Long, long ago, rain stopped falling in China. The people prayed for rain to the Jade¹ Emperor, for it was he who looked after everything in heaven, on the land and in the sea, but no matter how much they prayed, rain did not fall.

Four dragons lived in the East China Sea in those days. They swam to shore to see what was happening, and saw people tearing grass from the caked ground, for the people had nothing else left to eat.

"We must do something," Long Dragon said, and Yellow Dragon nodded. "We must help them ourselves," said Pearl² Dragon, "for the Jade Emperor will never answer their prayers."

They suddenly thought of a way to help. They started swimming this way and that, scooping³ up water with their bodies. Then all four leapt into the sky. Black Dragon flew to the north, Long Dragon flew to the west, Pearl Dragon flew to the southernmost tip of China, and Yellow Dragon flew to the very center of the vast country. All at once, they let the water fall from their mouths, arms, legs, and even their tails.

The people down below looked up, but they could not see the dragons. They could only see the rain falling from the sky -- drops of rain more beautiful than any jewel. "Rain!" they cried joyfully⁴, and all the people and animals ran out into the rain and started to dance.

When the Jade Emperor saw the rain, he was furious⁵. "Who dares to tamper⁶ with[干预] my world?" he shouted, and then saw the four dragons swooping⁷ around in the sky. "You will not escape!" he thundered, and summoning[招集] Mountain God, he ordered him to kill the dragons.

Mountain God sent four mountains tumbling⁸ after the dragons. The moment the creatures landed, the four mountains landed on top of them, crushing them. Then an odd thing happened. Suddenly four rivers formed, springing out from beneath the mountains and spreading across the whole country.

This, people say, is how the four great rivers of China were created: the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Pearl and the Heilongjiang are all that remain of the four great dragons who once saved the people of China.

在很久很久以前的中国，遇到了一次滴水不降的旱灾。人们就向掌管天上、地下、海洋的玉皇大帝求拜，但无论他们怎么祈求，雨始终不落一滴。

当时，有四条龙住在中国的东海。他们游到岸边去看怎么回事，看到人们在从结块的土地上拔草吃，因为土地上实在没有别的东西吃了。

“我们得做点什么，”长龙说道，黄龙点头附和。“我们一定得帮帮他们，”珠龙说，“因为玉帝是不会答应他们的祈求的。”

他们突然想到了一个办法。他们在海里游，然后用他们的身体汲取水。然后他们四个分别腾飞天空。黑龙飞向了北面，长龙飞去了西面，珠龙飞去了中国的最南端，而黄龙则飞去了这个辽阔国度的最中心。突然，他们让水从他们的嘴巴、手脚、尾巴流出来。

地面的人们看到了，但他们看不到龙。他们只能看到雨从天空降下来——雨滴比任何珠宝都来得美丽。“雨！”人们欢呼雀跃，所有的人和动物都奔入雨中，欢呼起舞。

当玉帝看到雨，他十分震怒。“是谁干的？”他咆哮道，然后他看到了飞在空中的四条龙。“你们跑不了的！”他大吼道，然后招集山神，他命令山神杀死四条龙

山神派了四座山去压倒四龙。当龙一到，四座上就压倒他们，压垮他们。奇怪的事情发生了，突然间形成了四条河，从山出，贯穿了整个国家。

人们说，这就是中国四条大江的由来，长江、黄河、珠江和黑龙江就是这四条龙的遗赠，他们曾经挽救过中国人们的生命。