Frederick H. Martens - Chinese Fairy Tales

O nce UPON A TIME there were two brothers, who lived in the same house. And the big brother listened to his wifes words, and because of them fell out with the little one. Summer had begun, and the time for sowing the high-growing millet had come. The little brother had no grain, and asked the big one to loan him some, and the big one ordered his wife to give it to him. But she took the grain, put it in a large pot and cooked it until it was done. Then she gave it to the little fellow. He knew nothing about it, and went and sowed his field with it. Yet, since the grain had been cooked, it did not sprout. Only a single grain of seed had not been cooked; so only a single sprout shot up. The little brother was hard-working and industrious by nature, and hence he watered and hoed the sprout all day long. And the sprout grew mightily, like a tree, and an ear of millet sprang up out of it like a canopy, large enough to shade half an acre of ground. In the fall the ear was ripe. Then the little brother took his ax and chopped it down. But no sooner had the ear fallen to the ground, than an enormous Roc came rushing down, took the ear in his beak and flew away. The little brother ran after him as far as the shore of the sea.

Then the bird turned and spoke to him like a human being, as follows: You should not seek to harm me! What is this one ear worth to you? East of the sea is the isle of gold and silver. I will carry you across. There you may take whatever you want, and become very rich.

The little brother was satisfied, and climbed on the birds back, and the latter told him to close his eyes. So he only heard the air whistling past his ears, as though he were driving through a strong wind, and beneath him the roar and surge of flood and waves. Suddenly the bird settled on a rock: Here we are! he said.

Then the little brother opened his eyes and looked about him: and on all sides he saw nothing but the radiance and shimmer of all sorts of white and yellow objects. He took about a dozen of the little things and hid them in his breast.

Have you enough? asked the Roc.

Yes, I have enough, he replied.

That is well, answered the bird. Moderation protects one from harm.

Then he once more took him up, and carried him back again.

When the little brother reached home, he bought himself a good piece of ground in the course of time, and became quite well-to-do.

But his brother was jealous of him, and said to him, harshly: Where did you manage to steal the money?

So the little one told him the whole truth of the matter. Then the big brother went home and took counsel with his wife.

Nothing easier, said his wife. I will just cook grain again and keep back one seedling so that it is not done. Then you shall sow it, and we will see what happens.

No sooner said than done. And sure enough, a single sprout shot up, and sure enough, the sprout bore a single ear of millet, and when harvest time came around, the Roc again appeared and carried it off in his beak. The big brother was pleased, and ran after him, and the Roc said the same thing he had said before, and carried the big brother to the island. There the big brother saw the gold and silver heaped up everywhere. The largest pieces were like hills, the small ones were like bricks, and the real tiny ones were like grains of sand. They blinded his eyes. He only regretted that he knew of no way by which he could move mountains. So he bent down and picked up as many pieces as possible.

There the big brother saw the gold and silver heaped up everywhere.

The Roc said: Now you have enough! You will overtax your strength.

Have patience but a little while longer, said the big brother. Do not be in such a hurry! I must get a few more pieces!

And thus time passed.

The Roc again urged him to make haste: The sun will appear in a moment, said he, and the sun is so hot it burns human beings up.

Wait just a little while longer, said the big brother. But that very moment a red disk broke through the clouds with tremendous power. The Roc flew into the sea, stretched out both his wings, and beat the water with them in order to escape the heat. But the big brother was shrivelled up by the sun.

Note: The Roc is called pong in Chinese, and the treasures on the island are spoken of as all sorts of yellow and white objects because the little brother does not know that they are gold and silver.

The Three Rhymsters

O NCE THERE WERE three daughters in a family. The oldest one married a physician, the second one married a magistrate; but the third, who was more than usually intelligent and a clever talker, married a farmer.

Now it chanced, once upon a time, that their parents were celebrating a birthday. So the three daughters came, together with their husbands, to wish them long life and happiness. The parents-in-law prepared a meal for their three sons-in-law, and put the birthday wine on the table. But the oldest son-in-law, who knew that the third one had not attended school, wanted to embarrass him.

It is far too tiresome, said he, just to sit here drinking: let us have a drinking game. Each one of us must invent a verse, one that rhymes and makes sense, on the words: in the sky, on the earth, at the table, in the room; and whoever cannot do so, must empty three glasses as a punishment.

All the company were satisfied. Only the third son-in-law felt embarrassed and insisted on leaving. But the guests would not let him go, and obliged him to keep his seat.

Then the oldest son-in-law began: I will make a start with my verse. Here it is:

In the sky the phoenix proudly flies,
On the earth the lambkin tamely lies,
At the table through an ancient book I wade,
In the room I softly call the maid.

The second one continued: And I say:

In the sky the turtle-dove flies round,
On the earth the ox paws up the ground,
At the table one studies the deeds of yore,
In the room the maid she sweeps the floor.

But the third son-in-law stuttered, and found nothing to say. And when all of them insisted, he broke out in rough tones of voice:

In the sky flies a leaden bullet,
On the earth stalks a tiger-beast,
On the table lies a pair of scissors,
In the room I call the stable-boy.

On the earth our tiger-beast will devour your sheep and your ox.

The other two sons-in-law clapped their hands and began to laugh loudly.

Why, the four lines do not rhyme at all, said they, and besides, they do not make sense. A leaden bullet is no bird, the stable-boy does his work outside, would you call him into the room? Nonsense, nonsense! Drink!

Yet before they had finished speaking, the third daughter raised the curtain of the womens room, and stepped out. She was angry, yet she could not suppress a smile.

How so do our lines not make sense? said she. Listen a moment, and Ill explain them to you: In the sky our leaden bullet will shoot your phoenix and your turtle-dove. On the earth our tiger-beast will devour your sheep and your ox. On the table our pair of scissors will cut up all your old books. And finally, in the room well, the stable-boy can marry your maid!