Once upon a time an old, old man named Yugong lived in northern China between two enormous mountains. Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain rose thousands of feet high and 70 miles wide, and they stood between Jizhou and the River Han.

Yugong was a headstrong old fellow who often complained about those mountains. One morning, just before his 100th birthday, he woke and looked out the window. Staring at Taihang, he muttered, "That mountain is blocking my view." ㄢヘｗｗｗ．ＦAIＲY-tａｌＥ.infＯū7

Then he turned his head slightly and looked at Wangwu. "How can I go anywhere when I have to walk around such a towering thing!" he said grumpily.

All that day Yugong lay in bed worrying about what those mountains blocked from his sight. ¤ＷwＷ.FaＩｒＹ-ＴAＬE。IＮfOαたφВ

That evening he said to his wife, "I might see more beautiful vistas if those mountains weren't in my way." ゑ3ＷｗＷ。Ｆａｉrｙ-ｔａＬＥ．IＮfＯJ

But Yugong's complaints would not stop, and one day he summoned his entire family to his home. He had many sons and daughters, and they too had sons and daughters, and some of those grandchildren had children of their own. The house overflowed with people. ゅЖWξwWｗ.ｆＡＩＲＹ-TALＥ。iｎｆo∵の◎èキr

Yugong called everyone to gather around him, and when they were seated and quiet, he announced, "We must flatten the mountains."

wＷＷ。fＡｉｒｙ－ｔAｌe.ＩNｆＯさㄏ※Оǐィㄛ

Yugong went on. "I wish to walk to the River Han," he said. "I am an old, old man, and no longer do I care to walk around the mountains to reach the river. I need a direct route. We must flatten the mountains."

When the men and boys reached the foot of the mountains, they picked up their axes and began to break apart rocks and mounds of earth, tossing them into large baskets. When the baskets were full, they carried them to the sea to toss them in. ツUφㄏクWｗW．ｆＡiｒＹ-ＴaLe.iＮfＯnūκ9

As they were walking, they passed a bend in the river where a wise old man known as Zhisou had built his home. はUㄛむQwwｗ．Ｆａiｒｙ-TａLE。ＩnｆＯ⌒(ちニK

When Zhisou saw the parade carrying baskets of rocks and dirt, he asked what they were doing.

ｗｗw．ＦAｉRｙ-taLｅ。ＩNｆoむヴ

"We're drowning Taihang and Wangwu," they said. "We've had enough of those mountains." Оxy々낱WWｗ．ＦaIrY－ｔＡle．ｉnｆｏОぅィ

Zhisou laughed. "You cannot drown earth and stone. You are fools. You'll never drown such majestic mountains." He looked at Yugong. "You're an old, old man. You can barely walk."

Yugong sighed. "I am weak and old, that is true," he said. "And it is true that one day before long I will die. But my sons live on, and they have produced grandsons who produce great-grandsons, and those grandsons will produce great-great-grandsons, and on and on, without end. Those mountains will never grow, so sooner or later we will succeed." ㄞゥWｗＷ。fＡｉRｙ-ｔaｌe．Ｉnfｏ№くた

Zhisou did not know what to say to that. GふｗＷｗ.Ｆａiｒy-tａＬe.InＦｏ

Now as the men spoke, the god of the mountains overheard this conversation. He saw that the old man was determined, and so he reported the tale to the king of the gods.

"He will never give up," the god of the mountains said. "Forever he and his descendants will scratch and claw and dig at my feet." ㄉケШWｗW。ＦAｉｒy-TAｌe．ＩｎfoPㄊ4ВШOセ

The king of the gods saw this was true, and he knew he must protect the mountains. So he commanded the two sons of Kua'eshi, god of strength, to carry away the mountains. "Move them so the old man is satisfied," the king of the gods commanded. Оxy々낱WWｗ．ＦaIrY－ｔＡle．ｉnｆｏОぅィ

And this they did. They put one mountain east of Shuozhou and the other south of Yongzhou, and from that time on, no mountain blocked the old man's view, and ever since that day, whenever people stand atop the Heavenly Peak of Wangwu Mountain or the hilly trails of Taihang, they tell the tale of the foolish old man.