Kuafu Chases the Sun, a Chinese Folk Tale

In ancient China, Kuafu was a farmer who had extraordinary strength.  Everyone said that Kuafu could run like the wind!  One year in Kuafu’s village, there was a terrible drought in his village, and all the crops died as a result of the scorching sunlight.  Kuafu decided to teach the sun a lesson, so he set out running toward the west with the goal of overtaking the sun in its path.  Kuafu ran and ran and became very thirsty.  He drank all the water in the Yellow River.  Then he drank all the water in the Wei River.  Kuafu, however, was still thirsty and tried to reach the North Sea so that he could drink that water, too.  Unfortunately, Kuafu died of thirst before he ever reached the North Sea.  His body became a mountain on which groves of peach trees grew that would give nourishment to passing travelers.  The moral of the story is that one should not attempt the impossible because nothing will be gained.  (The pic is "The Sun Gate," a feature at the "Western Film Studios" near our city where many famous Chinese movies have been made.)