Long ago in a village in China, a boy called Chang lived with his father. The village sat in a valley near a huge volcano that sometimes roared and spat and shook the ground.
Many of the boys in the village played rough and noisy games. But Chang sat quietly
with his father, making kites to sell in the town.
They worked in a tiny room at the back of their house. Chang’s father cut and sewed
the kites with threads of silk and Chang painted them.
The people in the town loved their kites, but the ones they loved most were the
dragons. Some dragon kites were huge and some were fierce. Some had big, bulging eyes
and some had long bodies and scaly tails that twisted and twirled and sang in the wind.
During the long summer evenings, everyone gathered around the largest tree in the
centre of the village, to listen to the old storyteller. Sometimes, his stories were scary,
and his scariest ones were about ferocious dragons that roamed the world and were always
hungry.
Chang longed to see one. “Where can I find a dragon, Father?” he asked.
“There are no dragons left in the world, my son,” replied his father. “There are only
stories of dragons. But I will make you the largest and most beautiful dragon kite in the
world.”
Chang waited and waited, while his father worked on the dragon kite.
“When will my kite be ready, Father?” asked Chang.
“When the wild winds blow in the springtime, your kite will be ready, my son.”
One warm spring evening, Chang’s kite was ready.“It is beautiful. Thank, you, Father,” said Chang and went happily off to bed.
Very early next morning, a loud rattling noise shook Chang’s window. He was
terrified. But it was only the sound of the wind racing past his window and rushing through
the trees outside.
“I will try out my new kite!” he whispered to himself.
He tiptoed through the house, along the path and into the fields. The wind grew
wilder. It howled through the trees, whipped the leaves from their branches and battered
the windows of the sleeping village.
“Fly, dragon kite, fly. Up to the sky!” shouted Chang and threw his kite into the air.
The kite whirled and whirled above his head.
Suddenly, a blast of wind, stronger than all the rest, tore Chang’s beautiful kite
right out of his hands. His terrible scream was swept away with the wind. He stood stock
still and stared, and then he ran.
He ran faster than he had ever done before. He jumped into the air and stretched
his arms, but he landed back on the ground and the kite rose higher and higher, driven by
the mighty wind.
Chang watched in horror as his kite grew smaller and smaller. He watched it rise
until it looked like a bird. It flew towards the mountains and he watched it shrink until it
was no bigger than an insect. It swirled around the open mouth of the volcano and
disappeared.
That night, Chang tossed and turned and could not sleep. As he lay awake in the early
morning, he made a plan. “I will climb that volcano and bring my kite home.”
He dressed quietly and stepped into the yard. In the distance, the sun, like an
enormous ripe orange, rose over the village. The birds sang and the flowers dripped with
early morning dew.
Chang ran through the village, into the forest and headed for the high mountains.
The path grew steeper and steeper. He scrambled over pebbles and ran between
great boulders, following a trail of bright kite threads strewn across the side of the
volcano.
He struggled with clinging vines and sharp broken branches, but he ran on, growing
more and more tired.At last he stopped. The earth shook beneath his feet and strange howling noises
surrounded him. Then he spied two long kite threads trailing into the gaping mouth of the
volcano.
Chang crept down and down into a deep, dark echoing cavern. Slimy, slithering shapes
slapped his face and curled around his legs. He cried out and his voice echoed around the
enormous space. He wanted to turn back, but he had lost the way.
Chang wrapped his arms around his chest to stop the loud thumping of his heart. He
crouched down. “I must escape,” he groaned.
Near his feet, he spied another trail of golden threads. As he reached out to touch
one, a terrible cry swept through the cave and loud sobs echoed all around him.
When Chang opened his eyes again, he spied a sliver of light in the grim darkness. He
waited and then crept towards it. “That must be the way out. It has to be... I will have to
leave my kite behind,” he muttered miserably, and headed towards the light.
Suddenly, the ground gave way beneath his feet and he tumbled, head over heels
into a gigantic cave.
The brightness dazzled him and then he saw it. A dragon sat in the centre of a huge
cavern, on top of a mountain of glistening jewel. His heavy eyelids covered his bulging eyes.
His mouth was half opened and his huge body shook.
Terrified, Chang stood still and watched him. Lying at the feet of the enormous
creature was his kite. “If I can grab it and run… ever so quietly…” Chang whispered to
himself.
He hedged closer and closer. Just as he reached out, the dragon opened one huge
eye and glared at him.
Chang froze. He was sure he was going to die. He crouched into a ball and hid his
face in his hands. “Father!” he groaned. “I will never see you again,” and he waited to be
eaten alive.
Chang waited, but nothing happened.
Then suddenly, a sniff and a horrible sob escaped from the dragon. Two huge
teardrops rolled down his cheeks. The dragon was crying! But why?
“I don’t want to hurt you! Everyone is afraid of me. Everyone hates me. I’m so
lonely!” sobbed the enormous creature. “Wh a t’s your name?”
Chang’s mouth fell open, but he could not speak.
“Who are you? I won’t eat you,” begged the dragon. “Will you be my friend?”Chang leaped to his feet. He darted across the cave. In his terror, he had forgotten
his kite.
“No. Don’t go. Is this yours?” roared the dragon.
Chang stopped and looked at the dragon again. The huge creature was really very
sad. “My name is Chang. The kite is mine. Thank you.”
“Listen, please listen, Chang. Let me explain,” begged the dragon. “I have been alone
for more than a hundred years... Then yesterday I saw this beautiful creature swaying and
swirling in the skies high above my lonely home. I flew out to greet her and we danced
together in the wind. I had found a friend, or so I thought. I believed that, after all, I was
not the only dragon in the whole world.
“But once we came in here, out of the wind, I found that all I had was a kite. Here
she has lain ever since, with an angry face and staring eyes. I’m more lonely than ever!
Please be my friend!” begged the dragon.
“Yes, I will,” said Chang. “But I have to go home
now. I must not be late. Thanks again. Good bye!”
“Where do you live, Chang?” the dragon wailed.
“Will you take me with you? It’s so lonely here! I won’t
hurt anyone.
“Long, long ago, when all the dragons in the world were killed, I escaped and hid in
this volcano. I have lived here alone for more than a hundred years.”
Chang looked into the sad eyes of the dragon and felt sorry for him. “I will be your
friend. I will take you home with me.”
“Thank you! Thank you, Chang!” roared the dragon. “Come. Climb onto my back and I
will take you out of this place. Then, you must show me the way to your village.”
The dragon’s huge body swept upwards at great speed, until they soared towards the
sky. Out in the fresh cool air, Chang breathed deeply and looked around.
“There! That’s the way to my village.”
They flew. Down and down, lower and lower. Chang’s father and all the villagers
gathered in the village square, terrified to see Chang, perched on the back of the
enormous beast.
“Don’t be afraid!” Chang called out. “This is the one and only dragon left in the world
and he is lonely.”
The villagers ran into their homes and there they stayed.“Father, this dragon won’t hurt anyone! He wants to be our friend. Can you help?”
asked Chang.
Chang’s father sat thinking for a very long time. He then made a secret plan.
When it was time for the New Year celebrations to begin, Chang’s father appeared
in the village square. He carried a dragon made of the most beautiful silks.
The village people came out of their houses and scrambled under the silken dragon.
Then they set off for a parade through the village. Chang, his dragon and his kite flew
high above them.
After that day, the villagers lost their fear of the dragon. They helped to build him
a home near the village where he lived happily ever after.
Dragons in China
There are many legends in China about the different kinds of dragons, each with their own
characteristics and powers. The dragon in this story is a winged dragon, one of the oldest
and most powerful.
The dragon is one of the symbols of the Chinese zodiac and these creatures play an
important part in many Chinese festivals.
Chinese New Year around the World
Many people of Chinese heritage have made their homes all over the world. Today, London,
Melbourne, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco are some of the cities
where Chinese New Year is celebrated in style.In China, New Year is celebrated between late January and mid-February. Great
preparation is made for this event. Some people clean their homes thoroughly, pay off any
debts, buy new clothes and have their hair cut. On New Year’s Eve, families gather for a
grand meal. Amazing displays of fireworks light up the sky to send off the old year and to
welcome the new one. On New Year’s Day, beautiful lions and dragons, made from dazzling
fabrics, dance through the streets.
Kite
Kites were invented in China, more than 2,000 years ago. There are different stories
about how people got the idea for making them. One story is that someone’s hat blew off
and flew in the wind, still attached to its wearer by the neckband. Another story is that a
war leader wanted a way to show off his banner and fly it high above his troops.
In olden times, kites were used in war. One story goes that a general flew kites carrying
harps over his enemy’s army at night. The enemy was scared by the noise and fled in
terror. Chinese Emperors also used kites to send signals to their troops.
Some people believed that by flying kites they would avoid bad luck. A kite could ward off
evil spirits and the higher it flew the richer a person would become. Kite-flying was
considered a healthy pastime.
When the Chinese invented paper, it became possible for anyone to build a kite. People
began to build them in the shape of creatures of folk tales and mythology, including
dragons.
Kenneth Steven
The dragon kite
London, Tamarind books, 2007
