The Origin of the Great ‘Well’
Chui Shan, Tracy Lee, Group 3: Fiction, Po Leung Kuk Centenary Li Shiu Chung Memorial College
lived in a tranquil, lovely village in the northern region of ancient China. Tens of families lived there as
well. The crops we grow sufficed for our needs. We often helped one another, and lived a content life. Men
grew crops diligently while women wove industriously; the children played with each other naively while
the elderly watched them playing joyously. Everybody there loved the paradise very much.
However, changes were secretly made behind the tranquillity. One morning, the crops in the field were
all missing inexplicably. Only loose soil could be seen. All villagers were extremely astounded and had no clues
on what had happened.
Thereupon, we gathered to deliberate, but no one knew what to do next except an old man. He suggested,
“
Why don’t we go to the neighbouring villages to ask for the answer?” Therefore, the village chief appointed
two men to go for the investigation, and asked if the other villages had the same problem. The next morning, the
two men set off for the investigation.
The following days, all the villagers lived in fear. Several days passed, we were all terror-stricken as we
discovered that all our hens and pigs in the barns disappeared. We were too frightened to shout or cry. We
looked for the livestock, but we couldn’t find them. At that time, the two men came back to the village. When
they saw everyone was so nervous, they asked us what happened. I told them, “The hens and pigs have
disappeared when we woke up this morning. No one knew when and how they disappeared.” The two men were
completely stunned. The village chief asked the two men, “How about the other villages? Are they affected by
the same problem?” “No, they are all peaceful as usual, but they promised that if we have difficulties, they will
definitely help us.”
Everybody was then discussing. “Oh! There must be a monster!” “No, there was no sound at all. It shouldn’t
be a monster.” “Maybe that was the punishment from God. We will die of hunger before long!” We were all
frozen with fear and some started grieving for the foreseeable disaster. After thinking thoughtfully, the village
chief finally made up his mind, “We must leave here. We cannot just sit here and wait for death.” Eventually,
everyone listened to the village chief, and decided to leave together the next morning. Therefore, all villagers
went home and packed their belongings for the departure.
Oddly, the sunset that day seemed to be shifted to an earlier time. Instantly, the sky was painted black. At
the time when everybody was supposed to be fast asleep, eyes of fear were still wide open as everyone believed
that something unpropitious would happen when we slept. No one dared to sleep; instead, we all waited for
dawn.
Yet, the calamity ultimately struck in the peaceful village. shriek for help was heard from the houses near
the entrance of the village. Everyone could sense that something life-threatening was approaching. Peeping
through the window, I could see a huge monster moving unbelievably fast. At a twinkle of an eye, it had already
swayed to the front of my eyes. It had a shape of a python. Its body stretched over four houses. It had three
heads. Each head had a pair of illuminate eyes and an enormous mouth. It could gulp down two people every
time without chewing, so it was not bloody at all. Nevertheless, it was truly dreadful that its prey just
disappeared in a second. All our villagers were terror-striken. We fled without cease. As the monster moved
exceedingly fast, nine out of ten villagers had been eaten. All I could do was to run desperately.
Taking a hopeless breath, the idea of hiding flashed across my mind. It happened that there was a well at the
front, so I jumped into it. Fortunately, the water in the well was shallow, so I could stay inside for long. At the
beginning, the howls were rather loud, but gradually, they became softer. Until there was no sound, it was
already dawn. I climbed out from the well, and tried to see if there it was safe. Just as expected, peacefulness
retrieved. Heartbreakingly, it was because all villagers had disappeared except me. I couldn’t help trembling. I
asked ‘why’ for many times, but there’s no one who could answer me.
I was very tired, but I moved ahead involuntarily. Without realizing, I had walked for two days. I finally
arrived the neighbouring village. One of the villagers there looked at me, and asked anxiously, “What
happened?” I stared at him for a long time, but I couldn’t speak. Tears streamed down from my eyes. Though
there was no word, it seemed that he knew I had had a close encounter with death. He brought me to his house
for a rest.
I took a rest for a while, after that, I started to talk about the appalling incident. He was totally aghast when
he heard the news. He forthwith convened all the villagers to deliberate about it, hoping to find ways to deal
with the monster.
During the deliberation, everyone suggested some ways. One of the villagers said, “Now that you are safe
I