This is the fable that sits at the heart of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival – sort of like how the story of Santa sits at the heart of Christmas. This story is a sad one. It’s about the goddess Chang’e and her husband Hou Yi the archer, and their star-crossed love affair. I posted another story about Hou Yi last week (there are quite a few stories about him), but this one is arguably even more famous. In other stories about them, though not in this one, Chang’e is referred to as a fairy or divine being, while Hou Yi is kind of like Hercules, a hero with god-like powers.
There are a couple of other characters in here. One is 西王母, or the Queen Mother of the West. Chinese belief in this deity is very old, likely pre-dating Taoism and other more modern religions, and she pops up in several Taoist, Buddhist, and shamanistic stories throughout the ages. The second character – the villain 蓬蒙 (Peng Meng) – isn’t particularly famous (at least not to my knowledge), and I’ve only ever heard that name in relation to this story.
Key vocab
长生不老 – chángshēngbùlǎo – to live forever without aging
贪婪 – tānlán – greedy / avaricious
狡猾 – jiǎohuá – cunning / crafty / sly
威胁 – wēixié – to threaten
身不由己 – shēnbùyóujǐ – involuntarily / beyond one’s control
悲痛欲绝 – bēitòngyùjué – grief-stricken / overwhelmed with sorrow
凝望 – níngwàng – to gaze at / to stare at intently
习俗 – xísú – custom / tradition
嫦娥奔月
嫦娥奔月
后羿是一位有名的英雄，他的妻子嫦娥温柔善良，两个人感情很深，生活幸福美满。
有一天，后羿从西王母那里得到了一颗仙丹。西王母告诉他，吃了这颗仙丹就可以长生不老，飞升成仙。但是后羿放不下嫦娥，不愿意一个人离开，就把仙丹藏在家里，打算以后再做决定。
后羿有一个徒弟叫蓬蒙，此人贪婪狡猾，一心只想得到仙丹。他暗中调查，终于发现了仙丹藏在哪里。有一天，趁后羿出门的时候，蓬蒙闯进屋子，拿着武器威胁嫦娥，逼她交出仙丹。
嫦娥知道自己无法与蓬蒙抗争。她看了看手中的仙丹，心想：仙丹绝对不能落入这种坏人手中。情急之下，她做了一个决定——把仙丹吞了下去。
仙丹的力量非常强大。嫦娥刚刚咽下，就感觉身体越来越轻，双脚慢慢离开地面，身不由己地飘了起来。她飞出窗户，飞过树梢，越飞越高，直冲云霄。
嫦娥心里放不下后羿，不愿飞得太远。她抬头望去，看到月亮就在不远处，于是降落在了月亮上。
后羿回到家，蓬蒙早已逃跑。邻居把发生的事情告诉了他。后羿冲出门外，仰望夜空，只见一轮圆月高挂天上，格外明亮。他大声呼唤嫦娥的名字，却只有风声回应他。
后羿悲痛欲绝。从那以后，每逢八月十五，他都会在院子里摆上嫦娥最爱吃的食物，独自坐在月光下，久久凝望着那轮明月。
后来，这个习俗慢慢流传开来。每年八月十五，天下的人们都会在月光下聚在一起，赏月，吃月饼，思念远方的亲人。这一天，就是中秋节。