed a knife from his belt. He hit three times, or maybe five, made a hole in the snake’s belly, quickly jumped on his horse, and rushed home. Suddenly he hears the king-boa constrictor say behind his back:
“But Changbai Mountain was ours and remains so.”
Soon your father died. You were twelve years old then. Before his death he punished:
“You must kill the king-boa constrictor, otherwise you will not live from him. Tell your son to avenge me when he grows up.”
Before you had time to come to your senses, your father died, many years have passed since then, I raised you, and I measured my tears and sweat by the handful. So will I really allow the king-boa constrictor to destroy you in vain?
Liu Yong-jun listened to this sad story and understood why his mother would not let him go to the mountains. But the young man was not afraid; on the contrary, he decided to go to the mountains at all costs to take revenge on the boa constrictors. He returns from hunting, has lunch, and trains near the house: he draws his bow and shoots. A thick, tall birch tree for him as a target. He first began to learn how to pierce through leaves with arrows, then he began to knock them off the tree. Several months have not passed, and the birch tree stands bare, not a leaf remains on it.
Afterwards the young man began to train with a knife. A pine forest in front of the house serves as a stadium for him. The young man learned to chop pine trees as thick as his arm with one blow of a knife. Then he managed to fell a cup-thick pine tree with one stroke. And finally, he could demolish a tree the thickness of his girth at once. Afterwards he began to learn to jump and run. At first, he could only run up a small hill and jump over a narrow river. Then he easily ran up a high mountain and jumped over a wide river in one fell swoop. He learned everything, but he can’t shoot two arrows at once.
The young man was sad. The mother sees her son walking around sadly and asks:
- Why, son, are you sad?
Liu Yong-jun answers:
“I can’t learn to shoot two arrows at once, so how can I go to the mountains to take revenge on my grandfather and father?”
His mother ran her hand gently through his hair and began to console him:
- Don't worry, boy! The old proverb is true: a pig's head will boil over a fire. With effort and patience you can handle any task. Your father didn’t have enough patience, so he died. Let this serve as a lesson to you.
Liu Yong-jun lowered his head low - mother is right, you can’t say anything. And the mother says:
- Study, son, until you surpass your father and grandfather in military dexterity and skill. Study - you will achieve everything. With persistence you can overcome anything!
The young man listened to his mother, and his determination became a hundred times greater.
He grabbed the bow from the wall, left the house, and began to study even harder.
Spring gives way to autumn, morning to evening, and the young man keeps shooting, still training. I didn’t have time to look back - three years had passed. Day by day his arrows hit their target more and more accurately. I finally learned to shoot two arrows at once—to knock down two leaves from a tree. He rejoices and feels: the day of revenge is near. But, as they say, there is no beauty without flaws. He shoots and shoots, but he doesn’t always hit the target; out of ten, eight, well, at most nine, he knocks out. Only the young man has a lot of patience: he studies and studies, and his mother, looking at him, rejoices and says:
“You really don’t feel sorry for anything for your mother: neither blood, nor heart.”
The young man answers:
- Don't worry, mother! I will study as much as I need, and I will never give up!
And then one day the young man practiced until midnight, got tired, fell to the ground, and fell asleep. Suddenly he hears someone calling him by name:
- Yun-jun, Yun-jun, wake up quickly!
The young man sat down, rubbed his eyes, and looked: the old man in front of him was all white, and his face was green. An old man stands and says quietly:
- Wake up, poor son, don’t sleep, good son! Changbai Mountain will be yours!
The young man asks:
-Who are you, grandfather?
The old man answers:
- Didn’t he really admit it? I am a white birch, the same one that stands near your house. Tell me, how can I help you?
The young man answers:
“Grandfather, I must kill two boa constrictors: the king and the queen.” Maybe you can advise how best to do this?
The old man nodded his head and answered:
- I will help you in any way I can. Just go forward boldly!
The old man said so and disappeared. The young man was amazed, but then sleep overcame him again. He woke up and looked: an old woman in front of him - a black face, a beaked mouth.
The young man asks:
-Who are you, grandma?
- Didn’t he really admit it? I am a black crow, the one that nests on an old pine tree, your old neighbor. Tell me, how can I help you?
The young man answers:
- Grandmother Crow! I must kill two boas, the king and the queen. Please advise how best to do this?
The old woman nodded her head and answered:
- Brave young man, I will help you in any way I can. Just go forward boldly, don’t worry about anything!
The old woman said so and disappeared. And Liu Yong-jun fell asleep again. He woke up for the third time and looked at the guy in front of him, all green, long and thin. The guy says:
“Didn’t you really recognize me?” I am the thousand-year-old vine, the one that grows on the northern mountain. If you kill boa constrictors, you will do a good deed. Those who live in the mountains will be happy, and I will help in any way I can. Just go forward boldly! You will definitely win!
The guy said so and disappeared.
Just as Yun-jun was about to close his eyes again, he suddenly heard someone urging a donkey:
- Well, let's go, let's go!
The young man looked, and this was a boy about four, or maybe five years old, riding on a donkey. He's so fat and white, holding a red bag in his hands. Eyebrows spread out, eyes cheerful, Liu Yong-jun waves his hand and says affably:
- Big brother, hello! Big brother, hello!
Then he kicked the donkey on the backside. The donkey rushed forward and flew. He runs and shouts: “Eh, eh!” He ran up to Liu Yong-jun and stopped. The young man stood up, lightly took the boy with both hands, took him off the donkey and asked:
- Who are you, brother?
The boy answers:
- I am a treasure hidden in the mountains.
The young man asks:
-What kind of treasure is this?
The boy answers:
- I am the root of ginshen. I am ten thousand years old. And the king-boa constrictors from the red scree are guarding me. Rescue me quickly, good young man!
The young man says:
- Don't worry, brother! Be patient! I have to kill those boas.
The boy asks:
- Do you know how fierce they are? In a day they will swallow two dozen wild boars and a dozen tigers, eat saigas and deer. The eyes will bulge - each one will be larger than the dish, the tongue will stick out - it is longer than a whole piece of canvas. How can you defeat them alone?
The young man became sad and asked:
- What should I do, brother, advise!
The boy answers:
- Don’t be afraid, big brother, don’t be sad! I know a way to kill boa kings!
The boy clapped his hands and sang:
To kill the boa kings,
We have to wait for the holiday.
And wait - exactly at noon
Give poison to the arrows!
The boy sang a song, patted himself on the stomach and, together with the donkey, disappeared from sight.
Liu Yong-jun came to his senses, scratched the back of his head, and looked: The North Star is shining brightly in the sky, which means it’s past midnight. I quickly ran home.
From that time on, the young man firmly believed that he would defeat the boa constrictor kings. He began to train even more diligently, and soon he could knock out a hundred out of a hundred with two arrows at once.
Time passes, it’s not long until the Dragon Festival. The boa constrictor kings are worried: for thousands of years they have been lying on the red scree, curled up in a ring, and then suddenly the fox reported to them: Liu Yong-jun has learned to shoot, he couldn’t be more skillful, and soon he will come to the mountains to take revenge on you. And boas with four eyes protect the old ginshen, no matter how one of the people kidnaps it.
The king-boa constrictors heard what the fox said, became enraged, began to let out black smoke from their mouths, covered the whole mountain with smoke, well, they just put a cap on it - you couldn’t see anything. Afterwards, the boas began to spew fire from their mouths in order to burn everything on the mountain to the ground. The old trees here are sad, they are afraid that their children and grandchildren will burn in a terrible fire. Wolves, reptiles, tigers and leopards hid in their holes out of fear. Hawks, even those who do not fly over the red scree, do not want to die in a poisonous mouth.
The king-boa constrictor is angry and uses all sorts of magic. The wind sent a furious thunder, thunder rumbles, lightning flashes, and the next moment the sky will collapse, the earth will split. It’s not enough for him, he also poisoned all the mountain rivers with poison - whoever drinks the water will die instantly.
Liu Yong-jun was not afraid. No matter how much his mother tried to dissuade him, no matter how much she held him back, it was all in vain. On the first day of the fifth moon, he hung a knapsack with food on his back, jumped on his horse, and rode off to the mountains. He rides and rides, he is tired, he wants to eat, and the horse is hungry and cannot walk. The young man got off his horse, found a river, scooped up a handful of water, wanted to drink, suddenly he heard a crow screaming:
- Kar-kar! There is poison in the water, don't drink!
The young man quickly threw out the water, but his mouth was dry and already burning. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a frog:
- Kva-kva, kva-kva! Run to the stone slab if you want to get drunk, the water there is clean, the water there is delicious!
The frog jumps in front, Yun-jun runs after it. They soon came to a large flat stone. The young man did not remember himself from thirst, he quickly moved the stone to the side, and from there clear spring water flowed. The young man scooped up a handful and drank, as if he had been born again. His strength increased, he ate, fed and watered his horse, and rested a little.
It was getting dark here. Liu Yong-jun wanted to find a place to sleep for the night, when suddenly he looked: a stone cave, in the cave there was a bed made of wicker branches. The young man was delighted, he entered, and the small bird Banchuinyao screamed from the tree, straining:
- Qu bu de, qu bu de, don’t go, don’t go! There's a snake's nest there.
A young man jumped out of the cave and looked: the wicker bed was all falling apart, red tongues were sticking out of it. Yes, so much! It turns out that the bed was not made of branches - it was woven from snakes. They waited for the young man to lie down in order to sting him to death, but the small bird Banchuinyao saved him. Yong-jun jumped on his horse and went to look for another place to stay for the night.
He drives, drives, looks - the trunk of an old tree is ahead. He seemed strange to the young man. Bare and naked, not a twig on it, not a leaf, and where the trunk is divided in two, the board lies across it. If only, the young man thinks, he could lie down to sleep on it, so peacefully. Just as he wanted to tie his horse and climb up, he suddenly heard a magpie chirping:
- Chuck-chuck-chuck, don’t go upstairs! Chuck-chuck-chuck! Death awaits in the old tree! Chuck-chuck-chuck!
Then Liu Yong-jun realized what was going on. He quickly ran away from the tree. Suddenly the tree swayed, disappeared along with the board, it turned out that it was not a tree at all, but a boa constrictor. The trunk is his body, the fork on the trunk is his gaping mouth, the board on the fork is a huge tongue. If the young man had laid down to sleep on the board, he would have slipped straight into the boa constrictor's mouth.
It's scary to think about! Liu Yong-jun whipped his horse and rushed away, the boa constrictor following him. The young man pulled the bowstring. He shot an arrow and struck the boa constrictor to death. The young man’s heart was pounding; he immediately realized that the king had sent a snake boa constrictor to attack him. A young man killed a boa constrictor, he gallops forward, does not turn around - he is looking for a place to sleep. He looks: the house is ahead, the gates are wide open, the house is pitch dark. The doors have a window on each side, with bright red lanterns in the windows. The young man thinks: where can a house come from in these remote mountains, if no human has ever set foot here? Again, I suppose the king of Snakes has prepared a trap. He whipped his horse and galloped away.
Liu Yong-jun was so riddled that he and his horse were about to collapse from fatigue, but he still couldn’t find anywhere to spend the night. The young man became sad, suddenly, out of nowhere, the fawn stood in front of the horse, stretched out his neck, pricked up his ears, so cheerful that he screamed:
- Qiu-qiu-qiu, qiu-qiu-qiu! Don't be sad, there is a place to stay for the night, qiu-qiu-qiu, there is a place to stay for the night!
A little deer runs ahead, Liu Yong-jun urges on his horse, and rides behind him. Soon we arrived at a mountain slope, a wide river flows under the mountain, and a clean sandbank near the shore. A little deer ran to the river, shook the sand from its hooves, and said:
- Don’t be sad, don’t worry, lie down and sleep! Don't be sad, don't worry, lie down and sleep!
The young man got off his horse, lay down on the sand and instantly fell asleep. He's so tired that he can't hear anything. He slept for a long time, and when he woke up, he looked: he was lying on the back of a huge fish. She took him to the very middle of the river and swam against the current. The young man was frightened, wanted to adjust his bow and arrows, and asked:
- Fish, fish, what do you want from me?
The fish raised its head, walked in, and its scales began to play. Here the young man realized that it was not a sandbank, but fish scales.
The fish answers, so kindly:
“Put down your bow, good young man, put away your arrows, and I’ll take you to the red scree.” Put away the arrows, put down the bow, I will help you overcome the poisonous reptiles, so that poison is no longer allowed into the river, my relatives are not poisoned!
The young man's heart was relieved. He put away his bow and arrows, stood up, held his horse by the bridle, and swam on a fish’s back. The fish spread its fins, wagged its tail, rushed forward with a fair wind, cutting through the waves. Here is the red scree. The young man jumped off the fish's back onto the shore, tied his horse tightly, hid himself in the grass, looking forward. He sees a fiery red rock stuck straight into the sky. And all around there is a scree of stones, thick smoke and fierce fire. From behind the fire, two huge boa constrictors poke their heads out, looking in all four directions. The young man realized that one of them had killed his father and grandfather. The young man is annoyed that he cannot kill the boa constrictors in one fell swoop: the flames are so raging that you can’t even approach them. He's a sharp shooter, but the scree is too far away, you can't get it out of the bow. The young man was worried, but he couldn’t think of anything. Suddenly he remembered what the boy on the donkey told him: only on the Dragon Festival at noon can you take revenge. The young man looks at the sun, waits patiently. Time passes - drop after drop falls, the sun moves slowly, slowly across the sky. The shadow from the trees turned straight to the south, suddenly the sky was covered with black clouds, thunder rumbled, rain fell on the ground. This kind of thing happens once every thousand years. Here the young man began to smear the arrows with poison, jumped on his horse, rushed towards the red scree, his head was all sweaty, the horse’s rump seemed to be doused with water. They jump and jump, but they are still far from the scree - the arrows will not reach. Just then midday had passed, the sky had become clear again, it was not raining, there was no thunder. The boas, the king and the queen, woke up, realized that the avenger had come, their eyes bulged, looking in all four directions. They saw that Liu Yong-jun had drawn his bow and was rushing straight at them, as they screamed and shouted:
- Oh, slave, you came for death or something!
And Liu Yong-jun sits on a horse, does not move, sticks out his chest, straightens his mighty shoulders, draws his bow and answers bravely:
“It was you, Tsar Boa Constrictor, who killed my grandfather, it was you who ruined my father.” I will take revenge on you today!
The king and queen smiled coldly and said:
- Hey you, hairy boy, what kind of talents do you have that you dare to come to take revenge on us? Yes, you probably won’t be enough to fill the holes between our teeth. From time immemorial, Changbai Mountain has been a serpentine mountain, and will remain a serpentine mountain. Whoever sets his sights on her, we will not spare him; we will pull him out by the roots, like grass.
Here the king of snakes turned over, hung his head down from the scree, then fell to the ground, crushing almost half the forest. Everything around crackled, even the mountains began to tremble. The queen snake turned over, hung her head down from the scree, and fell into the river. There was a rumble all around, the water in the river rose to the very middle of the mountain. And Liu Yong-jun was at least a little scared! On the contrary, he urges the horse even harder, and flies forward like a bird. The boa kings rush towards him and shout:
“We will drink your blood, we will taste your meat, we will gnaw your bones.”
The brave young man answers them in a loud voice:
“I’ll rip open your belly, rip off your skin, tear out your eyes to get the pearls that glow in the night.”
The snakes did not wait for the young man to shoot arrows, their jaws opened, they were going to poison the young man with a fetid, poisonous spirit. Yes, a violent wind came here, blew leaves from the trees, and let them dance across the sky. The leaves of the old birch covered the whole sky, hid the sun, covered the eyes of the snakes, the snakes see nothing.
The king and the queen were alarmed here, they quickly put their ears out, we will hear, they are thinking from which side Liu Yong-jun will come, we will release a poisonous spirit on him. And then, out of nowhere, crows flew in - a whole cloud, they began to cawing, all over the mountain you could only hear: caw-caw-craw! Kar-kar-kar!
The snake kings became more alarmed than before and thought of waving their tails and slapping the young man to death. And the thousand-year-old vine long ago tied their tails tightly to the ground. Liu Yong-jun overtook the boa constrictors here. He put two arrows on the string, the arrows sang at once: coy, coy, they hit the king and the queen straight in the heads with snakes. The snakes began to roll on the ground in pain, like stone millstones, they ground the entire forest and razed it to the ground. Then they began to fight against the red scree stone. Everything around rumbled, a scree of stones rushed down, and the boa constrictors remained lying on the ground. The young man smeared his arrows with poison, and the boa constrictors died.
Suddenly, from the very edge of the scree, a fat boy with a red bag jumped out, dragging a hairy donkey on a leash. Liu Yong-jun saw this boy in a dream. A boy walks, and every now and then he looks back and shouts to his donkey:
- Let's go and drink water, let's go and drink water!
A young man ran up to the boy, tied him and the donkey with a red thread, they instantly turned into rare treasures, into two healing roots: ginshen - a human root, and shoushen - an animal root. The young man ran further, tore out all four eyes of the snake kings - he obtained a rare treasure, pearls that glow in the night.
There is peace and tranquility in the mountains, grass, trees, birds, animals - everyone is rejoicing. The stones nod their heads and smile. The king and the queen boa constrictors have died, they will not swallow anyone else, they will not deceive anyone. Frogs, crows, banchuinyao birds, magpies, an old birch tree and a thousand-year-old vine - all congratulate the young man on his victory, jump and sing. And the young man thanks them for their help.
The young man mounted his horse and went home. The mother heard that her son had defeated both snakes, she pressed him to her chest, cried and said:
“You managed, son, to do what your father and grandfather could not.”
Since then, more and more people have been drawn to Changbai Mountain, some hunting, some looking for healing roots. And everyone glorifies the brave young man Liu Yong-jun, who exterminated the boa constrictors, everyone vied with each other to talk about him. And when, after many, many years, people came to those places where Liu Yong-jun fought with boa constrictors, the scree of red stones was no longer there. Only the stones in the mountains were stained with snake blood, and people called those places the Red Gorge. The boas themselves turned into white stone, stretched out into two long ridges, and they called those ridges Manwanlin - the ridges of the King-Boas.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru