The Wall and the Sosipolis
Ronny Ching H
nce upon a time, Qin Shi Huang ruled the lands of China. He was rich and could live free from care.
His subordinates always stood by his side, waiting to serve him.
at th
shadow silentl
ang Or, Group 2: Fiction, St. Paul's Co-educational College Primary School
On one wintry night, Qin Shi Huang had a terrible dream. He was surrounded by mist. He stood
e entrance of a castle, dressed in a simple nightshirt and long trousers. Abruptly, he noticed a
y looming towards him. Qin Shi Huang yelled out in a shrill voice, “Who are you? Show your
face!”
O
Qin Shi Huang sized up the mystical stranger. He was wearing a long black hood, and his face was covered
with thousands of wrinkles. His face was as pale as a ghost, Qin Shi Huang thought. As the man approached,
Qin Shi Huang’s face lit up with recognition as he said, “Father?” The man gave him a wiry smile, then
answered, “Yes, my beloved son. Welcome to The Realm of Dreams.”
Qin Shi Huang’s brain was bursting with questions. As words began to spray from his mouth like bullets,
his father held up his hand, motioning him to stop. “What you ask is not important. At least less major than my
news about our motherland. I had taken a new name—Sosipolis, the name of a legendary snake boy. Let me
tell you what had happened after I died ...”
Sosipolis stood at the edge of a vintage bridge. He saw a long queue of people in front of him. There were
two paths on the other edge of the bridge, one covered in white clouds and the other covered with black vapor.
Unmistakably, they represented Hell and Heaven. There was an ancient lady sitting in the middle of the paths.
Before a person could leave, the elderly lady would ask him a few questions to judge which way he should go.
Sosipolis tapped the shoulder of the man in front of him. “Where are we?”
“
Don’t you know that? We are on Grandma Meng’s Bridge.” Sosipolis was in brain lock. “Dead people
come to this bridge,” the man said. He slowly filled in the details of Grandma Meng’s Bridge for Sosipolis.
Sosipolis went to Heaven at last. He was desperate to help his son, so he went to a dead fortune-teller to
foresee China’s future. The fortune-teller inquired, “What do you want me to prophesy?”
“
Please tell me about the future of China,” came the reply.
The fortune-teller stared into a mysterious crystal orb, and then sighed deeply. “What’s the matter?”
demanded Sosipolis. She explained, “China will be under attack in ten years. The countries at the north will
join together and destroy your empire. Your kingdom will turn into ashes. You should take some preventive
measures to guard your home.” Sosipolis gasped in astonishment and outrage.
“
Impossible!” he bellowed. “I must warn my son at once!” He stepped into the dream world and
summoned his son…
There Qin Shi Huang was, standing before his father, greatly shocked. Sosipolis continued, “You must
listen to what I say. You ought to gather you troops and tell them to build a wall at the northern boundary of
China. The wall will save you and your people from death. Go and do this now!”
Qin Shi Huang woke up, sensing that the dream was real. He scrambled out of his bed and rapidly rushed
to the great hall, where the soldiers were all having breakfast. He strode onto the stage while people looked at
him with respect. “Silence!” he shouted angrily. Sounds quickly died down. “Gather a young man from every
family in China and build a defendable long wall around the border at the North! Now!”
Noises went up immediately. Qin Shi Huang glared at his men as they scurried around and out of the
empire. For this reason, many innocent young men were forced to leave their wives, parents and even their
children in order to accomplish the job.
Soon, the men started to build the wall. They moved around the border every day. Some of them brought
in construction materials by pulling wagons that contain concrete and bricks. Some were by the boundary,
waiting to pile the materials up. In order to finish building the wall quicker, they were forced to work around
the clock without rest.
Every day, Qin Shi Huang would patrol around the border to inspect if anyone was shirking. The men dare
not to look into his eyes. If he caught a man snoring, Qin Shi Huang would have his head cut off immediately.
Many men died for the hard work and more men came to replace.
It was like that every day until nine years later.
“
Yes!” When Qin Shi Huang knew the completion of the wall, he pumped his hands in satisfaction. Now,
the other countries could not destroy us, he thought. Still, many of his people doubted the usage and worthiness