In the Brocade Palace in the sky, there were two fairies whose task was to weave clouds for the Celestial Emperor. They spent all their time creating the most beautiful and intricate designs to please their ruler. Some clouds looked like sheep wool, while other were shaped like anvils, hairbrushes or mighty tigers. Whatever shape they could think of, they could create a cloud for.
Though you would expect them to have a great time weaving the clouds, the fairies were quite bored. In fact, they were bored almost to death. They longed for something other than divine bliss, drinking nectar and weaving clouds day after day after day…
One evening, as the heavens were celebrating the birthday of the Celestial Emperor, the fairies had an idea. The entire Brocade Palace was busy drinking, singing and dancing. Decorations hung on the walls and exquisite food was on offer.
But since everyone was celebrating, it was their chance. The fairies waited until the guards of the Southern Gates were inebriated enough to fall asleep at their post and swept past them through the opened doors. The Southern Gates were the opening towards the Earth down below, where bliss was unheard of due to never-ending work and constant changes.
As the fairies were bored with the sky, going down to the Earth to live with the humans seemed like the best of ideas! Thus, they agreed that, once they reached the ground, they would each choose a direction and not stop walking until they found someone in need to help out.
The eldest sister went to the north and only stopped when she met an older lady who required assistance. The youngest went to the south and only came to a halt when she stumbled upon an mature woman who needed a hand.
The two fairies remained on Earth for many decades, assisting humans in their daily lives in various ways. They stayed for so long that their see-through skin turned pink like humans’, as they could see in the magical mirrors they carried around to talk to each other through wherever they went.
After a hundred years on Earth, the fairies had not once thought about heaven, as life on Earth was never dull. However, a century down below only equated three days up in the sky, and, by the end of that timespan, the celebrations for the Celestial Emperor’s birthday was just about done. Thus, the Emperor was starting to notice their disappearance. He had no one to weave a giant raincloud for him!
Looking through every corner of the Brocade Palace, the fairies were nowhere to be found. They were not in the raindrop factory, nor the snowflake workshop. There was no trace of them in the windmaker either! Where could they be?
The guards came to the conclusion that the sky fairies must have escaped through the Southern Gates during the celebrations. They told the Celestial Emperor, who was absolutely furious. He threatened to cause a giant drought if the weaving fairies did not return to the task they were assigned.
Anxious, the guards came down to the Earth to find the sisters and warned them about the Emperor’s threat. As they loved the Earth and humanity too much to cause them any kind of harm, the sky fairies took the difficult decision to return to the Brocade Palace willingly. Though, when they climbed the ladder leading to the Southern Gates, they took one last look at the splendid rivers and impressive mountains down below, knowing they would both rather die than never set eyes on the magnificience of Earth ever again.
Exchanging a knowing glance, the sisters took their mirrors out of their sleeves and dropped them on the Earth. The objects freefell in the atmosphere for a while, whistling their way down, until they touched the ground. As they did, they turned into giant bodies of water reflecting the Earth towards the sky. The first became Lake Xī Hú in today’s China, and the second Hoàn Kiếm in today’s Vietnam.
The serie Obscure Fairy Tales encompasses an array of tales, myths and legends from around the world. To read more, visit this page dedicated to fiction writing.
Kelly Asselin-Tousignant 
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