The Land of Fire Spitters was originally called the Land of Fire Ejectors.
Everyone in the Land of Fire Ejectors could spit fire; they were known as Fire Spitters.
This wasn’t a magic trick; they could really spit fire: just open their mouths and—whoosh!—a long flame would shoot out, red in the center, blue at the edges, with waves of heat rolling off, a spectacular sight.
Everyone was like a fire-breathing dragon, feeling quite grand.
Back then, people had very little understanding of fire; they hadn’t even invented drilling wood to make fire yet.
So, the Fire Spitters were popular wherever they went.
They had many fans who followed them, cheering wildly:
“Fire Spitter, Fire Spitter, we admire you so much!”
When it got cold and someone wanted to start a fire to warm up, they had to find a Fire Spitter. “Spit fire once, and we’ll give you a leg of lamb, or two fish, or three baskets of wild fruit, or…”
The Fire Spitters would tilt their heads back, rolling their eyes, reciting their price list like a memorized script.
No bargaining.
“Okay, here are the two fish I just caught.”
The person shivered as they handed over two fish.
—The fish later disappeared; “disappeared” means it went extinct. These were the only two, one male and one female, which the Fire Spitter took home and ate. Quite a pity.
Of course, they cooked them. The Fire Spitter skewered the two lively fish on a stick, spat fire to roast them, while inviting family members to come over for fish.
The whole family gathered, enjoying the fire and the fish; it was simply delicious.
The lamb leg was prepared in the same way, equally delicious.
At this time, a character named Cangjie happened to pass by.
Interestingly enough, once it was roasted fish, another time roasted lamb—this wealthy family had many sheep, so they found a Fire Spitter and ordered four fires, generously paying the Fire Spitter with a whole sheep.
The wealthy family was very calculating; if one leg of lamb cost one fire, then four fires would cost one sheep, since a sheep has four legs, two more than a person.
They counted on their fingers many times; there was no way they could be wrong.
Someone asked: Why didn’t the wealthy family just take fire from one pile and light the second, third, and fourth piles from it? Wouldn’t that be more economical, needing only to pay for one leg of lamb?
How could you underestimate the wealthy family! They had sheep and could afford the Fire Spitter’s fee. Besides, people back then were quite naive; no one thought of taking fire from one pile to light another—such speculation… taking fire, that was too shrewd!
They wouldn’t do that.
Moreover, if everyone did that, what would happen to the Fire Spitters?
They would be out of work!
Let’s return to Cangjie.
At the house of that Fire Spitter, during the two feasts, Cangjie passed by (some say it was the delicious smell of roasted fish and lamb that attracted him because Cangjie’s sense of smell was sharper than a dog’s). After tasting both, he found them delicious and quickly created a character: “鲜” (fresh).
That’s how the character “鲜” was created.
The Fire Spitters, who never bargained and were quite generous, called out to Cangjie, “Mr. Cang, still looking for inspiration to create characters? Don’t overthink it! You can’t create all the characters at once; you can live without them! We’re not looking down on your characters; we’re worried you’re working too hard. Come, here’s some freshly roasted fish, it’s quite authentic…”
The second time, the Fire Spitter said the same thing, just changing “roasted fish” to “roasted lamb,” still with the same warm and respectful attitude toward knowledge and talent.
Invited by the Fire Spitter, Cangjie didn’t refuse; for the sake of creating characters, he had to experience everything himself.
In the end, this tasting led to the creation of the character “鲜.”
He had quite a rewarding experience.
Cangjie was very pleased, wiped his mouth, leaned on his stick, and wandered off happily.
—Later, Cangjie created many characters, each with a backstory, and amusing tales.
That’s a story for another time; for now, we should talk about why the Land of Fire Spitters became the Land of Fire Rejecters…
Right! We haven’t gotten to the main point yet.
The Fire Spitters of the Land of Fire Ejectors, relying on their natural ability to spit fire, lived comfortably in that beautiful era, lacking for nothing. Their price list could go on for half a day, and anything they needed could be added—no one bargained because everyone knew the Fire Spitters wouldn’t budge on their prices.
And indeed, humans could not live without fire.
Then one day, someone invented a way to drill wood to make fire, and the popularity of the Fire Spitters plummeted. Soon, no one wanted to hire them anymore, leading to a complete loss of jobs for the Fire Spitters.
This was an inevitable part of historical progress; no one could stop it.
With this, the Fire Spitters felt very upset—hmm, the fire they spat out was unwanted.
Not only that, but it was also dangerous; if they accidentally spit out a big flame, it could cause a fire, burning off eyebrows, singeing pants, or even burning down houses and forests… that would be a big problem!
No one liked the Fire Spitters anymore.
The Fire Spitters didn’t like themselves either, since they couldn’t find work and struggled to fill their bellies. Everyone began to flare up; you spit fire at me, I spit fire back, causing the entire Land of Fire Ejectors to be engulfed in flames, filled with smoke…
Thus, the Land of Fire Ejectors became the Land of Fire Rejecters.
Eventually, the Land of Fire Rejecters disappeared.
The Fire Spitters, left with no options, wandered into other countries.
Slowly, they could no longer even spit fire; not a single spark could they produce.
This magical ability, much like the tail of early human ancestors, gradually regressed.
I’m sorry; this is a true story with no educational meaning whatsoever.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
