Customer Reviews

The Fourth Question: A Chinese Tale

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This may be a modern adaptation of an old tale? Another possibility is a rewrite for very young western audience. There are at least 3 dozen versions of the "Cowherd & The Weaving Maiden" Each one is quite different, meaning that my not getting the feeling of a Chinese Tale, may be wrong. Besides, who says it should have that feel? The writing and illustrations are very good and probably should be enjoyed strictly on what you will appreciate.

One version is in Dover's "Chinese Fairy Tales" Frederick H. Martens. illustrated by Yuko Green. There are 15 other tales. The story is very different than others. Who is to say one is better? "The Fourth Question" is not in the Dover Publication cited.

The young man in this story is a good son who does his best to provide for his mother, but despite his hard work is always short on food and clothing. In desperation, he takes a long journey to see the Wise Man and ask why this is the case. Along the way, he meets with an old woman who wants to know why her beautiful daughter has never spoken, an old man who wants to know why his tree has never borne fruit, and a dragon who wants to know why he hasn't ascended to heaven despite his millenium of good behavior. When he gets to the Wise Man, he is instructed that he can't ask all four of his questions and will have to leave one out. After considering the way the other three helped him, he decides to leave his question off.

When he returns, he tells the dragon he must remove the pearl on his forehead, whereupon the dragon sprouts antlers and flies to Heaven. When he meets the old man, he tells him to drain his pond and take out the buckets of gold, then water the tree with the new clear water. After doing so, the tree sprouts fruit, and the man is rewarded with a bucket of gold. When he meets up with the old woman, he tells her that her daughter will speak when she sees the man she loves. When the daughter utters her first words after seeing the young man, her mother offers her daughter in marriage, and the young man happily accepts.

When the young man returns with his pearl, gold and bride to his aged mother, he is saddened to find that she has gone blind in his absence. When he wishes that she could see and the wish is granted, he realizes that the pearl has the power to grant wishes. With his wife and mother by his side, the man and his family never go hungry again.

Good deeds are their own reward, as the cover liner states, but also some questions cannot be answered with words except the vaguest kind, such as, "Because sometimes life in unfair," or the "place you live in doesn't have good growing conditions." All of the young man's friends' problems had straight forward solutions, but poverty- especially one you've been born into- is especially complicated. The journey itself, which brought him into contact with people who could help, was part of his answer.

Young children will enjoy the beautiful illustrations and sweet story, while older children and their parents will have deeper issues to discuss.