Sima Guang Breaks the Vat

Sima Guang was nine years old. He liked to play in his backyard with his friends Wang Wei, Li Na, and Zhang Yong.

One day, the friends were playing in the yard. Wang Wei said, “I bet I can climb up to the top of the water vat!” (A water vat is a very big clay jar used to keep rain water).

“Do not go to the top of the water vat!” said Li Na. “It is too high.”

“It is not too high for me!” said Wang Wei.

“Stay down here and play,” said Sima Guang.

“No, I want to go up!” said Wang Wei, so he climbed up to the top of the vat. When he was at the top he stood on one foot and called, “Look at me – one foot!”

“Ooh, clever!” said Zhang Yong.

Then – oh, no! Wang Wei fell down into the water vat!

“I cannot swim!” he called. “The water is too deep!”

“We must run for help!” said Li Na.

“No!” said Sima Guang. “That will take too long!”

“Then we cannot do anything to help,” yelled Li Na in fear. “Ahhh!” yelled Zhang Yong in fear, too. “AHHH!” they all yelled together.

Then, Sima Guang saw a rock. He picked up the rock and threw it at the bottom of the water vat. The vat did not crack. He picked up the rock and threw it again. There was a very small crack this time. He threw it again. Then a bigger crack! All at once, a very big wave of water flew out of the broken water vat.

And with the wave of water, out rolled Wang Wei! Wet but happy to be alive, thanks to Sima Guang.

“Granny, why is it so dark in here?” Said Little Red Riding Hood..

“I’ve been sick, my child, and the light hurts my eyes. Come closer.” A furry paw beckoned to Little Red Riding Hood from out of the shadows.

“Granny! What big, furry, hands you’ve got!” Said Little Red Riding Hood, definitely a bit shocked.

“All the better to stroke you with, my child.” Said the trembling voice from the shadows. “Come closer so that I can stroke your beautiful hair.”

Two fierce, hungry, eyes glared brightly from out of the dark place where the trembling voice came from. Little Red Riding Hood took a step closer to her grandmother’s bed.

“But grandmother, what big eyes you’ve got!” She said.

“All the better to see you with, my child. Come closer so that I can see your pretty face more clearly.” Said the trembling voice from the shadow, followed by an eager, sniffing sound.

“Granny, I don’t want to seem rude, but - what a big nose you have!” Said Little Red Riding Hood, stepping closer, a little afraid now, but curious, curious, curious.

“All the better to smell you with!” said the trembling voice from the shadows, only this time, the voice trembled less, and there was a sly, hungry sound to it. “come closer, so that I can smell the sweet perfume of your fresh, young skin.” Little Red Riding Hood, uncertain and nervous, stepped closer and saw a set of shiny teeth being licked by a drooling, red, tongue.

“Grandmother! What big teeth you have!” Said Little Red Riding Hood, terrified now.

“All the better to EAT you with!” Said the wolf, as he leaped out of the bed and swallowed Little Red Riding Hood in one, big bite!

PART THREE

When the wicked woman got home she went to her mirror and said, “magic mirror upon the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" The mirror answered as before, “Queen, thou art of beauty rare, but Snow-White living in the glen with the seven little men is a thousand times more fair." When she heard that she was so shocked that all the blood left her heart, for she knew that Snow-white must still be living. “But this time,” she said, “I will do something that will be her ruin.” And by witchcraft she made a poisoned comb. Then she disguised herself as yet another old woman, different from the first, and went to the house of the seven dwarfs again, she knocked at the door crying, “beautiful combs for sale!” Snow-white looked out and said, “Sorry, please go away, I must not let anybody inside the house.”

“But you are not forbidden to look,” said the wicked Queen, taking out the poisoned comb and holding it up. It pleased Snow-White so much that she opened the door, (foolish girl) and when the bargain was made the old woman said, “Now, your hair shall be properly combed.” Poor Snow-white, thinking no harm, let the old woman do as she would, (rather silly of her, I think, don’t you?) Sure enough, no sooner was the comb put in her hair than the poison began to work, and the poor girl fell down senseless.

“Now, you paragon of beauty,” said the wicked woman, “this is the end of you,” and off she went, laughing that laugh again.

By good luck it was now near evening, and the seven dwarfs came home. When they saw Snow-white lying on the ground as though dead, they knew that it was the wicked Queen’s doing, one of them found the poisoned comb, and no sooner had they taken it out of her hair than Snow-white recovered, and told them all that had happened. They warned her once more to be on her guard, and never again to let anyone in the house.

Back in the palace, the Queen stood before the looking-glass and said, “magic mirror upon the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" The mirror answered as before, “Queen, thou art of beauty rare, But Snow-white living in the glen with the seven little men is a thousand times more fair." When she heard the mirror say this, she trembled and shook with anger. “Snow-white shall die,” she cried, “even if it should cost me my own life!” She went to a secret chamber, where no one was likely to come, and there she made a poisonous apple. It was beautiful to look upon, this lush, red and green apple, anyone who should see it must long for it, but whoever ate even a little bit of the poisoned part, would die. When the apple was ready she painted her face and clothed herself like a peasant woman and went to where the seven dwarfs lived.

When she knocked at the door Snow-white put her head out of the window and said, “I dare not let anybody in; the seven dwarfs told me not to.” “Alright,” answered the woman; “I can easily get rid of my apples elsewhere. Here, I will give you this one.”

“No,” answered Snow-white, “I dare not take anything.”

“Are you afraid of poison?” said the woman, “look here, I will cut the apple in two pieces; you shall have the red side, I will have the green one.” For the apple was so cunningly made, that all the poison was in the rosy half of it. Snow-white longed for the delicious looking apple, and as she saw the peasant woman eating a piece of it she could no longer resist and took the poisoned half. No sooner had she bitten into it than she fell to the ground as though dead. And the Queen, her beautiful face twisted into a mask of vile horror, laughed aloud, and cried, “As white as snow, as red as blood, as black as ebony! This time the dwarfs will not be able to bring you to life again.” And she laughed like the mad woman she was as she made her way back to the palace.

Belling the Cat

Long ago, the mice held a big meeting to discuss how they could outwit their enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and some said that, but none of them had any really good ideas. Then a young mouse stood up and said he had a plan that should work. "You will all agree," he said, "that the reason the cat catches so many of us, is because it creeps up so quietly, we don’t know it’s there until it’s too late. Now, if we could hear it approaching, we could easily run away before we are caught! My idea is that we get a small bell and attach it, by a ribbon, around the neck of the Cat. Then we should always know when the cat was near and could easily run away before it even knew we were there."

All the mice thought this was a good idea and started cheering and clapping, until an old mouse got up and said: "That is all very well, but who is going to put the bell on the Cat?" The mice looked at one another - nobody spoke. No one wanted to do that job. Then the old mouse said:

"Solutions to a problem should be thought through thoroughly."

SNOW-WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

PART ONE

It was the middle of winter, and snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky. A Queen sat at her window, working at her embroidery. As she worked, gazing at times out on the snow, she accidentally pricked her finger, and there fell from it three drops of blood on the snow. When she saw how bright and red it looked, she said to herself, “Oh I wish I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the ebony wood of this embroidery frame!”

Not long after she had a daughter, with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony, and she was named Snow-White. But there is a price for every wish, and when she was born her mother, the Queen, died.

Some years later, the King took another wife, a beautiful woman, but proud, vain, and demanding. She could not bear to be surpassed in beauty by anyone. The woman had a magic mirror and she used to stand before it, look in it, and say, “magic mirror upon the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" And the mirror would answer, “You are fairest of them all.” And she was contented, for she knew that the mirror could only speak the truth.

Now, Snow-white was growing prettier and prettier, and when she was sixteen years old she was as beautiful as day, far more so than the Queen herself. So, one day when the Queen went to her mirror and said, “magic mirror upon the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" It answered, “Queen, you are full fair, it’s true, But Snow-white is fairer than you." This shocked the Queen to her very core, she became yellow and green with envy, and from that hour her heart turned against Snow-white, and she hated her. Envy and pride like poison weeds grew in her heart, twisting up higher every day, until she had no peace. When her hatred became unbearable she sent for a huntsman, and said, “Take the girl out into the woods, so that I may set eyes on her no more. You must kill her and bring me her heart.” The huntsman did as he was told and led Snow-White away; but when he drew his dagger to pierce her innocent heart, she began to weep, and said, “dear huntsman, don’t kill me. I will go away into the wild wood, and never come home again.” The huntsman had pity on her, and said, “Away with you then, poor child.” He thought the wild animals would be sure to devour her, but he also felt as if a stone had been rolled away from his heart when he decided not to kill the innocent girl. As he walked back, wondering what to tell the wicked Queen, a young wild boar came running by, so he caught and killed it, and taking out its heart, he brought it to the Queen and told her it was Snow-White’s heart. The Queen had it salted and cooked, and the wicked woman ate it up, thinking that was the end of Snow-white.

Now, the poor girl found herself alone in the wild woods, she was terrified, even of the very leaves on the trees, she didn’t know what to do for fright. She ran over sharp stones and through thorn bushes and believed that the wild beasts of the forest were after her, but they did her no harm. She ran as long as her feet would carry her. When the evening drew near she had some luck and came upon a little house, she went inside to rest. Everything was small inside the house, but as pretty and clean as possible. There stood the little table ready laid, and covered with a white cloth, and seven little plates, and seven small knives and forks, and drinking cups. By the wall stood seven little beds, side by side, covered with clean white quilts. Snow-white, being very hungry and thirsty, ate from each plate a little porridge and bread, and drank out of each little cup a drop of wine, so as not to finish up one portion alone. After that she felt so tired that she lay down on one of the beds and fell asleep.