Josh Lam
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Week 2
The Crane Bride
Once upon a time, there was a bird keeper living with his mother for he was too poor to find a wife. One day, he was in the market to buy birdseed when he stumbled upon a scroll. Upon it was a beautiful ink painting of a crane. He was enamoured with the painting, something about it called to him and he couldn't bear to leave it. Scrounging up the last of his coin, he purchased the painting and brought it home and placed it on the wall.
From that day on, when mother and son woke up in the morning, they would discover that the birds had been cared for, and a mysterious black and white feather would remain on the floor beneath the painting. Curious to find out who was caring for the birds, the man pretended to leave for the market one day and crept back to keep an eye on the house. He then saw the crane in the painting ripple and dance, before finally a beautiful maiden emerged from the painting and began to sing to the birds. The man jumped out, ran over to the maiden, and asked her to live with him instead of going back into the painting. The maiden told him it was not yet time, but the impatient man kept begging her to stay so that the two became husband and wife on that very day. She complied, and every morning she would sing to the birds, causing them to grow healthier, their colors more vibrant and their feathers more glossy. Reputation of the family soon spread and they received more birds to care for and more money.
Fearing that his wife's secret may be discovered, the husband never let her leave the house. One day, the magistrate appeared, boasting a strange multicoloured bird and asked for the husband to care for it until dawn. As usual, the husband and his mother fed the bird as normal and went to sleep, expecting the wife's song to make the bird magnificent in the morning. Morning came and the wife sang her song, but to her shock and horror, the magistrate's bird had turned to ash. When the magistrate returned for his bird, the wife met him and admitted she had killed the magistrate's bird. As punishment, the magistrate abducted the wife and sentenced her to death. The husband returned to the bird's cage later to find the bird alive and well. He rushed to the magistrate’s office with the bird in hand, hoping to clear his wife's name. However, he was too late. He released the bird and returned home, however he soon died of despair and became reborn as a blue bird. The kidnapped bride was reincarnated into a crane, and it is said the freed phoenix reunited them once more.
Time Period: Ancient China
Characters: Man, Crane Bride, Mother, Magistrate
Week 1
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