There are two bridges near the city of Zhaozhou. The large stone one, the one south of the city, was built by Lu Ban; The small stone one to the west is the younger sister of Lu Ban, nicknamed Lu Jia.
Once Lu Ban and his sister were traveling around the Celestial Empire and arrived in the city of Zhaozhou. Its yellow walls are visible from afar, but it is not so easy to enter the city; the Xiaohe River bubbles and foams along the way. There are visible and invisible people on the shore: traders of grain, textiles, dates, carriers of cotton and hay. Some with a yoke on their shoulder, some with a donkey on the leash, some with a wheelbarrow - everyone is in a hurry to the fair at the temple. They shout and make noise, everyone wants to quickly get to the other side and get to the city. The current on the river is strong, and only two boats go along it; they do not have time to transport people from bank to bank. People wait, they wait, they don’t have enough patience, and let’s swear.
Lu Ban looked at this and asked:
- Why don’t you build a bridge across the river?
No matter who they asked, they all answered the same thing:
“Xiaohe is too wide—as much as ten li, but it’s deep—you can’t reach the bottom!” And how many whirlpools! In the entire Celestial Empire you will not find a master who could build a bridge across the Xiaohe.
Lu Ban and his sister heard this and decided to build two bridges here. And Lu Jia, it must be said, wherever he goes, he hears his brother being praised for his dexterity and skill. The girl was annoyed, and this time she decided to compete with her brother. Let, he says, each of us build a bridge. Let's see who's faster!
They decided to start work as soon as it got dark, and finish at dawn, with the first rooster crow. Whoever fails will lose. The brother and sister agreed and began to prepare. Lu Ban was to build a bridge to the south of the city, Lu Jia to the west.
Lu Jia came to the place where she needed to build a bridge and got to work. By midnight I’ve managed it and think: “I’ve got the upper hand.” The girl thought so and went to see what Lu Ban was doing. So what would you think? A girl came and saw: the river flowed as it flowed, the bank stood as it stood. There is no sign of a bridge. And Lu Ban knows where he went.
The girl became sad and suddenly looked at a man descending from the distant Taihangshan Mountains, driving a large flock of sheep. They push each other, jump on each other, and run straight to the girl. And when they were very close, Lu Jia saw that these were not sheep - shiny snow-white stones, but the man was none other than her brother Lu Ban. When Lu Jia saw the stones, she became completely cold. How good! What a strong and beautiful bridge they will make! There's no comparison with her bridge! The girl thinks: “I’ll definitely redo my bridge.” She thought so and ran to the bridge. She began to carve flowers on the railings, wondrous herbs, Bootes and the Weaver, and a phoenix flying towards the sun. Lu Jia looked at her work and was satisfied. But she couldn’t stand it, she ran again to see what her brother was doing. Lu Ban’s work was also coming to an end; the last two stones remained to be laid on the edge of the bridge. Lu Jia saw this, became alarmed, and crowed twice like a rooster in a thin, thin voice. Following her, the village roosters began their roll call. Lu Ban heard a rooster crow, quickly laid the last two stones, and the bridge is ready!
This is how two bridges appeared on the river. One, large and wide, began to be called the Big Stone Bridge, the other, the one that Lu Jia built, patterned and light, the Small Stone Bridge. To this day, in the vicinity of Zhaozhou, if a girl needs to choose a pattern for shoes or for a pillow, her mother says to her:
- Go beyond the western gate, look at the patterns on the railings of the small bridge!
So in one night the Great Stone Bridge was built in Zhaozhou, very strong and very beautiful. The news of this spread throughout the area, even reaching the eight immortals from Penlaidao Island. And one of them, nicknamed Zhang Guo-lao, was a big hunter of all sorts of incidents. He learned about a wondrous thing, brought out his donkey with a black mark on his forehead, loaded leather bags on it, put the sun in the left one, and the moon in the right one. Then Chai-vana called, Chai-vana took his wheelbarrow with golden knitting needles and silver handles, loaded four tall mountains onto it, and they set off. We approached the Zhaozhou Bridge, Zhang Guo-lao asked in a loud voice:
-Who built this bridge?
Lu Ban was inspecting the bridge at that time, he heard a voice and answered:
- I built, but what? Didn't you build it the way it should?
Zhang Guo-lao pointed his hand at the donkey and the wheelbarrow and asked:
— Can we pass without the bridge collapsing?
Lu Ban burst out laughing and said:
- It can withstand mules and horses, so why talk about a donkey and a wheelbarrow? Drive by, don't be afraid!
Zhang Guo-lao and Chai-wan smiled and climbed onto the bridge - one was sitting astride a donkey, the other was walking, pushing a wheelbarrow in front of him. The bridge was rocking and was about to collapse. Lu Ban sees that things are bad, he jumped under the bridge and propped it up with both hands. That's why the bridge didn't collapse. He withstood the weight and became even stronger. Only its southern edge has moved slightly to the west.
To this day, traces of eight donkey hooves and a furrow from Chai-wan's cart are visible on the Zhaozhou Bridge, and under the bridge there are the handprints of Lu Ban. In the old days, pictures were sold on New Year's Eve with Lu Ban supporting a bridge.
And Zhang Guo-lao crossed the bridge, turned to Lu Ban and said:
- I feel sorry for your eyes!
Lu Ban thought here: “There are eyes, but I didn’t recognize the person,” and he was ashamed. He tore out one of his eyes, placed it at the edge of the bridge, and walked away. Afterwards I walked across the Ma Yu-Er Bridge, picked up an eye, and inserted it into my forehead.
Lu Ban is considered the first teacher of carpenters, which is why even now a carpenter, when he wants to check the evenness and accuracy of the lines, closes one eye. And since then they began to make a statue of Ma Yu-er with three eyes.
People have not forgotten that it was Lu Ban who built the Great Stone Bridge for the Zhaozhou people, and to this day the shepherd boys sing:
Who built in Zhaozhou
White boulder bridge?
Riding a donkey,
Who moved the bridge to the west?
And from whose heavy car
Is there a mark left on the bridge?
Our Lu Ban built this
Bridge of white boulders.
Riding a donkey,
Zhang Guo-lao moved the bridge.
I rolled the Chai-van cart -
There was a trace left on the bridge.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru