< Chinese folktales> the ancestors of Apicha, the Flood and the People (Yi)

In ancient times, there was a family, three brothers with a little sister to open up the wilderness. The god of thunder, Apocha, told them that there was going to be great water in the world, and took out a gold chest, a silver chest and a wooden chest for them to choose.

The eldest brother was greedy, and he asked for the gold. The second brother was greedy, and he asked for the silver one. The third brother didn't say a word, and asked for the wood. He said to the god of thunder, Apocha, "The eldest brother and the second brother are not willing to take their sister, I am willing to take her." ”

Another man gave an egg and told them to clip it in their arm sockets. Tell them, "When you hear the chicks crowing, when to lift the lid of the box." "After saying that, tell them to hide in the box, and close the lid of the box for them one by one, and the flood will come immediately."

After seven days and seven nights, the eggshell in the eldest brother's arm socket was broken, and the chicken was calling, so he opened the lid of the golden box, and the flood poured in, and he sank to the bottom of the water with the box.

After seven days and seven nights, the eggshell in the second brother's arm socket was also broken, and the chicken was crying, so he opened the lid of the silver box, and the flood poured in, and he sank to the bottom of the water with the box.

After seven days and seven nights, the eggshells in the arm sockets of the third brother and the little sister were also broken, and the chickens were calling, so they opened the lid of the wooden box, and the flood poured in, and they scooped the water clean, and the box floated up.

They drifted on the water, floating to the tip of a rocky mountain. On the hill grows a clump of wild thatched bamboo and a few green trees. They took the chicks and stayed there.

This flood drowned all the people of the world. There are no grain seeds, no rapeseeds, no cattle. The third brother and the little sister cried and couldn't live anymore.

Suddenly, Apocha came to them again, bringing them grain seeds, rapeseeds, and a herd of cattle and a herd of buffalo.

The third brother picked up a strand of thread, and the little sister picked up a needle, and they said to God, "If the thread penetrates the eye of the needle, our brothers and sisters will become relatives." "They threw the needle and the thread into the sky, and as a result, the thread penetrated the eye of the needle.

Then they said to God, "If the mill and the disc are combined, our brothers and sisters will become relatives." "They each went to a mountain and rolled the mill and the plate, and as a result, the mill and the plate came together.

The two brothers and sisters were married. After three years, the little sister was born with a large lump of flesh and blood. The two of them were very sad. I thought: I'm afraid that God doesn't want us to get married.

So they chopped up this large mass of flesh and blood into many pieces, hung it on the tree, and after a few days, when they looked again, the flesh and blood became young men and women, in pairs, talking and laughing, eating fruit on the tree. Since then, there have been more and more people in the world every day.