Three Folk Tales for Children

The Lamplighter Girl (I)

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Mu Ding. She was especially smart and had a pair of skillful hands. Why was Mu Ding said to have a pair of skillful hands? It turned out that she could make those insignificant grass ah, rattan ah and so on, weaving all kinds of interesting knick-knacks, like a small basket ah, a small lantern ah, who saw it all like.

On this day, Mu Ding picked a few grasses, and after splitting the grasses, he found a white, soft core inside. Mu Ding thought: Can these grass cores be used as lamp wicks? She tried to put the core into the lamp. Hey, the effect is very good, this kind of grass wick is easy to burn, the smoke produced by burning is also less, and the light is brighter. Mu Ding was so happy that he called this grass "wick grass" and the wick "lamp grass".

The clever and industrious Mu Ding used a piece of land at home to transplant the wicket grass. The wild wicket grass grows longer and stronger after her careful cultivation, and the inner wicket grass is also thicker. Mu Ding also used the wickgrass as raw material to make soft slippery mats. These mats were comfortable, cheap and durable, and different styles of mats had different uses, so they were popular with everyone. As a result, Mu Ding's family's life became better and better, and the townspeople looked on with envy. Many people came to Mu Ding, some wanting to learn from her the trick of chopping corduroy, others wanting to ask her how to weave slippery mats. However, no matter who they were, they were all politely rejected by Mu Ding.

After a short time, Mu Ding's whole family fell ill. After the townspeople knew about it, some of them invited the doctor to treat the whole family, and some of them took care of the whole family's life. For this reason, Mu Ding was both touched and guilty. After she recovered from her illness, she taught her craft to the townspeople without reservation. Later, people gave Mu Ding a nice name - "lamp grass girl".

Puppies in the Snow (II)

The snow fell from the sky in droves.

On the snow-covered (ai) mountain, there was a small yard where an old grandfather lived and planted a plum tree.

The plum tree was brought back by the old grandfather from a faraway place. In the past years, when the winter has just arrived, the flowers on the branches are already in bud, and when the first snow falls, the plum blossoms will open warmly and gently one after another.

The snow was intermittent and drifted all night.

Early in the morning, the old grandfather wrapped in an old cotton jacket, straight to the yard. The first thing I've seen is that it's almost the end of the month, and the snow is coming down one after another, but this year's plum tree has no sign of blooming, so it's very strange.

"Is it sick?"

The old grandfather put his warm palm on the trunk.

"Is it freezing?"

The old grandfather opened his arms and hugged the tree at once, trying to warm the plum tree with his own body heat, but he soon realized how silly his actions were and withdrew his hands.

The old grandfather thought of asking the famous florist of the town to come and look at the plum tree tomorrow. Just then, something white fell from the eaves of the house, and it was a little dog covered with snowflakes!

The dog was frozen and curled up in a ball.

This is probably a stray dog from the neighborhood. The old grandfather guessed. He decided to take the puppy back to the house and care for it for a while to see if it could recover.

The next day, the old man traveled to the town and invited the experienced florist to his home.

The florist looked at the plum tree from top to bottom before following Gramps into the house and sitting down, and spoke straight away, "There is nothing wrong with your tree, and it is growing well."

"Really? But it doesn't bloom!" The old grandfather was confused.

"There is always a reason for plants not to bloom."

The florist finished, lowered his head and drank a mouthful of tea, out of the corner of his eye abruptly (shu) noticed the flower basket at the head of the kang, the puppy was shrinking in the flower basket, covered with a flower quilt, and it could be seen shivering vaguely.

"How can the puppy be so cold?"

"Yeah, the puppy I picked up yesterday. I don't know why, it's obviously warm enough, but it's just cold."

Old Grandpa followed the florist's gaze.

"Oh ...... or maybe it wants you to hug it."

With a faint smile, the florist got up to say goodbye.

Send away the guests, the old grandfather took a look at the plum tree, the footsteps can not help but become brisk. As he walked, he thought of what the florist said, and he was moved, so he went to the house and opened the quilt of the little flower, and scooped up the puppy, and hugged it tightly in his arms.

Initially, the puppy in his arms, the body is cold, and occasionally will make a cold war, after a night, it slowed down, the body slowly become warm, and then, day by day angry.

Lunar month, snow day.

As soon as the old grandpa opened the door, the dog automatically came out of his coat, spread his four short legs, and ran to the white yard.

The cute paws, one by one, pressed in the snow, not long, the ground appeared countless plum blossom prints. Old Grandpa stood aside and watched with a smile.

Nonetheless, when he has nothing to do, he still likes to tuck the puppy into his arms, just like holding a small heater.

In the evenings, the old grandfather loved to walk the puppy around the bare plum tree.

"Once upon a time, ah, me and the plum tree ......"

Old Grandpa told the story of the plum tree as if he were introducing the puppy to another good friend, and the puppy plopped down under the tree, chin resting on (ge)

I don't know it's New Year's Eve, the old grandpa and the little dog nestled in the room, enjoying a sumptuous hot pot, and turn on the old TV to watch the lively Spring Festival gala.

It's late at night.

The dog is napping on the bed.

The old grandpa looked out the window drunkenly, the plum tree stood quietly (zhu), the distant sky, fluttering, falling snow. The first time I saw this, it was a very good day. The old grandfather woke up with a sleep, the snow stopped, but the dog around him is not there.

He followed the row of clear plum blossom footprints left by the puppy outside the door and searched for them. As he neared the plum tree, he was stunned. It was early in the morning on the first day of the new year, and the plum tree was in bloom!

For many years to come, the plum tree blossomed as expected.

Only, the old grandpa never saw the puppy again.

In a few more years, Old Grandpa died, and the plum tree withered quickly with his passing.

Some people say that every winter, when there is a lot of snow, a red plum tree springs up in front of the old grandfather's grave on the hill.

But some people say, where is the plum tree, it is clearly a snowy puppy.

The origin of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (3)

It is said that in the ancient times, there was a monster called Xi, who often came out to harm the people. Because Xi was so powerful, no one could subdue him, and the people hoped very much that someone could get rid of him.

One night, Xiu came to harm the people again. As soon as the people saw that Xiu had come, they all ran away. At this time, a man named Nian came forward and told everyone not to panic. The people were all running around, and he told them not to panic, but to work together to deal with Xi. Nian told everyone to light torches. They used bamboo and wood to light the torches.

When Yu saw that many people were here, he wasn't afraid. Because he was used to being king. But just then, one of the torches made of bamboo suddenly burst: there was a snap, and Yuu was so startled that he hurriedly ducked back and held his head.

As soon as Nian Yi saw that Xi was afraid of the sound of the firecrackers, he let the guys set the bamboo on the torch to roast. The sound of crackling firecrackers was so loud that Xi was scared and hid everywhere.

Nian Yi saw the opportunity, rushed up a few times and killed Xi. Everyone cheered at the sight of getting rid of this monster, and they could live in peace from now on.

The next day, everyone ran around telling each other that Nian had killed Xiu, and that they didn't need to be afraid anymore, and that Xiu had been eliminated. Everyone was very happy to hear this and came to visit Nian.

From then on, every year at this time of the night, everyone roasted bamboo with fire, listening to the crackling sound of bamboo. To commemorate the victory of New Year's Eve.

After that day was called New Year's Eve, and the next day was called New Year's Eve.