Once upon a time, there was a good-hearted young hunter who used to distribute his prey among the poor people, so he was beloved by them.
One day, hearing one small white snake caught by the eagle calling for help, the hunter pulled the bow to save it, and he found it was actually a beautiful girl. She promised a big reward to the hunter for his help. But he refused to accept it and the girl was moved by his kindness. Then she told him that she was the princess and that her father had a bead for him. If he wore it, he could understand the language of animals which could help him shoot more prey and help more people. But he had to promise not to tell anyone about what the animals talked, otherwise he would become a stone statue. Then he followed the princess to the palace to visit the king. The king asked what he wanted. The hunter referred to the bead as the princess had said. The king thought it over and approved it. The hunter took the bead and saw that there was a "bai"( hundred) a Chinese character on it. Then he knew why the bead was named “Bai“. After thanks to the king, he left with the bead.
One day, the hunter heard the animal saying that the mountain torrent was coming. The hunter told the villagers to escape. But they did not believe him. He told them the secret regardless of that curse. Suddenly the hunter turned into a stone statue.
After escaping from the flood, villagers erected a monument besides the stone statue to commemorate him. At this time, a white light flew out of the statue and gradually faded away.
Bai Bao Zhu is a mythical story which has been incorporated into the folklore and is mainly composed of stories of animal repaying obligation and the motif of flood. It belongs to Animal language of type 670 in the AT taxonomy.
The myth of flood is that the hero of conscience who saved a little white snake (daughter of the Dragon King), got the news that the flood was coming. He sacrificed himself to avoid the flood, and finally became the ancestor of mankind. In the story of human rebirth, Bai Bao Zhu, a bead named “Bai” , plays a key role. It is granted by the Dragon King as a representative of the gods and had supernatural powers of understanding animals’ language.
The archetype of the "Bai Bao Zhu" story originated from the earliest civilization, Sumerian myth of the Tigris and Euphrates valley about 7,000 years ago. The worship of supernatural intelligence in its thought influenced the development and inheritance of the social values of many nations of the East and the West.
《百寶珠》傳說
從前，有位心地善良的年輕獵人，總把打到的獵物分給窮苦百姓，故受百姓愛戴。
一天，忽聞被老鷹捉住的小白蛇呼救，獵人拉弓救下小白蛇，發現竟是位美麗的姑娘。姑娘為報答獵人許下重金酬謝之諾，獵人拒絕，姑娘感動，便告訴獵人自己是公主之實，並說自己的父王有顆百寶珠，戴之可聽到動物們的談話，就能打到更多獵物幫助更多的人，但勿向外道出動物談話之內容，否則將變成石頭人，獵人默許。獵人隨公主到王宮見到國王，國王問其何求，獵人按公主所說提及百寶珠，國王思後准許。獵人接過寶珠見上面有一“百”字，故明百寶珠名起緣由，道謝後便戴百寶珠離開。
某天，獵人聽到動物們在說山洪來了快跑，獵人便把此訊息轉告鄉親們，鄉親們不信，獵人就把實情道出，瞬間獵人變成石頭人。避險後鄉親們在石頭人處立碑紀念，忽見一道白光從石頭人身上飛出，漸漸遠去……
The Legend of Bai Bao Zhu (the Bead Named Bai)
Once upon a time, there was a good-hearted young hunter who used to distribute his prey among the poor people, so he was beloved by them.
One day, hearing one small white snake caught by the eagle calling for help, the hunter pulled the bow to save it, and he found it was actually a beautiful girl. She promised a big reward to the hunter for his help. But he refused to accept it and the girl was moved by his kindness. Then she told him that she was the princess and that her father had a bead for him. If he wore it, he could understand the language of animals which could help him shoot more prey and help more people. But he had to promise not to tell anyone about what the animals talked, otherwise he would become a stone statue. Then he followed the princess to the palace to visit the king. The king asked what he wanted. The hunter referred to the bead as the princess had said. The king thought it over and approved it. The hunter took the bead and saw that there was a "bai"( hundred) a Chinese character on it. Then he knew why the bead was named “Bai“. After thanks to the king, he left with the bead.
One day, the hunter heard the animal saying that the mountain torrent was coming. The hunter told the villagers to escape. But they did not believe him. He told them the secret regardless of that curse. Suddenly the hunter turned into a stone statue.
After escaping from the flood, villagers erected a monument besides the stone statue to commemorate him. At this time, a white light flew out of the statue and gradually faded away.
《百寶珠》是一則融入於民間傳說中的神話故事，主要由動物報恩故事型別和洪水母題排列而成。屬於AT 分類法中的 670型 “動物的語言” (Animal language)，故事內容講，有良知的主人公因救了一條小白蛇（龍王的女兒），得到寶珠預知了洪水來臨的訊息，捨己為人成功避開水災，最終成為人類再生始祖的洪水神話故事。作為人類再生主題故事，起到關鍵作用的百寶珠是以龍王為代表的天神所賜，擁有著超自然的神力（可聽懂動物語言）。百寶珠故事原型源於世界最早的文明即兩河流域蘇美爾神話，距今約7000年，其崇尚超自然智慧的思想影響了東西方多個民族社會價值觀的發展和傳承
Bai Bao Zhu is a mythical story which has been incorporated into the folklore and is mainly composed of stories of animal repaying obligation and the motif of flood. It belongs to Animal language of type 670 in the AT taxonomy.
The myth of flood is that the hero of conscience who saved a little white snake (daughter of the Dragon King), got the news that the flood was coming. He sacrificed himself to avoid the flood, and finally became the ancestor of mankind. In the story of human rebirth, Bai Bao Zhu, a bead named “Bai” , plays a key role. It is granted by the Dragon King as a representative of the gods and had supernatural powers of understanding animals’ language.
The archetype of the "Bai Bao Zhu" story originated from the earliest civilization, Sumerian myth of the Tigris and Euphrates valley about 7,000 years ago. The worship of supernatural intelligence in its thought influenced the development and inheritance of the social values of many nations of the East and the West.