Greed & Consequences
Stories in which the desire for wealth, status or more than a fair share changes what characters do. Follow the moment when a wish becomes harmful, and examine the consequences for bystanders as well as the person seeking the reward. A spectacular punishment can itself raise questions about fairness.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck
An unlucky princess throws her marriage ball to a beggar she sees is destined for greatness, then waits eighteen years for him to return.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Fairy Bonze
After a generous merchant's ruin and death, his son discovers the purpose of a monk's buried tiles and reunites with the woman who chooses him.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Eight Immortals (I)
Wilhelm's portraits of the Eight Immortals include Li of the Iron Crutch, Lü Dung Bin and Ho Sian Gu, with magical transformations and contrasting tests.
Chinese Folk Tales
The Disowned Princess
A failed scholar carries a letter from a dragon-king’s mistreated daughter to her father’s palace beneath the sea, and her furious uncle takes revenge.
Chinese Folk Tales
The Cave of the Beasts
Abandoned in the mountains by their father, two young sisters find a cave of jewels owned by a wolf and a fox, and outwit the beasts by morning.
Chinese Folk Tales
Rose of Evening
Drowned at the Dragon Junk festival, the boy acrobat Aduan dances for the Prince of the Dragon’s Cave and falls in love with the dancer Rose of Evening.
Chinese Folk Tales
Notscha
Born glowing from a spinning ball, the wild boy Notscha battles the Dragon-King’s son, gives up his life, and is reborn from lotus with wheels of fire.
Chinese Folk Tales
Laotsze
Laotsze rides west on a black ox, refuses to pay his servant, turns him to bones and back, and leaves the guardian of the pass his book of five thousand words.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
King Mu of Dschou
A magician from the far West carries King Mu on a spirit journey that lasts decades in a moment, and the king later visits the Queen-Mother of the West.
Chinese Folk Tales
How the River-God’s Wedding Was Broken Off
Governor Si-Men Bau attends the yearly drowning of a river-god’s ‘bride’ and ends the cruel custom by sending the sorcerers in to deliver the message.
Chinese Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
How the Five Ancients Became Men
Five elemental Ancients shape heaven and earth from chaos, make plants, beasts, and people, and crown the White Jade Ruler as the highest god.
Chinese Folk Tales
How Greed for a Trifling Thing Led a Man to Lose a Great One
A loving son is given a magic helper called Small Profit; his envious brother gets Great Duty instead, then loses both by grabbing at the smaller gift.