Folk Tale The boatman listened to the sound of the water and found the woman pretending to be asleep after bathing, and the woman said, "Don't pretend."
The ancient county town of Ping'an gave birth to a young sailor named Zhu Xiaotian. He grew up in this fishing village, and when he was ten years old, his family changed and his parents passed away, leaving him alone.
Zhu Xiaotian learned to row a boat at the age of twelve, and became a boatman with his fellow villagers, making a living from ferryboats. When he had no guests, he would go to the river to fish, and by hard work and bravery, he would make a modest living, although his income was limited, but enough to support himself.
Time passed quickly, and Zhu Xiaotian ushered in his twentieth birthday. He is tall and strong, but because of his poor family and no father or mother, there has never been a matchmaker to match him.
One afternoon, Zhu Xiaotian drove a boat along the river. A beautiful woman on the shore waved at him. Zhu Xiaotian docked the boat and asked, "Madam, do you want to cross the river?"”
The beautiful woman replied with a smile: "Boatman, I am going to Liu Village, can I take you for a ride?"The two taels of silver were for a silver reward. Zhu Xiaotian saw the woman's generous bid and readily agreed.
The river is murmuring, the scenery is picturesque, and the cries of apes are heard from time to time between the lofty mountains on both sides. Zhu Xiaotian carried the woman forward slowly, and the two remained silent throughout the voyage.
As night fell, the moonlight hung in the sky. Zhu Xiaotian and the woman came to a deserted ferry, and the woman handed him two taels of silver before saying goodbye and leaving. Zhu Xiaotian rowed hard all day, felt his arm sore, and was tired, so he decided to rest at the ferry for one night and wait until dawn to return.
Soon after, the sound of rushing water came from the river, accompanied by the woman's crisp and melodious singing.
Zhu Xiaotian woke up and saw the woman on the same boat during the day through the window of the cabin. At this time, she was bathing naked in the water. Zhu Xiaotian took advantage of the moonlight to sneak a glance, and saw that the woman was fair-skinned and had a beautiful face, so he quickly covered it up and pretended to continue to sleep.
Not long after, the woman swam to the side of the boat and shouted to Zhu Xiaotian: "Little brother, I have seen you, why do you pretend not to see the slave family?"Zhu Xiaotian was a little embarrassed, and continued to pretend to sleep, not daring to respond.
The woman giggled, reached out and slapped it on the water, and the droplets splashed and spilled onto the window. Zhu Xiaotian curled up in the quilt, still with his eyes closed, pretending not to know.
After a while, Zhu Xiaotian's boat shook suddenly, and suddenly a white light flashed, and a wet woman sat on the side of the boat, stretched out her slender little hand, and gently pinched Zhu Xiaotian's face.
Zhu Xiaotian had no choice but to open his eyes, pretending to have just woken up, and said, "Girl, aren't you going to a relative's house?"How did you end up here now?Did something fall on the boat?”
The woman laughed coquettishly: "Brother, you are really an expert!."I'll let you reveal a little secret, I'm a water demon in this river, and at a glance, I think you're not bad. Now, you have to promise me, or don't blame me for being ruthless!”
Zhu Xiaotian heard that she was a water demon, and he was shocked, the water demon is a legendary evil spirit!Of course, he doesn't want to be controlled by this ** thing.
Sitting up, Zhu Xiaotian said, "The girl is a fairy, how dare mortals like me compare with you?"Please leave!Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly approached him and blew softly. Zhu Xiaotian was suddenly dizzy and shaky, and finally fainted to the ground, unconscious.
The water demon climbed onto his bed and began to move his hands and feet on Zhu Xiaotian. In the confusion, Zhu Xiaotian couldn't bear it, and actually had an intimate relationship with her.
Early in the morning, Zhu Xiaotian woke up, saw the beauties around him, and realized that he had lost his precious chastity, and couldn't help but sigh. The water demon snuggled up to him and said, "Xiao Langjun, the matter of men and women is a matter of course, although I broke your chastity last night, I didn't absorb your vitality, I really can't bear to hurt you." I really like you. In that case, you can promise me!”
Zhu Xiaotian hesitated for a moment, then nodded helplessly, perhaps he was destined to have an indissoluble bond with the water demon. The water demon smiled: "Then it's decided, I'll sort it out, and then let's get married, wait for me!."”
With that, she jumped into the river, transformed into a giant carp, and swam into the distance. Zhu Xiaotian looked at it in surprise, with mixed feelings in his heart.
Half an hour later, the water demon still did not come back, Zhu Xiaotian thought about it again and again, and finally made up his mind and rowed away in a hurry.
The next day, Zhu Xiaotian returned home, and everything was as usual. He thought to himself that the marriage with the water demon should be settled, and this kind of unbelievable thing would not happen again. However, a few days later, Zhu Xiaotian saw a huge carp following closely behind him when he was ferrying.
Someone was surprised when he saw this, and then, a woman's voice came, reproaching: "You negative man, you obviously agreed, but you ran away!."It turned out that the water demon really thought that Zhu Xiaotian would stay to marry her, so she put on makeup, put on a wedding dress, and put on a red hijab, but she didn't expect Zhu Xiaotian to leave, she cried overnight and her eyes red, and decided to take a boat to find him.
Every day after that, as long as Zhu Xiaotian rowed, the water demon would turn into a big fish, surrounding him and refusing to leave. Zhu Xiaotian gradually couldn't stand it anymore and had nowhere to escape, so he had to agree to marry the water demon.
A few days later, Zhu Xiaotian married the water demon. After getting married, the water demon proposed to live by the river, and Zhu Xiaotian reluctantly agreed.
The two built a house by the river and began a life of getting along with the water demon. Not long after, the water demon was pregnant, Zhu Xiaotian was ecstatic, although he was reluctant to spend his life with the water demon, but having his own flesh and blood can be regarded as a continuation of his own incense.
However, one night before the pregnancy was ten months, the water demon suddenly had a difficult birth, and cried out: "Husband, I am going to give birth, save me!".Zhu Xiaotian was so anxious to ask for a midwife, but was stopped by the water demon: "No need to ask a midwife, quickly help me to the river." Zhu Xiaotian was very anxious, unwilling to let the water demon get wet, but he was helpless. The water demon suddenly turned into a big carp and plunged into the river.
After a long time, the water demon turned back into the shape of a fish, revealing a snow-white fish belly and giving birth to a nest of fish.
Zhu Xiaotian looked at this scene, his heart was filled with grief and indignation, the pain was unspeakable, and he didn't say a word all night.
The next day, Zhu Xiaotian packed up and left his home by the river angrily.
Zhu Xiaotian rented a simple hut. He gave up his identity as a boatman and chose to work odd jobs on the streets to make ends meet.
One day, Zhu Xiaotian was carrying a bucket and was about to fetch water, but when he lowered his head, he saw a carp jumping out of the well. Zhu Xiaotian was so frightened that he dropped the bucket and ran away.
It turned out that this was a carp essence, and since Zhu Xiaotian left, he had a grudge against him. However, due to her limited mana, she could not leave the water, so she could only find her husband by water. After the carp spirit learned that Zhu Xiaotian was working in the town, he found the place he rented along the underground river. Although Zhu Xiaotian had lived with her for a while, he was still frightened at the moment and never dared to approach the well again.
Later, Zhu Xiaotian needed to cross the river, and when his boat reached the center of the river, a huge carp suddenly made waves and slapped the boat with its tail, ready to sink him and the boat.
Zhu Xiaotian realized that this was the carp essence coming back to take revenge, and he was not an opponent. He begged for mercy again and again, but the fish demon was extremely **, biting the wooden boat and not letting go. However, Zhu Xiaotian has been a skilled boatman since he was a child, and at the moment when the boat was slightly stable, he suddenly stabbed the fish demon into the mouth with a bamboo pole and almost escaped.
Originally, Zhu Xiaotian was lucky, thinking that he would be able to cross the same boat for a hundred years, and sleep together for a thousand years. However, his expectations of the carp wife are shattered by her cruel behavior. In order to protect himself, Zhu Xiaotian hurriedly found a fortune teller.
This Taoist priest only performed some divination, and did not have the ability to kill demons. He told Zhu Xiaotian: "The fish demon can't leave the water, if you want to live, you can go to the mountains and become a monk!"”
Zhu Xiaotian listened to the advice of the Taoist priest, and after thinking about it for three days and three nights, he finally shaved his hair in a nearby temple. After that, the vicious fish spirit really disappeared.
The nature of the demon is often cruel, just like this carp demon. Despite being in human form, her demonic nature remains. Most of the cultivators still retain their original nature. In the face of unsatisfactory things, they may be ruthless and merciless. However, looking back at its roots, it was caused by Zhu Xiaotian's own departure from his wife, which caused trouble for no reason and aroused his wife's deep hatred. He abandoned his wife, and thus incurred the revenge of the carp demon. Eventually, he had to shave his hair and make a change in his fate.
This story reminds us that marriage is a major event in life and should be approached with caution by both partners. Don't let a momentary impulse or irrational decision put yourself in an irreparable situation.