Dancing in the Rain

Two of the handicapped dancers performed The Butterfly Lovers with such grace and beauty.

If it does not ring a bell... The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend about the tragic romance of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, set in the Eastern Jin dynasty. Zhu disguises herself as a man so that she could study at the school, where she meets Liang. And, you guessed right, they fall in love with each other. Liang later discovers that Zhu was a woman, and was crushed when he found out that she was already betrothed to someone else. Liang later dies. On Zhu's wedding day, strong gushes of wind and storm prevented her from walking past Liang's grave. Liang's grave miraculously cracks open, Zhu jumps in, dies, and the duo transforms into a pair of butterflies that always flew around each other.

I have never seen butterflies fly around in the rain. Not that we get to see butterflies often in the first place, even with all the trees and flowers in this green city. I suppose when Liang and Zhu morphed into butterflies, the stormy skies would have suddenly changed its mood and brightened up with a great big rainbow. Maybe with fireworks in the distant sky. (OK I guess I am not cut out to be a movie director. I can hear you screaming stop! argh!)

But I did wonder whether butterflies could fly around in the rain. I mean, could their wings take the beating from the raindrops?

Of course, like any other netizen, I googled for the answer. So apparently butterflies do not fly in the rain. In the wild, they would hold onto trees or bushes just in case they get hit by the rain and get stuck to the ground.

I suppose the weight of the water would weigh them down. I mean, imagine someone up there constantly emptying multiple buckets of water onto your head while you are trying to run away. And the howling winds are so strong that you are constantly swung off your intended path.

Sometimes the butterflies don't run, er fly, fast enough to avoid the rain, and if they do get wet, they simply have to hide somewhere dry and wait until the water evaporates off.

I remember getting caught in the rain when I was a kid, as we came home from the market. Well... actually, Dad, bro and I went out to drench ourselves in the rain. Mom thought we were nuts because we would get sick -- actually I think bro or I did :) But dancing in the rain remains one of the most beautiful memories of my childhood. So thank you, Dad.

Perhaps, just perhaps, some butterflies might like dancing in the rain too.