ENG
Black Yin fish, white Yang fish,
Stirring storms with a sky-flipping swish.
Leaping, twirling, never at rest,
Boundless power in a bowl compressed.
In the South Sea, there is a fish over six meters long. Its dorsal fin resembles a blade and can change color at will, whether white or black. This fish can fly into the sky, creating massive winds and waves as tall as mountains. Each time this fish appears, the village suffers from a plague.
Once, a fisherman returning from his catch encountered an elderly man who could barely walk. Despite his frailty, the old man carried a heavy, tattered bundle filled with scrolls. Exhausted and without money to pay for a boat ride, he struggled along the riverbank. The kind-hearted fisherman, seeing the old man's plight, offered him a free ride across the river and even gave him two fresh fish for a meal. Grateful, the old man performed a divination on the spot and said, "In a few days, a young man wearing a bamboo hat and a white robe will pass by. Under no circumstances should you let him come to your village. On the day he arrives, do not conduct any business on the river, or you will lose your life."
After delivering these cryptic words, the old man vanished from the boat, leaving the fisherman both astonished and frightened. Yet, he etched the old man's warning deep into his heart. A few days later, while fishing, he indeed saw a man on the riverbank who matched the old man's description exactly. The man, claiming to be weary from his travels, asked the fisherman if he could take him to the nearby fishing village to rest. The fisherman initially wanted to refuse but then decided to take the man to a neighboring village downstream instead. After dropping the man off, the fisherman docked his boat and dared not return to the river.
At that moment, the man pulled a black bowl from his sleeve and threw it into the river. As soon as the bowl hit the water, a massive, pitch-black fish emerged, and a fierce storm erupted, with waves surging sky-high. The fisherman fled without looking back. Some time later, he heard that a severe plague had struck the neighboring village, killing many people. Initially feeling a sense of relief, he soon learned that refugees from the neighboring village had brought the plague to his own village, and they too were not spared.
The story begins by describing a supernatural fish in the South Sea. It is over six meters long, has a blade-like dorsal fin that can change color between white and black, and can leap into the sky. When it flies it creates huge winds and waves as tall as mountains. The text also says that each time this fish appears, a plague follows.
The main human characters are a kind fisherman, an elderly man carrying a bundle of scrolls, and later a young man wearing a bamboo hat and a white robe. One day the fisherman meets the frail old man, gives him a free boat ride and two fish to eat, and the old man repays him by performing a divination. The old man warns that a young man in a bamboo hat and white robe will pass by in a few days and must not be allowed into the village, and that on the day this man arrives the villagers must not do any business on the river or they will lose their lives.
After saying this, the old man disappears from the boat, leaving the fisherman stunned and scared. A few days later the fisherman sees the exact young man the old man described. The young man asks for a ride to the fishing village, but the fisherman refuses to bring him to his own village and instead takes him to a neighboring village downstream. After dropping him off, the fisherman docks his boat and avoids going back onto the river, following the old man’s instruction not to do river business that day.
As soon as the young man is off the boat he pulls a black bowl from his sleeve and throws it into the river. When the bowl hits the water, a massive pitch-black fish rises and a violent storm erupts with towering waves. The fisherman flees immediately without looking back.
Later the neighboring village is struck by a severe plague that kills many people. At first the fisherman feels relieved because he kept the young man out of his own village, but eventually refugees from the neighboring village bring the plague to his village and many there die as well. The story establishes that the fish can be released from a bowl, that its appearance brings storms and plague, and that trying to avoid the immediate danger did not prevent the disease from reaching the fisherman's village.