The two mountains Taihang and Wangwu were seven hundred li around and ten thousand fathoms high, lying originally south of Jizhou and north of Heyang. The Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain, nearly ninety years old, lived facing the mountains. Vexed by the way they blocked his comings and goings, he gathered his household and proposed, 'Let you and I strain every effort to level these heights, so that there may be a road straight through to the south of Yu, reaching the south bank of the Han. Can we do it?' They all agreed. His wife raised a doubt: 'With your strength you could not even level the little hill of Kuifu. What can you do with Taihang and Wangwu? And where will you put the earth and stones?' They said, 'We will cast them onto the edge of the Bohai Sea, north of Yintu.' So he led his sons and grandsons, three men who could carry loads, breaking rocks and digging earth, and hauling it in baskets to the edge of the Bohai Sea. The Wise Old Man of the River Bend laughed and stopped him, saying, 'How foolish you are! With the strength of your remaining years you could not destroy a single blade of grass on the mountain. What can you do with the earth and stones?' The Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain heaved a long sigh and said, 'Your mind is so stubborn it cannot be opened; you are not even the equal of a widow or a weak child. Though I shall die, my sons will remain. My sons will beget grandsons, and the grandsons will beget sons again; the sons will have sons, and those sons will have grandsons. Sons and grandsons without end, while the mountains grow no higher. Why should we worry that they will not be levelled?' The Wise Old Man of the River Bend had nothing to reply. The Emperor of Heaven was moved by his sincerity and commanded the two sons of Kua'e to carry the mountains away, setting one to the east of Shuo and one to the south of Yong. From then on, from the south of Ji to the south bank of the Han, there was no high ground to block the way.