Legend of Fire Island
Fire Island is in the East China Sea east of Taiwan Island, dozens of miles from Taitung. There is a legend about the origin of Fire Island:
Under the Ali Mountain lived Ali and Ali's wife. They had a son named Agou. The husband and wife are so desperate for their son's baby that they are afraid to melt in their mouth and fall away in their hands. The weather is cold, with cotton wrapped like dumplings; When the weather was hot, the couple took turns playing fan for him until dawn. My son grew up and could talk and walk. The couple love each other more, "good boy, good boy". What the son wants to eat, what to play, do everything possible to find him to eat, give him to play, always afraid of his son toot toot mouth.
One night after dinner, the couple took their son for a walk outside the door. The moon came out over the high mountain on the opposite side. The son saw it, then pointed to the moon and said: "Dad, I want to play the moon, you pick it off the top of the mountain for me to play." Now my father did not know what to do. He pleaded, "How can you climb a mountain on a cliff and reach for the moon?" The son did not listen to this. He shook himself and rolled to the ground crying. In the past, when the son rolled, the parents had to do everything possible to meet his requirements, but now the request to pick the moon has stumped his father. Mother hurriedly pulled up her son, patted off the mud for him, hugged her son and said: "Darling, don't roll don't cry, Dad went up the mountain to pick the moon for you." She turned her head and scolded Ali fiercely: "You, what do you do, go up the mountain to pick the moon for Agou to play with!"
Ali had no choice but to climb up the mountain, hard climbing rattan treading stone climbing ah climbing ah, crawling sweat, crawling hands and feet trembling. The son of the mountain is constantly urging: "Quick, quick, quick pick the moon for me to play!" Ali climbed to the steep cliff, stepped on a pine stone, and rolled down the foot of the mountain, with his head open, his hands and feet broken, and his flesh and blood blurred like a pile of rotten pumpkins.
Ali Sister-in-law held a Gou to see, her heart like a knife so painful, tears flutter down. The son Agou also began to cry, but he was not crying for his father's death, but for his father's failure to pick the moon down: "Ho, ho, moon, ho, dad did not pick the moon for me, lying here to sleep, Ho..." Mother also followed his son's heart, pointing to Ali cursed: "You don't pick the moon down to a Gou play, you deserve to die!"
After burying Ali, Ali's wife still doted on her son and indulged her son. The son is getting bigger and bolder. Ali's wife is also old and is called Aunt Ali. Her son went on to steal cattle and grain, and also gathered a gang of bad people to kidnap, kill and set fire to. The people suffered deeply, so they organized to fight the bad guys of Agou.
A ditch led a team of bad guys across the sea to occupy the south Liao Island, the island of all the people killed. He often traveled by boat to Taitung, Ganli, and Dulan to kidnap people, plunder property, and set fire to villages, making people angry. Everyone came to blame Aunt Ali: "You spoil the children, indulge the children, and now it has caused our common people's families to break down and die, don't you feel sad?" You are guilty!" Later, the team of villains actually robbed Aunt Ali's house, robbed her chickens, pigs and grain, and injured Aunt Ali. At this time, Aunt Ali came to her senses.
So, she and the people prayed to heaven, asking Mazu to get rid of this disaster. A tall Turkey flew down from the sky, with long feet and red flesh hanging down its mouth, like a fire. It came to Aunt Ali's house and said, "Aunt Ali, Mazuba has sent me down to burn the bad people of Nanliao Island with fireballs, do you agree? There's your son Agou in there." Aunt Ali said with hatred: "Agou is not my son, burn it, burn it, burn up those bad guys!"
The Turkey stood on the rocky cliff of the coast of Taitung, flapping its wings, making a long cry with its head, opening its mouth and clattering, spitting out large red flames, which flew to Nanliao Island in succession, and the fire burned up on Nanliao Island, and the ash smoke soared and the flames soared into the sky.
Aunt Ali and the people shouted together, "Burn, burn, burn those wicked people!" The fireball from the Turkey's mouth kept spewing out, burning, burning, and all the bad guys on Nanliao Island were burnt to a cinder, and even the stones were burnt red. Aunt Ali did not drop a tear, but kept Shouting: "Burn, burn, burn well!" Well burned!"
Later, people called Nanliao Island Fire Island, only one town is still called Nanliao town.