Norman Hinsdale Pitman (1876- 1925) was an educator and author. He was born in Lamont, Michigan. His works include: The Lady Elect: A Chinese Romance (1913), A Chinese Wonder Book (1919), Chinese Fairy Tales (1924) and Dragon Lure: A Romance of Peking (1925).
What do they care for a man when he is sick?" he muttered. "My good friend Sing is doubtless even now enjoying his afternoon nap, with a servant standing by to fan him, and a block of ice near his head to cool the air. What does he care if I die of a raging fever? Doubtless he expects to inherit all my money. And my servants! That rascal Wang has been with me these ten years, living on me and growing lazier every season!
The Chinese Wonder Book contains some of the most beloved Chinese folktales. These stories include: The Golden Beetle or Why the Dog Hates the Cat The Great Bell The Strange Tale of Doctor Dog The Talking Fish And many other classics Originally published in 1919, this book has thrilled and amused children and adults for generations, and served as an accessible introduction to Chinese folklore for countless readers. Included with these fifteen magical Chinese fairy tales are Li Chu Tang's glorious, full-color illustrations original to the book's first edition, making this book a historical treasure. A new foreword by Sylvia Lin pays homage to the magic of Chinese folktales and adds its own enchantment to this classic children's book. This endearing collection of Chinese fables is sure to bring as much joy to today's children as it did to their grandparents.
The Chinese Wonder Book contains some of the most beloved Chinese folktales, including "The Golden Beetle or Why the Dog Hates the Cat," "The Great Bell," "The Strange Tale of Doctor Dog" and "The Talking Fish." Originally published in 1919, this book has thrilled and amused children and adults for generations, and served as an accessible introduction to Chinese folklore for countless readers. Included with these fifteen magical Chinese fairy tales are Li Chu Tang's glorious, full-color illustrations original to the book's first edition, making this book a historical treasure. A new foreword by Sylvia Lin pays homage to the magic of Chinese folktales and adds its own enchantment to this classic children's book. This endearing collection of Chinese fables is sure to bring as much joy to today's children as it did to their grandparents.
The author of this book was an American teacher in the Provincial College near Peking, China, and the stories are based on legends picked up among Chinese children. The figures in these fairy tales are demons, gods, dragons and other mysterious spirits that belong exclusively to Chinese folklore, and the book makes a kind of Chinese Arabian Night . There are eleven stories and each has its moral skilfully revealed.
Woe is me!" he cried at last, his sorrow getting the better of his usual calmness. "I have picked up the great capital and moved it from the South to Peking and have built here a mighty city. I have surrounded my city with a wall, even thicker and greater than the famous wall of China. I have constructed in this city scores of temples and palaces. I have had the wise men and scholars compile a great book of wisdom, made up of 23,000 volumes, the largest and most wonderful collection of learning ever gathered together by the hands of men. I have built watch-towers, bridges, and giant monuments, and now, alas! as I approach the end of my days as ruler of the Middle Kingdom there is nothing more to be done for my people. Better far that I should even now close my tired eyes for ever and mount up on high to be the guest of the dragon, than live on in idleness, giving to my children an example of uselessness and sloth.
Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 4 hours - Reading time of the summarized text: 11 minutes
A Chinese Wonderbook" is a collection of stories, realistic in setting, of child life in China. Folk story, legend and magic are woven into these stories of children for children. The illustrations by Lo - Chu - T'Ang are truly Chinese pictures, yet intelligible to kids worldwide. The book is entertaining and also unique and there is a certain economy of wonders in these stories, an avoidance of surfeit which characteristically we suspect to be Chinese. And there is a good deal of homely detail, acceptable to the juvenile taste.
The Chinese Wonder Book contains some of the most beloved Chinese folktales. These stories include: The Golden Beetle or Why the Dog Hates the Cat The Great Bell The Strange Tale of Doctor Dog The Talking Fish And many other classics
The winter had been a hard one: extreme cold, deep snow, and violent winds. The Wang house had suffered greatly. The roof had fallen in, weighed down by heavy snow. Then a hurricane had blown a wall over, and Ming-li, the son, up all night and exposed to a bitter cold wind, had caught pneumonia. Long days of illness followed, with the spending of extra money for medicine. All their scant savings had soon melted away, and at the shop where Ming-li had been employed his place was filled by another. When at last he arose from his sick-bed he was too weak for hard labour and there seemed to be no work in the neighbouring villages for him to do. Night after night he came home, trying not to be discouraged, but in his heart feeling the deep pangs of sorrow that come to the good son who sees his mother suffering for want of food and clothing.
But, most exalted father," faltered the princess, "I am not ready to be married." "Not ready, child! Why, are you not eighteen? Are not the daughters of our nation often wedded long before they reach that age? Because of your desire for learning I have spared you thus far from any thought of a husband, but now we can wait no longer." "Royal father, hear your child, and do not compel her to give up her dearest pleasures. Let her go into a quiet convent where she may lead a life of study!" The king sighed deeply at hearing these words. He loved his daughter and did not wish to wound her. "Kwan-yin," he continued, "do you wish to pass by the green spring of youth, to give up this mighty kingdom? Do you wish to enter the doors of a convent where women say farewell to life and all its pleasures? No! your father will not permit this. It grieves me sorely to disappoint you, but one month from this very day you shall be married. I have chosen for your royal partner a man of many noble parts. You know him by name already, although you have not seen him. Remember that, of the hundred virtues filial conduct is the chief, and that you owe more to me than to all else on earth.
At the hour when these strangers entered the public square, a large crowd had gathered, for it was a feast day, and every one was bent on having a good time. All the people seemed very happy. Some, seated in little open-air booths, were eating, drinking, and smoking. Others were buying odds and ends from the street-vendors, tossing coins, and playing various games of chance.
There are many wild beasts in the mountains," he said, shaking his head as he walked away with her, thinking to prepare the frightened woman for the worst, "and I fear that your son has been carried off by one of them." Widow T'ang gave a scream of horror and sank upon the ground. Her friend walked slowly up the mountain path, looking carefully for signs of a struggle. At last when he had gone half way up the slope he came to a little pile of torn clothing spattered with blood. The woodman's axe was lying by the side of the path, also his carrying pole and some rope. There could be no mistake: after making a brave fight, the poor youth had been carried off by a tiger.
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