Reading Diary A: Chinese Fairy Tales

Reading A: Chinese Fairy Tales

Through my different readings I've decided that I prefer reading different cultures' fairy tales. I've read American Indian and Persian tales and I decided to continue the trend with Chinese fairy tales this week.

The Lady Of The Moon: I really like the author's description of the moon castle. It was an interesting place to explore. I like the idea of the moon being some type of alternate reality. It was kind of like heaven because it was so other-worldly and foreign.

I also liked the beginning of the story where it described the hero, Hou I. According to the story, he is the reason we only have one sun now. He shot down the other eight. As I've said before, I like stories that explain why the world operates the way it does today.

The Cassia Tree
Source: The Chinese Fairy Book

Why Dog And Cat Are Enemies: The title of this story immediately drew me in. I have wondered why cats are dogs don't get along and I hoped to gain a little bit of knowledge from this story. I was honestly not surprised that it was the cat's fault that the two are enemies today. The writer of the story captured the nature of both animals in their characters and provided an entertaining reason as to why cats and dogs are enemies. I think that the way the author also included the mouse into the story was very clever. It added an extra dynamic and made me laugh.