One day, The Dragon King’s was suffering from terrible back pain and it was more than he could endure.

传龙王背痛得受不了了。

In the dragon palace there was no medicine that could cure the back pain.

在龙宫里有没有药可以治背痛。

The Dragon King decided¹ to disguise himself as an old man to seek medical help.

于是龙王把自己乔装成一个老人出去求医。

When the doctor felt the pulse of the old man he sensed something really strange and said: "You are not the human!"

医生诊脉时，觉得龙王的脉象异常说道：“不是凡人”。

The Dragon King’s look of dismay could not conceal² the truth.

龙王一脸惊慌，但却无法隐瞒真相。

He told the doctor the truth and the reason for his visit.

于是就跟医生说了实话，也说了他来求医的原因。

Thereupon the doctor asked him to change into his true form. The doctor seized a centipede from the scales around the waist of the Dragon King.

于是，医生让龙王变回真身，然后从龙王腰部的龙鳞下面揪出一直蜈蚣。

After the poison had been extracted from the Dragon King‘s waist, the doctor applied³ ointment⁴.

蜈蚣被抓出来后，医生给涂抹了点膏药。

The Dragon King was restored to full health.

龙王就好了。

In order to thank the gracious Doctor for his treatment. The Dragon King said to the doctor that, "Good crops will come, so long as a dragon dance according to my appearance is played.

为了感谢医生的治疗，龙王对医生说“舞龙可带来好收成”。

The story spread among the people, then every Spring the dragon dance was played to pray for rain to produce good crops.

这个故事在民间传播开了，每年春天都会舞龙，以祈求来年有好收成。