The residents of Chiwulan and Zhouzaiwei in Erhlung Village were busily preparing for their annual dragon boat competition. A-Tai was a skilled Chiwulan paddler. He was also the leader of the dragon boat team. A-Tai announced,“I need twenty strong men to compete in this year’s competition. We must endure rigorous training, in order to take the sacred banner that symbolizes victory and propitiousness.”The residents of Zhouzaiwei were also determined to win the race. A-Guo, the Zhouzaiwei dragon boat team leader, told his team,“Though we face tough competition, we must stick together and do our best!”
A-Tai led his team to train all day long. A-Tai said,“Climbing mountains strengthen our legs, chopping firewood strengthens our arms and swimming in the Erhlung River builds our fitness.”On the other hand, A-Guo led his team to row dragon boats along the Erhlung River every day.
On the day of the competition, many villagers and children gathered along the river to watch the race and cheer their teams. The people along the river cheered,“Chiwulan champions!”“Victory to Zhouzaiwei!”in support of their teams.
Both teams stood in dragon boats painted with Ying or Yang symbols. The Chiwulan dragon boat was painted green and the Zhouzaiwei dragon boat was painted red. Both dragon boats lined up at the starting line. A gong was sounded to mark the start of the race and both teams started to paddle forward in unison as fast as they could. After both teams had done about five or six laps, a woman suddenly shouted,“Help! My children have fallen into the river! Please rescue them or they will drown!”It turned out that the children wanted to mimic the adults. So, they brought a wooden basin from home, and tried to paddle in the river. However, the basin capsized and the children fell into the river. The villagers began to panic. Luckily, both team leaders saw the drowning children and immediately told their team,“Look! Some children have fallen into the water! Let’s row over quickly. We must save the children first!”Finally, all the children were rescued and the gong sounded again to mark the re-start of the race.
