Mahjong Anyone?
Online Source: Perfect Paradise
The Game, the gods, and the stories...
The sound of Mahjong pieces crashing against each other filled the heavens. On earth, this simple game would be a cause for amusement and entertainment. Things change a bit when you pass mortality and become a god. You look better, you dress better, you carry amazingly huge weapons around for no apparent reason and no one asks why, and the games of Mahjong become epic battles of style, wit, and story. The events of the game would inevitably lead to someone telling a story, and this game was no different as the gods sat down to play.
There was Guan Yu, god of war. His red face was always an outward sign of his inward emotions. He was elegantly dressed in battle gear, and carried with him - as he did everywhere - his weapon.
There was Wen Chang, god of literature. He sat in his scholarly clothes, and - as he always did - carried a book with him which he was constantly seen reading.
There was Guan Yin, goddess of mercy. She was dressed in plain yet beautiful clothes, and sat composed and elegant - as she always did.
Lastly, there Yu Huang, god of order. He was dressed like a king, and acted as such.
Each had their hands in the middle of the table, shuffling the Mahjong pieces around in preparation for their first game.
And thus, our scene is laid. Or rather, was laid. One Mahjong piece that was lying on the corner of the table was knocked over the side by Guan Yu - god of war - and was sent hurtling down to earth. The piece hit a mountain, which caused the mountain to erupt into a volcano. The piece then rolled down the mountain causing a huge earthquake, and finally landed in a lake which then flooded the entire valley.
As Guan Yu reached down and picked up the Mahjong piece, the gods looked down at the devastation that the Mahjong piece – or rather Guan Yu’s elbow, which had hit the piece – had caused on earth below. They watched as people scrambled about in a panic and disarray, like little ants that just had a marble come crashing down on their anthill.
Wen Chang - god of literature - chuckled. “Well, if you couldn’t send people running and screaming in fear while you were alive and commanded an army, you sure can now.” The other gods at the table laughed, but Guan Yu did not look amused.
“I’m surprised you had your nose out of a book long enough to notice,” Guan Yu retorted. The other gods looked at Wen Chang to see if he would continue with the line of insults. He merely smiled, pulled his book from the table, opened it up and began reading. “Not surprising,” Guan Yu said, throwing the mahjong piece back on the table and lining the other pieces up to begin the game.
“You two really should stop fighting,” Guan Yin - goddess of mercy - said, breaking the silence.
“Oh, don’t you start bringing your feminine sentiments into the game!” Guan Yu started to yell.
“Leave the woman alone, Guan Yu,” Yu Huang - god of order - said in a commanding voice. Guan Yu just stared Yu Huang but didn’t say a word. He reached over, grabbed one of the game sticks and slammed it down in front of Yu Huang.
“Let us begin,” he said to Yu Huang, and then proceeded to smack the other two game sticks in front of the other two gods, making sure he was giving each a scowl as he did so.
“Well, it's about time we should start,” Wen Chang said, putting his book back down on the table. The game then started. As Wen Chang laid down his first piece, he glanced over the side of the table at the chaos that was still ensuing below. “You know,” he began saying to no one in particular, “I should send one of my posterity down to that mess that Guan Yu made to go and clean things up.” He glanced over at Guan Yu to see the scowl that he was expecting and saw it. He then looked down again. “It would take someone wise and learned to fix all that up.”
“None of your posterity needs to go down and make things worse,” Guan Yu said. “Those people needed that to bring strength out from inside them to overcome all that and build something better, something worthy of achievement. One of my posterity would be best for those people,” Guan Yu continued with a growing air of confidence about him, “someone to whip those people into shape!”
“No amount of whipping could fix that mess,” Yu Huang said. “What they need is my posterity to go down and bring order to the situation. People need to be given tasks to rebuild, to repair, and mend your mess", he said looking at Guan Yu, “to once again have order.”
“All this bickering,” Guan Yin broke in, “and we have only begun playing.” She reached out and set one of her pieces down. The others did likewise. “What am I to do with you boys?” She looked around the table as she said this, making sure to look each one of them in the eyes. “You all know that compassion will bring harmony back to those people. The injured need to be cared for, the scared need to be comforted, and they all need to help each other. Everyone needs to think about his neighbor rather than himself, and in that they will all be able to pull together and accomplish much in rebuilding and restoring harmony.”
There was then silence at the table, all except for the sound of mahjong pieces being picked up and laid down. As the game unfolded, Guan Yu kept looking over the side at the scene below. “Weak mortal fools,” he said under his breath.
“Do you know why knowledge and wisdom would best serve those people?” Wen Chang said.
“I don't care!” Guan Yu bellowed.
Wen Chang paid no attention to the objection. “It has helped before, and it could help again. I had posterity who used his knowledge and wisdom to learn a very important lesson.”
“Oh good, the stories,” Guan Yin said. Guan Yu rolled his eyes.
“Now let me tell you about the professor…”