Can 布 be used as a verb on its own, i.e. not as part of a compound?

[miri83]

Yesterday I came across this children's book (雨神应龙) and there's this sentence which totally trips me up: 应龙擅长蓄水布雨。

 

The meaning is clear, but my dictionaries keep telling me that 布, when used as a verb (in the sense of to spread, distribute), is a bound form. 

 

I was able to find this here Chengyu: 行云布雨 - which made me think that 蓄水布雨 might be one, too. I couldn't find it in any of the dictionaries, though.

 

Any idea of what's going on here?

 

Thanks for your input.

 

 

[cncorrect]

Isn't '布' used as a verb on its own in '蓄水布雨'?

[honglam]

In Sino-tibetan linguistics there's a concept called 四字格"four-character expression". Most Chengyu(those with four characters) are naturally 四字格. Yet not all 四字格 are chengyu. Chinese may coin some four-character expressions(of course, there are some rules coining those expressions) to keep the sentence more rhythmic and a bit more formal in daily speaking. The given sentence could be an example.

BTW in those four-character expressions people tend to use some Classical-Chinese-styled words. And in Classical Chinese, one-character words are quite ordinary.