Week 9 reading: Chinese Fairy Tales, part B

The first story in part B of the Chinese Fairy Tale readings was The Little Hunting Dog. I find it really interesting that so many of these fairy tales end sadly without any type of moral or lesson. In fairy tales from other cultures, most stories end with a moral or at least a happy ending. I wonder if, in my storybook, there should be any stories that don't have a happy ending — probably! After all, it is about the muses telling the truth about history, and history doesn't generally end happily.

Chrysanthemums like those of old Wang. Source: Pixabay

The next story I really enjoyed was Retribution. I like symmetry in stories, and this story featured death repaid for death, life repaid for life. There was justice for both the water-carrier and old Wang. I also liked the suspenseful way this story was told; I wondered the whole time what would become of the water-carrier, Ma, and old Wang. It wasn't obvious throughout the story what would happen, which, in my opinion, is the mark of a good story. In my stories I think I will aim for this same type of symmetry and suspense done properly.

The Maiden Who was Stolen Away reminded me of Shrek, which is quite possibly the best movie ever written. Except instead of Princess Fiona turning into an ogre, in this story, the young student turned into an ogre — and he was an evil ogre. I also liked how clever the maiden was to throw her clothes down to the wanderer below. She was smart not to marry the student/ogre, even though she had no way of knowing at first that he was an ogre, and she was rewarded for her cleverness and strong will with rescue. My stories, too, will feature smart and brave women.