Myths and Legends

(8) Celestial Lonely Regrets

After the Great Archer Yi (羿) shot down the nine playful suns, Tien Di (天帝) banished him and his beautiful wife Chang O (嫦娥) from heaven.

They settled down on earth amid people who respected him for saving the universe. They had a son and a daughter in a few years, and lived happily in central China.

However, Chang O had always a complaint for being changed to be a human when she was born a goddess. She was particularly concerned that she would die one day, being human. Yi tried all he could to comfort her, and to make life easy for her.

One day she learned that there was a magic elixir which would enable humans to live forever. She urged Yi to seek for it.

Yi searched for months. Finally, he learned that the elixir belonged to a Queen Mother of the West (西王), a monster who disliked man. She lived in a palace in western China beyond a big desert edging the Kunlun Mountain. No one had succeeded to reach her. What’s more, her palace was surrounded by a moat of weak water on which even the lightest feather would sink. A three legged gigantic bird hovered in the sky above the palace, guarding against any intruder.

Yi was determined to get the elixir for his wife. He overcame all the obstacles and dangers to reach the Queen Mother. She had a human face, a beastly body and leopard tail. She also liked to eat human flesh. When she heard Yi how much he loved his wife, she showed her sympathy and mercy.

She gave Yi a small bottle of the magic elixir saying: “This is the Elixir for Immortality. If you and your wife each took half of it, both of you would live forever on earth. But if one of you should drink the whole bottle, you will become a god again.”

Yi knelt and thanked the Queen Mother for her generosity. He returned home as fast as he could to present the ornate bottle to Chang O, relating to her the words of the Queen Mother.

The next day, when Yi and the children were out hunting for food, Chang O had many thoughts. She loved Yi and her children, and was happy with them on earth. But she remembered the carefree times in heaven when she was a goddess. In the back of her mind, she blamed Yi for enraging Tien Di who banished both of them to become humans.

“Why should I have all these human worries for something he did? If he is so happy here on earth, he could stay. And may be when I become a goddess again I can visit him and the kids any time I wish”

She played with the beautiful bottle for a while. Then, driven by an impulse, she emptied the bottle all at once into her mouth.

She was immediately flying light and fast, with no possible control. She called for Yi to help. But she was already high in the clouds, seeing the stars and the moon in the distance.

The farther she drifted from earth the more remorseful she felt about her selfishness. She began to realize that a great many of her friends in heaven and on earth might not forgive her for leaving Yi this way. She decided not to drift further and landed herself on the moon.

Chang O found the moon desolate and gloomy, and the air was frigidly cold. Except for a cassia tree and a small rabbit, there was no other sign of life on it. She began to suffer from the full consequence of her foolish, selfish action. It had caused her to forsake an immortal life with a loving husband for an immortal life of infinite loneliness, night after night.

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Note: This is a narration of a story in the book . The original title 嫦娥奔月 told us a number of conflicting dramas of life; romantic, remorseful, tragic, or regretful all brought about by decisions made in a single confused moment.