The snail girl is [1] a character in Fuzhou folklore. The well-known story of the snail girl is selected from Volume 5 of "The Postscript of the Search for Gods". The story goes that the Emperor of Heaven knew that Xie Duan's parents died when he was young and he was alone. He sympathized with him and saw that he was diligent, frugal and self-disciplined, so he sent the goddess Tian Luo to the earth to help him.

One of the legends

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Farmer picking up snails

Once upon a time, there was a lonely young farmer who made a living by farming for the landlord. , working hard every day at sunrise and going home at sunset. One day, he picked up a particularly large snail in the field. He was surprised and very happy. He took it home, put it in a water tank, and carefully raised it with water.

The snail girl cooks

One day, the farmer went to work in the fields as usual in the morning. When he came home, he saw fragrant rice on the stove and delicious fish in the cupboard. Vegetables, there was boiling hot water in the teapot, and it was like this again the next day. Two days, three days... Every day, the farmer decided to figure things out. The next day, the rooster crowed for the first time. He went to work in the fields with a hoe as usual. At dawn, he hurried home, thinking See which good Samaritan it is. From a distance, he saw smoke rising from the chimney on his roof. He quickened his pace to see with his own eyes who was lighting the fire and cooking. But when he tiptoed, leaned close to the crack in the door and looked in, there was no movement at home. When he walked in, he saw the aroma of food on the table, the fire in the stove was still burning, and the water was boiling in the pot. Before he had time to scoop it up, it was just The enthusiastic cook disappeared. Another day passed. The farmer got up early again, the chickens crowed to the ground, and rushed home before dawn. Before the smoke from the house rose, Xie Duan quietly approached the fence and hid in the dark, concentrating on everything in his house. After a while, he finally saw a young and beautiful girl slowly walking out of the water tank. Her clothes were not even slightly wet from the water. The girl moved to the stove and started cooking.

The young man saw it very clearly. He quickly ran in the door and walked to the water tank. When he saw it, there was only an empty shell left of the big snail he had picked up. He took the empty shell and looked at it again and again in surprise, then walked to the stove and said to the young girl who was cooking the fire: "Excuse me, girl, where are you from? Why do you want to help me cook?" The girl didn't. I was shocked to think that he would appear at this time, and when I heard him interrogate me about my origins, I didn't know what to do. The young girl wanted to return to the water tank, but her way was blocked. The young farmer kept asking, but the young girl had no choice but to tell him the truth. She was the snail girl. The young man liked the snail girl very much, and later they got married.

Lee Locust Spirit disrupts the situation

Lee Locust Spirit likes the snail girl very much. Seeing that the snail girl is so good with the farmer, he is very jealous and decides to take the snail girl away. So he pretended to be a fortune teller and tricked her into getting snail shells from her blind mother-in-law. With the snail shells, the snail girl was taken into his hole by the leech spirit and could not get out. The farmers and their partners went to the leech spirit's hole to save the snail girl. However, they were defeated by the leech spirit. Later, they thought of a way to sprinkle salt on the leech spirit. The leech spirit was most afraid of salt, and finally died in pain.

Happy ending

The snail girl lived a happy life with the farmers. A year later, she gave birth to a fat boy. In the blink of an eye, she was playing in the river at the age of 5 or 6, and was later killed by her companion. The children scolded the child for being a snail spirit, "Stack, stack, stack, what a mother's snail shell, ding, ding, ding, what a mother's snail spirit." His son listened to the words and hid his mother's shell. , the snail girl will never become a snail again.

Legend 2

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A similar beginning

During the Jin Dynasty, there was an orphan named Xie Duan in Houguan County. His parents died when he was very young, and a kind neighbor adopted him. Xie Duan was loyal, honest, hard-working and frugal. When he was seventeen or eighteen years old, he didn't want to cause trouble to his neighbors anymore, so he built a small house on the hillside and lived independently. Because his family was so poor, he never married a wife. The neighbors were very concerned about him and tried to help him find a matchmaker several times, but without success.

One day, Xie Duan picked up a particularly large snail in the field. He thought it was a strange thing, so he took it home and kept it in a water tank for dozens of days. Xie Duan went to work in the fields every morning. When he came home, he saw food, drinks and hot water in the house, as if someone had made them. This continued for several days, and Xie Duan asked his neighbors. Neighbors said they didn't do it themselves. After that, Xie Duan went out when the rooster crowed, and quietly came back when the sun was just rising. He peeked outside the fence and saw a girl coming out of the water tank and going to light a fire under the stove.

Leaving in the air

Snail girl

Xie Duan saw it clearly and ran in quickly to ask the young girl who was cooking on the fire the truth. , Shui Sunu said: "The Emperor of Heaven sent me down to earth specifically to cook for you and take care of the housework. I want you to become rich, start a family, and marry a good wife within ten years. At that time, I will return to heaven to revive my life. But my The mission has not been completed, but you have discovered the secret. My identity has been exposed. Even if you promise not to tell it, others will inevitably find out. I can't stay here anymore, I must return to heaven. "Xie Duan. After listening to the words of the goddess, I was extremely grateful and felt very regretful. I repeatedly tried to persuade Shui Sunu to stay. Shui Sunu made up her mind. Before leaving, Shui Sunu said to Xie Duan: "After I leave, your life will be harder, but as long as you do good farm work, fish more, and chop more firewood, your life will get better day by day." . I leave the snail shell to you. You can use it to store grain, so that the rice will continue to grow and the rice in the shell will not be used up." As he was talking, he saw a strong wind outside the house, and then it started to rain heavily. In the rain and mist, Shui Sunu left after speaking her last words.

Thanksgiving to the Goddess

Thanks to the Goddess for her kindness, I specially built a statue for her and burned incense to express my gratitude during every year and festival. Relying on his hard-working hands and the help of the goddess, his life became more and more prosperous day by day. A few years later, he married his wife and developed his official career, winning the imperial examination and becoming the county magistrate.

In order to thank Shui Sunu, Xie Duan built a temple, which is today's Sunu Temple.

Original text

Xie Duan was an official of the Marquis of Jin'an. Few lose their parents and are raised by their neighbors. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he will be respectful and self-sufficient. He didn't have a wife, so the villagers took pity on him and wanted to marry him, but he didn't get one. One day, I found a large snail in the field. I thought it was a foreign object, so I took it back, stored it in an urn, and kept it as an animal for dozens of days.

Duan came to the wild every morning and saw that there was food and drink in the house, as if someone had made it. This went on for several days, asking all the neighbors. The neighbors all said that he had not done anything. Later, he came out when the rooster crowed, and when he returned, he peeped outside the fence and saw a young girl coming out of the urn and lighting a fire under the stove. Duanji came to the door and asked: "Where did the bride come from to cook with each other?" The woman was greatly frightened and wanted to return it to the urn, but she couldn't. She said: "I am a plain girl in the Han Dynasty. The Emperor of Heaven mourns your young orphan, so I have the authority to guard the house for you. If you become rich and have a wife in ten years, you should return it. Now that my body has been exposed, it is not appropriate to keep this shell to store rice. "Please. Stay, but ultimately refuse. It was suddenly windy and rainy, and it went away suddenly.

Releasing snails

It was a sunny morning and there was a slight breeze in the wilderness. Happy children were playing in the stream. They put the snails they caught in the grass and chased a group of fish. The little snail was thirsty after leaving the water. It tried hard to move towards the shore. It was too far away. The midday sun was roasting the big land. Waves of scorching heat made it faint... A pair of big hands held it up, and opened its weak eyes in the broad palms. He was gazing at it lovingly, slowly put it into the water, and then left.

This is a passerby returning home from hoeing. The little snail that was given life is grateful, but it is just a snail. It doesn't know how to express but it knows how to remember. Because of that moment of affectionate gaze, from then on, it was no longer a simple snail, it heard its own heart, and there was a deep wish there.

Determining the future

Later, after going through all kinds of hardships, the snail came before the gods. It prayed that it would spend all its next life in exchange for the fate of staying with its benefactor. They meet in the distant future. God agreed.

The years in the water are not peaceful, washed away by heavy rains, dried up and cracked.

Small snails migrate again and again. It preserves a complete life, waiting for the sun and the moon, waiting for the true love. Colorful flowers lit up the wilderness, and it was still an extremely hot afternoon. He walked through the shadows of the trees and took a handful of clear stream water into his mouth. He finally saw the snails in the water. He took it back and put it in a water tank.

He was extremely surprised when he discovered that this beautiful and kind-hearted girl turned out to be a snail. She shyly confided her love, with tears of happiness shining in her eyes. This is not easy for the snail girl. It takes ten thousand years to cultivate the human form, and another ten thousand years to cultivate the seven emotions and six desires. Finally, she can stand in front of the one she loves and shed her first tear.

A metaphor for hardworking and kind people