Crossing the River as Stones

Xuefeng

Under the golden sunlight, the sky was vast, with light clouds drifting, and a gentle breeze blowing. A great river sparkled as it flowed slowly. To the east of the river lay a boundless sandy beach, barren and lifeless, with only a few foxes coming to drink from the river in the evening. Occasionally, a lizard could be seen scurrying across the scorching pebbles in search of food, and crabs would sometimes crawl ashore, glance around, and then quickly dive back into the water. On the west side of the river, the scene was entirely different. Instead of a sandy beach, there was a lush wetland filled with herds of cattle and sheep, cranes dancing in the sky, frogs leaping about, and fish and shrimp swimming freely. The river was the boundary, and the scenery on either side was as different as heaven and earth, utterly contrasting.

Whenever a light drizzle fell, white mist would spread, or when the clouds reflected the setting sun and a rainbow appeared faintly, a young stone on the eastern shore, named Shitou, would fall into deep thought. He longed for the scenery on the other side and was tired of the lifeless sandy beach where his family had lived for generations. He wanted to go to the other side, to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the west bank.

One day, a torrential rainstorm mixed with hail came pouring down from the sky, causing little Shitou’s back to ache. He could no longer bear it and began to run wildly on the sandy beach, shouting as he ran, "I want to go to the other side! I want to go to the other side!"

After the rain stopped and the sky cleared, everything became tranquil again, but the sandy beach was in an uproar. "Someone has a wild idea of going to the west side." "Poor child, he must be crazy." "Ignorance, sheer ignorance!" "What foolishness!" "This guy's brain is not normal; he should be sent to a mental hospital for treatment." "Whose child is this? How can he talk such nonsense?" "He should be locked up in prison; we can't let him confuse people with his wild talk." "We need to strengthen basic education, or the order of this great sandy beach will be disrupted by such delusional people." ...

Finally, the ancient stone on the beach spoke up, "We must hold a grand assembly for all the stones on the beach and invite our esteemed and wise scholars to educate the younger generation and save them from these wayward thoughts."

The young stone who wanted to go to the other side was surrounded, and the wise stones began to bombard him with their wisdom. "You want to go to the west side? Isn’t that just wishful thinking? Have you ever heard of a stone crossing the river?" "Child! We can't entirely blame you; we elders haven't given you enough basic education. You must understand that if a stone tries to cross the river, it will inevitably drown." "The weight of stones is greater than the buoyancy of the river’s water, so stones cannot float on water. The conclusion is, stones cannot cross the river." "Don’t indulge in fantasies; accept your fate. Stones are not birds; we cannot reach the other side." ...

Poor little Shitou was completely confused by the well-meaning education. He hung his head, tears welling up in his eyes, muttering only one sentence, "I just want to go to the west side," as he silently withdrew from the crowd to live in solitude.

One day, a few stones of the same age came to find him. They also yearned for the life on the west side. They came to the riverbank and gazed at the picturesque scenery on the other side, and began to chatter excitedly among themselves: "To cross the river, it's best to take a boat." "To cross the river, it would be best if we could fly like birds." "To cross the river, it would be best to ride on the back of a crab." "To cross the river, it would be best if we hollowed out our insides." "To cross the river, it would be best if a strong wind could carry us over to the other side..."

As they were fervently discussing, a few boys came by and stopped beside them. They were humans, perhaps drawn by the stones' strong will. One of the boys said to his companions, "Let’s have a contest to see who can throw a stone across the river so that it skims the water's surface and reaches the other side."

In an instant, these boys eagerly picked up stones at their feet and hurled them toward the other side of the river. Whoosh! Swoosh! Whooosh! One after another, the little stones skimmed the water's surface and flew across to the other side.

Rumors quickly spread across the great sandy beach: "Did you hear? It’s said that those disobedient boys insisted on crossing the river and all drowned." "Exactly! How could a stone possibly cross the river? It's no surprise they drowned." "From now on, everyone must be vigilant; we must not allow fanciful ideas to take root, and we must prevent our children from going near the river." "Living within our means is the key to a safe life." "We stones can never cross the river; as the old saying goes, ‘If you don’t listen to the elders, you’ll drown in the river.’"

Can stones cross the river? Can humans reach the Celestial Islands Continent?