Once upon a time, a poor blind man had just one blessing, and this was his beautiful daughter. One day this blind old man fell into a waterhole. A voice close by spoke and said that if he promised 300 bushels of rice to the temple in the name of Buddha, he would be spared his life and also rewarded vision.

 

Certain it was Buddha, he readily made the promise, only to realize in terror, still blind that he was not able to fulfill the promise. In order to help her father fulfill the promise, the beautiful girl found the wealthiest merchant and offered herself to the Dragon king in exchange for 300 Bushels of rice. The merchant readily agreed as the Dragon King of the eastern sea had demanded a wife but the merchants had refused to sacrifice their daughters and it had caused the Dragon to be angry and send wild storms that destroyed their ships.

 

The Dragon was instantly captivated by the girl and he became a kind and loving husband. But the girl often dreamt of her father and her life back on land. The dragon King loved his wife and her unhappiness became his. He decided to let her go back home to see her father and he turned her into a lotus flower as a disguise. A fisherman stumbled upon this beautiful flower and felt that such beauty should only be fit for the Emperor.

 

The emperor loved the flower. One night the emperor could not sleep and he wandered toward his pond. There he saw the most beautiful girl that he immediately wanted to marry. The girl agreed on the condition that every blind man in the country had to be invited to the wedding. The emperor readily agreed. On their wedding day, she was finally reunited, with her father who had regained his sight, and for the first time, he saw his beloved daughter.