Story of Sacred Turtle Rock and Sacred Turtle

The “Big Sacred Turtle Rock” is located at the cape southwest from Tam Kong Temple. Whenever the tide is low, the body of this Big Sacred Turtle facing the Temple would be exposed to the air.

　According to the folklore of Coloane Island, the Big Sacred Turtle used to be the Prime Minister of the Dragon Palace of the Southern Sea in ancient times. He was very discontented with the despotic and brutal rule of the Dragon King and resentful towards the corrupted and depraved administration of the imperial officials. Thus, he advocated for a reformation of the government. To his surprise, the Dragon King believed in the backbiting of the treacherous officials and accused him of breaking the precepts of patriotism and loyalty to the King.

　　By then, the sycophantic officials, like the soft-shell turtle and alligators, spared no efforts to convince the Dragon King that he should be the sovereign of all kings and reign over the aquatic tribes of the Four Seas. The Dragon King succumbed to their flattery and re-appointed the soft-shell turtle to be the Prime Minister while penalizing Big Sacred Turtle by imprisonment. After learning about his sentence, Big Sacred Turtle could not help but leave his beloved homeland grievously with his wife and two sons.

　　During his flee, the company of shrimp soldiers led by the crab general pursued the family relentlessly. Big Sacred Turtle’s wife was being captured and he fled with his sons to the coastal waters of Coloane Island whose tutelary gods did not approve to their trespassing into the island and they were not allowed to go ashore. But his sons managed to run away and headed towards the eastern direction amidst the chaos since they were not the target. In this way, Big Sacred Turtle lost touch with his children.

　　As Big Sacred Turtle could not get ashore or back off, he remained where he was as if he was “framed” in a photo. He was turned into a rock after a long lapse of time.

　　One of his sons ended up in the forest of rocks around the Lou Dou (Pandanus Austrosinensis) Deep Pond lying to the southwest of Cheoc Van Beach. He was turned into a stone over the years. The other son escaped to the southwestern shore of Hac Sa Beach where he was captured and killed by his chasers.

　　The wife of Big Sacred Turtle was seized by the Dragon King’s soldiers and taken back to his palace. She was forced by the King to declare her breakage of marriage with Big Sacred Turtle.

　　She was released from custody many years later. Without any hesitation, she ran away from the Dragon Palace together with the nanny of her sons and joined by her younger sister in the desperate search for her husband and children. Though knowing that the chance of finding her beloved ones was very slim, “Mother of the Sacred Turtle” still moved from place to place determinedly. By the time she arrived to the Golden Coast of Dragon Claw Cape (“Morro de Hác-Sá” in Portuguese), she was so much overcome by fatigue and disappointment that she let herself fall onto the ground and remained the way she was until her compunctious heart rested peacefully in a body turned to stone.

　　“Nanny of the Sacred Turtle” also passed out due to weariness and became a rock over time. It lies along the seacoast 30 meters east of Teng Hoi Hing (Sea-whispering Pavilion) with a “大”-shaped crack on its back, showing that she was still obsessed with the search for Big Sacred Turtle since “大” stands for “Big” in Chinese.

Succumbed to fatigue, “Aunt of the Sacred Turtle” rested her head on a piece of rock to recuperate from tiredness. Nevertheless, she fell into a deep sleep and has not yet woken up.