Folk mythology: Magnolia Fairy

In the prestigious Wuran Temple, there is a white magnolia tree, which is about 3 meters high, 40 centimeters in diameter at breast height, and about 8 meters in crown width. It is still flourishing with luxuriant leaves and branches. Every year in late spring, before the green leaves bloom, the silver flowers bloom like clouds and snow. The spring breeze blows gently, and the fragrance overflows, filling the valley of the ancient temple, making tourists marvel and linger.

According to legend, there was a fairy named Magnolia in the Heavenly Palace, who turned into this tree, which led to a romantic story...

One year, the Queen Mother came down to Kunyu Mountain to find happiness. Grass, seeing a pool of clear, mirror-like blue water in the mountain stream, he asked the fairies accompanying him: "Can this water be compared with Yaochi?" The fairies looked at each other, not knowing how to answer. One of the fairies named Yulan raised her eyebrows. , said: "Your Majesty, this water is comparable to Yaochi."

The Queen Mother nodded, and Yulan then said: "My Majesty, I waited until I came to visit the mountains to enjoy the scenery, and I was already exhausted from walking. Now, When you find such nice blue water, why don’t you go down and take a bath?” The empress agreed happily, and then, under the service of the fairies, she took off her clothes and went down to the pool to take a bath together with the fairies. She felt so refreshed all over her body. He was so happy that his eyebrows were all smiling.

When the sun was high in the sky, the Queen Mother said to the fairies: "It's time to go ashore to rest, and you should go get some food to eat."

The smart and diligent Magnolia stepped forward. He bowed and said, "My Lady, please don't be anxious. I am willing to prepare tea and rice for my Lady."

After the Lady agreed, Magnolia and another fairy walked out of the canyon and came to a thatched hut shaded by green trees. In front of him, he saluted the young man who was sitting in front of the stove making a fire and cooking: "Brother, we have been hungry and thirsty since we walked here from other places. Can you please give me some food and tea?" The young man looked up and couldn't help but be shocked. Come on, ah, there are such beautiful women in the world!

"Brother, you are talking!" Yulan's urging brought the young man back to his senses from the shock, and he quickly nodded and replied: "Ah, okay, Miss, please come in for dinner." Magnolia went into the house and opened the pot lid to take a look. She saw that the rice was boiling with fragrant aroma, but she blurted out: "Although it is good rice, it is a pity that it is too little cooked." The young man understood and said: "If you people "More, I'll make some more!" "Great!" Magnolia clapped her hands and said to the other fairy: "You go back and invite the queen and sisters. I'll help my elder brother make more food." /p>

The young man led Magnolia to the stream in front of the door to wash rice. While Magnolia was washing rice, he asked: "Brother, are both your parents still alive?" After hearing this, the young man's face immediately turned into a cloud, and he said : "My parents left when I was three or four years old. I still don't know my name. Anyway, people in the mountains call me Shiwa."

Oh, the miserable Shiwa! Yulan asked with sympathy on her face: "You are so old, shouldn't you start a family?" "Oh! There are too few people and many rabbits in this deep ravine, so how can we start a family?" Yulan nodded and said, "This life is too difficult. Come on!"

"The queen is here!" Suddenly a fairy's crisp cry came from the valley, and Yulan immediately stood up and said to Shi Wa: "Ah, my master is here."

Before Shi Wa could recover, the empress came to Shi Wa surrounded by fairies. Magnolia hurriedly knelt down and knelt down to worship, and said, "Your Majesty, thank you for your hard work. Please wait a moment and the meal will be ready."

The Queen Mother pointed to the Shiwa standing in front of her and asked Magnolia: "This young man..." Yulan said as quickly as possible: "Your Majesty, his name is Shiwa, and he is the one who prepared the food for us today." Yulan said, then tugged at the corner of Shiwa's clothes: "Why don't you bow to your Majesty quickly?" She has never seen anything like this. The stone baby of a graceful lady hurriedly knelt down and said: "It is a great honor for me to come to my humble residence. Please come in to drink tea and rest."

The Queen Mother saw that although the young man was ragged, he was handsome and honest. She was simple and lovable, so she said, "My dear, I've done more for you." "Where, where." Shi Wa said and invited the empress to come in.

"I think we'll sit here." The Queen Mother pointed to the stone table and bench at the door and said, "Everyone, come and sit." So the fairies held their arms around the Queen Mother and sat around the stone table. Shi Wa brought the tea and then turned back to the house to help Yulan cook.

At this time, Yulan was rolling up her sleeves like a housewife, wielding a shovel to stir-fry vegetables with nimble movements. Seeing this, Shi Wa exclaimed: "I didn't know you were so good at cooking!" Yu Lan smiled and said: "What's so strange about this? Weaving and embroidery is my specialty!"

After hearing Yu Lan's words, Shi Wa suddenly had a strange thought in her heart: How happy I would be if I could marry a lady like Yu Lan in my lifetime! Just as he was thinking about it, the firewood slipped out of the stove. Magnolia screamed, and immediately bent down to fill the firewood into the furnace, and then said to Shi Wa angrily: "What are you thinking about? You didn't even wink at me."

Shi Wa smiled naively. But her eyes were fixed on Yulan. Yulan blushed, stepped forward and pushed Shiwa, and said, "What are you looking at? You haven't brought the food to the queen to eat!" "Hey, hey, Shiwa obeyed your order. ." Shi Wa came to her senses and put the food on the stone table with Yulan while joking.

Although the meal did not contain any delicacies, the Queen Mother ate it with gusto, praising the delicious food cooked by Magnolia and Shiwa. After the meal, the empress expressed her deep gratitude to Shi Wa for her hospitality and asked, "Shi Wa, how can I thank you?" Shi Wa hurriedly said, "I don't have to be polite, my family is poor, so I treat you with a simple meal." , I feel really uneasy."

The Queen Mother thought that this young man had such a kind heart, which was rare in the world, so she stood up and said, "Well, your old thatched house has no protection from the cold in winter and no protection from the rain in summer. , I will buy you a new house." After saying that, he pointed and saw that the thatched house turned into a big tile-roofed house. Then he said with a smile: "Your clothes are also worn out, it's time to get new ones." He pointed with his hand again, and saw that Shiwa was covered in silk and satin, and he had become a handsome young man. Looking at the Shiwa, the fairies kept shouting, and the Shiwa hurriedly gave her a big gift and said, "Thank you, Queen Mother, for your gift."

The Queen Mother waved her hand and said, "Shiwa, we will return to the Heavenly Palace soon. You What else can I say?" Shi Wa shook her head, turned around and asked quietly to Yulan who was standing next to her: "Miss, when can I see you again?" Yulan looked at him affectionately and said, "Don't worry, I'm in a hurry. I will come to see you..."

The Queen Mother and other fairies rose into the sky, and their graceful figure disappeared into the vast colorful clouds in a moment. Shi Wa raised her hand and took a few steps forward, shouting: "Magnolia"! Afterwards, he fell down on a piece of grass.

When Shi Wa woke up, she quickly got up and looked around, but she was alone. He was so surprised and thought, this must be a dream, right? But she kept saying to herself: "Magnolia, where are you? Where are you..."

"Dong dong!" In the middle of the night, Shi Wa was suddenly awakened by a knock on the door: "Who is it?" "I am Yulan." Ah, it turns out to be Miss Yulan! He hurriedly got up and Qian Yun opened the door and looked at the clouds in the bright moonlight. The young lady standing in front of him was indeed Magnolia! Shi Wa was so excited that her lips pursed, but she couldn't say a word.

It turns out that since Yulan saw Shiwa, she had a heart of love, and she had already guessed Shiwa's thoughts. Therefore, on the way back to heaven with the Queen Mother, she sneaked back to Shiwa's residence.

Shi Wa said: "Yu Lan, are you really not leaving?" Yu Lan nodded shyly and said, "You are alone, how can I bear to leave you?" Shi Wa looked at the beautiful and kind-hearted person. Magnolia was so excited that she suddenly hugged Magnolia into her arms...

At that moment, the two of them lit red candles, looked at the bright moon in the sky, and kowtowed and swore an oath of alliance: "Yue Lao testifies that we will voluntarily marry." As husband and wife, we will grow old together and never change our hearts!"

From then on, the two of them farmed and weaved, loving each other, and although their lives were not rich, they were as sweet as honey.

However, the good times did not last long. One day, Magnolia was embroidering at the door. Suddenly, a piece of yellow silk fell from the sky. It read: "Magnolia stole out of the heavenly palace and gave her body to others, which is against the laws of nature. She should return to the palace immediately without any mistake!"

After seeing it, Yulan was stunned for a moment, bit her finger, and wrote on the back of the yellow silk with blood: "Shiwa and I have been friends for hundreds of years, and we vow not to separate!" Then she threw the yellow silk to the palace of heaven.

At this moment, Shiwa came back from cutting firewood in the mountain. He saw Yulan in a daze holding a silver needle in her hand, and asked: "Yulan, you..." Yulan raised a pair of tearful eyes and said: "Shiwa, the empress has surrendered now. Please call me back to the palace immediately, we..."

"Ah!" When Shi Wa heard this, her heart felt like a thunderclap, and she said, "Yu Lan, you can't leave!" Yu Lan choked with sobs. Said: "Shi Wa, it's hard to disobey God's will. Since the empress is blamed, how dare you violate it?" "No, no, Magnolia!" Shi Wa said: "When the empress comes, I will beg her for mercy!" Magnolia smiled bitterly and said: "Heavenly Palace Rules The law is very strict, and it is inevitable that we will part ways soon."

While the two were talking, the Queen Mother, accompanied by all the fairies, arrived on a white cloud. The two of them knelt down and prayed. Shi Wa said: "Your Majesty's kindness will last forever. Never let Yulan return to the Heavenly Palace again." Yulan said: "If your Majesty lets me return to the palace, Yulan will only die."

The Queen Mother sneered and said angrily: "Do you remember what happened to Xiao Qi and Dong Yong back then?" Yu Lan made up her mind and gritted her teeth and said, "I have made up my mind, I will deal with it as you please!" "Hmph!" The Queen Mother snorted and shouted: "Bold* **!" Then with a finger, the magnolia suddenly turned into a magnolia tree, standing in front of the door.

Ah! Seeing this, Shi Wa knelt forward and shouted heartbreakingly: "Magnolia, my magnolia!" She fainted and died under the magnolia tree and never got up again...

Later, this magnolia tree was transplanted into the courtyard by the old monk of Wuran Zen Temple. Under his careful care, it grew luxuriantly. Every April, the flowers bloom and fragrantly attract tourists from all over to come to watch and pay their respects. Counting on one's fingers, it has been more than 300 years ago, and the magnolia tree is still as fascinating and admirable as before.