Chapter 18 "The Changing Plane" Excerpt 4 Yalong River War (1)

In those bygone days of Masigu, two city-states—Meiyun and Hui—were rivals in trade, learning, and the arts, and were constantly at odds over the borders of their pastures .The myth of May Cloud's founding goes like this: A goddess Taff gave a young cowherd named Mei her sparkling blue cloak after spending a good night with him. She told him that when he spread the cloak, the land covered by the cloak would become a great city, and he would be its master. From May's point of view, his city might be only five feet long and three feet wide, but he still found his father's best pasture, and prepared to spread the goddess's cloak on the grass.

He unfolded his cloak; but the cloak on the ground grew bigger and bigger, and the cloth in his hand grew more and more.In the end the cloak covered all the hilly land between the two rivers (the smaller one was called Ernon and the larger Yaron). With the city's boundaries defined, the glistening cloak soared skyward to return to its master.May was an enterprising man who kept the city running safely, developed rapidly during his long reign, and even after his death, the city still exudes vitality.And Hu Yi's myth goes like this: On a warm summer night, a girl named Hu slept on her father's farm.The Bull god looked down, saw her, and, as it were, unconsciously, took possession of her.

Hu was very angry.She does not accept his virginity and announces that she will tell his wife about it.In order to appease her, the god Bull told her that she would bear him a hundred sons, and these children would build a great city where she lost her virginity.However, when Hu realized that she was going to have so many children, she became even more angry.So she found Bull's wife, the goddess Taf. Tuff can't undo what Bull did, but it can change it a little. Soon after, Hu gave birth to a hundred daughters. They became enterprising young women who built a great city on their grandfather's farm, which grew rapidly during their long reign and continued to radiate vitality even after their deaths.Unfortunately, on the west bank of the Yalong River, the boundaries of Hu's father's farm intersected the line drawn by Tuff's shining cloak.