There was a farmer named Huo-Wang, who lived in the Chihkan region of Tainan. His wife fell ill and passed away, leaving behind two young daughters. The older sister was Ging-Gu, and the younger sister was Ging-Jen.

One day, Huo-Wang went to the city to sell rice, leaving the two sisters at home. After dinner, the sisters sat at the door waiting for their father to come home. Ging-Jen held out her pinky and told her older sister, “Let's make a bet! If father doesn't come home tonight, I will move all of the rice into the barn tomorrow.” Ging-Gu replied, “You are still young, and too weak to move all the rice.” Ging-Jen said, “I will surely win! If you lose, you will move the rice into the barn tomorrow.” Ging-Gu had no choice but to make a bet with her sister.

Just then, their neighbor Uncle A-Mu came and told the sisters, “I have a message from your father. He says he hasn't finished selling his rice, and he won't be coming home tonight.” Ging-Jen was so angry at having lost the bet, she ran toward the city to look for her father. Ging-Gu chased after her little sister, but it was so dark, she soon lost sight of Ging-Jen. Ging-Gu kept calling, “Ging-Jen! Ging-Jen!” And searched for her sister along the narrow paddy embankments. Ging-Gu searched everywhere, but she couldn't find her sister. It was pitch dark all around her, and Ging-Gu was very frightened. She thought to herself, “If only I had a light to see with.” Suddenly, she lost her balance and fell into the water and drowned.

Even after she died, Ging-Gu still worried about her little sister. She turned into a swarm of glowing insects, and flew across fields and pastures, along the river, and into the woods, searching everywhere for her beloved sister. Villagers named the glowing insect “Fiery Ging-Gu”, which is another name for the firefly.

在臺南赤崁有位農夫叫做火旺仔，他的老婆因為生病去世了，留下兩個年幼的姐妹，姐姐叫金姑，妹妹叫金珍。

有一天，火旺仔載著稻穀要到城裡去賣，姐妹倆就留下來顧家。吃過晚飯後，就坐在門口乘涼等爸爸，金珍伸出小指頭對金姑說：「我們來打賭，要是阿爸今晚不回來，明天我就把外頭的稻穀搬進穀倉。」金姑回答：「你力氣這麼小，搬不動的。」金珍又說：「我一定會贏，要是你輸了就要搬稻穀。」金姑沒辦法，只好跟她勾勾小指頭。

這時鄰居阿木叔走來，對金姑說：「你阿爸託我告訴你們，他有些東西還沒有買，今晚趕不回來了。」妹妹金珍一聽，生氣得往城裡的方向跑。金姑趕緊在後面追，可是，天太黑了，一下子就看不到妹妹。金姑著急地叫著：「金珍，金珍」並沿著狹窄的田埂找，走過一條又一條，還是找不到金珍的蹤影，四周一片漆黑，金姑好害怕，心想：「如果有盞燈，那就好了！」突然一不小心，掉到水塘裡淹死了。

死掉的金姑，還是擔心著妹妹的安危，就變成一群身上有亮光的小蟲，在田野、河邊、樹林裡到處尋找她心愛的妹妹。後來村裡的人，就把這種小昆蟲取名為「火金姑」，也就是現在的螢火蟲。