03EmperorYuTamesFlood

1、Emperor Yu Tames FloodOver four thousand years ago, the Yellow River Valley was stricken by rampant floods, day after day. A huge disaster was imminent. The leader, Yao appointed Gun to tame the floods.Gun commanded the men to build dams with huge stones and wood, but the rolling flood broke the dam

2、 walls. Then Shun took the place of Gun, and he ordered that Gun be escorted to an alien land. The men were escorting Gun on one side of the Yellow River, while on the other side, a young man was seeing them off.The storm calmed. However, it continued to rain all the time. Plants and houses were all

3、 destroyed. It was desolate everywhere.Refugees could be seen everywhere on the muddy road. They wore worried looks, teetering along with the old and the young.'The flood was so terrible, but what can be done?” An old man ssadly.That young man murmured after pondering over the problem for a cons

4、iderable amount of time,' I have an idea, but I haven' t consiwell.'Really? What ' s your ideaHold man said in surprise.The young man explained 'water is very gentle, everhanging, free of form and invincible, but it has its own rhythms. Usually, water flows downwards. We can take

5、 use of the topography and obey the rules of water flow to take action: some places can be blocked, but other places can be dredged, to let it flow freely.'Young man, what ' s your name?The old main askehlationwith his eyes wide open.Yu said shyly, 'I am Yu, the son of Gun.In the square,

6、 the leader Shun was discussing countermeasures with the ministers.The flood is so fierce that most of our crops and fields have been submerged. ' Hou Ji said loudly.What' s worse, many people lost their lives in the fight against theflood.' Bo Yi added with grief andignation.Shun said w

7、orriedly, staring at the ministers and crowds,Whstand up and take the lead in controlling the flood?The ministers looked at each other and began whispering.At that moment, an old man walked through the crowd with a crutch and appeared in front of them. He said, ' Yu, The son of Gun, can hold thi

8、s important position.'One of the ministers responded, full of doubt, ' Hisfather can' t control the flood, how could his son manage? No, I don' t think so.Shun was a leader who had his own ideas. He didn ' accept the views of others easily. He asked the old man,' You suggeste

9、d Yu coulctake this important position. Does he have any good ideas?'The old man replied with Yu' sdea, 'toadapt to local conditions, swap blocking with dredging! ''Veryeasonable 'ShunB o Yi and Hou Ji nodded approvingly. They all thought it a good idea.Yu was then entrusted

10、with a mission at a critical and difficult moment. He said goodbye to his mother and went on his way with Bo Yi, Hou Ji and several followers.'Mum,please don' worry. I ' nsure I can overcome the awfulflood! ' Yu said to his mother, full of confidence.Yu said his farewells to his moth

11、er, with the followers in toe and left home with some tools. His mother had just said goodbye to her husband, and now she had to separate from her son too, her heart and mind were conflicted.Yu appeared to be calmer, more intelligent and more organized than his father. He trampled over hills with hi

12、s men to investigate topography on location.Yu measured the depth of rivers with tools and continued giving orders.Their team continued to move forward and the number of followers was expanding. Eventually, a flood control army was formed.One day, when Yu ' s army arrived at a cliff near Yellow

13、River, a gust of wind suddenly swept up violently. A heavy rain poured with flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder.They clung to the wall of the cliff in order to shelter themselves from the wind and the rain. They looked nervously at the surging YellowRiver below the cliff.Yu shouted, ' ta

14、ke care not to slip in the mud! Be careful!While Yu was shouting, a gust of strong wind swept his tools off the cliff. Yu snatched at the tools quickly. However, Yu never thought that the stone under his feet could be loosened and he fell from the cliff like a large bird.'Splash ' Yu fell in

15、to the water.Yu struggled and flopped about in the current, but he soon tired. He felt dizzy, and drooped down, and then became unconscious. The last thing he remembered was that somebody seemed to grasp his body and pulled him out of the water.The sky cleared and to reveal a shining sun. Peach blos

16、soms were dotted here and there on the hills above. What a beautiful sight!Yu woke up to find himself lying on the bank. A girl was applying herbs to his injured arm.'Whaare you doing? You are hurt, please don' move,'said the girl.'Tools, tools, where are my tools? ' Yu exclaimed

17、.The girl laughed, ' You don ' t care about your life! You almost lost it, but all you can think of are your tools. Don' t worry, here they are!Yu found his tools were beside the girl in good condition, which caused him to say embarrassingly, 'Thanyou! Thank you! Thank you for protec

18、ting my tools!The girl laughed and said, ' You don ' t thank me for saving you, but for saving your tools! Never mind, I m only kidding. My name is Nv Jiao,what s your name? Yu replied ' My name, is Ywhile checking on his tools.Nv Jiao noticed that Yu considered thes tools to be treasure

19、s, so she couldn ' t help asking, ' Hey, dummy! What are you going to do with these tools anyway? 'Yu felt a little unhappy. I ' nmt 'heyI '. m 'Yu' He'thought to himself, butdidn ' t show it. aAlftshe saved his life and protected his tools.Yu said, ' They

20、 are my treasures. I use them to explore the terrain and the flow of water. Suddenly, Nv Jiao noticed Yu' stands, and she screamed, ' Your hands! Your hands! How strange your hands are! Whydon' t your hands have nails?'Calm down, it ' s because I deal with water every day.' Y

21、u smileand said.Nv Jiao thought Yu was quite intriguing, I must know more of him. she said to herself.'Wow, your experiences are so rich. You must have been tolat of different places. Please tell me.' She pleaded.Yu and Nv Jiao then chatted pleasantly as if they were a pair of old friends, b

22、y the lake.Yu kept thinking about controlling the flood, so he said goodbye to Nv Jiao hurriedly.Nv Jiao waved and cdled out to him reluctantly' Remember to comeback!Yu caught up with the team and continued moving forward with BoYi, Hou Ji and his men.Bo Yi asked, 'Yu, what should we do next

23、? 'Yu answered, 'Accordingto the characteristicsof the terrain and topography, we divide the land into nine areas. With drainage channels, dredge water veins, we level land and turn deserted lands into fields.Yi said happily, 'It really kills two birds with one stone. We can not only con

24、trol the flood but also cultivate the fields. ' Yu led his team to cultivate the mountains and build houses. At the same time, he taught them to irrigate the fields.Once, Yu passed his house and looked into the house affectionately.He heard a baby crying in the house. He realised that his wife N

25、v Jiao had given birth to a baby.When Nv Jiao sensed the flood-controlling team passing her house, she ran out with her baby. However, she discovered that the team had already moved far away.Yu and his team were trapped because of the torrential rain on Longmen Mountain. The mountain road ahead coll

26、apsed, the flood ravaged and the mud continued to thicken.Hou Ji shouted in panic,'We can' t move forward. 'Yu said calmly, ' Step back, everyone! Don ' t panic! 'When Yu had hardly finished speaking, a collapsing sound suddenlyemerged from behind. The water level rose fast t

27、o the mens breastsBo Yi said worryingly,' we can ' t hold on too long. We will lose ourlives!'Everyone was anxious except Yu, who investigated calmly. He found that all of the flood water flowed to a hole.Yu called out, ' Everyoned on' be nervous. Follow me. We will survive if we make the hole wider.'Yu began to make the hole wider first. But the rocks were so hard that the stone pickaxes broke very easily. Then his men followed him one after another.Yu said, ' Don' t lose hear