Introduction to Chinese and Foreign Folk Tales

1. The Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden

Legend has it that the ancient Heavenly Emperor's granddaughter, the Weaving Maiden, was good at weaving and weaved colorful haze in the sky every day. Hating this boring life, she secretly descended to the mortal world and married the Cowherd of the west of the river privately to lead the life of a man cultivating the land and a woman weaving the silk.

This incident angered the Heavenly Emperor, who caught the Weaving Maiden back to the Heavenly Palace and ordered them to be separated, allowing them to meet only once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month, on the Magpie Bridge.

Their steadfast love touched the magpies, and countless magpies flew in and built a colorful bridge across the heavenly river with their bodies, so that the Cowherd and the Weaving Maiden could meet each other on the heavenly river.

2. Meng Jiangnu Weeps at the Great Wall

Legend has it that during the Qin Dynasty, when Emperor Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall, the labor was heavy, and the young man, Fan Xiliang, and the woman, Meng Jiangnu, had just been married for three days when he was forced to set out to build the Great Wall, and soon died of hunger, cold and fatigue, and his body was buried under the wall of the Great Wall.

Meng Jiangnu wore a cold coat and went through a lot of hard work before she finally came to the Great Wall, but she got the bad news that her husband was dead. Meng Jiangnu cried for three days and nights on the Great Wall, but suddenly the Wall collapsed, revealing Fan Xiliang's body. Meng Jiangnu buried Fan Xiliang and then threw herself into the sea in despair.

3, Liu Sanjie

Legend has it that in the Yishan area of Guanxi, in the village of Zhongsan, there is a woman of the Liu surname who is the third in line for the name of Liu Sanjie, a yellow warbler, who likes to sing songs. Young people from near and far sang songs with her, but no one could win. Youth Li Shitian, hard-working and simple, asked to learn songs from the three sisters.

Mo Huairen, a wealthy man, saw the third sister's beauty and good song, and wanted to take her as a concubine, hired a man to sing with the third sister, which was defeated by the third sister. At this time, Li Shitian had already learned a good song, and often sang with the third sister.

Mo Huairen harbors a grudge. In the end, he made the third sister fall into the river. The three sisters floated to Liuzhou, and Li Shitian song, even sang three days and three nights, floating away. Later, she sang with Li Shitian at the Seven Star Rock in Guilin for 7 days and 7 nights, and then changed into a pair of yellow warblers and flew away.

4, dolphin constellation legend

There is a famous musician, he is the sun god Apollo's son Orpheus.

Anciently, there was also an extraordinary musician on earth, who lived in the famous Aegean seaside city of Corinth, named Arion. Arion was not as noble as Orpheus, and his family did not have a strong musical atmosphere, but with the same unselfish devotion as Orpheus, he still reached the amazing realm of the bizarre.

The people of the Mediterranean were very fond of music, and they often held music competitions.

One day, Arion heard that a great music competition was about to be held in Sicily, and that musicians from all over the world would be coming to show their skills. Although he was already famous throughout the city, he wished to participate in this event so that people all over the world could hear his melodies.

Arion came to the palace to bid farewell to the king. The king was his confidant, and they usually always spoke of each other as friends. The king was worried about him, thinking of the stormy seas, the demons, the pirates, and the strong men who would haunt him on his long journey. But Arion's mind was made up, and the king could only go to the sea to see him off with tears in his eyes, watching the lonely sail sail away from the blue sky.

With a safe journey, Arion arrived in Sicily on schedule. His musical talent shook the entire race, and the laurels of the competition were finally placed on his head. Not only Corinth, but the whole Mediterranean, even the world, echoed with his melodies.

He sailed home with honor. The sea was calm, white clouds drifted in the blue sky, and sand gulls frolicked in the mirror-like sea. Standing on the deck, he hated to look through the canopy and see his hometown thousands of miles away, and only hoped that the ship would run faster and faster.

But just as he was immersed in his dreamlike visions, a couple of sailors swooped in. "Arion, we admire your musical talent, but we want those gold and silver treasures of yours even more. Jump into the sea yourself and spare us the trouble!"

Listening to the sailors, Arion looked calm, "Let me embrace my lyre one last time and play a tune!"

He changed into a gorgeous robe, burned a pillar of incense, curling smoke, he y inhaled the cold air on the Mediterranean Sea, sadness filled his heart, the sound of the zither, the waves of the sea, the wind and clouds change color. It also attracted a dolphin wandering around the boat, which could not bear to leave for a long time.

After playing the last note, Arion picked up the piano, looked at the guys contemptuously, and jumped into the sea.

When he awoke, he realized that something beneath him was holding him up as he swam toward shore. It wasn't until he stepped on the soft sand of the shore that he could see that it was the dolphin that had saved him. The dolphin gave him a fond look and swam away reluctantly.

Arion slowly stood up and looked up, ah, his longed-for hometown of Corinth was right in front of him!

The dolphin's righteous act of rescue reached the heavens, and Zeus was touched. He elevated this faithful and righteous dolphin to the heavenly realm, which was the constellation Dolphin.

5, the origin of the Christmas stockings

Once upon a time there was a kind-hearted nobleman, his wife died of illness, leaving him and his three daughters.

The nobleman tried a number of inventions, all of which failed, and ran out of money, so they had to move to a farmhouse, where his daughters had to cook, sew and clean themselves.

As the years passed and his daughters reached marriageable age, the father became even more frustrated because he had no money to buy them dowries.

One evening, the daughters hung their stockings in front of the fireplace to dry after doing their laundry.

Saint Nicholas, having learned of their father's plight, came to their door that very night. He saw from the window that the family was asleep and noticed the girls' stockings.

Then he took three small packets of gold out of his pocket and threw them down the chimney, one by one, just as they fell into the girls' stockings.

The next morning, the daughters awoke to find their stockings filled with gold, enough for their dowries.

The nobleman was able to see his daughters get married and lived happily ever after.

This is how Christmas stockings came to be, and since then, children all over the world have carried on the tradition of hanging them. In some countries, children have other similar customs, such as in France, where children put their shoes next to the fireplace and so on.

The earliest of these used to be a pair of large red socks of any size. Because Christmas stockings were meant to hold presents, they were a favorite among children, who would hang their stockings next to their beds at night, waiting to receive their gifts the next morning.