While the results of romance are often tragic in Chinese folk literature, lovers are sometimes allowed the happiness they desire, as shown by this Chinese folktale The Snail Girl.
Once upon a time, there lived a young farmer named Xie Duan whose parents had died years before. Although everyone regarded him as a great hard-working, decent, and loyal neighbor and friend, Xie Duan was all alone by himself, since he had no money and, hence, no wife.
One evening, on his way back from tending his field, Xie Duan spied a giant river snail lying on the side of the road. He picked up the snail and took it home, and put it into a vat with water.
The very next night, when Xie Duan came back home, he discovered the floor swept and that several bowls of delicious food were awaiting him on his table!
"How kind my neighbors are. " said Xie Duan. But when he asked his neighbors and friends to thank those who have been kind, none had any knowledge of the incident.
Strangely, the same thing happened on the second day, then on the third, forth and fifth day. At last, Xie Duan decided to find out who was his benefactor. Please see Chinese folktale: The Snail Girl for more details.
The carefully composed illustrations, coupled with superb book design, make the book appropriately childlike and whimsical, and open this classic tale to new interpretations. Thoughtful students of Chinese folktale will welcome this astonishingly artful edition.
The book comes with Chinese characters and the Pinyin (phonetic transcriptions), a great adventure book to enjoy and practice reading Chinese. The high-quality print is nicely produced to capture the vivid color and exceptional detail of the original artwork.
