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In Japan, otherwise known as the "Land of the Rising Sun," lived another dragon by the name of Ryujin. Unlike the Li Lung, Ryujin was serpent-like throughout his body and there were no appearances of wings anywhere. According to folklore, Ryujin was worshipped as a god. It was believed that he could call in lightning and run whenever he pleased. Because of this, the nearby farmers would pray day and night to the mighty Ryujin so that he could bring in plentiful rain and a prosperous farming season. There are many legends surrounding the Ryujin, but I will be retelling one of the more famous ones here.
There once lived two brothers who were both fishermen in a small village off the coast of Japan. The younger brother, Hoori, was often clumsy and was the worse of the two in terms of fishing skills. Hodori, on the other hand, was a phenomenal fisherman. One day, Hoori had lost his other fishing hook as it got lodged between two hefty rocks offshore, so he decided to ask his older brother for one of his fishing hooks. Reluctantly, the older brother gave him one of his magical fishing hooks that could catch any fish without fail, but warned him that it would not end well if Hoori lost the hook. Hoori assured him that he would not lose his brother's hook.
One day, while taking his brother's magical hooks to go fishing in the middle of the sea, Hoori lost the hook at the bottom of the ocean! When he came back to tell his brother of the bad news, Hodori was furious. He kicked Hoori out of the house and told him that he could not return until he had returned his brother's magical hook to him.At this, Hoori rowed and rowed to look for the hook. He reached the center of the ocean and dove straight down, scouring the ocean floor looking for the hook. It was then that he came across a massive palace that was completely underwater. This was Ryujin's palace. There, he had set his eyes on the most beautiful woman that he has ever seen! She was Ryujin's daughter. All of a sudden, Hoori fell madly in love with this maiden and completely forgot the reason that he came down to the ocean floor. After seeing that this fisherman was in love with his daughter, the dragon Ryujin gave Hoori his blessing to marry his daughter. Hoori would live with Ryujin and the rest of the family in the underwater palace for years, until finally, Hoori remembered the reason that he came down to the ocean floor in the first place: to look for his brother's magical hook.
Ryujin. Source: Wikimedia
He alerted Ryujin about his sadness and frustration and told him the whole story about how his brother did not allow him to come back home until he had found the magical hook. Upon hearing this, Ryujin was unsettled at how the older brother treated his son-in-law. Ryujin unleashed a powerful roar underwater that sent sound waves throughout the ocean floor. Moments later, hundreds upon thousands of sea animals, including fishes, sharks, jellyfishes, and squids all arrived at once in front of the palace. From there, Ryujin commanded the sea animals to look for the hook and told them to not return until it has been found. Eventually, Ryujin found the fish that had swallowed the magical hook years ago and removed it from him.
The Magical Jewel. Source: Amazon
Hoori was delighted that Ryujin had found the hook that he had lost so many years ago. However, before Ryujin would return the hook to Hoori so that he could return it to his brother above the water, he laid a curse on the hook. In addition, he gave Hoori a jewel for safekeeping. Hoori swam to the top of the ocean surface and paddled back to his brother. His brother was incredibly angry and frustrated at the fact that it took Hoori years for him to return the magical hook. Relentlessly, he banished Hoori from ever returning back to the house again, stating that if he was to ever fish, it would not be with him or around this area ever again. Saddened but understandably, Hoori accepted his brother's punishment and left to live and fish in a village hundreds of miles away from his brother. What the brother did not know was that the hook was cursed so that the fisherman would never catch another fish again, whereas the jewel would grant the owner unimaginable luck that allowed Hoori to catch dozens upon dozens of fishes anytime he tried.
From that point on, Ryujin considered Hoori his sole human partner. Ryujin and Hoori spent countless years with each other, helping one another in both personal squabbles and ongoing crisis. The close-knit bond between these two beings was unbreakable. However, there were still a large issue at hand that would test the power and connection of these two; one that none of them would never have expected to arise.
Author's Note: This story was a retelling of one of the most famous myths of the Japanese Dragon-God, Ryujin. In the story by Ancient History, Hoori was a fisherman that lost his arrogant brother's magical hook at the bottom of the ocean. While searching for the magical hook, Hoori stumbled upon the palace of Ryujin and fell in love with the dragon-god's daughter. After the marriage of the two, Hoori begged Ryujin to find the hook for him. However, seeing the way that his brother treated Ryujin, the dragon-god casted a curse on the hook that gave bad luck to the owner and to Hoori, a jewel that granted him wonderful luck! Many of the renditions of the story was concise, therefore, I added various details such as how Hoori was banned from coming back to the village with his brother after the hook was returned. I added these details to create more depth to the story and gave a clearer depiction to the readers.
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