THE TEN SUNS

Once upon a time there were ten suns.   

They took turns bringing light and warmth to the Earth

Each day one sun would travel across the sky

From east to west

The suns enjoyed being together

After a while they did not want to be alone in the sky

One day, the ten suns decided to travel together.

They were very happy together, but the people on Earth were very, very hot

Plants and trees died, rocks melted and all the water begun to dry up.

The people of China begged the emperor Yao to tell the suns not to do this ever again

But the ten suns liked traveling together and did not listen to the emperor

Yao asked them again and again to stop traveling together; he explained how hot it was on Earth

How the plants could not grow and the animals could not drink

He told them, how the people had no food

All because the suns wanted to travel together

Still, the ten suns did not listen

The emperor did not know what to do, he wanted the suns to be happy, but not if it meant that Earth had to suffer

Finally he decided to send his most brave and clever archer Yi to talk to the ten suns

Yi dressed in his thick cloth uniform, to protect himself from the heat, strapped his bow and arrows on to his back grabbed his shield and went off to complete his task.

When Yi saw the suns, he asked them to sop traveling together

They did not listen to him

He continued to walk closer and closer to the suns

He held his shield above his head

The heat of the ten suns reflected off Yi’s shiny shield and reflected back towards them.

Finally the suns understood how hard their rays were

Yi explained to the suns how they could continue to stay together in the sky

One by one the suns begun to break into pieces

And the tiny pieces spread themselves across the sky in all directions.

Until one sun was left

As the last sun continue to move towards the west

The tiny pieces continued to sparkle throughout the night sky

The emperor and the people of China were thankful and Earth begun to prosper again