During the time of Emperor Yao in ancient times, a great disaster occurred in the world. Ten suns appeared in the sky at the same time, scorching the earth fiercely. Now the crops have withered, the wells have dried up, people have been displaced, and starvation is everywhere.

　1. Qian Tian Gong

In ancient times, during the time of Emperor Yao, a great disaster occurred in the world. Ten suns appeared in the sky at the same time, scorching the earth violently. Now the crops have withered, the wells have dried up, people have been displaced, and starvation is everywhere. Emperor Yao had no choice but to lead people to pray to heaven, hoping that the gods in heaven would take pity on the people and take back so many suns.

The voice of human prayer reached the ears of the Emperor of Heaven. He felt very embarrassed because these ten suns were his biological sons. It was because of his excessive indulgence and lack of discipline that the suns went up to the sky together, causing disasters. As the saying goes, it's not up to the father to control the child's growth. He really can't control it, and he doesn't have the heart to do it. But praying like this in the human world still seems to have to be done, so the gods were summoned to discuss the matter.

After hearing this, the gods were all silent, saying to themselves that the root of the disease lies with you, the Emperor of Heaven. What can we do? The Emperor of Heaven asked three times: "Which of you is willing to go down to the next world to deal with this matter?" There was silence below. The Emperor of Heaven was about to turn around and go down to court when he heard a majestic voice from the farthest corner: "I am willing to go."

This person is a very small god named Yi, who is good at archery. . When Yi saw the suffering of the people in the world, he could no longer bear it. Regardless of his low status, he took the initiative to take charge of the matter.

When the Emperor of Heaven saw Yi, he pondered for a while. He knew that Yi was powerful and accurate with his arrows, and could accomplish this, but this man didn't know how to advance or retreat. If he missed...

At this time, another goddess spoke: "I would like to go with Yi." A woman named Chang'e was the wife of Yi and the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven. When Chang'e refused to marry Yi, the Emperor of Heaven was very angry, but he still couldn't get her over, so he had to agree, but he no longer liked Chang'e.

Chang'e said: "As long as you give Yi the Qiantian Bow, I can help him complete this matter." The Qiantian Bow is a treasure in heaven and is very powerful. The Emperor of Heaven was startled when he heard this, and said to himself, Chang'e, do you want the lives of your ten brothers? Chang'e stepped forward and whispered to the Emperor of Heaven. The Emperor of Heaven turned from anger to joy and agreed that Yi and Chang'e would go down to the next world. He took out a dry heavenly bow and gave it to Yi.

When they came to the human world, ten suns lined up in the sky, all showing their power and spitting out tongues of fire. Yi took out the Qian Tian Bow, nocked an arrow, and was about to shoot, but Chang'e stopped him. She said: "It is true that the dry sky bow is very powerful, but your arrows are just ordinary arrows, and they will burn if they are far away. So this bow is just a decoration, just to scare and scare."

In fact, this is Chang'e in the ears of the Emperor of Heaven. As he said this, the Emperor felt relieved and took out the Heavenly Bow. Yi had no choice but to raise his bow and shout at the ten suns: "You all go back to me now. Only one can come out in turn every day, otherwise I will shoot arrows."

The Ten Suns Know the Heaven The bow knew its power and hurriedly hid, but one of them looked at Yi's quiver, which was just an ordinary arrow, and laughed again: "Little Yi dares to scare us, if not for the sake of his sister Chang'e, he would Kill you!" Ten Suns didn't care about his threats.

Yi was so angry that he shot an arrow, but it was burned before it hit the side. He witnessed the miserable situation of the people and the madness of the sun, and couldn't help but worry, what should he do?

　2. Shooting Sun Arrows

　At this time, Emperor Yao in the human world also knew that Yi and Chang'e came to earth to save the people. He took his parents with him and brought water to reward them both. Yi knew how precious the water was now and couldn't help being deeply moved. He couldn't bear to drink it himself, so he gave the water to the man who was about to die of thirst.

Emperor Yao said: "Not only are there dangers from the sun in the sky, but there are also many monsters on the ground. A monster with a human face and a dragon's body appeared in Shaoxian Mountain . It's called a dragon and eats people everywhere. Can you get rid of this harm?"

Yi readily agreed and went to Shaoxian Mountain alone to have a great battle with Yuqi. Yuqi was no match. He was hit by an arrow and was about to die.When it was dying, it said: "I was originally the son of the god Zhulong . I was assassinated by the villain and had to hide in the weak water and make a living by eating fish. Now there are ten suns in the sky, and the fish in the water are all hot to death. Okay, I had no choice but to go out to eat Human. I have fairy bones growing on my body. You can use my ribs as the shaft and the feathers of the gale as the tail, and you can shoot down the sun.” Yi admired this son of the god very much. He removed the ten ribs of the turtle and went to Qingqiu to find the strong wind. Gale is a man-eating bird, its wings spread out and cover the sky. Yi took out his Qian Tian Bow, put on arrows and fought against the strong wind. But the strong wind was flying too fast, and it couldn't hit the target at all, so there was a stalemate.

Seeing the ten suns in the sky laughing and playing, Yi sighed and said: "In this case, when can I form an arrow to shoot the sun? Just let these guys wreak havoc?"

Gale is an elf who has been practicing for many years. After understanding these words, Asked Yi what was going on. Yi said what Yu Qi said before he died. Dafeng was silent for a moment and said: "Actually, I used to live in the mountains and forests. I ran out because I couldn't stand the heat and had to eat people to survive. I also want to get rid of these suns, otherwise I and humans will be sunburned to death sooner or later. Then I will I offer my feathers, but if one of them is plucked out, I will die." After saying that, Gale plucked out his own feathers and dropped them to the ground and died. Yi used the feathers and the ribs of the turtle to form ten sun-shooting arrows, and he excitedly went to find Chang'e. Chang'e was very surprised: "The sun is not only the son of the Emperor of Heaven, but also my brother. Do you really want to shoot them to death?" Yi lowered his head, what should he do? Even if you shoot, you won't be able to shoot, but if you don't shoot, if this continues, there will be no life in the world.

When Chang'e saw her husband in trouble, she rushed to the wilderness, faced the ten suns in the sky, knelt down and begged. I beg them to restrain themselves and just come out one at a time. But the suns were having fun together and ignored their sister at all. Chang'e said: "Yi has obtained the arrow to shoot the sun. If you don't go back, he will shoot you to death." The suns did not believe it. Instead, they laughed, played tricks on Chang'e, and burned her to death. Chang'e was determined not to go back to the house to hide. She said: "If you don't go back, just burn me to death."

Unknowingly, Chang'e was fainted from the sun. When Yi saw the curtain, he couldn't help but get angry. He thought of the sacrifices of Yuqi and Dafeng, and the miserable situation of the people under Emperor Yao's rule. He took out his dry sky bow, attached it to the sun arrows, aimed at it, and shot nine in a row. arrow. The true form of the sun in the sky is a three-legged crow . In this way, the nine crows were shot, fell to the ground, and turned into springs. Yi also warned the last sun to come out on time every day and go back on time, otherwise he would still have an arrow to shoot the sun and would not let him off lightly. The sun reluctantly agreed.

When Chang'e wakes up, the matter is a foregone conclusion. She was both grieving for the death of her brothers and fearing that her husband would be retaliated by the Emperor of Heaven. She had mixed emotions for a while. At this time, Emperor Yao brought his people to thank Yi. They sang and danced all the way and gave Yi a title, which was "Hou". Therefore, Yi was also called Hou Yi.

From then on, Yi became a great hero in people's minds. Wherever he went, people welcomed him warmly, and many people came to him to learn archery. Among them was a young man named Pengmeng , who studied particularly hard. But Yi found that his body was getting heavier and heavier and he could not fly back to the sky. He hurriedly went to find Chang'e, but Chang'e did the same thing. Chang'e said sadly: "Anyway, the sun is the son of the Emperor of Heaven. You killed them, so the Emperor of Heaven deprived us of our divine bodies and we can never go back."

Yi was a little indifferent: "Then just be a mortal. Instead of being an inconspicuous little god in the sky, it is better to be a hero who benefits the world." But Chang'e was still unhappy. She was worried about her husband. The revenge of the Emperor of Heaven would not be so simple. Something more terrible must happen.

When Yi saw her expression, he thought she was unhappy because she could not return to heaven, so he said, "I will go and ask the Queen Mother of the West for the elixir of immortality.As long as we take the elixir, we can return to heaven. "After saying that, she hurried away.

　3. Immortal Medicine

The Queen Mother of the West lives in Kunlun Mountain. Although she is a god, she lives in the human world, so she plays chess and shoots. On the 9th, he was very grateful. Yi asked for the elixir of death so that he could return to heaven. After thinking about it, Queen Mother Xi gave him two pills and said that if they took them on the next full moon night, they would fly to the sky. If you miss the time, it will be invalid.

　Yi was very happy and left without hearing the Queen Mother of the West sighing behind her.

Yi gave both of the elixirs to Chang'e. Chang'e carefully collected them, but there was no smile on her face. Yi was really busy at this time. Emperor Yao came again to ask for help, saying Although there is only one sun left, all kinds of man-eating monsters still emerge in endlessly. In Dongting , a Ba snake appeared, which can devour elephants. In the northern fierce water, a Nine Infants appeared, with nine heads that can eat animals at the same time. htm. l3

Yi calculated the time and found that there were still some days before the full moon night, so he took his bow and arrows to kill Ba Snake, and asked his disciple Feng Meng to lead people to kill Jiu Ying.

This trip to kill the Ba Snake went smoothly. After shooting, he cut the Ba Snake into two parts and formed a hill, now called Baling. Then he hurried back to take the elixir with Chang'e. , returned to heaven. But on the way, he met Pengmeng who returned in a panic. It turned out that the nine babies had nine heads. As long as one of the heads survived, the other eight heads would be restored to their original state. Pengmeng and the people he brought were no match at all. In the end, only Pengmeng escaped.

Yi knew that the world has its own way of shooting nine arrows at the same time. Only in order to get rid of nine Ying. But if he removes the evil water, he will definitely miss the opportunity to ascend to heaven. This is the only time. Yi looked at Pengmeng who was covered with wounds. Suddenly, he shouted and said to Pengmeng: "I'll shoot Jiu Ying, and you can tell Chang'e to take the elixir and return to heaven. "

" Pengmeng turned around to leave, but Yi called out to him again: "It's useless, I know Chang'e too well." She will not take medicine alone and go to heaven, she will definitely wait for me, but I really can't bear her to be so sad anymore. "

" Peng Meng said: "How about I go and tell you that you can't leave? I'll get a pill of elixir and bring it to you, and then you two take the medicine separately. How about we meet again in heaven?" "

Yi nodded, this is not a solution, it can only be like this.

On the night of the full moon, Peng Meng came to Chang'e and said that Yi was delayed nearby and asked him to bring a pill of elixir to Yi. But Chang'e He didn’t believe it at all and said, “Why don’t you come here since you’re nearby? What could be so important? I've also heard about Jiuying. The evil water is far away from here, so he must have been too late to eat it. No one in this world knows him better than me. "With that said, Chang'e picked up the medicine and threw it into the water, "But he still doesn't understand me. It's him I'm worried about. If he doesn't leave, what's the point of returning to heaven? "

Once these two elixirs fell into the water, they were useless. Pengmeng had no time to catch them. At this moment, the Queen Mother of the West suddenly appeared and caught the elixir. She said: "Chang'e, look at the sky. Is there anything unusual? "

Chang'e looked up and found that the full moon was in the sky and it was bright all around. But now it was covered with dark clouds, and there was still a faint light of armor. The Queen Mother of the West said: "The Emperor of Heaven does not want to attack Yi in the human world to avoid being criticized. He is waiting for Yi. When he ascends to heaven, he will take revenge. I rushed here from Kunlun Mountain just to tell you that you are the only one who can save Yi. "

The Queen Mother of the West's method was to let Chang'e take the elixir of death and go to the Emperor of Heaven to plead for mercy. After all, she was the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven. In this way, she could be punished and atone for her sins on Yi's behalf. After hearing this, Chang'e calmly took the hand of the Queen Mother of the West. After being hit by the elixir, she swallowed it. For a while, her body became lighter and she regained her divine body.

Queen Mother Xi said to Pengmeng again: "Given Yi's character, if she knew that Chang'e would be punished on his behalf, she would definitely make a fuss in heaven. Although he is now in mortal form, he has a dry sky bow and sun-shooting arrows in his hands, which are very powerful.If you want to hide this, how about saying that Chang'e couldn't wait for Yi and took the elixir alone and flew to heaven? "

Pengmeng nodded with tears in his eyes and bowed down to Chang'e. In this way, Chang'e, led by the Queen Mother of the West, flew towards the heaven.

Later, Chang'e was punished for Yi and was imprisoned in the moon palace forever. After Yi killed Jiu Ying, he also killed Chisel Tooth , Feng Xun and other monsters one after another, and stayed in the world from then on. A great hero praised by all generations.

Every night, he would look at the figure of Chang'e in the Moon Palace and miss this virtuous wife. People were very sad when they saw her. On August 15th every year, they would imitate the moon. They made round dough cakes to commemorate Chang'e. Yes, they are today's moon cakes.

Author: Yu Quanjun (Hebei)