Ep. R: Rìyuètán Sun Moon Lake 日月潭

(想聽2021年8月27日的廣播節目可以點開上面音符圖案的檔案 If you'd like to listen to the original 8/27/2021 radio episode, please click on the above music note to play the file)

Have you ever heard of the Legend of Sun Moon Lake? I learned about the legend from a book given to me by the Houston Taiwanese School of Language and Culture just before I left for Taiwan. At the time, I had never heard of Sun Moon Lake, but of course everyone here told me all about it. Strangely, though, most Taiwanese people I talk to haven't heard of this legend. That may be because while this story is about the Thao tribe, it's unclear where the story comes from (it may have come from the Thao, but it may have been created by the Han Chinese immigrants who arrived in Taiwan later). In any case, I'll share the version I learned with you here!

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Once upon a time, a group of people called the Thao lived in the mountains of Taiwan, living a life of farming and hunting. One day when they were working in their fields, they suddenly heard a big booming sound, and when they looked up, they discovered that the sun had disappeared. They were scared, and found their way home in the darkness to wait for the moon to come out at night. When night came, they again went out to work in their fields under the light of the moon. But as they were working, they again heard a big "boom", and they looked up to see that the moon had disappeared too!

From that day, there was no light in the world. All the crops began to wither, and animals started to disappear. The people started to talk about what to do to make the light come back.

One couple, a woman named ShuǐShè Jiě and a man named DàJiān Gē, also started making plans. They thought that the sun and moon must have gone somewhere, and together they decided to go out and look for them. So the next day, they left their home with many torches to look for the sun and the moon. They climbed over mountains and hiked through valleys, using many, many torches. But no matter how far they looked, they could not find the sun and moon.

They continued on, every day more and more tired, until one day they climbed to the top of a mountain peak and looked down at the lake below. There, on the top of the lake, was something shiny. They quickly ran down to the lake and discovered that there were TWO shiny things - the sun and the moon! But, they were being played with by two big, fierce dragons!

ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē wanted to take the sun and moon from the dragons right away, but knew that it was impossible to take them from such big animals. Just then, they saw smoke coming from the rock they were standing next to. They pushed the rock away and discovered light and smoke coming from a tunnel under the mountain. Curious, they walked into the tunnel, and as the light grew brighter and brighter, they discovered that an old, white-haired woman was cooking in a small kitchen inside the mountain!

They greeted the old woman, who was surprised to see the young couple there, for she had not seen humans for many, many years. She told the couple that the dragons had brought her to this mountain when she was a young woman and forced her to cook for them over the decades. It was then that ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē told her about how the dragons and taken the sun and moon.

The old lady agreed that fighting the dragons would be impossible, as the two dragons were mean and fierce. But, she told the young couple of a legend she heard, of a golden axe and a pair of golden scissors hidden under Ali Mountain. Those two tools, if thrown into the lake, would kill the dragons straight away, and the sun and moon could be retrieved.

ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē left for Ali Mountain and started to dig. They dug and dug, day after day, until they finally found the shiny scissors and axe. It was then time to go after the dragons.

When they returned to the lake, the dragons were still playing with the shiny bright balls. ShuǐShè Jiě threw the golden scissors at one of the dragons and hit true. Cut into many pieces, the dragon sank into the water. Then it was DàJiān Gē's turn. He quickly threw the axe at the remaining dragon, cutting off its head. The dragons were gone. But while the sun and moon floated on the lake, nothing that ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē did could put them back into the sky.

Once again, the old lady provided a legend. She told the two that if you eat dragon's eyes, your body will become strong enough to hold up the sun and the moon. Not pausing to think, ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē jumped into the lake to retrieve the dragons' eyes. Then they started to grow, taller and taller, stronger and stronger, larger and larger until they finally came out of the water and looked as big as mountains. They were definitely strong enough to send the sun and moon up into the sky now! But, while they could throw the sun and moon into the sky, they couldn't make the them stay there. Eventually, the sun and moon always fell down again.

It was then that ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē decided to use palm trees to hold the sun and moon up in the sky. And it worked! The sun and the moon stayed up so long that they started to go around the earth like normal. Plants started to grow, animals started to come back. And the old lady was able to go home to her village. But ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē were still worried: what if another dragon came to take the sun and moon again? So they decided to stay and watch over the lake and the sky. And if you go to that lake today, you will see them there still, ShuǐShè Mountain and DàJiān Mountain. And the lake they protect? It's Sun Moon Lake, of course! So the next time you go to Sun Moon Lake, say a word of thanks to ShuǐShè Jiě and DàJiān Gē, for giving us the sun and the moon. (Remember to look at the bottom of the post for the song chords!)

你聽說過日月潭傳奇嗎？我遇到這個故事是在我快要離開美國來台灣時，休斯頓台灣語文學校送給我一本關於台灣傳說的書．當時的我從來沒聽過日月潭，但當然一來到台灣，尤其是住南投的鄰居彰化，很多人會跟我說這個地方．不過奇怪的是，跟我談過的大多數台灣人都沒聽過這個傳說．這可能是因為雖然這個故事是關於邵族的，但它的出處並不清楚（它可能來自邵族，但也有可能是後來到達台灣的漢族移民創造的）．無論如何，我現在就要在這裡跟你分享我學到的《日月潭傳奇》版本！

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從前從前台灣山區有一群叫邵族的人，過著農耕打獵的生活．有一天，在他們在田裡工作時，突然聽到一聲巨響，抬頭一看就發現太陽不見了．他們很害怕，於是在黑暗中尋找回家的路，等夜晚的月亮出來．夜幕降臨，他們又在月光下出去工作．可就在他們工作的時候，又聽到「轟」的一聲巨響，抬頭一看，月亮也不見了！

從那天起，世界就沒有了光．所有的莊稼開始枯萎，動物開始消失．人們開始討論如何做才能讓光線恢復．

這時，有一對夫妻，一個叫水社姊的女人和一個叫大尖哥的男人，也開始制定計畫．他們想，太陽和月亮一定是到了甚麼地方，他們一起決定去尋找．於是隔天他們帶著許多火把離開家尋找太陽和月亮．他們翻山越嶺，徒步穿越山谷，使用了許多火把．可是無論他們走多遠，都找不到太陽和月亮．

他們繼續前行，一天比一天累，直到有一天他們爬上了一座山峰，俯視下面的湖水．就在那裡，在湖的上面，有一個閃亮的甚麼東西．他們趕緊跑到湖邊，發現不只一個，有兩個閃亮的東西──就是太陽和月亮！可是，他們卻被兩條兇猛的巨龍在玩弄！

水社姊和大尖哥想馬上從龍身奪走太陽和月亮，但他們也知道不可能從這麼大的動物身上奪走．就在這時，他們看到旁邊的岩石冒出濃煙．他們推開岩石，發現山下有個隧道正在冒出光和煙．好奇的他們走進了隧道，隨著光線越來越亮，到後面就發現，這座山中居然有個小廚房，廚房裡有個正在做飯的一位白髮老婦人！

他們向老婦人打招呼，老婦人看到這對年輕夫妻很驚訝，因為它已經很多很多年沒有見過人類了．她告訴他們，在她年輕的時候，外面的兩條龍就把她帶到了這座山上，並強迫她為牠們做飯幾十年來．講完後，水社姊和大尖哥也向她講述了龍是如何搶走太陽和月亮．

老奶奶也同意與龍對打是不可能成功的事，因為這兩條龍又壞又兇猛．但是她也告訴這對年輕夫妻，她聽說過一個傳說，阿里山下埋藏著一把金斧頭和一把金剪刀．那兩個工具，如果丟進湖哩，就可以直接打敗巨龍，這樣就可以取回太陽和月亮．

因此水社姊和大尖哥馬上前往阿里山開始挖掘．他們挖了又挖了，日復一日，終於找到了閃亮的剪刀和斧頭．是時候去追趕龍了．

當他們回到湖邊時，龍們還在玩著閃閃發光的亮球．水社姊將金剪刀丟向其中一條龍，命中！龍被切成許多塊，沉入水中．再來就輪到大尖哥了．他迅速將斧頭丟向剩下的巨龍，砍掉了牠的頭．就這樣兩條巨龍不見了．可是太陽和月亮仍飄浮在湖面上，水社姊和大尖哥所MMMMM做的一切，都無法讓它們重新升上天空．

老奶奶又提供了另外一個傳說．她告訴二人，如果吃了龍的眼睛，你的身體會變得強壯到足以支撐太陽和月亮．沒多想，水社姊和大尖哥跳入湖中去取回龍的眼睛．然後他們開始長高，越來越高，越來越強壯，越來越大，終於從水裡出來，長得跟山一樣大．他們現在覺得強大到可以將太陽和月亮送上天空！但是，雖然他們可以把太陽和月亮拋向天空，但他們無法讓它們留在那裡，因為最終太陽和月亮還會再次墜落．

就在這時，水社姊和大尖哥決定用棕櫚樹托起太陽和月亮在天空上．這樣奏效了！太陽和月亮留在天上這麼久，它們開始像往常一樣繞地球轉．植物開始生長，動物開始回歸．老奶奶也能回到她的村子裡．可是水社姊和大尖哥還是很擔心：萬一又有龍來搶走太陽和月亮呢？於是他們決定留下來，守望湖光山色．而今天你去那個湖，你還會看到它們，水社山和大尖山．它們保護的湖泊呢？當然就是日月潭啦！所以下次你去日月潭的時候，要感謝水社姊和大尖哥，感謝它們給了我們太陽和月亮．（記得看網頁最下面的地方就可以找到歌曲的和絃囉！）

In the county of Nantou　在南投縣
There's a place that you can row　有個地方可以划船
And go biking and go hiking　也可以騎腳踏車也可以健行
And once a year you can go swimming　而且也可以一年一次去游泳
If you want to take a break　如果你想休息一下
You should go to Sun Moon Lake　你應該去日月潭

Here's to the waters green, grey and blue　慶祝綠色、灰色和藍色的水域
Here's to the island of Lalu　慶祝拉魯島
Here's to the memories we will make　慶祝我們將會留下的回憶
At relaxing Sun Moon Lake　在輕鬆的日月潭

Nantou is a special county　南投是個特殊的縣
Where they grow Oolong tea　那裡種烏龍茶
It is landlocked, so no ocean　它在內陸，所以沒有海洋
That is why we feel emotion　這就是為甚麼我們會感覺深刻
When we take a stroll on　當我們散步在
The biggest lake in Taiwan　台灣最大的湖泊

Here's to the waters green, grey and blue　慶祝綠色、灰色和藍色的水域
Here's to the island of Lalu　慶祝拉魯島
Here's to the memories we will make　慶祝我們將會留下的回憶
At beautiful Sun Moon Lake　在美麗的日月潭

Of all the groups who love the lake　在所有熱愛這座潭的團體中
One tribe of aborigines staked claim　一個原住民部落提出認領
Legend says a deer led them　傳說是一頭鹿帶領他們
To the lake to make a home　到湖邊安家
So the tribe known as the Thao　所以這個叫做邵族的部落
Has lived there from then to now　從那時到現在一直住在那裡

Here's to the waters green, grey and blue　慶祝綠色、灰色和藍色的水域
Here's to the island of Lalu　慶祝拉魯島
Here's to the memories we will make　慶祝我們將會留下的回憶
At amazing Sun Moon Lake　在驚人的日月潭

Here's to the waters green, grey and blue　慶祝綠色、灰色和藍色的水域
Here's to the island of Lalu　慶祝拉魯島
Here's to the memories we will make　慶祝我們將會留下的回憶
At relaxing, at beautiful, at amazing Sun Moon Lake　在輕鬆的，在美麗的，在驚人的日月潭