Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

七姊誕 (cat1 zi2 daan3), The Annual Meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl – The Chinese Qixi Festival

Nationality: Chinese, Vietnames
Age: 49
Residence: Ewa Beach, HI
Performance Date: April 14, 2019
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: Vietnamese, English

Item:

H: 七姊誕 (cat1 zi2 daan3), I don’t know like, um, July 7*.  Oh I know, 七姊誕係 (cat1 zi2 daan3 hai6) um, the girl is- she’s- she’s number seven so 叫七 (giu3 cat1) and um, loves the boy and the families not, like, agree to- they are marrying so they build the bridge.

[Translation: The Qixi Festival, I don’t know like, um, July 7*. Oh I know, the Qixi Festival is for, um, the girl is- she’s she’s number seven so she’s called 7 and um, loves the boy and the families not, like, agree to- they are marrying so they build the bridge.]

Q: Is it the same story as the one where the boy and the girl can only meet once a year?

H: Mhmm.

Q: Oh, ‘The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl’!

H: Yeah, 牛郎織女 (ngau4 long4 zik1 leoi5)!  牛郎織女係七姊誕 (ngau4 long4 zik1 leoi5 hai6 cat1 zi2 daan3)

[Translation: Yeah, The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl!  The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is the Qixi Festival]

Q: 點慶祝七姊誕 (dim2 hing3 zuk1 cat1 zi2 daan3)?

[Translation: How do you celebrate the Qixi Festival?]

H: 七姊誕通常人哋會帶 (cat1 zi2 daan3 tun1 soeng4 jan4 dei6 wui5 daai3) seven… different things. Yeah, 你拜七姊拜七樣嘢 (lei5 baai3 cat1 zi2 baai3 cat1 joeng6 je5), but usually buy fruits. Yeah.

[Translation: For the Qixi Festival, people will seven… different things.  Yeah, you pray to the seventh sister with seven different things, usually buy fruits.  Yeah.]

 

Translation and Additional Notes:

The Chinese characters are again followed by the Jyutping Romanization in parentheses, but they will also be followed by a transliteration and a full translation.

 

七姊誕 (cat1 zi2 daan3)

Transliterated: Seventh Sister Birthday

Translation: Qixi Festival

The English name for the festival comes from the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of the holiday. The characters are 七夕旦 (Mandarin Pinyin Romanization: qi1 xi1 dan4; Transliterated: Seven Night Day; Translated: Seventh Night Festival).  Alternate names is the Seventh Night Festival or the Double Seven Festival

 

牛郎織女 (ngau4 long4 zik1 leoi5)

Transliterated: cow young man weave woman

Translation: The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl

The story of ‘The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl’ is the narrative on which the Qixi Festival was founded upon.

 

*July 7: The informant was referring to July 7 in the lunar calendar commonly used by the Chinese to mark their holidays, rather than July 7 in the Gregorian calendar.  Usually, this date will correspond to August 7 in the Gregorian calendar.

 

Context:

I learned this piece from a Cantonese-English conversation about Chinese culture and traditions.  The informant, denoted by ‘H’ above, can speak Cantonese fluently, but chose to speak with me in both Cantonese and English for my understanding.  The informant is Chinese and was born and raised in Vietnam before immigrating to the United States in her late teens.  She brought up this story when I inquired about when people pray in Chinese culture because the day that this festival lands on is when she prays and sets out seven different fruits as she described above.  Though she had a general knowledge of the plot, she could not recall any more details about why the festival occurs or where she first learned about the story beyond the fact that this story is the basis for the festival.

 

Analysis:

When the informant described the general plot of the story, as seen in the exchange above, I was able to recognize it as ‘The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl’ because of the bridge.  I actually knew of this story before I spoke with the informant, and also knew that it may have originated from legends about the location of two constellations in the sky that are separated by the Milky Way.  These constellations were named the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, and numerous pieces of authored literature were written based on this story.  The version of the story that the informant knew, with the two lovers separated by family disapproval might be reflective of the tradition of arranged marriages. At least, it seemed as if that was the underlying message of that version of the story because the family disagreement was what the informant recalled first.  Women typically married up in Chinese society, and the wife chosen by the male’s family may be dependent on a number of factors including beauty and health.  In a different version of the story I have seen, more emphasis was placed on the reunion of the lovers itself, focusing on the romance and endurance of true love.  As such, with this particular story and many others, the plot may remain generally the same but the details may change depending on what message is being conveyed.

In regards to the festival, there seems to be a great emphasis on the number seven.  The weaver girl is the seventh sister, and the meeting of the lovers is on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.  People praying on this date set out seven different fruits.  Furthermore, the various names of the festival include the Seventh Night Festival and the Double Seven Festival.  Since this is the day that the two lovers reunite, and the focus is on their reunion rather than their separation, I believe people may celebrate it to ensure eternal love in relationships.  By extension, people may pray on this day for longevity in their relationships as well.  This is also supported by how seven is seen as a lucky number for relationships in Chinese culture because the pronunciation resembles that of the word “even” in Mandarin.  As such, the seventh day of the seventh month may have been deliberately chosen as the date the lovers unite, to represent harmony and a good relationship, and the ritual celebration of this day may bring good luck in relationships to those who partake in it.

 

Annotation:

For a poem written based on the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, please see “Immortal at the Magpie Bridge” by Qin Guan on pages 136 and 137 of Songs of the Immortals: An Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry translated and versified by Xu Yuan Zhong.

Zhong, Xu Yuan. Songs of the Immortals: An Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry. Penguin Books, 1994.

The Old Man and His Horse

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2-17-19
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Background Info/Context:

My friend was reaching out to USC students to get them to fill out surveys for a company called Tik Tok. The company wanted to collect data and get feedback from first time users, and they went about this by setting up a competition– the people who are able to get the most, second most, and third most surveys filled out under their name win cash prizes. So after a week of nagging friends and classmates to download the new app, browse through it, and fill out a Google Form set up by the company, my friend later found out that she won third place, receiving $150 as her prize!

I was thrilled for her and insisted that we go out for dinner or a celebratory dessert, but she sternly said that she shouldn’t splurge her new found money, because of a story her dad told her years ago. The story made her feel more optimistic, because it helped her to see situations beyond the myopic level.

 

Piece:

“This old man lives in like, what do you call it… not suburbs… but like the outskirts of China. And then, he owned a horse, but then one day, it just ran away. So he lost it and it was like a big loss right? Cuz horses were so, um, important back then.

So then his neighbors came and said “Oh I’m so sorry to hear about that,” and “If you need any help” and blah blah blah, and then the old man was just like, “How do you know this is a bad thing? I just lost a horse, we don’t know if it’s good, we don’t know if its bad.”

And then, um, a few weeks later, the horse came back with a bunch of other wild horses that it made friends with. So basically, the old man gained like I don’t know, 15 other horses, after losing one. So then, the neighbor comes over again and then says like “Oh congratulations! You have like so many more horses! This whole thing got spun 180 degrees!” And then the old man again, was like “How do you know this is a good thing? Just cuz I got more horses.”

And then one day, he was riding one of the wild horses, and it sort of acted out, and he broke his leg. And so, the neighbor again said “Oh, um, so sorry to hear you broke your leg.” And the old man goes, “Oh! Why are you sorry? How do you know this is a bad thing?”

Time goes by, and the emperor is recruiting for more people in the military, and getting able bodied people to join the military. And guess what! The old man is not able bodied anymore, and he couldn’t go to war, and he just like stayed at home. And I guess that was seen as a good thing, since he doesn’t have to sacrifice himself for his country.”

The lesson my dad was trying to tell me through this story is that whatever happens, I shouldn’t be immediately affected or put down by something bad, and if something good happens, I should always be cautious about it. So I don’t want to get ahead of myself and spend the money I won.”

 

Thoughts:

The story structure is somewhat similar to those in America, in the fact that there is a 3-time repetition in the narrative, but then there is a plot twist that plays off of it. I think that the man’s skepticism to everything that happened in his life is somewhat pessimistic, because he isn’t able to live in the moment, or accept things the way they are.

Because the old man in this story has the same reluctant attitude throughout the story, it shows that this proverb can be used in multiple scenarios. It could be used as a way to console people who are going through a hard time, or be used to warn people to not get ahead of themselves. Either way, patience and prudence seem to be the overarching themes in this proverb.

 

Tumeric and the Hidden Village

Nationality: Thai
Age: 60
Occupation: Restaurant Owner
Residence: New York
Primary Language: Thai (laotian)
Language: English

Context:

The following informant is a 60-year-old Thai immigrant who heard the following story growing up as a kid. This interview was carried out in a mix of Thai and English. In this I will be denoted as C and the informant will be denoted as S

S: This story, its kind of similar to the Amazonians. In Thailand near Chiang Mai, where I am from, there a place called Muang Laap Lae, which means it is invisible. Like if you look at it you wouldn’t be able to see there is a country there. It is a country that is so hard to get to and the path is so difficult to get there to that if you don’t know how to get there you can’t. this is why people call is Muang Laap Lae (Hidden Country) or Muang Mong Mae Hen (Invisible Country). Only people who are very good persons are able to see the hidden country. Mong Mae Hen means invisible.

There is a one good young man who enters into the forests and sees a bunch of beautiful women in the forest. At the end of the forest the girls hide large leafs. The man takes one of the leafs and wait there. Later the women return and start looking the leaves that they hid. Once they get their leaves they immediate disappear back into, into the forest. But one of them cannot find their leaf because the young man took the leaf. This one woman is very frustrated and annoyed and the young man gives the leaf back in exchange for, uh, in exchange for being able to follow the woman because he wants to see the invisible village people have been talking about. The woman agrees and takes the man to the hidden village. Once he gets to the village he realizes that the village only has women. The beautiful woman who took him to the village tells the young man, “The people who live in this village, are people who have a lot of merit and they never lie. If anyone does anything bad or lies they have to leave the village. And a lot of men tend to lie so that’s why all the men had to leave the village.”

Do you understand?

C: Yes, I understand.

S: So the young man is smitten with the woman who brought him to the village and asks if he can stay there and marry her. The mother of the woman agrees to the marriage on the condition that the man has to have merit and doesn’t lie. They get married and live together until they have one child together. And one day when the wife isn’t home and the man is taking care of the kid. The kid is crying asking for his mother non-stop. So the man playfully lies to his child “Your mom is here! Your mom is here!”

Now the mother-in-law hears this and is angry that her son-in-law is a liar. When the wife gets back she’s very, uh, disappointed that the husband did not keep his word and tells him he has to leave the village.

The pack the man a bag with stuff, his own stuff, stuff he needs to live, and also gave him a lot of heads of turmeric. A lot of turmeric because the husband cannot stay in the village. The wife takes him to the edge of the forest and points to the path to leave the village and the wife returns to the hidden village. The man has to follow the path that his wife pointed to. As he is walking the more he walks, the bag they gave him gets heavier and heavier. And the path is so long. So he eats the food and the drinks the water that they gave him. But all he can find in his bag is the turmeric. The turmeric that his wife gave him. So he starts throwing away the turmeric because it is heavy. When he finally gets back to his village his family and friends ask him where he’s been gone for so long. The man tells the story of the hidden village and also how his wife gave him a lot of turmeric that he threw away because it was heavy. There was once piece of turmeric left and he took it out to show them, and it turned out the turmeric was a bar of gold. It was a bar of gold. The man is surprised and feels regret for having thrown away all the turmeric he was carrying. Because he threw it all away, all the turmeric they gave him. And when he went back to look for the turmeric he threw away, he found it had grown into turmeric plants. And when he dug it up its just normal turmeric not the bars of gold they gave him. When he tries to find the hidden village again he cannot and just gets continuously lost in the forest. So he returns home back to his old village.

Analysis: I think there are two messages in this tale. One is to not lie, something which is important in Buddhism, and also to not take things for granted. The man in the story does both, but it seems like kicking him out for telling his kid a white lie is a little extreme.

4 Questions, 4 Tests

Nationality: American
Age: 62
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Corona del Mar, California
Primary Language: English

This conversation is between the collector (C) and the informant (I).

I: I’m going to ask you four questions, and this isn’t just for fun. It’s going to test you on your greatest strengths and weaknesses. Are you ready?

C: I’m ready.

I: The first question is, “How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?”

C: (After a long pause) I don’t know.

I: You open the refrigerator, put the giraffe inside, and close it. That was to test if you overthink simple questions. The second question is, “How do you put an elephant in a refrigerator?”

C: You open the refrigerator, but the elephant inside, and close it.

I: Wrong. First, you have to take out the giraffe. That was to test whether you understand the consequences of your actions. The third question is, “The whole jungle has an animal meeting, and all but one animal show up.Who isn’t there?”

C: (After a long pause) I give up.

I: The elephant! He’s still in the refrigerator. That was to test your memory. You have one last question, and it’s the most important one: “You need to cross a river. It is filled with crocodiles, and you have no boat. How do you get across?”

C: You distract the crocodiles?

I: You don’t need to. They’re still at the animal meeting. That was to test whether you learn from your mistakes.

Context: The informant is significantly older than the collector, which might add to the educational aspect of the joke.

Interpretation: Obviously, this is first and foremost for entertainment. But it does teach the audience to think through their answers carefully, understand that actions have consequences, and learn from past experiences. It is a silly series of questions with a surprising amount of moral value. It is distinctly structured for educational purposes, and therefore places the joke-teller in a position of authority and wisdom over the audience.

 

The Hungry Fox and the Sacred Tree

Nationality: Thai
Age: 60
Occupation: Restaurant Owner
Residence: New York
Primary Language: Thai (laotian)
Language: English

Context:

The following informant is a 60-year-old Thai immigrant who heard the following story growing up as a kid. This interview was carried out in a mix of Thai and English. In this I will be denoted as C and the informant will be denoted as S

Item:

S: This story is, this story is … uh the fox … uh (in English: the fox) and the sacred tree.

C: I see.

S: There is this fox, it is skinny, hungry, it hasn’t eaten, it is very skinny. So it went and it prayed, in other words it went to ask the sacred tree. The fox asked, it asked to become an ox. An ox that people would take care of and become big and healthy. Strong, and had things to eat all the time. Do you understand?

C: Yes, I understand.

S: And now the fox, whose body was very skinny, became an ox. It became an ox and the people around there started to take care of it. Once they took care of it until it was large and healthy they took it to chai naa.

C: What is chai naa.

S: chai naa (in English) means to work in the field.

C: I understand.

S: After having to work in the field the fox goes back to the sacred tree and says “I can’t take this. Once becoming an ox, they took me and used me in the fields. Can I become a horse or something? At least I’d have someone taking care of me.”
But once it became a horse, the king, uh, the king that lived in that country saw how beautiful this horse was and ordered his soldiers to capture it and make the horse his personal horse. Do you understand?

C: What do you mean personal horse?

S: He used the horse to ride around for fun.

C: Oh, to ride around for fun.

S: He also used the horse to ride for work, for religious events, stuff like that. The King’s working horse. After becoming a working horse, the fox felt bored and realized being a king was betterthan being a horse. You understand?

C: Right.

S: The fox felt the kings used horses and were better than them. So, the fox went to the sacred tree and asked to if it could be a king instead. Now once the fox was a king, it wanted to travel on a boat. It wanted to, uh, wanted to travel on the ocean. So, it ordered its soldiers to go cut down trees to, uh, make a very large boat. And the soldiers ended up trying to cut down the sacred tree too.

C: Uh oh.

S: So now the sacred tree was very angry, that it, that it had helped the king, had helped the king since way before when it was a fox, and fox’s soldiers were trying to cut it down. So, it ordered the soldiers to tell it’s king to come cut the sacred tree itself. Once the king came to the tree, the sacred tree blamed the king that “You don’t know, you don’t appreciate, you don’t, you’re a bad person who got whatever they wanted and it wasn’t enough.”

From being a fox to becoming an ox, from becoming an ox to becoming a horse, from becoming a horse to becoming a king, becoming a king and even trying to cut down the sacred tree that helped it. So the sacred tree cursed the king and turned him back into a hungry fox.

C: Uh oh.

S: The end.

C: Okay.

Analysis: This tale is serves as an example of how someone should conduct themselves and to appreciate the things that people, in this case a sacred tree, would give them. There seems to be a greater message to this tale than just the story itself.