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Chinese Year of the Dragon Hello

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and welcome to Story Nouri. You're

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listening to Jhana. May

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I wish you a very happy Chinese New Year,

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2024. This

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year, Chinese and many Asian nations are

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celebrating the Year of the Dragon. All

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over the world, including London's

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Chinatown, you can see Chinese

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processions with banging drums, clashing

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cymbals and a dragon dance

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performance. The

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dragon is made of paper and cloth and

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held up aloft on bamboo sticks. The

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Chinese word for a dragon is

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long. As you

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can hear, long is

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a very long and important sounding

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word. Being

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born in the Year of the Dragon is a

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good luck omen. Chinese

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dragons are usually lucky and good. Unlike

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the Western ones, which are poisonous and

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evil, instead of breathing fire,

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they often live at the bottom of the

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sea or oceans. And

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they often crop up in Chinese stories.

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For example, in the Chinese

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epic, The Journey to the West, the

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hero who is a magical monkey, visits

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the Dragon King of the East Sea

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in his underwater palace. The

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monkey demands that the dragon should give him

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a powerful weapon. Eventually,

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he takes a rod like a

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long stick. The

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monkey can adjust it to a tiny needle

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and carry it behind his ear. Then,

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when he wants to fight, he can extend

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it into a giant rod of iron weighing

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17,550 pounds. So

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Chinese dragons are quite watery creatures

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and they often help make the

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rains fall, which of course

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is very lucky for farmers and everyone.

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who likes to eat food. One

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winged dragon, called Ying Long,

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used his tail to make channels for water

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to run through rice fields. This

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story also explains the rain-making abilities

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of dragons. A

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long time ago, there was

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a great drought in China. Ten

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suns shone in the sky and dried up

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the land so that nothing would grow. The

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people were praying for rain, but the

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God of heaven was too busy with

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all his royal duties to notice the

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little people on earth. What

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did he care if they didn't have enough rain

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to make their crops grow? But the

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four dragons of the eastern sea took

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pity on poor thirsty humanity. They

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rose up out of the waters and flew

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to speak to the God. Your

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greatness! The humans down on

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earth are waiting and waiting for your

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rain to fall and bring

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life to the crops. And

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the God of the skies replied, Oh

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yes, you're right. Thank you

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for the reminder. I'm busy today,

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but I'll do it tomorrow. The

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dragons thanked his majesty and returned

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to their underwater palaces beneath the

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eastern seas. That was a

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good deed they had done, or so

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they thought. But

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his imperial majesty was busy the next

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day too, and he'd totally

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forgot his promise to make the rainfall. Soon,

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the dragons as they flew over the

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earth realized that he had failed to

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keep his word, and who's

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taking pity on the humans, they

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decided to take action. They

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gulped up huge amounts of

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sea water, and when they flew over

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the earth, they spewed it

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all out onto the land like a

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great flood. The

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rain fell in great quantity. bringing

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life to the crops and the people. Now

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you might think that they had done

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a very good thing indeed, but

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the Lord of the Seas was not

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happy. "'Those

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dragons stole plenty of

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my water,' he grumbled,

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and off he went to the God of the sky

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to lodge his complaint. When

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the God heard the tale, he

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was angry, very angry

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indeed. "'What

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impotence! It is

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my job, and my job

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alone, to make it

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rain, or not, per

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thy pleas!' He

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raged. And

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in a fit of anger, he sent

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an Imperial army to arrest the four

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dragons and bury them under

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four mountains. Poor

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dragons! They only

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wanted to help and

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see how they were rewarded. But

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the story does not end there, because

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Chinese dragons have the

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power of transformation, and

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the four dragons turn themselves

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into four rivers that flow

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down from the mountains and run all

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the way to their homes in the

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eastern sea. And

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that is why the world has rivers

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that flow down and bring life and

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water. And I'd like

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to wish you all a very happy

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and prosperous Chinese New Year, especially

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you dragons. "'The

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May team, nice and early!' The

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May team, nice and early!'