小骊龙 Black Loong
血口铁髭须，瓜锤双双提。
电光激造化，风雷振玄机。
With iron whiskers and devouring lips,
Twin hammers held in fierce embrace,
Lightning sparks powerful force,
In thunder's roar, he holds his place.
济水旁的渔民们常说，九渊之下，有骊龙，项下有慧珠，拿到的人可开明大智慧，因此价比千金。许多人不顾危险，想要探骊得珠。少数有命回来的人都哭道，空手而归就算了，还遇到水下凶恶的龙王，舞一对双锤，能唤出雷霆万钓，被他劈得尸骨无存。
此后千百年，下河探珠的人屡禁不止。大家总说济水泛滥，必定是探珠人得罪了龙王，所以修造了宏伟的庙字，祭祀和供奉他。这日，来了个年轻人，他穿一领皂色衣袍，戴一串月白项链，自称盗圣，手段滔天。大家纷纷劝他不要冒犯龙王，可他只一下扎入水中，朝龙宫去了。
他见那处既无虾兵，也无蟹将，门庭冷清，景色凄凉，心下奇怪，径寻海藏而去，就见个黑壮的汉子，坐在高高堆起的箱笼之间，愁眉不展。听得响动，那龙王草草从箱子里翻出一挂珍珠，随手扔在地上，敷衍道:“我的慧珠实是不能给你们，这个送你，拿了快走吧。”
年轻人奇道:“岸上的人都说你凶恶哩，若是稍有得罪，不是吃人劈雷就是水淹千里。”那龙王道:“凡人那点血肉我才看不上，你当我是寻常妖魔?若无旨意，岂敢行云布雨。那岸上的人竟说些瞎话，想我父亲不过一点过失，就挨了一刀。我们龙族啊，再老实不过了，哎……”
年轻人听后便道:“泾河龙王之事我也曾听闻，的确冤屈，你如今这般境地，难道是受了牵连?”龙王知他不是凡人，便道:“正是，我可不想去那剐龙台上，我问过那算命的，他说只要我寻个隐蔽处躲好，杀掉西去的猴子，便能将功折罪哩。”
年轻人若有所思:“算命的，我也是听一个算命的，才寻来此处。既是如此，也是机缘，不如来我家，我正好住那西去的路上哩。”那龙王听后大喜，年轻人又道:“只是不能白住。你这海藏里的宝贝，都得归我。”
自那年轻人来过后，济水边下河探珠的人渐渐少了。再后来，大家纷纷弃了探珠的行头，也没人再谈论过那九渊之下的龙王和慧珠究竟如何了。
Long had the fishermen beside the River Ji spoken of a black loong, dwelling far beneath the waters in the Nine Depths. Upon its neck rested a pearl of wisdom, said to grant great enlightenment to any who held it, a prize beyond the worth of gold. Many had braved the depths to find this fabled gem, yet few had been fortunate enough to return. With bitter tears, they told of the perils below, of returning with nothing to show for their trials, and worse, of facing the wrath of the fearsome loong prince. Armed with twin hammers that summoned forth the fury of thunder, the prince could smite those before him, leaving nothing but dust.
Long ages passed, yet still, there were those who sought the pearl. Among the people, it was whispered that when the River Ji burst its banks and the waters rose in wrathful flood, it was surely the doing of the loong prince, his wrath roused by the trespasses of those who sought his treasure. In hopes of appeasing him, they built a grand and splendid temple, where they offered worship and tribute to the lord of the watery depths. Then came a day when a young man arrived, clad in a midnight hue, with a necklace of moon-pale stones around his neck. He named himself a master thief with skills beyond compare. Though all cautioned him against earning the loong prince's wrath, he paid no heed. With a single swift dive, he set his course for the loong's palace.
To his surprise, he found the palace strangely silent and empty, with no sign of the soldiers he had expected. A heavy sense of desolation hung in the air. Puzzled, he went to seek the sea treasury and saw a sturdy, tawny-skinned man sitting amid piles of chests, his brow furrowed in worry. At the sound of his approach, that man, who turned out to be the loong prince, stirred, dug a string of pearls from a chest, and tossed them on the ground. "The pearl of wisdom you seek is not mine to give," he said in a weary voice. "Take these if you must, and go."
Surprised, the young man asked, "The people on shore spoke of your fierce temper, of how you strike men with your thunder or flood entire lands for the smallest slight." The loong prince shook his head. "The flesh of mortals holds no savor for me. Think you that I am some petty yaoguai, to wreak havoc at my own whim? No, I would not dare to call forth the smallest storm save at the bidding of those higher. Idle talk, all of it! My own sire was condemned to the bite of steel for one trifling error. We loongs, though our hearts are true as any, are treated with such injustice..."
The young man said, "I have heard of the Loong King's plight. A grievous injustice, indeed. Is it for his sake that you find yourself in such reduced circumstances?" Seeing he was no mortal, the loong prince said, "Precisely. I have no wish to meet my end upon the Loong-Slaying Terrace. I asked a fortune-teller, and he said if I hide well and kill some westbound monkey, I may yet atone for my misdeeds and restore my honor."
The young man pondered this. "A fortune-teller, you say? It was the words of a fortune-teller that led me to this place. There might be some strange design at work in this meeting of ours. Why not go with me to where I come from? It just so happens to be on the very road that leads to the west." The loong prince was overjoyed, but the young man added, "I ask no small price, however. All the treasures in your hoard, they must be mine." Since the day of the young man's arrival, fewer and fewer were those who sought to plumb the river's depths in search of the pearl. Later on, the tools of their quests were one by one set aside. And in time, the tales of the loong prince far below and the pearl of wisdom he guarded were no longer spoken of.
