A young scholar named Lin was traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations when a storm forced him to shelter in a cave. Inside, he found not darkness but a dragon, its scales shimmering like a thousand emeralds.

The dragon, ancient and wise, offered Lin a bargain: the answers to the examinations in exchange for one year of the scholar's memory. Lin, desperate to pass, agreed.

Lin aced the examinations and rose to the rank of Hanlin academician. But as the year passed, he forgot his mother's face, his village, and eventually, even the dragon who had helped him.

Kai Lung's telling of this tale ends with a warning: 'The dragon did not steal his memory — Lin traded it willingly. The greatest treasures are the ones we already possess.'