This story is purely fictional and symbolic. It does not intend to infringe on religion, nor is it an attempt to rewrite actual legends or religious stories. This is an independent story that incorporates elements of, but has no direct relation to the Chinese legend of Pan Gu and the story of Adam and Eve.
Before Pangu emerged from the legendary egg, the world was a cosmic chaos. The world switched between dimensions, and the sky switched between darkness and brightness. Temperatures rose and dropped, lands separated and reunited, planets crashed against each other, stars exploded and re-formed. There was no order, no science, no rhythm, and no life. This world was undergoing a process of chaotic creation.
It is very hard to describe how chaos transformed into order in the very instant Pangu’s egg split apart. The world just managed to find its balance (between ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’, according to Taoists) before Pangu opened his eyes to experience it. Perhaps this could show just how significant Pangu was.
Pangu’s birth had induced the world with vitality. Life sprung from all faces of the earth – in the form of eggs. In no time, plants, trees, flowers, animals, and all other types of living beings emerged from eggs (which were formed merely hours ago) and grew rapidly. These beings multiplied and evolved so quickly – within a few days, civilizations were built, and culture was evolving. It was such a magical world of peace and wonder, and the air was fresh with the scent of birth and vitality.
These living beings had an unusual and inexplainable habit of dancing throughout the day. Perhaps it was their way to convey their happiness, their excitement towards living life. The living beings who were free to move around easily would jump, skip, somersault, while those rooted to the ground swayed in rhythm whenever the wind blew at them. Occasionally, Pangu would observe all of in enviousness, wishing that he could be part of them. However, he was aware of his terrifying appearance (a primitive, hairy, enormous giant) and did not want to disrupt the peace and joy of the other living beings.
Pangu lived in a dark cave of an unknown location. However, he was not the only resident there. In the small and unnoticeable crevasses and holes, a serpent lurks. It was a magnificent creature with a big, black coat dotted with bright red spots. Its fangs were so sharp that it could make one shiver by simply opening its jaws and hissing. One cannot give an accurate measure of its size or body length as, mysteriously, it changes every time. At one moment, it may be only a few inches long, or a little bigger than a typical garden earthworm, but at the next, it appears to be forty feet long, longer than a reticulated python (the longest snake in the world today). The serpent’s ever-changing size was a confusing mystery to even the serpent itself.
The serpent was made up of all the destructive energies in the universe. Its sole aim and desire were to destroy everything that existed, and did not mind dying for the sake of that. However, it knew that Pangu was a born to be a powerful protector of the earth and that it was no match for him. In fact, it was jealous of Pangu’s massive prowess and constantly wished that such godly capabilities had been bestowed upon itself instead.
One day, several tremors from the cave floor shook the serpent up from its deep slumber. That was the sound of Pangu moving. The serpent quickly slithered out of a hole to see Pangu walking out of the caves. This had never happened before; Pangu had stayed in these caves ever since he hatched from his egg. As it started to follow him out of the caves, feelings of bewilderment, amazement, curiosity and excitement were mixed in the serpent’s heart. What will it discover today?
In fact, Pangu himself had been surprised by his own actions. He had simply felt a strong calling, an invisible force that pulled him out of his cave and into a forest. This forest wasn’t any other forest, rather, it was a forest that produced a very poisonous fruit – the forbidden apple. The living beings residing nearby knew that the forbidden apple was a very dangerous fruit and had come up with frightening stories about it to keep their children away from the forest. Oblivious to this, Pangu continued on his trek forward, shifting his tremendous weight to the center of the forest, where the forbidden fruit grew in abundance.
Oh, what a mysterious fruit that was! The apple’s red was no ordinary red, it was an alluring red, a red that Pangu had never seen before in his life. The apple glistened under the sunlight, and appeared to be closer to Pangu then it actually was. Looking at the apple made Pangu feel dizzy, yet… yet… it was impossible to take his eyes off it! What a work of art!
Before he knew it, Pangu’s hands were on the apple. While he started pulling it from the tree, however, he was almost certain that he heard a faint cry of the word: ‘No!’. The cry had strangely originated from the tree’s direction; it was almost as if the tree was giving him a warning. Pangu tipped his head and started listening carefully, but heard no more sound.
“Ha, I am so foolish! That must have been my imagination!” Pangu thought to himself as he started munching onto the fruit.
Eating the forbidden apple was one of the most wonderful experiences Pangu had. Breaking out of his shell might have been the first time he opened his eyes to the world, but the apple was opening his eyes a second time. It was not only extremely tasty, it also brought him to a whole new world, a world full of fireworks and colours and intriguing sensations. Everything felt so real yet so fake; so clear yet so muddled. Pangu could feel the ground beneath him, yet it felt as if he was floating.
‘Now that’s something I want to experience again’, said Pangu to himself after his excitement died down and the world regained its clarity. ‘The world can be so boring sometimes, maybe that’s why the forbidden apple exists; to bring colour into our lives!’
Pangu felt extremely weak throughout the rest of the day. It felt as if his mythical powers have diminished by a bit. But Pangu took no heed to that as he felt that he would be fine the next day. Little did he know that everything he had done had entered the sinister eyes of the serpent.
“THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!” Pangu woke up to frightened cries the next day. Alarmed, he rushed out of his cave, only to see the distance between the heavens and the earth decreasing at a massive rate. Calamity had struck, and Pangu knew that if he did not do something about it, the sky and the earth would eventually collide and all living beings would be crushed.
Pangu raised his hands and stood firm. Earth and sky will never meet as long as I stand in between, Pangu thought.
Soon, Pangu could feel the pressure of the sky on his palms. He could withstand this pressure effortlessly at first, but with its gradual increase, his task became more and more strenuous. Gritting his teeth, Pangu wondered, confused: What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of all these? Why was life created only to be destroyed in the end?
The serpent looked at Pangu from afar. How majestic he seemed to be. He stood like a strong pillar of the world, an unshakable mountain, a powerful warrior who will protect his home with his limitless grit, strength and energy. What a pity, the serpent smiled to itself as it slithered towards Pangu. What a pity.
“Hey Pangu!” The serpent hissed.
“Who are you?” Pangu asked, his voice muffled. He seldom spoke, as there had been no one, except himself, to speak to.
“I’m your neighbor! I have been living in the same cave as you ever since the beginning of time!” The serpent slowly slithered around Pangu.
“I was not aware of that!” Pangu exclaimed.
“Why are you doing this?” The serpent asked, “What is the point? Will you gain anything from saving the world?”
“I don’t really know…” Pangu muttered. The serpent laughed in its heart. This is going to be easy, it thought.
“Did you know, to fully separate the earth and the sky, you will have to remain in this position for 18,000 years? 18,000 years is such a long time! Are you sure you want to spend your whole life like this? Don’t we all exist to enjoy and be happy? Look at them, look at everyone else! They have accepted their fate and have resumed their happy dance! Why don’t you do the same? Isn’t it unfair that they are the ones who are enjoying while you, endowed with such supreme powers, have to be the one to spend your life serving them?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know, stop asking me!” Pangu seemed confused, and the serpent thought that that would do the trick. But it did not. Pangu’s hands remained glued to the sky.
The serpent slithered away quietly.
The next day, the serpent returned with the forbidden fruit.
“Hey Pangu!”, it hissed. There was no response. “Look down here, I’ve got your favourite fruit! Do you want some?”
“Oh, how did you know that I love eating that? Of course, I would definitely love to have that!”
“Well, you will have to take your hands off the sky to eat this!” The serpent hissed. The immense giant had a sudden impulse to obey the serpent, but a strong instinctive force stopped him from doing so.
“No, I can’t do that.” The answer disappointed the serpent. It had expected the giant to easily succumb to his weakness. At the same time, it was reminded of the after effects of the forbidden apple. I don’t have to make him remove his hands from the sky to destroy him, the serpent realized. I just need to lure him into devouring the apple!
“Well, that’s okay. I can feed you. Would you be fine with that instead?”
“Oh, that would be lovely! Thank you, you’re so nice! How can I ever repay you?” Pangu exclaimed.
The serpent slithered its way up through Pangu’s legs, waist, chest, neck, before finally reaching his mouth. Now, Pangu was so huge that it took the serpent a few hours to do so. Mysteriously, the serpent had gradually increased in its size while it was making its long journey to deliver the apple to Pangu’s mouth. It was so inexplainable that even the serpent itself was bewildered by its own transformation.
As Pangu sunk his teeth into the apple, the exciting sensations he experienced and the sweetness of the apple that he had longed for did not disappoint him at all. Finally, his desires were satisfied! At that very instant, the sky felt very heavy and the ground started moving upwards, causing acute pains to his legs. Oh no! Pangu thought. I have become weaker after eating the apple!
Regret was of no use as Pangu started to be unable to withstand the strong two forces compressing him. The ground caused him to fall on his knees while the sky fell onto his shoulders. The end is nearing, the serpent thought, and death and destruction will finally prevail!
But Pangu was the most powerful being in the world after all. How could a bite of the apple take him down? Pangu remained in his kneeling position, resolved to never again be distracted by the serpent. Sky and earth stopped moving towards each other once again and everything became peaceful again.
A new day had begun and the serpent had not given up. Bringing a new apple to the giant, it hissed:
“Hey Pangu!”
Like the previous day, there was no response.
“Would you like an apple today?”
“No!”
“But, don’t you remember how juicy it is? How tender its flesh is? Don’t you like the feeling of its crunch?” The serpent had cleverly deduced how the apple attracted Pangu without even tasting it itself, and was now using detailed reminders of the apple’s taste to lure Pangu into biting it again.
“Yes, I do like how it tastes…” Pangu was hesitant. He remembered the terrible consequences of eating the apple, but doing so was so tempting and hard to resist.
“Then why don’t you eat it again today? I’m sure you wouldn’t regret it!” The serpent was increasing its size so rapidly this time.
“No, I can’t.”
“Just one last time? Why don’t you just enjoy this apple for the last time and you can continue with your work? It must be so tiring to do what you do, so why not seek some enjoyment while doing so?”
Pangu kept silent. The serpent knew that it had almost won him over. It slithered closer.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the sky, followed by the sound of explosion. It was a huge lightning bolt, and since Pangu was the closest to the sky, it was naturally directed towards him. Pangu experienced excruciating pain as an excessive amount of charge entered his body through his palms. These electric charges traveled violently around Pangu’s nervous system as if they were bees who had just lost their beehive, before finally settling down in Pangu’s brain.
Perhaps it was due to the presence of charges in his brain, because something clicked in Pangu’s mind after he had recovered from his shock. He was no longer the primitive and foolish giant of the past.
This is a vicious cycle! This is a vicious cycle of fleeting enjoyment and then suffering!
The wise Pangu now understood everything. The reason why he was bestowed with such divine powers was purely because he was destined to save all living beings from suffering and to enable them to continue living happily. How could he forsake this mission just for his personal, selfish desires? How foolish had he been, to have succumbed to his inner weaknesses time and time again!
Pangu looked at the apple.
Yet…yet…
Pangu’s newly gained wisdom did not lessen his great desire for the apple.
Pangu then looked at the serpent. Too his horror, the serpent had increased its size so much that it could reach Pangu’s mouth in a matter of seconds. And so, it did.
“Here, I can feed you again!” The serpent said gently, and Pangu could see that the size of its body increased exponentially with every blink. Pangu pressed his lips so tightly against each other that blood can be seen trickling down from the corner of his mouth.
“Alright, I won’t force you to eat it anymore. Why don’t you describe to me how the apple tastes like instead?” The cunning serpent planned to force the apple into Pangu’s mouth once he opened his mouth to respond. Even him responding, “Well, why don’t you try it yourself?” would do the trick. Still, Pangu remained still and silent.
The wise Pangu had started to gain awareness about the serpent’s motives. He realized that the serpent was evil, had ill intentions and was trying its best to destroy him. It became clear that the serpent was his enemy all along.
However, it was too late. The serpent had now become so huge that it was almost the size of Pangu. The serpent had also started to realise that its tricks were not working and that it could start using sheer force to defeat Pangu. Filled with menace, viciousness and anger, the serpent wrapped itself around Pangu’s ribs. It was no longer the nice and caring serpent it had appeared to be.
As the serpent started to clench its muscles, Pangu clenched his teeth. Breathing became harder and harder with every passing second. Pangu could feel his ribs starting to crack, his heart and lungs squeezed and his intestines twisted. No words can describe the amount of pain and suffering Pangu was going through at that instant. Is this the end? Is relenting to the serpent the only way to survive?
Pangu looked at the serpent. Oh, were its eyes full of hatred. Oh, were its hisses full of anger. However, Pangu realized something else about the serpent. It was a detail that had occurred to him many times in the past, but came and went like a passing-by cloud – the serpent’s ever-changing size! The thought of it struck Pangu like lightning. How can I make the serpent revert to its original length of mere inches?
It all starts with me!
The serpent will only become bigger when my heart is filled with darkness, when I am governed by my desires, when I start deluding myself and making excuses for my own weaknesses.
I am in control!
At that instant, Pangu realized that the only way to rescue himself from his miserable condition was to undergo his inner transformation. He started to gain courage to fight the serpent, the will to sacrifice himself for the greater good, and the mental strength to continue persevering. Before Pangu knew it, he was able to breathe normally again. Pangu looked down, looking for the serpent, but it was too small to be found.
That was not the last time Pangu would see the serpent. Every day, it will emerge out of the small and unnoticeable holes and crevasses of the dark cave. Pangu will have to battle the serpent every day, for another 18000 years.
Will he remain undefeated?
Only time will tell.
