reading notes China folktales A

 1. The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck

Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

I like this story because I think I have terrible luck all the time. Anytime something goes bad, it happens to me and I've learned to laugh at it. But this princess also had terrible luck and paid for it wth her life. She choses a beggar to marry because she believes he is fortunate/lucky. After being poor for a while, he leaves to make a fortune and return to her. After 18 years, an emperor approaches the poor princess. The emperor asks her how she's been, where her husband is, what she was doing while he was gone, and he realized how loyal she was to him. He took her away to his new palace where they lived happily ever after... for 18 days that is. 

    story of living in the new palace ? 

2. Why Dog and Cat Are Enemies 

Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

2 owners had a cat and a dog. When the animals realized how poor and hungry their owners were, they went after the gold ring that would bring back riches and food. The cat and dog worked together to fetch the ring from its new owner and return back to their house. But since cats can climb up and over things, the cat returned home before the dog and took all the credit. The cat was praised and loved while the dog was abused and angry. 

    switch to dog wins? or both win? 

3.  The King of Ants 

Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

a scholar moves into a home that has an ant nest nearby. His house first gets invaded by dozens of miniature knights, on horse the size of flies. These tiny characters make themselves at home and use the scholar's items for themselves. After the tiny characters go hunting in his bed room (catching birds & game the size of rice grains) they had a feast in the corner of the room. Eventually, the king arrived and he demanded to fish out of the Purple Lake (which was a saucer used for ink). The king mocked the scholar for reading books and being a commoner. This angered the scholar so he smoked out their nest. 

     Tell story from king assistants POV, fun to describe/use human things for tiny individuals. 

What the ants probably fished out of. Source: Flickr