Nuwa Mended the Sky

女蜗补天

The popular story of“Nuwa Mended the Sky" was noted¹ in“Huainanzi ”written in Western Han. It says，“In remote antiquity，the four polesof the universe collapsed，the sky cracked open，the earth was no longer able to support everything，fire ran wild everywhere without ceasing，and flood overflowed² out of control. Fierce beasts ate common people，and ferocious³ birds attacked the old and the weak. Hence，Nuwa smelted⁴ the five-colored stones to mend the sky，cut off the feet of the great turtle to support the four poles，killed the black dragon to help the earth，and gathered the ash of reed to stop the flood.”

据《淮南子》记载:很久很久以前，撑天的的四根柱子塌了，天空裂开了一个大口子，大地也不能再负载万物。大火熊熊而不灭，洪水浩浩而不止。许多猛兽鹜鸟也趁乱出来攫食人民。于是，女蜗首先锻炼了一种五色石头来修补天空，又砍下一只巨鳌的脚当作四极，立在大地的四角撑住天空。然后，女蜗又杀死黑龙等猛兽，堆积了许多芦灰来阻止大地上的洪水。