The Three Villains

Tom was a well-built youth. Strong and powerful, he had all the makings of a hero. Unfortunately, he put his talents to bad use - spending all his time loitering in the village, picking fights and beating up innocent people. Nobody liked him.

One day, as usual, Tom was wondering the streets doing nothing in particular, when he saw a group of people talking. Judging by the expressions on their faces, the discussion was a serious one. Tom quickly ran over ot join them, overhearing some of their last words, "... the three villains...Oh...how terrifying.." His curiousity aroused, Tom demanded, "What three villains? Tell me now!"

The people turned around. Realizing it was Tom, they quickly left, leaving behind a blind man who was pushed onto the ground amidst the confusion. Tom helped the man to his feet and asked, "What were you talking about just now?"

The blind man did not realize it was Tom whom he was talking to, so he replied, "You must be a stranger here. Don't you know we have three villains in our village?"

"No, I don't. What are they?"

"First, there is the big wild tiger of the South mountains. He devours everybody who passes by the area ..." Without waiting for the old man to finish, Tom said," Let me go and get rid of it!", and was off. He wanted recognition, so he went home, got his bow and arrows, and headed for the mountains. Reaching the area, Tom climbed up a tree and watched for the tigher. Before long, the tiger jumped out from behind the bush, letting out a great howl. It ran as fast as lightning, but Tom was even quicker. He pulled his bow and shot an arrow right into the eye of the tiger, and added another arrow into its back. Tom then jumped down from the tree and finally overpowered the tiger, beating it to death.

Having disposed of the tiger, Tom returned to the blind man, anxious to find out who the second villain was. "The second villain is the monstrous dragon underneath the Long Bridge", continued the man. "It capsizes a lot of boats, drowning many fisherman." Again, Tom responded to the challenge. He went to the bridge to look for the dragon. The water become turbulent, and the dragon appeared. Tom jumped into the water and fought with the dragon, stabbing it repeatedly with a sword. It was a hard fight, seeming to last forever, but the dragon was finally decapitated, leaving the water red with blood.

Tom went back to the blind man again, bragging about his heroic deeds. "Well, this last villain is the worst of all", said the man. "There is a man in our village called Tom. He bullies everyone here, and is everyone's enemy. Mister, you better stay away from him!"

Hearing the old man's comments, Tom's enthusiasm disappeared. His heart sank, and he walked home quietly. "So, I am the biggest villain, and I don't even know it myself. How can I be so blind?" He said to himself. "Maybe I should leave and start over fresh somewhere else, where no one recognizes me." But on second thought, he changed his mind. "There is no point regretting about the past. Why don't I do something good and redeem myself instead?"

Since then, Tom really turned over a new leaf. He never resorted to violence anymore. Instead, he put his strength an abilities to good use, helping out others in the village.

Within a year, Tom gained a new reputation - the hero who defeated the three villains!

- S.Y. Fan
- H.T. Leung