Since Serpent Prince returned to the Dragon Palace,
He ate less heartily than before,
He worked less dutifully than before,
He spent every day thinking of the human world.
The days were long in passing,
Serpent Prince's heartaches, ya!
The cruel-hearted Dragon King saw through it all.
Dragon King's heart was merciless;
He forbade Serpent Prince to return to the human world.
Dragon King was infinitely resourceful;
He opened the water gates, releasing the flood waters
To the ninety-nine rivers,
To the nicety-nine bamboo-covered mountains;
The waters rose to the edge of heaven.
The great mountains disappeared!
The tall trees disappeared!
The grass disappeared!
The flowers disappeared!
The butterflies disappeared!
The rabbits disappeared!
The people disappeared, too!
The earth's myriad beings,
Each and all disappeared!
Were they dead?
Were they transformed?
Where on earth did they go?
Serpent Prince searched everywhere;
Searched the Eastern seashore,
Searched the Southern seashore,
Searched the Northern seashore,
Everywhere on the four seashores,
He couldn't find a thing.
Serpent Prince searched clear to the edge of heaven;
On the edge of heaven was a very high mountain,
On the mountain stood a very tall tree.
In the tree stood two persons.
There was also a pair of honeybees,
And a pair of butterflies,
And a pair of monkeys;
All the myriad beings were there,
Of each and every kind a pair.
One hundred days passed,
On the hundredth day, the day of the Rabbit,
The great waters slowly receded!
The great mountains slowly appeared!
The sun shone high in the sky,
The great waters dried up quickly.
The more the sun shone the sooner the waters receded,
The more the sun shone the higher the mountains rose.
The two persons in the tree
Came down to the ground and started a family.
The years passed one by one,
They gave birth to a son,
They gave birth to seven daughters.
The seventh Sister, ah!
As clever as the golden deer in the midst of the forest,
As pretty as the horse-cherry blossoms on the mountains,
Of the household's seven sister,
She was in every way the best.