The Lone Dragon | Ep. 237

Did you know that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon?

In the Chinese calendar, each year is linked with one of twelve animals. The dragon is considered a powerful symbol of prosperity and good fortune. In today’s episode, we’ll hear one Chinese legend about why!

Our story is called “The Lone Dragon.” Versions of this tale come from China, the largest of all countries in Asia.

Voices in this episode include Feodor Chin, Paul Dateh, Kym Miller, and Ellen Wong. Ellen Wong stars in the movie “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” and the animated Netflix series “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.” You grown-ups can also see Ellen in “The Carrie Diaries” on the CW, and the Netflix series “GLOW.” In April 2024, watch for Ellen in the newest season of the MGM+ sci-fi series, “Beacon 23.”

This episode was adapted for Circle Round by Rebecca Sheir. It was edited by Sofie Kodner. Original music and sound design is by Eric Shimelonis. Our artist is Sabina Hahn.

GROWN-UPS! PRINT THIS so everyone can color while listening. We’re also keeping an album so please share your picture on Facebook and Instagram, and tag it with #CircleRoundPodcast. To access all the coloring pages for past episodes click HERE. Our resident artist is Sabina Hahn and you can learn more about her HERE.

Now it’s your turn!

One traditional way to celebrate the Lunar New Year is a “reunion dinner,” where families gather to celebrate their hopes for the new year.

What are some hopes you have for the year ahead? Is there a skill you want to learn or improve? A cool project you hope to complete? Maybe you hope to keep your room clean, or get along better with a sibling!

Draw a picture of your hope for the year ahead, then share it with someone you love and ask them to tell you about their hopes!

We’d love to see your artwork. Grown-ups, snap a photo of your kiddo and their drawing and email it to circleround@wbur.org, or reply to this message. We may feature you in a future edition of “The Lion’s Roar,” the monthly newsletter for members of the Circle Round Club. Learn more about this exciting opportunity for Circle Round super fans here!

Musical Spotlight: Pipa

The pear-shaped, four-stringed wooden lute known as the pipa is one of the oldest and most popular Chinese musical instruments, potentially dating back 2,000 years!

The pipa belongs to the plucked category of instruments, and can be played in the horizontal or vertical position. The pipa’s four strings run from a fastener on its belly to the conical tuning pegs on the sides of the neck. Originally, the strings were made of silk; today they’re usually made of nylon-wrapped steel. Silk strings were played with bare fingers or a plectrum: a thin, flat piece of slightly flexible material you hold with or wear on your fingers. Steel strings, however, are usually played with finger picks: short plectrums you attach to your fingers.

Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the pipa – including the biwa (Japan), đàn tỳ bà (Vietnam), and bipa (Korea).

You can hear Eric Shimelonis playing the pipa in several other Circle Round episodes, including “The Missing Mountainside,” “Long Hair and the Waterfall” and “The Magic Cloth”!

Story Transcript:

NARRATOR: Long, long ago, in a wide, wide valley, there lay a village. The villagers were farmers who worked hard planting and harvesting wheat, millet, and soybeans.

Towering above the village was a mountain. And at the top of that mountain there lived…

DRAGON: (bellows/roars)

NARRATOR: … a dragon! 

DRAGON: (bellows/roars)

NARRATOR: The mountain was so high that the villagers never saw the dragon – though they often heard him growl and roar down the steep cliffs and across the craggy ridges. Sometimes, they even heard him speak.

DRAGON: I’m one who frightens! / I’m one who's feared! / I live alone! / Who dares to come near? … 

NARRATOR: The villagers were so frightened of the dragon that they issued urgent warnings to their children.

VILLAGER 1: You must never go near the dragon!

VILLAGER 2: You mustn't even go up the mountain!

VILLAGER 3: Or anywhere NEAR it!

VILLAGER 1: That beast will swallow you in one bite!

VILLAGER 2: He’ll roast you to a crunchy crisp!

VILLAGER 3: We must leave that monster ALONE!

NARRATOR: One year, a drought fell upon the land. The lack of rain left the villagers’ fields parched and cracked. And as the desperate people watched their wheat, millet, and soybeans shrivel and wilt, a nagging idea wormed its way into their heads.

VILLAGER 1: This drought! It must be THE DRAGON’S fault!

VILLAGER 2: Yes! The DRAGON!

VILLAGER 3: That evil beast put a curse on our village!

VILLAGER 1: Now we REALLY must stay away from him.

VILLAGER 2: Far, FAR away!

VILLAGER 3: Before he brings us even more misery and woe!

NARRATOR: As all of this was going on, it just so happens that one of the villagers had a birthday coming up. Her name was Lin. And even though everyone in the village had been pinching their pennies since the drought began, Lin’s parents wanted to throw her a party.

MOTHER: We know times are hard, Lin. But this village could use a celebration – and a good-natured, kind-hearted girl like you deserves a party!

FATHER: Your mother’s right, Lin! So we’re going to scrape together what we have and throw you the best birthday bash ever!

LIN: Thank you so much, Mother and Father! This is so generous of you! I can’t wait to celebrate with all of my family… and my neighbors… and the DRAGON!

NARRATOR: Lin’s parents exchanged a look.

MOTHER: Um, Lin. Did you just say…

FATHER: …the DRAGON!??

LIN: I did! (beat) Look. I know you grown-ups have been telling us kids to stay away from the dragon. But haven’t you been listening to him?

MOTHER: It’s hard NOT to, Lin!

FATHER: His voice is like thunder!

LIN: But have you been listening to what he’s been SAYING? (beat) (quoting the Dragon) “I’m one who frightens! / I’m one who's feared! / I live alone! / Who dares to come near???” (beat) Can’t you see? The dragon… is LONELY!

MOTHER: / FATHER: LONELY?!??

LIN: Yes! He says so himself! (beat) He knows he frightens us. He knows we fear him. And that’s why he’s alone. Because none of us ‘dare come near’! (beat) So I’m inviting him to my party, so that he feels happy and wanted, and will stop roaring at our village!

NARRATOR: Lin spun on her heel and raced out the door, her swift, fleet feet carrying her straight toward the mountain.

MOTHER: (calling out the door) Lin! Wait!

FATHER: (calling out the door) Come back!

MOTHER: (calling out the door) The dragon will eat you!

FATHER: (calling out the door) If he doesn’t roast you first!

NARRATOR: But Lin paid her parents no mind. She just picked up speed. And when she reached the bottom of the mountain, she discovered that the trail upward was tangled with overgrown tree roots and scattered with jagged rocks.

LIN: The villagers have kept away from the mountain for so long that this trail hasn’t been used in AGES! But I must follow it. I must!

NARRATOR: Lin took a deep breath, then began climbing up the path. She stumbled over roots…

LIN: (ad-lib efforting sounds)

NARRATOR: …she tripped over rocks…

LIN: (ad-lib efforting sounds)

NARRATOR: …and when she was about a third of the way to the top…

DRAGON: [SOT: reverb] (ROAR!)

NARRATOR: …she heard the dragon’s thunderous voice rumbling from above.

DRAGON: I’m one who frightens! / I’m one who's feared! / I live alone! / Who dares to come near?

NARRATOR: Suddenly, Lin felt a burst of heat…

[SOT: ball of flames]

NARRATOR: …and when she looked up, a bright orange ball of flames was hurtling down the mountainside, and speeding her way!

LIN: Yikes! The dragon is breathing fire!

NARRATOR: She dove into a scraggly bush – just in time for the fireball to go streaking past. Without wasting a minute, Lin scrambled out of the thicket and went tearing back down the mountainside, the dragon’s roars echoing in her ears all the while.

DRAGON: (ROAR)

NARRATOR: Back at the bottom, Lin collapsed on the ground and pulled her wobbly knees to her chest.

LIN: Maybe my parents are right. Maybe the dragon really DOES want to be alone. I mean, those roars sound so angry! So furious! So – (stops suddenly)

NARRATOR: Lin stopped short. Because all of a sudden, the dragon was no longer roaring.

Instead, he was doing something else entirely.

Something Lin never expected – not in a million years!

[theme music in]

NARRATOR: What do you think Lin is hearing?

We’ll find out what it is, after a quick break.

[theme music out]

[BREAK]

[theme music in]

NARRATOR: I’m Rebecca Sheir. Welcome back to Circle Round. Today our story is called “The Lone Dragon.”

[theme music out]

NARRATOR: Before the break, a kind-hearted young woman named Lin was having a birthday party, and wished to invite a dragon – the same dragon whom her fellow villagers blamed for the drought that was destroying their crops.

The dragon lived high atop a mountain. Lin tried climbing to the summit, but halfway up she was nearly burned by the dragon's fiery breath. So she scurried back down – only to suddenly hear a most unexpected sound.

DRAGON: (crying)

LIN: Wait a minute. Is the dragon… CRYING????

NARRATOR: Lin put a hand to her ear. Indeed! The dragon’s roars had turned… into sobs! Through his tears, he suddenly began to speak, in the saddest voice Lin had ever heard.

DRAGON: (very sadly, crying) I always frighten! / I’m always feared! / Forever alone! / No one dares to come near!

NARRATOR: Lin sat stock still as she took in the dragon’s words.

LIN: (putting it all together) “Forever alone… No one dares to come near…” (a-ha moment) (GASP!) I was right! I was RIGHT!

NARRATOR: Lin smiled and jumped to her feet. She threw back her shoulders, stuck out her chin, and with more determination than ever, she clambered her way back up the mountain.

And this time, she made it all the way to the top.

When she reached the summit…

DRAGON: (continued crying)

NARRATOR: …there was the dragon. He was lying on his belly, and his bearded face hung low as his sleek, scaly body shuddered with sobs. Lin noticed that the plump tears pouring from his eyes were pooling into a glittering puddle beneath him. She took a breath, then called out in a gentle voice.

LIN: (gently) Dragon? May I speak with you?

NARRATOR: The dragon froze. Then he jerked up his horned head and sprang to his clawed feet. When his bulging eyes fell on Lin, he bared his pointy teeth with a growl.

DRAGON: (growl) “Speak with me”?!?? May you “speak with me”? No! You may NOT “speak with me”!? Haven’t you heard??? I’m one who frightens! / I’m one who's feared! / I live alone! / Who dares to come near!

LIN: I have heard you say that. Many times. But just now, I heard you say something else. About being “forever alone”...? Because “no one dares to come near”...?

NARRATOR: The dragon blinked his eyes. They were still wet with tears.

DRAGON: You – you heard me say that?

LIN: I did! But it’s not true anymore. Because I’VE dared to come near.

DRAGON: But - but WHY?!? Don’t you know that your fellow villagers DESPISE me? They warn their children about me! They blame me for their misfortune – like this dreadful drought! It had nothing to do with me! I swear!

LIN: I know how the villagers can be. But I also know they’re wrong: wrong about you, and wrong about this drought. And I want to make things right. (beat) Please come to my birthday party. Be my special guest.

NARRATOR: The dragon fell silent. His bulging eyes bulged even more. Then they softened.

DRAGON: (gentler) What’s your name, young lady?

LIN: Lin…

DRAGON: Lin! (beat) No one has ever invited me to a party before. No one has even SPOKEN to me before! They’ve spoken ABOUT me, sure – telling all sorts of tall, scary tales – but never TO me. Until now. Until YOU. And for that, I am so grateful!

NARRATOR: A tear trickled down the dragon’s whiskered cheek. Then another. And another.

DRAGON: (ad-lib crying tears of joy)

NARRATOR: Before long he was full-out sobbing again – only this time, he was sobbing with joy! His eyes overflowed with gushing, grateful tears until Lin was up to her knees in shimmering, crystal-clear water.

DRAGON: (through his tears) I would be honored to attend your party, Lin! But first, there’s something I’d like to do. Hop on!

NARRATOR: The dragon knelt down, and Lin climbed on to his broad back. Next thing she knew, the two of them were lifting off the ground! As the dragon’s enormous body took to the air, the deep pond of tears splashed and sprayed every which way… sending cool, refreshing water all the way down the mountain and into the village-–  like a shower of rain!

The alarmed villagers burst out of their houses. When they saw the dragon, they gasped. But when they saw Lin riding on his back… and the drops of rain that seemed to be falling from the sky… they grinned.

VILLAGER 1: The dragon has brought us rain!

VILLAGER 2: Cool, life-giving rain!

VILLAGER 3: We will never speak ill of him again!

NARRATOR: And they kept true to their word.

The villagers had a wonderful time celebrating with the dragon when he attended Lin’s birthday party as the guest of honor. They no longer feared him or distrusted him. Instead, they treated their new friend with respect and appreciation. And whenever their fields grew dry, they even did a special “dragon dance” to honor him, and humbly ask for more cool, life-giving rain.

Since then, dragon dances have made their way into festive occasions like Lunar New Year, where a long, flexible, dragon puppet swoops and soars down the street, with help from a team of nimble dancers.

The dance is meant to drive away evil spirits, welcome in prosperous times, and  express gratitude to the mighty dragon: this wise, powerful symbol of strength, fortune, and luck.