EMPRESS JANQWI AND THE
MAGICIANS
Thousands of years ago, when China was peopled by giants, that country was ruled by a great Empress named Janqwi, who came to the throne when her brother, Emperor Fugi, died. This story tells how the heavens and one of the pillars which upheld the sky were damaged during a rebellion raised by one of her subjects, and how she mended the broken parts.
The man who rebelled was a wicked and fearsome magician named Korkwi, a giant quite terrible to look upon. He was twenty-eight feet tall, whose face and body were entirely covered with coal-black hair, so it can be imagined that he was anything but beautiful.
It had long been his desire to rule the country, so when Fugi died, he thought his opportunity had come. But Janqwi was too clever for him, and she mounted the throne which was rightly hers.
This so enraged Korkwi that he raised a large army and defied the Empress. The next thing he did was to use his wizard's power, and flood the country, so that thousands of people were drowned. This meant war between the Empress and Korkwi.
Among the warriors of Janqwi were two brilliant young warriors named Haki and Oku, and the first of these she appointed to command that part of the army which would be first to engage the enemy.
This great honor delighted Haki, and he at once made himself ready for battle. He had mounted his favorite charger and had just started for the front when he heard his name called loudly by someone who was galloping behind him. He looked around and saw his friend Oku, who said to him: "Halt, Haki! I intend to lead the first army!"
This enraged Haki, who exclaimed: "You are insolent! The Empress Janqwi has appointed me to lead our warriors into battle; your place is with the reserves."
To this Oku replied: "It is my right to lead the first army, and yours to follow."
Then Haki lunged at Oku with his sword, but the latter caused his horse to swerve quickly, and with his lance he wounded Haki's steed.
Haki at once dismounted and prepared to rush at his comrade when Oku, with lightning rapidity, tore the badge of leadership from Haki's helmet, and galloped quickly away.
Now the Empress had seen all of this through the palace window, and she could not help admiring the dexterity of the ambitious Oku, so she divided the leadership of the front army between them, making Oku commander of the left wing and Haki of the right. So the two became friends again, and they marched against Korkwi at the head of a hundred thousand soldiers.
They soon reached the place which the rebel had fortified, and Korkwi thought it would be easy, with all the power that he possessed, to frighten them into submission. Seizing an imense iron rod, he mounted a powerful black horse, and with a roar like an angry lion he charged his foes. But he found that Haki and Oku did not fear him.
He was coming toward them at a terrific rate, and the two comrades said to each other: "We will attack him from right and left, and not allow him to escape alive." But the wizard was a fierce fighter, and his iron rod a fearful weapon. For a long time they fought without either side gaining.
Then Korkwi aimed a blow at Haki's head, and in order to avoid this Haki turned his horse too quickly, so that the animal's rear hoof struck against a large stone.
The horse suddenly reared up straight, and threw Haki to the ground, and Korkwi thought he had his enemy at his mercy. Drawing his huge sword, he was about to sever his head from his body when Oku wheeled his horse right in front of him, and at once attacked the magician.
Now the brunt of the fight had fallen to Haki's lot, so that Oku was fresher than his friend. Korkwi was tired, and did not fancy engaging the young warrior, so he turned and fled.
Haki had been only stunned by the fall, and he soon recovered. He rushed after Korkwi on foot, while Oku pursued on horseback. Korkwi turned, and fitting an arrow to his bow, aimed the shaft at Oku, who, being on horseback, was ahead of his comrade. Just in time Oku swerved, so that the arrow missed him.
When the wizard saw that he had failed to kill either of his pursuers, he saw that he would have to use his magic power in order to save himself, so he stretched forth his wand, and there came a great wave which engulfed Janqwi's army and the two young generals.
Haki and Oku were struggling in the water, and Korkwi went after them with his iron rod, ready to strike. Suddenly a small island seemed to lift itself out of the water right in front of them, and upon it stood an old man, with snow white hair. He stretched out his hands over the water, which went to the right and to the left, leaving a dry path by means of which the young warriors reached the island.
Seeing that his enemies were now safe, Korkwi turned furiously upon their preserver. He rushed upon the old man, who merely laughed and then turned into a beautiful white bird and flew away.
All thought of further fighting was for the time abandoned. Haki and Oku saw that it was useless for them, being only human, to fight aginst Korkwi, who possessed supernatural powers, so they returned to the Empress, who decided to call on Shiku, the Fire King, for aid.
Now the Fire King lived at the South Pole, where all was snow and ice, for he burned up everything else around him. He also was a giant, with a face like marble and whose hair and beard were snow white. He was master of all fire, as Korkwi was of water, and his strength was marvelous.
The Empress sent Oku to the South Pole to ask Shiku for help, and this the Fire King at once promised to give. He then told Oku that it was he who had saved the two young generals from drowning, and Oku thanked him for coming to their rescue.
Shiku and Oku returned to the Empress, who made the Fire King Commander-in-Chief of her army. He told her to have no fear, for he would certainly vanquish their enemy.
The new general was aware of the source of the magician's power, and he instructed all of the soldiers to gather large quantities of a certain plant. This was done, and a great fire was made of all that was collected, and then everyone was ordered to fill a bag full of the ashes.
Shiku, accompanied by Haki and Oku, marched at the head of his army against Korkwi, who, knowing that water would extinguish fire, laughed at him. As the army approached, the magician caused the water to rise, thinking to speedily destroy his foes. But Shiku showed no fear; he ordered every soldier to scatter the ashes they carried, and this mingling with the water, turned into a sort of clay, thus stopping the progress of the water.
When Korkwi saw that Shiku was his superior in wisdom, he became furious with rage, and charged the enemy headlong.
Oku rode to meet him, and soon the two were engaged in deadly combat. For a long time they fought without advantage to either, then Oku began to tire, and his comrade, seeing this, took his place. Being fresh, he began to prove more than a match for Korkwi, who now desired to retire from the fight. So he artfully said:
"It was courageous on your part to risk your life for your friend, and I wish to show how highly I esteem such valor. Far be it from me to slay such a man."
With this he turned his horse in retreat; but his idea was to take Haki off his guard, and then to turn on him and kill him without mercy.
But Shiku saw what his intention was at once, and called him a cowardly deceiver. Then Korkwi attacked Shiku, who wounded him in the arm.
The magician then tried to escape in earnest, and galloped away at his utmost speed.
It was the custom at that time for opposing armies to watch when a champion from each side should engage in a duel, and so the armies of Shiku and Korkwi had stood awaiting the result. Shiku now ordered his soldiers to charge the enemy, and this they did, defeating them utterly.
Korkwi saw that fate was against him. His magic was useless to him, because Shiku knew more than he did, so, frenzied with pain and disappointment, he dashed his head against the rocks of Mount Kuri, and so perished. With such force did he strike the rocks that he made a great hole in the mountain, in which were embedded some of the pillars which upheld the heavens, and one of these pillars was broken. One corner of the sky thereupon began to drop, and at length it touched the earth.
Then Shiku, taking with him the body of his enemy, returned to the Empress Janqwi, victorious.
But trouble had not ceased for Janqwi. Fire was bursting out from the mountain in which was the broken pillar, and was doing great damage to the country round about. The Empress hastened to the scene of the disaster, and found that considerable damage had been done to both Heaven and earth.
The problem now was how to repair this damage, so she gathered together the wise men of the kingdom to see what could be done.
Under their advice she ordered her subjects to collect all the stones they could find of these five colors—red, blue, yellow, white and black. These she had boiled in a huge cauldron, and the result was a cement which would mend anything.
With Shiku's magic help she then mounted the clouds, taking the cement with her, and having reached that corner of the sky which was broken, she mended it. She then repaired the broken pillar.
Now all of this was the more difficult to do because ever since the hole was made in the mountain the moon had ceased to shine by night, and the sun by day, so that it was quite dark, and even now it remained so.
She called another meeting of the wise men, and they decided that neither the sun nor the moon could travel because the roads by which they made their daily and nightly journeys had been damaged by the accident to the pillar, and it was now necessary to inform them that repairs had been made, and they could safely venture forth again.
But the sun and moon were millions of miles away, and the problem was how to reach them. Then Shiku had recourse to his magic, and he produced a chariot which could race through the air at unbelievable speed.
Haki and Oku were chosen by the Empress to be her messengers to the sun and moon to tell them that the roads were now perfectly safe.
So these two set out on their journey in the wonderful chariot, and finally they reached both the sun and the moon.
It was just as the wise men had said—neither sun nor moon was aware that the roads damaged by the breaking of the pillar had been repaired, but when they were assured by Haki and Oku that these were now perfectly safe for travel they were satisfied, and so the Lords of Light again took up their daily and nightly duties.
So again all was well in China, and for many years the people lived in peace and prosperity, rejoicing in the fact that the beloved and wise Janqwi was their Empress.