- Story: In this story, witches and sorcerers of a certain area told all of the residents that the river-god looked for a bride each year, and if he did not find one, the river-god would bring wind and rain in improper season, causing famine and failure of crops. Then, when a girl came of age in a wealthy family, the witches and sorcerers would tell the family the girl has been chosen, but the family would offer to pay large sums of money for their daughter to be spared and eventually they would find a family who could not pay and they would have to sacrifice their daughter. See the bride of the river-god was a sacrifice, but more importantly, it was just a scam that the witches and sorcerers told to make money. Si-men, the ruler in charge at the time, caught wind of this and he decided that he would check out the next wedding of the river god. Upon his arrival he insisted on arriving before the bride to let the river god know she was coming, the witches and sorcerers said no and he cast them one by one into the river, until they begged for mercy, that was the end of the marriage of the river god.
- My idea: I would change this by putting it into the "bride's perspective". This would make the narrator not know everything, so when seeing what the leader does, how would the townspeople feel? Was this really a scam? Would the ruler help them if it was true? Would there maybe be a secret love connection between the king and the "bride"? Is that why he decided to check out the rumor? I think making a love connection would be an interesting twist to the story. Also, what if the curse was real and the ruler was the narrator but did not want people to make him out to be the bad guy if the curse was true? There are a lot of options for this story.
River Landscape: Web Source
- Bibliography: Wilhem, R. Chinese Fairy Tales Unit: The Chinese Fairy Book: How the River God's Wedding Was Broken Off. 1921.
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