Legends of the Yellow River Yellow, River

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在中国民间至今还流传着很多关于大禹治水的动人故事。传说，大禹治理黄河时拥有三件宝贝，一是河图；二是开山斧；三是避水剑。这第一件宝贝——河图是黄河水神河伯授给大禹的。
There are numerous Chinese folk legends that have been passed down through time regarding the moving story of King Yu taming the flood. According to tradition, when Yu the Great was trying to bring the Yellow River under control, there were three treasures: a river map, the axe that can split mountains and the sword that can divide waters. The first treasure—the river map—was given to Yu the Great by the Yellow River god, He Bo.

在大禹治理黄河之前，黄河经常泛滥成灾，百姓流离失所，生活苦不堪言。黄河水神——河伯对于治水，束手无策，只好向玉帝讨教办法。玉帝让他先画河图，有黄河的水情图为依据，治理黄河就省事多啦。按照玉帝的指点，河伯跋山涉水，察看黄河水情，勾画河图。等河伯把河图画好后，才发现自己已经年老体弱，没有气力去治理黄河了。他非常的伤心，但是，他想，总有一天会有能人来治理黄河的，到那时，把河图授给他，也算自己没有白费心。 后来，大禹出来治水的时候，河伯决定倾囊相授。大禹得到了黄河水情图，日夜不停，根据图上的指点，终于治住了水患。
Before Yu the Great harnessed the Yellow River, it often caused terrible floods which brought the people much suffering, making them destitute and homeless. Because the Yellow River god, He Bo, was also at a loss about how to prevent the flooding, he asked the advice of the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor had him first draw a river map so that through the map the management of the Yellow River would be much easier. Following the directions of the Jade Emperor, He Bo traveled across mountains and rivers, inspecting the situation of the river and drawing the river map. But by the time He Bo had finished the map, he realized that he was advanced in years and poor in health, having no energy left anymore to harness the Yellow River. But even though he was very heart-broken, he estimated that his work was not completely a waste, for there would certainly be an able person who could harness the river one day, and at that time he could pass on the map to him. Later when Yu the Great was in charge of harnessing the Yellow River, He Bo decided to give everything he had to him. After Yu the Great received the Yellow River map, he worked tirelessly day and night following the directions of the map and finally brought a stop to the flooding disasters.