Hi, everyone.
My second collection of folktales and legends adapted as plays for reader's theater is now available on Amazon. The plays in this volume are based on folktales and legends from the beautiful island of Taiwan.
Chinese folktales, myths, legends, and proverbs translated, adapted, and annotated by Fred Lobb
My second collection of folktales and legends adapted as plays for reader's theater is now available on Amazon. The plays in this volume are based on folktales and legends from the beautiful island of Taiwan.
Note: The names of the characters have been changed. In addition, this gruesome and disturbing legend is not suitable for young readers. The names of the main characters have been changed.
Years ago in Taiwan, Wei, a young member of an Atayal community, was left with a severe dilemma.
For the past two years, he and Lu, a lovely young woman considered as beautiful as a wild orchid, were an "item." They were in love, and Wei certainly expected to marry Lu. There was a problem, however, that had been slowly smoldering, threatening these marriage plans, and this problem had driven a wedge between the two young lovers, forcing them to meet in secret so that Lu and her family would not be subjected to ridicule.
The problem was this: Wei did not have a warrior's headhunting tattoo on his forehead as opposed to virtually all the other desirable young men of the village. That meant Wei totally lacked the prestige and potential to be the great husband all parents would desire for their daughters. Such young men as Wei were looked down upon as weak and unmanly. What's more, Wei, having grown up in this environment, just didn't have it in his heart to kill any stranger for the latter's head. It just wasn't in his nature. Lu knew this and was frank with Wei. She told him clearly that either he become recognized as a headhunter with the telltale tattoo or that they would have no future together despite her love for him.
Wei had to make a very difficult decision: to join in the next headhunting campaign and to bring back someone's head or to forever lose his chance to marry Lu.
He gnashed his teeth in anguish and finally decided to go against his own nature: he would take part in the next headhunting expedition.
Wei's father, whose other two sons had already taken heads, was overjoyed. He had long given up on Wei's ever ascending to real manhood by becoming a headhunter, but now it appeared that Wei had had a reawakening.
"Yes!" said the father. "My good son! Excellent! We will have an expedition very soon, and I'll be leading it. Now, let's get busy. We have some preparations to make."
There would be several steps before such an expedition could be launched. A lucky day would have to be selected. Prior to leaving on this lucky day, the members of the expedition would have to report any dreams. A disturbing or unlucky dream, an out-and-out nightmare, would disqualify the person from the expedition.
Early in the evening the night before the expedition was to start, Wei's father approached him and asked, "Well, Son, have you had any bad dreams lately?"
"No, Father." He looked his father straight into the older man's eyes.
That was, however, a lie. For the past several nights, Wei had been plagued by endless nightmares. For Wei to have had nightmares but still go on a headhunting trip with his group would be a gross violation of a taboo. Wei knew, however, if had told the truth he would have been kicked out of the group and then he'd never have a chance at marrying Lu. His reputation, such as it was, would also be stained forever.
"That's good, Son. Now, since you are the only one in the group that hasn't gotten a tattoo yet, you will be accorded the honor of taking the first head back to our people! You'll kill and decapitate the enemy! What do you think of that?"
"Thank you, Father," said Wei. The first head . . . The reality hit home for Wei. I will be killing another person and taking his head . . . he thought. It's really going to happen now, and there's no way out of it--not for me . . . not for the sake of Lu . . . They couldn't be content with my just being a member of the team, could they? . . . I have to do the killing . . . the decapitating . . .
"Soon enough, Son, you'll be getting a tattoo just as all the other fellows in the village have! How great is that! Now, get some sleep. It's getting dark, and we'll need to get started before dawn."
"Yes, Father . . ."
Once again, Wei entered the world of disturbing dreams. As he slept fitfully on his mat, he dreamt of a green field bordered by a bamboo forest. Next to some bamboo was a large collection of freshly severed heads in a tall pile. Not far from the heads were his father and the young men of the village, and Wei discovered he too was standing among them.
Soon came the sounds of voices, and before long three people--a father, a mother, and a small boy of about four or so--came into view. Immediately, the men of the hunting party aimed their arrows at the three and let their arrows fly, hitting all three, who fell to the ground, moaning.
The headhunters rushed over to them and preceded to cut their heads off.
"No, no, no, please don't do this!" cried Wei. "This is so cruel!"
Wei then suddenly woke up with a shudder. He relaxed again somewhat when he realized it had all been a dream.
By now the early morning daylight streamed through the window. His father had entered the hut and told Wei to get ready to go.
The headhunting party assembled. Relying on the lucky omen of a bird, Wei's father said, "All right, we're going in this direction!"
The group moved off, with everyone but Wei in great spirits, for most of the young men had had very encouraging dreams about successful headhunting. Wei, silent, moved on, hoping no one would notice his trembling legs.
Please, Evening, Wei thought, you can't arrive early enough . . .
After a long march, Wei's father announced, "We're here! This is the place . . ."
Wei's father recited a verbal formula to expel bad luck. The headhunters then performed a simple ritual to ensure success for today's expedition. Wei's father then assigned each headhunter, including Wei, to his hiding place. Wei's appointed location would face the path the human prey would take as he, she, and/or they headed towards the bamboo grove.
"Wei! Wake up and focus!" said Wei's father, noticing his son's slowness in following orders.
Wei slunk into his assigned place in the grove. He turned his head and saw a brilliant field of tall green grasses.
Haven't . . . I . . . been . . . here . . . before . . . ? he asked himself. Then it hit him: he had seen this very greenery in his dream the night before.
"All right, Wei," said his father. "Listen. Keep your eyes and ears open. Once the enemy shows up, we'll shoot him. Then, once he has been totally subdued and is on the ground, you must quickly rush out and decapitate him. Now, don't worry! We'll all be here for you and have you covered . . . "
Wei nodded and continued to lie in wait behind the bamboo, his legs continuing to shake wildly.
It wasn't very long before someone, actually three people, came into view--a man, a woman, and a small child, the very people he had seen in his dream.
Towards the grove the three walked, holding hands, talking, and laughing . . .
The three came closer and closer . . . still laughing, talking . . .
Wei was ready to pass out right on the spot.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Arrows flew through the air.
The three members of the small family fell upon the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.
The headhunters lunged forward, each one wanting to be the one to cut the heads off, but they held back.
"Wei, what are you doing?" barked the father. "Get over there and do what you are supposed to do!"
Wei just stood there, frozen with fear and other emotions.
When Wei refused to move, his father drew his knife, shook his head in disgust and anger, marched over to the three people on the ground, knelt, and cut off each one's head. He then picked up the three heads, with blood dripping all over him, and deposited them at his son's feet.
"All right, Wei," said his father with anger resonating in his voice, "we'll be heading back. You shall be at the head of the procession, and you will be carrying those heads to demonstrate that now, finally, you are a worthy member of our community. Don't be such a damn coward and let everyone down!"
But Wei just stood there, paralyzed.
"So you can't even pick those heads up?" asked his father. "In that case, you are no son of mine. You are no longer an Atayal like the rest of us! You're just an outright coward, and no doctor can cure you of it!"
Wei thought about his father's words, and his thoughts immediately darted to Lu. Gnashing his teeth, he finally mustered up the courage to pick up the three heads. His father softened up a bit at his son's change of heart and smiled to give him some encouragement. The other headhunters gave Wei a loud cheer.
The group marched to a nearby stream, where one of the headhunters showed Wei how to wash the heads. Next, he helped Wei shave part of each head and drill a hole into it after which a thin but sturdy vine was inserted into the heads so that they could more easily be carried together.
Wei was still anguished and afraid that he would just freeze up and be unable to make it back to the village. He somehow pushed himself to move, wishing every second this ordeal would quickly end, that he could just be back in the village with his beloved Lu.
The headhunting group, with Wei in the front carrying the heads, finally arrived back in the village in the afternoon, and they were met by ecstatically cheering villagers lining the path to the village. The villagers were particularly enthused seeing Wei carrying those three heads.
"Wei severed three heads!" the headhunters chanted as they marched along the path.
Wei saw Lu smiling broadly.
Yes . . . Wei said to himself, I guess it was all worth it . . .
Carrying a "warrior's suit" created by her own mother's efforts on the loom, Lu approached Wei and proudly handed the suit to Wei to put on.
The celebrations throughout the village continued.
Wei's father constructed a special open cabinet, a "trophy cabinet," in front of the house to display the three heads, signifying that this was a house where successful headhunters lived. Villagers crowded in front of Wei's home to watch his father anoint the heads with rice wine.
Early that morning at around three, the celebrations were still going on. Wei and Lu were doing their own celebrating, drinking rice wine. Wei thought that he would now ask for Lu's hand in marriage. He was beginning to distance himself from the day's gruesome activities, to excuse himself from what had already happened. After all, he told himself, it wasn't as if he himself had shot the three with arrows and cut off their heads . . .
"Wei!" shouted his father. "Come on over to the trophy cabinet here and stand in front of it!"
His father had inserted some chunks of grilled chicken into the mouths of the three heads. He next inserted a stalk of grass into the woman's mouth. He followed this by sticking some pork into the child's mouth.
"Now, Wei," said the father, "eat whatever is in their mouths!"
This was a custom among these headhunters, and it was designed to instill courage among those who would have to maintain headhunting as regular practice. On one level, Wei, of course, knew this, but on another level, he had caused himself to forget that he too would have to engage in this ritual.
"Umm . . . what's that?" asked Wei.
His father's eyes narrowed as Lu looked on, expecting Wei to follow the custom.
"You heard me, Wei . . ."
If cutting off heads wasn't disgusting enough, Wei now had to eat the food from all those dead lips. What could he do? He thought of Lu and how all he wanted was just to make a life with her . . .
He approached the three heads, knelt, and placed his mouth on the that of the dead man. He then began to use his teeth to pull out the food that had been stuffed in there and started to eat it.
He suddenly stopped when he felt a sharp pain on his lips. Had the dead man's mouth bitten his lips? He looked at the head; the dead man's face was contorted in obvious rage. The chanting villagers standing nearby seemed not to notice the expression on the dead man's face.
After he had managed to finish eating what was in the mouth of the male head, his father shouted, "Wei, you're doing a great job! Don't stop now! You have two more!"
Wei gathered up his courage and turned to the next head, the one that belonged to the woman. Everybody there reacted with deafening cheers of approval.
Ready to eat the stalk of grass and meat inside her mouth, Wei looked at the face.
The villagers continued with their shouting, chanting, and dancing . . .
Tears from the eyes of the woman's head began to trickle down her face . . .
Wei backed away, stood up, pointed to the woman's head, and shouted, "Everybody! Everybody stop for a moment! Take a look! Look!"
The noise and celebrating continued unabated.
"Would you all just please look?" Wei was desperate now. "Look! Look at her eyes! She's crying!"
The noise decreased somewhat while some continued to chant, scream, and dance. There was no doubt, though, that they had heard Wei's words.
The villagers could see wet tracks of tears on the face of the dead woman's head. Were they her tears or something else? many wondered. No one could be sure, but the celebrations persisted, though not quite as festively as before.
Wei was now able to step away from the heads and the need to eat what was in their dead mouths. No one said anymore about it; instead, the celebrations continued for a few more days and nights.
Since the beginning of the celebrations, Wei had been visited nightly by the three headhunting victims. They would approach him and stand near him with looks of disgust on their faces.
Finally, when he could no longer stand these visitations, Wei knelt before the trophy cabinet and offered his apologies to the three heads, promising never again to take part in a headhunting expedition.
The ghostly visits then totally ceased.
Wei went on to wed Lu and lived the rest of his life as a humble farmer, not as a swaggering headhunting warrior.
from
Taiwan shandicun guiying chuangchuang 台灣山地村鬼影幢幢 [The flickering of apparition shadows in Taiwanese Indigenous villages]. Li Meng. Taipei: Xidai, 1995: pp. 10-34
This legend comes from an anthology of ghost stories from Indigenous Taiwanese communities. The main character in the story, "Wei," was purported to be still alive when this book was first published, in 1995. The story itself supposedly took place in the early 1930s, during the Japanese occupation era. I created single names for each character so as not to identify the families of those involved in this tale.
The Atayal, along with other Indigenous peoples, engaged in the practice of headhunting or, to use a euphemism translated from Chinese, "to weed, to eradicate weeds" [出草]. Separate research done by anthropologists Julian Baldick and Lars Krutak suggests that the heads of interlopers on tribal lands were taken to propitiate the gods to ensure a good harvest, to honor ancestors with these heads, and to serve as an initiation ritual (rite of ordeal) to establish the headhunter as a true warrior, a worthy member of the community, and thus a worthwhile, eligible marriage choice. Those who came back from headhunting expeditions/campaigns with heads were each entitled to a tattoo, depending on the tribe, on the chin and/or forehead. Such a tattoo was an indispensable ticket in seeking a wife. More heads would allow the headhunter to have a special tattoo on his back. Whose head would be taken? The intended quarry could be a different tribe member encroaching on tribal land, a Han Taiwanese, or a Japanese. As indicated by this story, a woman could lose her head as well as any male outsider. (See Julian Baldick's Ancient Religions of the Austronesian World [London: I. B. Tauris, 2013] and Lars Krutak's "Losing Your Head Among the Tattooed Headhunters of Taiwan" from www.larskrutak.com/losing-your-head-among-the-tattooed-headhunters-of-taiwan.
Motifs: cE231.5, "Ghost returns to murderer, causing him to confess"; F1001, "Extraordinary heads act as living objects"; H106.2, "Severed head as proof of killing"; H335.4.1, "Suitor task: to bring enemy's head"; M302.7, "Prophecy through dreams"; P555.2.1., "Heads of slain enemies displayed"; S139.2.1.1, "Head of murdered man taken along as trophy."
Interestingly, in the world of folktales, myths, and legends, with flying and talking heads, I was unable to locate an existing motif for something like "severed head cries tears." Perhaps further research will reveal such a motif.
Filial piety is the Confucian concept that teaches each child to respect and to love his/her parent. It suggests unquestioned obedience and loyalty to members of the older generation, and its commands extend to the parents, who must offer utmost respect and love to their own parents as well. By extension, rulers are likewise loved by their local subjects. The pyramid reaches all the way to the top, to the emperor, loved, respected and obeyed by everyone else. The respect accorded to parents continues after the parents' deaths; there are then regularly scheduled memorial rites to be observed and to be picked up, eventually, by the grandchildren. And so the cycle continues. I think the best exposition of filial piety can be found in the classical Chinese statement, Daxue, "The Great Learning."
Filial piety is a defining characteristic of being a Chinese. What has it contributed? It has taught generations of children the need to be grateful to their parents and to excel in their studies, for doing the latter is a sign of devotion to the family in general and to the parents in particular. Many, if not most, go on to become highly devoted to their parents for the remainder of their parents' lives. Virtually all my students of Chinese descent from fifth grade on up already know the Chinese term for "filial piety": xiaoshun [孝顺]. I wonder how many non-Chinese youngsters know the term or a close cognate. I certainly was not aware of it until I took the late Professor Laurence G. Thompson's Chinese civilization course at USC so many years ago. Thank you, Professor Thompson.
Hi, everyone!
I'm very pleased to tell you that my book Sly Fox Maidens and Some Friends is available on Amazon.
I've taken ten tales and adapted them for reader's theater. What is reader's theater? It is a story retold in a simple script form and designed to be performed without the need for costumes and props. Reader's theater scripts are perfect as classroom activities and allow everyone, even the shyest person, a chance to perform as a character in a fun and epic tale. No one is left out! The stories can also be read directly and enjoyed as they are. All the tales come with a pronunciation guide, a list of motifs, and cultural notes.
Please check it out!
All the best,
Fred Lobb
Hello, everyone. It's been a while, and I hope all are well. I have the pleasure of presenting a Chinese-language folktale from the Paracel or Xisha Islands (西沙群岛), which, according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, are 250 miles east of central Vietnam and 220 miles south of Hainan, China. It's a contested region of around 130 small islands currently under Chinese control, with China's governance disputed by claimants Vietnam and Taiwan. In any case, I'm not going to delve into geopolitical details regarding the Paracel Islands. I might hesitantly suggest that the tale below might be the first English translation of a folktale from this region. I sincerely welcome any reader or researcher to correct me if I am mistaken.
Long, long ago, on the East Island (perhaps Lincoln Island), there lived fishing a couple well into their fifties. They were missing something that would have made their lives perfect: children of their own. You might say as a couple they were very happy together, but there was no denying that they were also very lonely and longed for the company of at least one child to call their own.
The reality was, though, they were past childbearing years, so they prepared themselves for a future without the joys of having a child or children.
One morning the husband and wife set out in their boat to fish. They cast their net nine times without so much as one fish. Then, at noon, they decided to cast the net one more time before calling it a day. Just as they did, a big wave hit their prow, rocking the boat. The couple quickly hauled in the net, which, this time, had a telltale weight to it.
Had they suddenly made a huge haul of fish? They hurriedly hauled the net back onto the boat and unraveled the net to see what they had landed.
What did they see?
A creature with the head of a fish and the armless body and legs of a woman, both covered with fish scales!
Before the dumbstruck husband and wife could speak, the creature said, "I'm a mermaid from the Southern Sea! I was out playing in the ocean when a malevolent dragon chased me, threatening to eat me. I swam from him as fast as I could and accidentally found myself in your net. Would you kindly help me return home? My mother is waiting for me back home right now!"
The mermaid then began to weep.
"Of course we will help you!" said the wife.
"Show us the way!" said the husband.
The mermaid guided them to the area where she wished to be dropped off.
Once she had reached the area and lowered herself back into the water, she turned to the couple and asked, "How can I ever repay your kindness? What would you like to have? Just tell me, and I will tell my mother. I guarantee we'll make you both very happy!"
"Well, since you asked," said the wife, "we are childless. What we want most in the world would be to have a boy and a girl as our children."
The mermaid nodded and replied, "All right. Note this spot and be here tomorrow at noon. Bye for now!"
And then she slid into the sea and was gone.
The next day just before noon, the couple arrived at the designated spot. The mermaid promptly arrived to greet the couple, and she placed two very large eggs onto their boat close to the prow.
While the husband and wife marveled at the huge eggs, the mermaid said, "Here are our gifts to show our deep gratitude to you both. My mother told me to tell you to keep these eggs hidden in the hold of the boat. Farewell!"
And with that, she was gone.
The couple returned to the island, moored their boat, and carefully placed the eggs in the hold.
That night the couple lay on their bed in their hut and listened to the sound of thunder accompanied by lightning. After one particularly loud boom, they soon heard the unmistakable waa . . . waa of babies crying. They rushed over to the boat, and there, down in the hold, were a pair of newborns, a boy and a girl, hatched from the two eggs!
With their long unfulfilled dream finally becoming reality, the overjoyed couple named the boy "Hai'ou," or "seagull," and the girl, "Baijuan," "white and graceful."
Hai'ou grew up to be a very strong, able young man and superb fisherman, and as for Baijuan, she became a very lovely young woman and one who was very capable of steering the boat. Both of them, along with their attractiveness and other pleasing qualities and talents, became the talk of the settlement, filling many with some envy but also others with happiness for the couple who were able to have children at such a late stage in their lives.
Eighteen years had now passed, and by this time the mother and father were no longer around. Hai'ou and Baijuan buried their remains on the island. The brother and sister took over their parents' occupation of fishing, with Hai'ou throwing out and pulling in the nets and Baijuan navigating the boat. They lived happy lives every day, even on those occasions when they would return to the island with an empty net.
Now, lording over the islands was a tyrant called by all Yu Batian(渔霸天), an obese bully whose girth and great fortune largely stemmed from his squeezing the money out of all islanders. In time Yu Batian caught a glimpse of Baijuan and decided right then and there to make her one of his wives. He sent one of his lackeys with gifts and a demand for Baijuan to marry Yu Batian the next day.
None of this went over well with Baijuan and Hai'ou. Baijuan kicked the gifts into the sea, and Hai'ou roundly insulted Yu Batian.
The tyrant's helper laughed and said, "Well, you can very well go ahead and kick the gifts into the water, but, mark my words, one way or another, my master is going to have you as next wife tomorrow. See you tomorrow!"
He then left.
Hai'ou and Baijuan, faced now with a threat they had never foreseen, both began to cry and shout in anguish until the tears just couldn't flow anymore and their throats had become raw with pain. It was now the evening, and suddenly they heard a woman's voice from outside address them.
"There's something you can do!" said the voice. "Go into the hold of the ship where you'll still find the eggshells from which you had hatched. Carry the shells to the front of the boat, climb into the shells, and kneel down, and the shells will rebuild themselves into unbroken eggs with you inside!"
The brother and sister went outside and beheld the mermaid their parents had met so many years before.
"Who are you?" asked Hai'ou and Baijuan.
"I am she who laid the eggs from whence you came," said the mermaid. "Now, act quickly!"
The brother and sister watched her slip back into the sea. They then did exactly what she had said. Once they had placed the shells at the front of the boat, both climbed into the shells. The broken shells flew up and reformed themselves into smooth, unbroken eggs, all without the slightest crack, with Hai'ou in one shell and Baijuan in the other.
The next day Yu Batian and his lackeys arrived at the hut where the brother and sister lived.
"Find them both!" thundered the tyrant.
His men searched the hut and scoured the grounds. They then climbed aboard the boat and scoured the small vessel.
One of the men called shouted to Yu Batian, "Master, they're nowhere to be found anywhere, not in the hut or on this boat, but there are two large eggs here right above the prow. Do you think it might be possible that they're somehow hiding inside these eggs?"
"Break those eggs open now!" screamed Yu Batian.
The men began hitting the eggs with clubs. Once the eggs began to crack, there was an earsplitting sound of thunder as fire and lightning burst out of the broken eggs, blasting everyone there, including Yu Batian, to smithereens.
Hai'ou's spirit became a seagull, while Baijuan became the beloved white parrot that flies over the east island and that guides the boats of the fishing families, enabling them to avoid any trouble lurking at sea. And the seagull? It always flies alongside the white parrot as a companion. You can still see them flying together to this very day!
from 民间故事:白鹦鸟和海鸥_腾讯新闻
The story follows a familiar course: a lovely supernatural woman appears; a local mandarin, king, despot, etc., decides to have her all to himself; supernatural aid is invoked; and the villain and his underlings meet a grisly end.
The name "Yu Batian" might be translated as "Fisherman who lords over all."
I am not sure in primarily which dialect this story has been told; knowing this would perhaps lead us to the tales on which this one is based.
The description of this particular mermaid was very interesting and perhaps, in my opinion, more startling than the way mermaids are usually depicted.
Motifs: B81, "Mermaid"; B300, "Helpful animals"; B375, "Release of animal (mermaid) by hunter/fisher"; D150, "Transformation: Person to bird"; D493, "Spirit changes to animal (bird)"; E613, "Reincarnation as bird(s)"; F420.4.4, "Water spirits are grateful"; F815.0.2, "Helpful water spirits"; Q40, "Kindness rewarded"; Q210, "Crimes punished"; cQ552.1, "Death by thunderbolt as punishment"; T542, "Birth of human being from an egg"; cT548.1, "Child(ren) born in answer to prayer."
There was once a young man who had married a young woman, but, unfortunately, shortly afterward both of his parents passed away.
Now this young man, not exactly the most handsome groom around, was addicted to gambling and drinking, and, at the same time, he was averse to working. He would often leave his wife for two or three days to attend gambling parties.
Probably needless to say, his wife was extremely upset over all this.
One day, the wife was out by the river doing the laundry. A hunter with a rifle slung across his back and with a dog in the lead approached. The wife could see his visage in the reflection on the water.
Oh, she thought, that is definitely one handsome man! To be together with a man like that, even for but a day, would be worth it!
She totally lost her interest in washing the clothes and instead just watched the hunter disappear into the forest.
She returned home and lay down on the bed, where she sank into a near coma-like state, not eating or drinking so much as a drop of water. This went on for days, and nothing passed her lips, not even herbal medicine that had been brought to her. She also began to lose her eyesight.
She called for her husband.
"Husband," she said, "my time is nearly up. After I go, don't bury me. Instead, place my body in the cave overlooking the cliff and have the entrance sealed up. In time, a man will come by the house and offer to buy my bones for a good price. Take him up on the offer. Do you hear me?"
"Yes," he replied.
And so it was done.
Three years passed by.
A stranger in the neighborhood showed up at the house and asked the young widower if he had any antiques to sell. The latter didn't have any because being the gambler he was, he had already long before sold off nearly all the belongings left to him by his parents. He did have something, though.
"I don't have any antiques," he said, "but would you be interested in buying some bones?"
"Human bones?"
"Yes."
"I might be," asked the buyer. "I'll tell you what. Do this: show me a finger bone and I'll let you know."
The widower went up to the cave, unsealed the entrance, and fetched one of his wife's finger bones. He brought it back to show the buyer.
When the buyer showed interest in this single finger bone, the widower asked, "How much would you pay me for the entire skeleton?"
"Three hundred ounces of silver."
It was a deal. When it came time for the buyer to take the skeleton away, the widower suddenly held up his hand to stop him from leaving.
"Just a moment!" he said.
"Hold on," said the buyer. "Are you trying now to back out of the deal? I gave you your silver, didn't I?"
"No, no," I'm not trying to back out of our deal. I simply wanted to ask why on earth anyone would want human bones. I'm just curious. That's all."
"I see. Very well. In my family, for the past seven generations, we have collected human bones to concoct a remedy for lovesickness. It's critical that the bones, like the ones I purchased from you, are the so-called 'engraved' bones."
"Oh? And what are these 'engraved' bones you are talking about?"
"Each person who dies while longing for another person has an image of that person engraved upon his or her bones. Here, take a look at one of these bones you sold to me . . ."
The widower took a look. Sure enough on the bone itself, he could see the faint outline of what appeared to be a man with what appeared to be a rifle on his back.
How could this even be? thought the widower.
from
[刻骨] See the post for 8/8/18 for full citation.
To "engrave the bone" [刻骨]means "to remember something indelibly." It suggests that the memory, love, or hatred for somebody or something is incised in that person's very being, something deep-rooted, if you will. We reveal a similar concept in English when we say of someone that "beauty is skin deep, but ugly/ugliness is to the bone."
Motifs: D1812.2.4, "Dying woman's (man's) power of prophecy"; F1041.1.4, "Death from longing"; M391, "Fulfillment of prophecy"; T11.5, "Falling in love with (someone's) reflection in the water"; T15, "Love at first sight"; T24.1, "Lovesickness"; T81.2, "Death from unrequited love"; T211.4.1, "Wife's corpse kept after death"; T271, "Neglected wife"; W111.4, "Lazy husband."
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