In the West, sailors once told of the albatross — a bird so large it could follow ships for days, its wings stretched wider than a man's dream. They believed that to kill such a creature would bring storms and ruin.
In the East, there is a far older story — not of a bird that follows ships, but of one that outflies the very horizon.
It begins in the depths of the Northern Sea, where light never reaches and the water presses like stone.There lived a fish called Kun, so vast that no one knew its size. Its shadow could cover entire islands; its breath stirred tides like wind. For ages it drifted in silence, unseen by gods or mortals.
One day, the Kun stirred.The sea above began to whirl, and waves rose higher than mountains. The creature's body changed — its fins unfurled into wings, its scales shimmered into feathers. With a roar that shook the ocean floor, the Kun rose into the sky and became the Peng, a bird whose wings spanned thousands of miles.
The Peng flew upward through clouds and storms, past thunder and wind, until even the mountains below looked like dust.It rose higher still, seeking a place where the air no longer moved and the stars hung motionless.
The creatures of the world looked up in astonishment.The cicada laughed and said, "I fly from tree to tree — why reach higher?"The turtle scoffed, "I cross the pond; why chase the sun?"But the Peng did not answer. It flew on, because something within it refused to remain small.
When it reached the edge of the heavens, the Peng looked down and saw that the seas and mountains were no more than colors on the surface of a shell. It realized that everything it had known — every current, every shadow — had been part of something much larger.
Then, as all things do, the Peng began to descend.Some say it returned to the sea and became the Kun once more. Others say it never came down at all, that it keeps flying where the sky meets the stars.
The philosophers later argued about what the story meant. Some said it was about ambition, others about perspective. But the story itself offers no explanation. It is simply the tale of a creature that changed, and in changing, discovered how small the world could be.
No one has seen the Peng since. Yet when the sky darkens after a storm and a shadow moves across the clouds, the old fishermen still pause and listen.They say it is the sound of wings passing between worlds — a reminder that even the deepest sea can dream of flight.