Mountain, River, and Unfinished Flowers 1. Wind blows heavily from northwest of the river Big Brother and his wife are drinking water
A skinny girl stands knocking by the door, red as radish, her hands are shaking
“Come in, girl, have a cup of green tea. Come in, girl, continue your journey tomorrow.”
The pretty girl sleeps overnight in the house The three have a wonderful dream
When the sun shines the next morning the couple chats about where to build their cemetery
The land with the river view should be good. But not as good as by the mountain.
Looking over the river or leaning by the mountain both are good but not good enough
A strong smell is dancing in the air as if spring returns
Big Brother searches and finds the girl is gone
In the room where she stayed there are flowers growing
Yellow flowers, pink flowers, flowers with tiny buds skinny branches and without leaves 2. Spring comes, Big Brother returns to the mountain for herbs and seeds
He digs everywhere with baby green leaves drinks every drop of twinkling dew
One hole in the ground, too deep to see he pulls the grass hard out of the earth
a strong light shines straight at his head his gray hair turns black
a soft pearl appears in his hand a pearl as big as Big Brother's fist
Big Brother hurries home, his mind full of questions His wife shakes her head, “I've never seen such a thing.” 3. Big Brother turns one hundred years old His wife one hundred and two
His flowers never wither His pearl continues to grow
Every morning, the flowers blow wind into the house Every night, the pearl sings songs, boats stop to listen
People come to buy Big Brother's flowers to look at his pearl and cure diseases
The Devil is jealous of Big Brother's treasures The Devil comes to rob the pearl to destroy the flowers
The flowers are crushed under the Devil's feet They grow with fresher and quieter smiles
Big Brother hides the pearl in his mouth and the pearl falls into his stomach
When Big Brother becomes thirsty, he drinks all the water in the house He comes to drink by the river, one mouthful another Mouthful
Suddenly, a big wave comes and sweeps Big Brother into the river “Come back, my old man, come back,” his wife cries.
Big Brother struggles in the water He turns his head back ninety times
A dragon jumps out of the water where he disappears The dragon wears a beard like Big Brother's
The mountain mother is crying, the river mother is crying Big Brother is gone, everything is changed 4. Flowers bloom and grow huge Big Brother's wife turns one hundred and twenty
Every day, she sends flowers to the river until there comes a huge flood
Half of the mountain is in water the river becomes an ocean of tears
flowers are scattered everywhere they become a floating net where Big Brother's wife is caught After the floods retreat, Big Brother's wife finds two coffins under an orange tree
A dragon's body stays fresh inside one coffin in the other one, there is the pearl
Big Brother's wife follows its shining She lies down and puts the pearl in her mouth
At night, the two coffins are carried together across two mountains, looking over the river
Big Brother's wife closes her eyes sees Big Brother on top of the water
They smile to each other Two mountains come together. Shao Wei |