Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 - 2 | Page 214

The Rulers of the Sea - The Journey to India
Yew Chung International School (Primary), Hsu, Declan - 9
Prologue
A few hundred years ago, in the 1400s, there was a fleet of ships that went and gave away treasure. Emperor
Zhu Di ordered this to make peace, harmony and to also show the other countries how great China was.
But the weird thing was, he chose pirates. It would have been appalling for regular pirates! The emperors
must have been pleased to be given that loot.
Log of: The Great White
Day 1
Date:1/5/1405
Hello! The name’s Admiral Zheng He. This log is for my crew mates to record the journey. I've warned my
crew mates that this is no walk in the park, but they don't really care. They figured that if they wanted to
die, it would have been on an adventure. The Great White is going to set sail in a few days. Good luck on
this journey, crew mates. May the gods bless us.
Day 2
Date: 2/5/1405
My name is Bo, and I’ve been invited to go on the ship The Great White! The Admiral Zheng He said they
needed a person who was strong and burly like me. He said it was risky and it would be dangerous. It would
be my choice. I decided to take that risk. When I saw the magnificent ship, I couldn’t believe my eyes! It
was as large as a whale shark (although I don’t know what that is, everyone just keeps saying it is a
prodigious leviathan).
Day 3
Date : 3/5/1405
This is Zheng He here. We've just set sail and a pirate ship led a full-on assault on us. From what I've
learned at naval school, the first shot from cannons always falls short, so they came closer, shot all cannons
then fell back. Fortunately Bo and Jian threw planks of wood onto the hostile ship, bridging the gap, then
used their daggers and attacked the pirates.
Hui ignited the flint-tipped arrows and kept shooting until his quiver was empty. Unfortunately, the crow’s
nest, the mast and the sails were wrecked. It was a good thing that the pirate ship was full to the brim with
treasure. We've now stopped at a port in Hong Kong and the ship is being repaired. Now we can give many
people in different countries treasure.
Day 4
Date : 4/5/1405
My name is Hui. I'm the genius on board the ship. We are travelling at 62 knots. The ship should reach
India in a day. See? I'm a genius! A few hours ago, Chang was making fun of me when I was giving a
“lesson” about India, which is our first stop. When I was speaking, he pretended to be sitting on a desk and
said “Go on, go on, Professor Hui! I want to get an A+ on the test!” What an aggravating fool.
Day 5
Date :5/5/1405
Hi! My name’s Cheng! Although I’m still a kid, I am allowed to sail with them because I can learn more
overseas than in school. That Hui thinks he knows everything, but I bet he can’t compose a Japanese haiku
poem like me. I doubt that he even knows what a haiku is! Here’s how my haiku goes:
‘Pirates in China
They are the Ming Treasure Fleet
They give lots of gold.’
“Everyone brace! The ship is going to crash into those rocks over there!” I yelled. I was so absorbed in
writing my haiku that I didn’t notice those rocks! And I’m the lookout! Luckily, the Admiral turned the
ship before we hit the rocks.