A couple weeks ago, I was freaking out about my deleted blog post on my children's story. . . for some weird reason, weebly saved the post under my ABOUT tab. Today, I randomly clicked on the tab to edit it and found this:) Since I said in an earlier post that I would post it if I found it . . . here it is. Enjoy, and YAY for finding missing blog posts (sorry weebly for sending frantic messages to your help center at midnight)
xox -elle
xox -elle
Reminiscing Over A Bit of My Childhood. . . . Children's Stories.
"The Lazy Boy and the Necklace of Bread"
I've come to realize that living in a Chinese American family has allowed me to experience a blend of two very different cultures. Of course, during bed time, I would hear the typical "Jack and the Beanstalk" or "Hansel and Gretel." However, I also grew up with stories like "Journey to the West" (Xi You Ji) or often times a Chinese rendition of a common story like "Tortoise and the Hare.". Growing up, my mom would always tell me several different anecdotes, some referencing her own childhood and many others including old Chinese folktales passed down from generations ago. Typically, these tales all contained a moral or lesson of some sort; thus, they usually graced their presence when my mom found me misbehaving or acting out. One early Saturday Morning at age eight, I was behaving rather terribly. I had woken up that morning and decided that my day would consist of absolutely nothing productive; in other words, I was feeling an onslaught of laziness along with a lack of motivation. I refused to eat breakfast; I refused to do homework; I refused to do any chores.
My exasperated mom preceded to tell me a story about a lazy boy that was so lazy he would refuse to even utilize any sort of energy which included feeding himself. Basically, a not-so-long story short, the boy's mother had to leave to go to the store one day so she formed a necklace from a round Chinese flat bread by creating a hole in the center for him to hang around his neck. Whenever he felt hungry, he would simply tilt his head down and take a bite of the bread. However, there were some places that he couldn't reach the bread without the use of extensive movement, and since he was too lazy to move, he ended up becoming so hungry that he cried the rest of the day until his mother came home.
After my mom recalled the story, she scolded me and told me that I would not want to become like the little boy; so lazy that I couldn't even feed myself. She said to me, "In life, there are many things that we all don't want to do, but we have to push through it and do what needs to get done."
Several years later, I found an actual copy of this folktale as an adapted children's book at my local library. Unfortunately, I can't recall the exact translated title, but I do remember that the Chinese American author had intertwined new elements to the story; including, several robbers and a barrel of oil. She ended on a much happier, cliche note where the boy ended up saving the day when some robbers snuck into his house. The boy feared that the robbers would run away or hurt him if he yelled out so he used all his energy to waddle over to a barrel of oil and then he poured the oil on the ground. When the robbers attempted to flee, they all came tumbling down because they would slip on the pool of oil.
I still love this story today and is one of my favorites. It intertwines Chinese culture, but contains a lesson valuable to Americans today. Also, I enjoy reminiscing over the random bright memory from my childhood where my mother told stories in a loud, engaging, theatrical manner. I can't help but feel nostalgia for that memory of my childhood.
Initially, when I read the adaptation of the original version, I thought it was so cool, but now I realize that I actually prefer the original version which proves to be much more realistic and relatable. We all have our days where we act like the lazy boy and we just don't want to do anything or even move for that matter. Although we probably could do many things to change our situation, sometimes we just prefer to sit there and wallow over bread that we can't reach. Or, perhaps, we just haven't made the effort to reach it yet.
"The Lazy Boy and the Necklace of Bread"
I've come to realize that living in a Chinese American family has allowed me to experience a blend of two very different cultures. Of course, during bed time, I would hear the typical "Jack and the Beanstalk" or "Hansel and Gretel." However, I also grew up with stories like "Journey to the West" (Xi You Ji) or often times a Chinese rendition of a common story like "Tortoise and the Hare.". Growing up, my mom would always tell me several different anecdotes, some referencing her own childhood and many others including old Chinese folktales passed down from generations ago. Typically, these tales all contained a moral or lesson of some sort; thus, they usually graced their presence when my mom found me misbehaving or acting out. One early Saturday Morning at age eight, I was behaving rather terribly. I had woken up that morning and decided that my day would consist of absolutely nothing productive; in other words, I was feeling an onslaught of laziness along with a lack of motivation. I refused to eat breakfast; I refused to do homework; I refused to do any chores.
My exasperated mom preceded to tell me a story about a lazy boy that was so lazy he would refuse to even utilize any sort of energy which included feeding himself. Basically, a not-so-long story short, the boy's mother had to leave to go to the store one day so she formed a necklace from a round Chinese flat bread by creating a hole in the center for him to hang around his neck. Whenever he felt hungry, he would simply tilt his head down and take a bite of the bread. However, there were some places that he couldn't reach the bread without the use of extensive movement, and since he was too lazy to move, he ended up becoming so hungry that he cried the rest of the day until his mother came home.
After my mom recalled the story, she scolded me and told me that I would not want to become like the little boy; so lazy that I couldn't even feed myself. She said to me, "In life, there are many things that we all don't want to do, but we have to push through it and do what needs to get done."
Several years later, I found an actual copy of this folktale as an adapted children's book at my local library. Unfortunately, I can't recall the exact translated title, but I do remember that the Chinese American author had intertwined new elements to the story; including, several robbers and a barrel of oil. She ended on a much happier, cliche note where the boy ended up saving the day when some robbers snuck into his house. The boy feared that the robbers would run away or hurt him if he yelled out so he used all his energy to waddle over to a barrel of oil and then he poured the oil on the ground. When the robbers attempted to flee, they all came tumbling down because they would slip on the pool of oil.
I still love this story today and is one of my favorites. It intertwines Chinese culture, but contains a lesson valuable to Americans today. Also, I enjoy reminiscing over the random bright memory from my childhood where my mother told stories in a loud, engaging, theatrical manner. I can't help but feel nostalgia for that memory of my childhood.
Initially, when I read the adaptation of the original version, I thought it was so cool, but now I realize that I actually prefer the original version which proves to be much more realistic and relatable. We all have our days where we act like the lazy boy and we just don't want to do anything or even move for that matter. Although we probably could do many things to change our situation, sometimes we just prefer to sit there and wallow over bread that we can't reach. Or, perhaps, we just haven't made the effort to reach it yet.