Yu Lai 

Picture Book

Story
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Yu Lai, living beside a beautiful river. Yu Lai was smart, good at fishing, and swimming. Sometimes, Yu Lai would carry the big fish, swimming across the river to the village in exchange for other daily necessities. One day, Yu Lai saw a massive fish in the river! She wanted to catch the fish so bad. However, Yu Lai had nothing to deal with it. She spent a lot of time considering how to catch the fish. In the end, Yu Lai came up with an idea to capture the big fish. She built a lab beside her house and started to study every day after work. Yu Lai made many, many, many robots. She and the robots worked together to pile up the rocks and wood. They successfully built a dam. Without the water, the big fish couldn’t swim anymore. Yu Lai was so happy. But suddenly, she noticed that there were much little fish that couldn’t swim, either. It’s raining! The dam was going down! A heap of the water would spill out and wash everything away. The older villagers came! They lifted the house, picked Yi Lai up, and escaped.

The dam fell. The river roared, washing the lab and all the robots away. On the hill, villagers carried Yu Lai’s house. The big fish was swimming to freedom. Yu Lai was saying goodbye to the big fish with an apology.

在一條清澈的河邊，住了一位名字叫做于來的小女孩。于來聰明又熱愛游泳，擅長撒網捕魚，自由地過著每一天。有時候，于來會扛著補來的大魚，游到對岸，到村子裡換取其他生活用品。有一天，于來在水中看到了超乎想像、異常巨大的一條魚。于來迫切地想要抓到這隻大魚，但她對如此具大的魚完全束手無策。在一番思考過後，他想出了一個方法。于來在原本的家旁邊搭建了一間實驗室。他開始在每天工作後勤奮地念書。于來製造了很多很多的機器人。于來與機器人們一起堆砌石塊與木頭，成功的築起了一座水壩。河裡的大魚沒有水，就沒有地方可以游泳了。于來好開心好開心。但她發現好多的小魚，也沒有地方可以游泳了。下雨了，水壩要倒了。大水會打所有的東西都沖走。年長的村人們來了，他們將于來原本的房子高高抬起，抱著于來逃跑。

水壩倒了，河川發出巨大的怒吼，沖走了于來的實驗室，也把機器人一起帶走了。于來的房子。于來帶著滿滿的歉意，跟重新游向自由的魚王做最後的告別。

Story | Tong Chiao Young
Illustration | Taylor Su