Sunday, November 2, 2008
Hello, this is Cheryl here, your extremely lovable pre-trip administrator! I can't wait to go to Adelaide!
Anyway, I'm writing to you to tell you about the story we're doing. It is a twist on an original Chinese folktale on how the methods of celebration of Chinese New Year came about. Right, here's the original version first (if you want to skip right to the one we twisted, just scroll down. i thought you might be interested in the original though). Long ago, the world was not a safe place as monsters dominated the world and terrified the living wits out of the people. There was one particularly nasty monster that came out on the same day each year to eat people. It was a creature of habit, you see, and it had a very delicate digestive system. This monster was named Nian, and the people marked the end of a year by his visits to the human civilisation. that is why the Chinese word for year is Nian, it looks like this: 年. The people were terrified of the monster as everytime it came out, whole villages would be destroyed. They huddled in fear in their homes and stayed up all night, not wanting to be eaten. Then, an old man thought of a plan to scare the monster away. He proposed that the people should set fire to bamboo as the bamboo would crack and make a lot of noise, possibly scaring the fearsome monster away. Everyone agreed to the plan and set fire to the bamboo on the night the monster was supposed to come. True enough, the tremendous noise generated scared away the monster and scrambled back to its cave without eating anyone. Everyone was relieved and happy. So from then on, people stayed up late, lit firecrackers (to stimulate the lighting of the bamboo), and congratulated each other when the new year came.
Okay, this is our version. Nian has lived in peace with the people of the land for many eons. Somewhere along the way, he meets this other character of female persuasion and falls in love with her. Being the unspeakably handsome creature that he is, he manages to get her to fall in love with him as well. So, Nian has everything he wants; a good home, a lovely girlfriend, etc. But something starts to go wrong. The people of the land start pouring their waste into the rivers, poisoning the creatures’ drinking water. They start cutting down the trees and burning the forests. Soon, Nian and his female friend are left with nothing but a miserable patch of trees for a home. His girlfriend starts to fall horribly sick (due to the poisoned water). Ashamed and afraid of letting Nian see her in this stricken state, she runs away from home. Nian is heartbroken and decides to take revenge on the people of the land for wrecking his home and love life. The inspiration for this version of the tale comes from the numerous B-grade horror movies where the real villains are actually the humans who mess around with the environment and the monsters are actually pitiful victims of the circumstances. Of course, the tale has to have a happy ending. The people of the land start to realize the consequences of their actions and decide to change for the better. They also manage to get Nian and his girlfriend back together again. Therefore, in order to celebrate this happy reunion, the people set off firecrackers/bamboo sticks.
Although the origin of the tale is chinese, we're keeping this piece culturally neutral.
I was joking about the digestion. I wasn't joking about me being lovable though. Hahaha. Kidding!
Right, now I've to get back to my o chinese revision. Enjoy your packing!
Anyway, I'm writing to you to tell you about the story we're doing. It is a twist on an original Chinese folktale on how the methods of celebration of Chinese New Year came about. Right, here's the original version first (if you want to skip right to the one we twisted, just scroll down. i thought you might be interested in the original though). Long ago, the world was not a safe place as monsters dominated the world and terrified the living wits out of the people. There was one particularly nasty monster that came out on the same day each year to eat people. It was a creature of habit, you see, and it had a very delicate digestive system. This monster was named Nian, and the people marked the end of a year by his visits to the human civilisation. that is why the Chinese word for year is Nian, it looks like this: 年. The people were terrified of the monster as everytime it came out, whole villages would be destroyed. They huddled in fear in their homes and stayed up all night, not wanting to be eaten. Then, an old man thought of a plan to scare the monster away. He proposed that the people should set fire to bamboo as the bamboo would crack and make a lot of noise, possibly scaring the fearsome monster away. Everyone agreed to the plan and set fire to the bamboo on the night the monster was supposed to come. True enough, the tremendous noise generated scared away the monster and scrambled back to its cave without eating anyone. Everyone was relieved and happy. So from then on, people stayed up late, lit firecrackers (to stimulate the lighting of the bamboo), and congratulated each other when the new year came.
Okay, this is our version. Nian has lived in peace with the people of the land for many eons. Somewhere along the way, he meets this other character of female persuasion and falls in love with her. Being the unspeakably handsome creature that he is, he manages to get her to fall in love with him as well. So, Nian has everything he wants; a good home, a lovely girlfriend, etc. But something starts to go wrong. The people of the land start pouring their waste into the rivers, poisoning the creatures’ drinking water. They start cutting down the trees and burning the forests. Soon, Nian and his female friend are left with nothing but a miserable patch of trees for a home. His girlfriend starts to fall horribly sick (due to the poisoned water). Ashamed and afraid of letting Nian see her in this stricken state, she runs away from home. Nian is heartbroken and decides to take revenge on the people of the land for wrecking his home and love life. The inspiration for this version of the tale comes from the numerous B-grade horror movies where the real villains are actually the humans who mess around with the environment and the monsters are actually pitiful victims of the circumstances. Of course, the tale has to have a happy ending. The people of the land start to realize the consequences of their actions and decide to change for the better. They also manage to get Nian and his girlfriend back together again. Therefore, in order to celebrate this happy reunion, the people set off firecrackers/bamboo sticks.
Although the origin of the tale is chinese, we're keeping this piece culturally neutral.
I was joking about the digestion. I wasn't joking about me being lovable though. Hahaha. Kidding!
Right, now I've to get back to my o chinese revision. Enjoy your packing!
we had a smashing good day, 4:37 PM.