Finding the Great Wall
Swoyam Panda, Group 2: Fiction, Delia School of Canada
he sound of mourning filled the air as the workers on the Great Wall lay on the grass, unable to move a
muscle. The Great Wall had been finished after a long period of time. It was built to protect China from
the Mongolian siege. The family members of those unfortunate workers carried the sick workers to the
doctors and buried the dead. The Great Wall lay as an elegant serpent across the hills of China. Even
the Great Wall of China was mourning for the fate of those workers.
The Great Wall wanted to teach the cruel king a lesson who made the workers work in such
terrible condition, but to do that he would have to wait for night fall.
T
As night fell, a grand procession began in the heart of Peking. The king was going to visit a part of The
Great Wall near a small village called Badaling to pray and seek protection from Mongolian invasion. A few
hours later the procession had reached the Great Wall. The fiddles were played as the king stepped out of the
palanquin. The king walked up to the Great Wall and when he touched the first stone of The Great Wall, the
ground began to rumble.
The ground cracked underneath the king as he tumbled backwards. The Great Wall’s enormous tail soared
into the air, sending chunks of dirt and rock flying outwards. The tail swished downwards with force, hitting the
king and his servants with such a tremendous force that they flew all the way to a market in Beijing. The king
landed in a fruit cart. Meanwhile, at Badaling, The Great Wall slithered away like a black serpent, leaving a
deep groove in the mountains. The Grandness of the mountains disappeared with the Great Wall.
The king was not very happy to see that people laughing at him. The fruit seller did not recognize the king
and yelled at him. The king was steaming with fury and he stalked off to his palace, but was also very surprised
at what the Great Wall did.
At the palace, just as the king was going to sleep, a worried soldier came running to the king and said,
“
Your Majesty, when our army heard about this incident of you landing in the market, we immediately ran
towards Badaling, but when we reached there a horrifying sight awaited us! The Great Wall is gone!”
The king sat up as if a thunderbolt hit him. Without wasting a moment to think, he said,
“
Order another Wall to be constructed.”
***
People moaned and cried as the Chinese soldiers dragged away the peasants for work. Only one person,
Ming Wu, was not taken away by soldiers because he hid in the forest. He waited patiently in the forest for the
soldiers to clear away. When the coast was clear, he ran off to one of the most remote parts of the Great Wall’s
trail.
The journey was tiring. At last when he was a few kilometers from reaching Mutianyu, he was stopped by a
soldier who was put there to catch anyone who escaped. Ming Wu froze in fear knowing that the soldier was
going to catch him. The soldier stepped forward and asked,
“
Why are you here? You were supposed to be working on the Great Wall in Badaling.”
“
I was hiding. I hid from the soldiers and came here running, but now…”
“
Even my son was snatched away by the other soldiers, but since I found you, I will hand you in for
working and free my son. I will let you go only on the condition that you will find where the Great Wall has
gone.”
Ming Wu was stunned. Where would he find the Great Wall? It could have gone anywhere. Before he was
given the chance to speak further, the soldier had already walked away.
Ming Wu did not think further. He knew that the best way to find the Great Wall was to follow the trail it
left behind. Before that he collected lots of food to last his journey. He went to the groove of The Great Wall
and prayed to god for success in this journey that lay ahead. When Ming Wu got up from his prayers, he could
not believe what he saw; a pure white horse was standing in front of him and on its back was a saddle. Ming Wu
walked up to it and hoisted himself onto the saddle. At once the horse gave a loud neigh and galloped off along
the Great Wall’s trail.
Ming Wu had many miraculous events with the horse. One day, Ming Wu had only one apple with him.
The horse found the apple with Ming Wu and ate it up. Ming Wu was very angry and gave him no food. Next
day, he saw a huge apple tree. Ming Wu realized that the horse had planted the seeds from the apple. Ming Wu
went to the horse and fed him lots of apples from the tree.
At last his journey ended at the sea. At the sea, Ming Wu prayed to God once more and this time his
surprise was to see the Great Wall floating in the sea! Ming Wu talked to the Great Wall, saying,
“
Oh mighty one, your absence has made other thousands of lives miserable. Please come back to China.”