Fiction: Group 2
The Legend of the Pearl River Delta
Dulwich College Beijing, Chen, Yukino - 10, Fiction: Group 2
n the dark world outside, planet earth drifting through the misty universe. On that planet, was a river
named The Pearl River Delta. This river flows by Guanzhou, Hong Kong and Macau, and has been
one of the reasons why those cities had been such a success in economy, tourism and much more. Many
people had considered, depending on what they believed, that either the river had just been there by luck or
God had put it there for people’s convenience. However, what I’m going to tell you is completely different
to what you’ve ever heard before… the legend of the Pearl River Delta.
***
The morning mist was clearing, revealing a small village. The holy bird soared high above the ground, but
close enough to see how his citizens were doing. To his surprise, the citizens of the village were suffering
from thirstiness! The crops won’t grow, so they had nothing to eat either.
He could hear the poor babies crying, the dejected mothers attempting to calm them down, but eventually
failing to.
“Objection!” yelled one man.
“This is torture!” yelled another.
The holy bird sighed in misery. The sea was not far, but seawater was undrinkable and unusable. There
weren’t any rivers or lakes around here, which could explain why these inhabitants were dying of thirst.
The holy bird stopped in mid air, glancing at the human world, motionlessly pondering…
He couldn’t think of any way to help these poor people. If he tried to carry water from another lake to here,
it would be disobeying the rules of his kingdom because the source from which he is taking water from will
suffer too. That would be sure to get him into big trouble. But what could he do?
Suddenly, the holy bird thought of his sister, the leader of wisdom. She was wiser than anyone could
imagine. Going to her for solutions was surely an excellent idea.
Decision made, the holy bird journeyed his way through the maze of green forests and snow capped
mountains until he could finally see the glistening white cave floating a few hundred metres above ground.
That is where his sister lives, the cave of wiseness. He entered, slowly guided by two bird-guards.
“The holy bird is arriving, behold, behold.” They chanted. The glowing carpet leading to his sister’s throne
was lined by holy creatures. There were members of love, wisdom, kindness, enthusiasm and even humour.
They all bowed respectfully to the younger brother of their leader.
“Who is it?” Yelled the leader of wisdom, irritated, “Who dares interrupt me at this hour?”
“It is the holy bird, Vienna.” Said one of the guards.
Leader Vienna’s expression softened a little when she realised that it was her brother that had come to visit.
“Bring him to me!” commanded Vienna.
“It’s good to see you again sister.” He greeted Vienna with a warm smile.
“And what brings you here, Delta?” asked the leader of wisdom.
“Come, sit down and we may talk.” She gestured for him to sit down on the velvety cushion next to her.
Delta explained to Vienna about how the people of his area had been dying of thirst.
“I had come,” Delta started, “to ask you to help them. You have the power because you are the leader.”
Vienna listened carefully and hung onto every word his brother said.
“I cannot do that.” Said the leader in dismay. “Only a special sacrifice can save them.”
“What do you mean sister?” Delta tilted his head in confusion.
“There was an old saying…” Vienna replied as she flipped through the pages, eyes fixed in the book.
I
