The Myth of Fire

Back when man was new, no one knew how to make fire.  At night, they were cold, and during the day, they were hungry, for they had no way to cook food.  But Fuxi felt pity for the people, and so sent a thunderstorm down into the forest.  The trees burned with the lightning, and the people were afraid.  But one of them felt the warmth coming from the fire, and called everyone to him.

The people, rather than cold, could now stay warm.  But there were also animals in the forest, and many of them were killed by the lightning, and their flesh began to cook.  When the people smelled the enticing aroma of the cooking meat, they tried some, and then learned how to cook.  So from then on, day after day, the people would light branches, and keep the fire going.

But one day, the young man in charge of keeping the fire going fell asleep, and the fire went out.  Having grown accustomed to warmth, light, and food, the people were more terrified than before, and were at their wits' end.  Fuxi came to the first young man (the one who discovered the use of fire) in a dream, and told him that he could find fire in the country of Sui Ming.  So the young man awoke and set out to find Sui Ming.

After many struggles and many days, the young man reached Sui Ming, but found it to be a place of total darkness.  There was no fire - there was not even a hint of the sun or moon.  Sui Ming had no light, and the young man, confused and (slightly) scared, sat down under a great tree whose roots stretched for thousands of miles in all directions.  Its branches hung thick and dense overhead, and the young man expected it to be dark under the tree, as well.

But it was not.

As the young man watched, flashes of light would spark around the tree.  Upon closer inspection, he saw that they were birds who pecked at the tree, causing sparks, and that the wood of the tree could cause fire.  So he broke off a branch from the tree, and used it to bore a hole in the tree's trunk.  At long last, smoke drifted from the hole as he drilled, and a fire started.

The young man went home, taking his new skill with him.  Now, the people have a fire that will never go out, because they can always make fire.  They are never cold, nor hungry, nor afraid, and they named the young man "Sui," because he brought them fire.

-Chinese Mythology