The Foolish Man Who Moved Mountains

In the far north of ancient China, where two great mountains blocked the sun from morning until noon, there lived an old man known as Yu Gong - the Foolish Old Man.

Every day, the mountains cast a long shadow over his village. Every day, his family had to walk far around the mountains just to reach the fertile valley beyond.

One morning, Yu Gong called his family together. "Let us move the mountains," he said simply.

His wife laughed first. "You cannot move mountains! You are an old man. Where would you even put the earth?"

"We will carry it to the sea," said Yu Gong.

His neighbours laughed. The wise men of the village laughed. A learned elder called Zhi Sou - the Wise Old Man - came specially to the door.

"You are a fool," said Zhi Sou kindly. "You are old. At best you have a few years left. How could you move two mountains in a lifetime?"

Yu Gong smiled patiently. "When I am gone, my sons will continue. When they are gone, their sons will continue. I will have grandsons and great-grandsons, stretching on forever. But the mountains - they will not grow. One day, they will be gone."

Zhi Sou had nothing to say to this.

Yu Gong and his family began to dig. Day after day, through summer heat and winter cold, they carried baskets of earth and stone to the sea. Slowly - very slowly - two small hollows appeared at the base of the mountains.

The gods in heaven looked down and saw the old man digging. They were so moved by his determination that they sent two great divine beings down to carry the mountains away - one to the east and one to the south. After that day, nothing blocked the sun from the valley.

The people said it was the gods who moved the mountains. But Yu Gong knew the truth: it was the digging that called the gods.