The second husband story

The second husband story
Folktale from Cambodia

Once, long ago, a man and a woman had just got married. The man loved his wife very much. But, one day, a messenger came from the king. He told the man to come and fight in the king’s war. The man became very sad. He did not want to leave his wife. But he was so frightened that he obeyed. He prepared a little food and hurried away to join the messenger.
 Folktale from Cambodia

He was still near his house, when he stopped by a bo tree. Each time he tried to go on, he started to cry. Each time he walked away, he turned round and

The hare and the elephant's mother

The hare and the elephant's mother story

One morning a hare went to look for food. He saw a tree trunk, covered with sticky gum. When he jumped up on the tree trunk, his tail and legs stuck to it. He could not get away.

Just then a baby elephant came along, looking for water. He liked to drink from the pond near the sticky tree trunk.

The hare was clever, he thought of a plant to set himself free. He called out, “Little elephant, don’t drink my water! A great god, Lord Indra has asked me to guard it.”

The baby elephant was too frightened to drink. He ran back to his mother. “Mother” he said, I went to drink

The name of Hongkong legend

The name of Hongkong story

Do you know where the name Hong Kong comes from?

There are several interesting stories about this. A long time ago, there was a village near Arberdeen called “Hong Kong Ts’un” or “Incense Harbour Village”. The incense grown there was famous throughout China. Some of it was even sent to

Narrative teks - Kam Tin

Kam Tin story

Kam Tin is one of the oldest villages in the New Territories. Do you know how it got its name?

Over 1,000 years ago most of the houses there belonged to the Chan family. The place was called “Chan Tin” meaning Chan’s fields. Later the name was changed to “Sham Tin” or a small hill surrounded by fields. The present name of Kam Tin was first used about 400 years ago.

In those days, the richest man living there was Tang Yuen Fan. He owned a very large farm. One year, there was a terrible famine. Nobody had enough food

The fortune teller

The fortune teller story

In the great city of Taipei, there lived a man called Lin and his wife. They had no children. Because of this, they were very unhappy.

One day, they found a baby boy outside their door. He was wrapped in a blanket and crying. They took the baby into their house and called him Sau Ling, they loved him very much.

When Sau Ling was a young man, a fortune-teller came to the house. “You must send your son away,” he said. “One day he will become a thief and cause you a lot of trouble.”

Mr. and Mrs. Ling were very sad to hear this. They believed what the fortune-teller said. They gave Sau Ling some clothes and money and sent him away.

Several years later, Sau Ling was having a meal in an inn several miles from Taipei. He  put his bag on the floor near his table. After finishing his meal, he picked up his bag. “That’s strange!” he thought, “It feels so heavy.” He looked inside. It was full of small gold bars. Then he realized that someone had taken his bag by mistake and left another bag in its place.

That evening, a young man came to the inn “has anyone seen my bag?” he asked . Sau Ling was very honest. He returned the bag him. The young man thanked him. “You are really very honest,” he said . “ I shall ask my father to give you a job.”

The young man’s father was a rich merchant. He gave Sau Ling a good job. “But go home first,” he said, “and take a holiday.”

Sau Ling returned to Taipei. Mr. and Mrs. Lin were delighted to see him again. The fortune-teller was also present. Sau ling told them what had happened. The fortune-teller did not know what to say. He left the house without saying a word. Mr. and Mrs. Lin never believed in Fortune-teller after that. Sau Ling took them to live with him and they were very happy and contented until the end of their lives.

Half screen mountain

Half Screen mountain story

There is a famous mountain between Nan-Tzu and Tso-Ying near Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. It is called “Half-Screen Mountain”, as it looks like a Chinese screen with one half missing. Do you know why it is called Half-Screen Mountain?

Long, long ago, this mountain was jealous of another mountain next to it. The other mountain’s name was Jade Mountain. Jade Mountain was higher than Half-Screen Mountain but Half-Screen Mountain did not want to admit this.

One day, it challenged Jade Mountain. “Let’s see who is the higher,” it said. “God can be our judge.”

Jade Mountain was angry as it knew it was the higher of the two. “Don’t be foolish. You know I am higher.” It replied.

“Impossible!” Half-Screen Mountain said. “I am so high that if a piece of bean curd were placed on my head, the sky would be broken.”

At this moment, God was passing by and  heard what Half-Screen Mountain said. He decided to punish Half-Screen Mountain. He ordered the God of Thunder to strike the mountain with his hammer. The God of Thunder did so. The mountain split in two and half of it fell into the valley below.

From that day on, people called it Half-Screen Mountain. It was never heard to boat again.

Bobo Bakau

Bobo Bakau Story

Long, long ago, there lived a farmer named Liu I-shen. He was married but he did not have any children, every night, his wife prayed for a daughter.

One day, Liu went to cut some firewood. Suddenly, a voice came from a large bamboo, “Can you please let me out? I will become your daughter.”

He cut the bamboo with his axe. Out jumped a tiny girl only two inches tall. “Where have you come from, little girl?” he asked.

“I have come from the moon.”

He took the little girl back to his wife. The little girl told them that her name was Yue-ngo, which means “pretty girl in the moon.”

Yue-ngo lived with the couple very happily for many years. When she was grown up, many men wanted to marry her. The farmer and his wife wanted her to marry a man who had enough money to support them. One day, a writer came to see them. “You are old.” He said. “If I can marry your daughter, I will look after you.” The couple agreed. He gave them one hundred dollars. They promised that he could marry their daughter at the end of the year.

After some time, the money was finished. Then,