Fiction: Group 2
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Holy Angels Canossian School, Cheung, Kelly - 12, Fiction: Group 2
ong , long time ago, in a small village in Guangzhou , there lived a boy and his mother. The boy was
called Zhang Gui. His family was very poor. They could only have one meal a day. However, they
still felt very happy when they were together.
One day, the boy’s mother was very ill. Zhang Gui ran to find the doctor. The doctor hurried over and
was shocked after he had taken a look at Zhang Gui’s mother. He whispered to Zhang Gui, ‘Your mother
has a terrible disease. The only way to nurse her back to health is to find the magical bamboo on Baiyun
Mountain, the candle in Guanxiao Temple and a bottle of water from the Pearl River. Many people tried to
do so, but none of them came back. You must be very careful.’ Zhang Gui nodded and clenched his fist.
The next day, Zhang Gui set off to find the three things. After two days, he finally got to Baiyun
Mountain. He found the magical bamboo on the top of the mountain but when he was about to take the
magical bamboo, a huge leopard suddenly jumped out. The leopard growled at Zhang Gui fiercely and said,
‘You little fellow, how dare you take my bamboo?’ Zhang Gui went pale because he had never seen such a
huge and fierce leopard. Zhang Gui could feel sweat running down his forehead.
He answered in a trembling voice, ‘Well, I…I need it to nurse my mum back to…to health with the
bamboo, she is very sick now.’ The leopard thought for a moment, and questioned, ‘You really need the
bamboo?’ Zhang Gui nodded with tears running down his cheeks. ‘Well, if you get the answer of correct
answer of my riddle, I will give you the bamboo. Here is the riddle: It is small but sometimes bigger. It is
hard and dark in colour. Inside the forests, besides the rivers, it gives you the place to sit over. What is it?’
Zhang Gui murmured the riddle to himself once more, then he shouted,‘It is a rock!’ The leopard yelled
and disappeared suddenly. Zhang Gui got the bamboo and set off again to Guangxiao Temple.
When he entered the temple, nobody was at sight. Zhang Gui asked, ‘Hello?’ His voice echoed through
the air but still, nobody answered. He decided to look for the candle. Suddenly, there was a flash of light,
and inside the light, an old man appeared. He was holding the candle in his right hand. Zhang Gui was
delighted to see the old man and the candle. He asked politely, ‘Please, may I have the candle you are
holding?’ The old man replied,‘ Of course, but you must listen to my story and keep still for whatever I do
to you.’ Zhang Gui swallowed hard and answered, ‘Deal. Zhang Gui breathed deeply to calm himself down.
‘Very well young man, now, listen to my story,’ the old man continued, ‘Once, I was a farmer. I planted
many vegetables and they were all sold at a good price. However, one day, there was a heavy rain. My
vegetables were all ruined! The worst thing was something got stuck under the mountain and the water
could not flow away. I was trapped in my house with no food left. I starved to death at last.’ The old man
finished his story. He sighed and shook his head.
Zhang Gui was terrified, ‘That means you are a gh…ghost?’ He asked with a shivering voice but he kept
still. The old man laughed, ‘Ha, Ha! Yes, but if I cannot give out the candle to someone else in a year, I will
disappear forever.’ ‘That is an easy job!’ said Zhang Gui. ‘No, it is not as easy as you think. I am waiting for
a brave person, like you.’ ‘Me? What? How ridiculous!’ replied Zhang Gui, who was shocked. ‘You are,
you are! You are the only one that did not scream or run away or even fainted when you know I am dead.
Look! Do you see the paper on the walls? Hundreds of them. They are all the people who ran away. They
had been turned into the paper by the mysterious power of the candle. You are different from them. The
candle is yours now. Take it, brave young man. I wish you good luck! ’ The old man smiled and
disappeared in the flash of light that Zhang Gui had seen before.
Zhang Gui left the temple and went to Pearl River. However, what he saw scared him. There was no
water in the river! Zhang Gui nearly cried out loudly. How could his mother recover without the water of
the river? Suddenly, Zhang Gui thought of the riddle and the story told by the old man. He murmured,
‘Rock, something that got stuck under the mountain…It is the rock!’ Zhang Gui searched everywhere to
find the rock. Finally, he found it! He pulled out the rock with all his might. Then, when he saw the water
rushing down the river, Zhang Gui was filled with excitement. He took a bottle of it and rushed back home
immediately.
The doctor and Zhang Gui lit up the fire and put it beside his mother’s bed. Then, they put the bamboo
in the water from Pearl River and let Zhang Gui’s mother drink the water. A few minutes later, Zhang
Gui’s mother was awoke. She thanked the doctor in tears and hugged her brave and smart son tightly.
Suddenly, Zhang Gui heard a knocking sound on the door. When he opened it, the chief and the villagers
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