Long， long ago， rain stopped falling in China. The people prayed for rain to the Jade Emperor， for it was he who looked after ev- erything in heaven， on the land and in the sea， but no matter how much they prayed， rain did not fall.

Four dragons lived in the East China Sea in those days. They swam to shore to see what was happening， and saw people tearing grass from the caked ground， for the people had nothing else left to eat.

\"We must do something， \"Long Drag- on said， and Yellow Dragon nodded.\"We must help them， \"said Pearl Dragon，\"for the Jade Emperor will never answer their prayers.\"

They suddenly thought of a way to

在很久很久以前的中國，遇到了一次滴水不降的旱災(zāi)。人們就向掌管天上、地下、海洋的玉皇大帝求拜，但無論他們怎么祈求，雨始終不落一滴。

當(dāng)時(shí)，有四條龍住在中國的東海。他們游到岸邊去看怎么回事，看到人們在從結(jié)塊的土地上拔草吃，因?yàn)橥恋厣蠈?shí)在沒有別的東西吃了。

“我們得做點(diǎn)什么，”長龍說道，黃龍點(diǎn)頭附和?！拔覀円欢ǖ脦蛶退麄儯敝辇堈f，“因?yàn)橛竦凼遣粫?huì)答應(yīng)他們的祈求的?！?/p>

他們突然想到了一個(gè)辦法。他們在海

help. They started swimming this way and that. scooping up water with their bodies. Then all four leapt into the sky. Black Dragon flew to the north， Long Dragon flew to the west， Pearl Dragon flew to the southernmost tip of China. and Yellow Dragon flew to the very center of the vast country. All at once， they let the water fall from their mouths， arms， legs， and even their tails.

The people down below looked up， but they could not see the dragons. They could only see the rain falling from the sky -drops of rain more beautiful than any jewel. \"Rain！ they cried joyfully， and all the people and ani- mals ran out into the rain and started to dance. When the Jade Emperor saw the rain， he was furious. \"Who dares to tamper with my world？\"he shouted， and then saw the four drag- ons swooping around in the sky. \"You will not escape！ \"he thundered， and summoning Moun- tain God， he ordered him to kill the dragons.

Mountain God sent four mountains tum- bling after the dragons. The moment the crea- tures landed， the four mountains landed on top of them， crushing them. Then an odd thing hap- pened. Suddenly four rivers formed， springing out from beneath the mountains and spreading across the whole country.

This， people say， is how the four great riv- ers of China were created： the Yangtze， the Yel- low， the Pearl and the Heilongjiang are all that remain of the four great dragons who once saved the people of China.

里游，用他們的身體汲取水。然后他們四個(gè)分別騰飛到天空中。黑龍飛向了北面，長龍飛去了西面，珠龍飛去了中國的最南端，而黃龍則飛去了這個(gè)遼闊國度的最中心。突然，他們讓水從他們的嘴巴、手腳、尾巴流出來。

地面的人們向天空中看去，但他們看不到龍。他們只能看到雨從天空降下來——雨滴比任何珠寶都來得美麗?！坝?！”人們歡呼雀躍，所有的人和動(dòng)物都奔入雨中，歡呼起舞。

當(dāng)玉帝看到雨，他十分震怒?！笆钦l干的？”他咆哮道，然后他看到了飛在空中的四條龍?！澳銈兣懿涣说?！”他大吼道，然后招集山神，他命令山神殺死四條龍

山神派了四座山去壓倒四龍。當(dāng)龍一落地，四座山就壓向他們，把他們壓垮。奇怪的事情發(fā)生了，突然間形成了四條河，從山下流出，貫穿了整個(gè)國家。

人們說，這就是中國四條大江的由來，長江、黃河、珠江和黑龍江就是這四條龍的遺贈(zèng)，他們曾經(jīng)挽救過中國人的生命。