Sunday, December 9, 2012

Nolbu and Hungbu

02/Aug/00
A long time ago, two brothers lived in a small village.  The eldest brother's name is Nolbu, the other who Hungbu.  Nolbu is the richest but Hungbu is poor, and he had many children.  One day Hungbu went to his brother's house which was the biggest.  Hungbu said to his sister-in-law, "I'm sorry, sister-in-law.  Please lend some food to me.  "But his sister-in-law slapped him on the cheek with a rice scoop, instead of lending him food, and she said "You're always borrowing rice.  We don't have enough to give to you."  Hungbu returned to his house, but his hoses roof had big pumpkins which were being brought by swallow which Hungbu had cured of a broken leg.  He cut the pumpkins.  By the way, he took kinds of jewels, foods, and servants out of the pumpkins.  Hearing the news, Nolbu went to his brother.  He said, "How do you receive the seed of pumpkin?"  Hungbu said, "I had cured the swallow which had a broken leg."  Nolbu returned to his house, and he broke the leg of the swallow. He cured the swallow.  Next year, swallo brought seeds.  And then, seeds grew up.  Nolbu cut the pumpkins, but devils out of the pumpkins.  So Nolbu became poor.


   Daniel

The Raven and the Fox

Fable of LAFONTAINE

The Raven sitting on a tree held in his mouth a piece of cheese.
The Fox walking this way saw the Raven on his tree.
The Fox in his head says "Oh!  A piece of cheese!  I'm hungry!"
So the fox goes to speak with the Raven and says, "Good morning Raven, how are you?"
"I know what you want,"  said the Raven.  "You want my piece of cheese, but you can pass your way because you will never have it! Ok!"
"No, Mr. Raven, I just know that you have a good voice and I want to hear that!"  answered the Fox.
"Oh really?!" asked the Raven.
"Yes, really, please sing for me!" said the Fox.
And the Raven felt so proud about the flattering that when he started to sing, the piece of cheese fell and the Fox jumped to catch it and got away from the Raven's tree.
The moral of this story is, don't be pretentious and you can keep all of your precious things.

Fable

08/05/00

A long time ago, a rabbit asked a turtle, "Why do you always walk slowly?"  The turtle ignored the rabbit "Of course, I'm a turtle, fool,"  he thought.  After one month, the rabbit tried to tease the turtle.  "Can we play a game?"  rabbit said.  "Who ever arrives at the creek first wins.  "The lost one must cook for the winner for one year."  "O.K.  no problem, fool, "the turtle said.  While the rabbit was sleeping at home, the game started.  Rabbit said "Soon, I will win this game."  But when rabbit woke up, turtle already had arrived at the finish line.  The rabbit was regretful "I shouldn't have contempt for other people!

Tzu-Hsien Ling

NO MONEY

A man lost his parents and he worked for his two younger brothers who are 6 and 10 years old.  Of course, the man's apartment was small and dirty, and also they shared one dish for three people.  Sometimes, they scrambled when they finish their meal in the restaurant.  Even though, they were poor, they were happy because they had some hope to be rich and they helped each other.

One day, the man found very important papers for a company that he was working as a cleaner.  In order to earn good money regularly, he threatened the boss to employ him instead of the important papers.  As a result, he could get a job, not the part-time.

  Until, he became tamed, he made a lot of mistakes but his girlfriend and his coworker who knows his effort for his brothers helped him.  As time went by, his achievements were approved by his company's president.  The president was used to poor just like the man.  Therefore, the president understood the man's passion to be rich and the president made the man to be vice president.

Consequently, the man got everything that money can buy.  The man thought his brothers were happy because of plenty of money.  however, the man lost enough time to communicate his brothers and the brothers realized that money has changed his brother's personality.  The brothers' love and effort made his brother realize that love or good relationships are much more important in the life, unlike the president who got only fame and money, not a real love and personal relationship.

-tomohiko saito

The Strong Man

This story is about the man who can the change our life.  From Arabian Gulf country.  When I was a child, I listening to many stories from my grandmother, which is give me more power on my live.  I remembering that one about the people whom go to dive in search for the pearls.  They were work very hard to save their family live.  However, the man who is responsible manager for the people whom works with him was dictatorial, cruel, wicked, and greedy.  He was employ people to works gratis with him, sometime he was killing the people whom was working with him nor body can stop him.  That day one person who was coming from another village was very strong and smart, he went to the responsible manager to work with people.  Than, they went to dive, after that he found the biggest pearl on that day.  The manager traying to take the biggest pearl from the smart man, but he told him.  Let's go to fight, if any one won he can take hte biggest pearl.  Then they started fighting, the people were surprised from the man who came from the small village ,they say who is the man?  From where he comes?  After very long fighting the smart man throws the manager in water, and ie because he didn't know how to swim.

To Unite

Ancient China was an agricultural society.  Almost every family needs lots of people to work together on a farm so each family always has a lot of children.  This story took place in a big family.

  There were seven children in this family.  The children always couldn't work very well together and frequently argued with each other for tiny reasons.  This family has discord and their domestic economy went down more and more.  Their father found out that if this situation went on, their family would be broke.  However, their father found a way to give the children a hint.

   One day the father with a lot of chopsticks in his hands gathered all his children.  first, the father gave everyone one chopstick and wanted them to snap it.  It's very easy for everyone.  And then the father gave them a pair of chopsticks and they also did it.  finally, the father gave them a bunch of chopsticks but his children couldn't snap them.  At last, these children knew one important thing; if they can work together very well, they will have a happy family.  After that, the children began to unite and not to argue.  this family also became a harmonious home because they really knew that united they stood, divided they fell.

   I learned this story in my elementary school and I didn't have any feeling then because I was so young.  When I have gotten my job, I began to know the true meaning about united.  Because my company had lots of competitor, so all of staff had to have concept about team work.  My company had gotten a good score in my work of first year.  Every staff also gets lots of bonus, but I didn't think the money is importance.  I thought the team work was more important than others.

Shou-Jen Sung

The Fairy and the Man

Long long ago a man lived on a mountain.  His job was cutting down trees.  He was a logger.  He lived alone everyday because his parents died early.  Everyday he climbed the mountain, then he cut the trees, and he sold the trees in the market.  he was very kind-hearted, meek, and diligent, so he wanted to marry.  He didn't marry because he lived on the mountain; therefore, he couldn't find a woman.  One day while he slept he had a dream.  The dream was about the god of the mountain who said, "If you would like the marry, tomorrow you had better go to the lake, meet a fairy, and you must steal the fairy's clothes.  Maybe the fairy will  give up climbing to the sky.  Don't forget, you should never give her her clothes."  He got up early the next morning ,went to the lake, and waited for the fairy.  He was waiting 2 hours and then the fairy came down from the sky.  He didn't gelieve the state of things.  The fairy was very beautiful and pretty.  She took off her clothes and she was taking a shower.

   Just then he stole her clothes.  She finished taking the shower, looked for her clothes, but she didn't find them.  so, she was very sad and cried.  Just then the logger came in front of her, and he said, "If you will marry me, I will give back your clothes."  so they were married.  They were happy and excited.  They had three sons, but sometimes she missed the sky and she wanted to see her parents.  Later she said to the man, "Can you return my clothes?"  He thought if he returned her clothes, maybe she would back to go the sky.  but he loved her, so he gave her her clothes.  One day she went tothe sky, but he was waiting for her.  After three months she came back to their house, and they went to the sky together.
   Many Korean children read this fable because it is not only an interesting story but also has an important lesson.  The most important thing is diligence and the importance of love in this fable.  If we always do our work diligently maybe we will receive good luck.

Si-Wook Jang

Aladdin

There was a small poor family who lived in a small village in Baghdad.  The boy's name was Aladdin, and he lived with his mother.  Once day a man came for this family and he took Aladdin's mother.  He wanted to help them.  He wanted Aladdin to work with him.  Next, he accompanied Aladdin to start to work.  He told Aladdin there was a big accumulation of wealth in this mountain.  This person knew what was inside this mountain.  Anybody who entered inside could die.  this person needed a s mall magic lamp.  Aladdin didn't understand what could happen when he entered the mountain.  Aladdin at first was afraid, however, after he got courage, he entered the mountain.  Aladdin was late and this person thought aladdin was dead.  He left aladdin alone.

Aladdin was frightened inside the mountain and he was tired and alone.  He looked at a small lamp and he started to clean it.  Suddenly a magician came out from this lamp.  Aladdin was very scared, and this magician told him he could make anything for him.  "You have three things I can realize for you: he said.  aladdin was embarrassed at first and he said that he wanted to go outside.  The second thing he wanted was to become a king and have much money.  the third thing he wanted was a big palace.  The magician told him everything was realized for him.  Aladdin was happy when he went outside, and he moved into the big palace and became wealthy,  He was married to the governor's daughter and they lived together.  In addition, they felt happy and enjoyable.  this fable has many lessons like poor people are not ashamed and you must work hard to help your family.  And don't listen to another people.  In addition, you must satisfy your parents and make sacrifices for them.

   -Hamad Al-Mannai

Moon Princess

Long, long time ago, old man and old woman were living together in small house.
   One day, the man goes to a bamboo thicket, find brilliant bamboo, and he cut the bamboo.  Then, he finds cute little girl in the bamboo.  As soon as, he takes and goes back his house.  his wife was so delighted that he found the little cute girl, because they don't have children.
   After that, he finds brilliant bamboo many times in bamboo thicker, and he finds a lot of gold in the bamboo.  So his family were getting rich, and the little girl become beautiful woman.  And the gossip spread at once.
Five princes heard about that and visit her, and then they said that "Will you marry me?"
but she does not want to marry, and she could not choose.  So she gives five different and difficult problems for them, for example find a jewel's tree, and looking for dragon and get a Dordogne ball.  so some princes gave up.
   One day, her parents find that she was watching moon and crying.  Her parents asked that
"Why are you crying?"
,she said,
"I am a princess in the moon, and I should go back the moon next a full moon day.  And my manservant will pick me up.  so that why."
  Her parents are surprised at that.

Full moon day's nice, her menservants visit her and pick her up.  At that time, she said that,

"I will never come back here, but I will never forget you. Thank you for many kind."   After, she goes back and never comes back.

    -Naomi Funayama

A Baby Frog's Regret

This fable is from Korea.  When I was young, I read this fable.

From time eternal, a mother and baby frog were living in a grove.  But the mother frog had a problem.  It was the baby frog always told a lie and he never listened to what she said.  Whenever she told the baby frog to do something he always told a lie and behaved improperly.  For instance, when she wanted him to go the direction of left, he went to the direction of right.  Also, when she wanted him to go the direction of right, he went to the direction of left.  When she wanted him to study, he went to play outside.  Moreover, when it was raining, if she didn't want him to go outside, he went outside anyway.  Therefore, she was distressed and almost gave up on that behavior.

 Later when she almost died, she left him her last desire.  She said,  "If I die, you have to bury my corpse by the mouth of a river."  And, she eagerly wanted him to do that because she thought if she wanted to be buried at a mountain, he would bury her corpse by the mouth of a river.



Finally, she died and he really buried her corpse by the mouth of a river and wailed because he wanted to obey her last desire.  Thus, he always cried by her grave regretting his past mistakes whenever it rained.  Today, to hear croaking frogs is because his mother grave was washed out to a river whenever it rains.

   -Song Min

RABBIT and TORTOISE

Once upon a time there were a rabbit and a tortoise.  They ran a race.  The rabbit thought that he must win.  When they started, of course, the rabbit ran much faster than the tortoise.  After a while, the rabbit looked back at the far-off tortoise.  The rabbit thought he would win an easy victory, so he took a nap.  The other party walked step by step.  The rabbit was still sleeping.  When he woke up, the tortoise was near the goal.  The rabbit started running in confusion.  In the long run, the tortoise won and the rabbit lost.
   This story teaches me that I had better not be lazy and self conscious.  There is a pitfall somewhere.  I think I should do everything little by little but certainly more like the tortoise.  For example, I have been learning English since I was a junior high school student, and I've never stopped studying English.  As a result of this, my English has become better and better.

   -Kasumi Takahashi

The Bamboo Princess

Long long time ago, old man and wife lived in a mountain.  They don't have children but they wanted.  One day, old man went to bamboo woods, he found a one of the blinking piece of bamboo.  He cutted that, after cut this what is very small and pretty girl!  He found a small princess, he took her at his house.   She grew up by them, it's like a really family.  They are very enjoying this life.  However, Princess had a one of the trouble, she has to go back to her home town.  It's a moon.  She was kind of nervous, she always stared a moon her face is looks so sadly.  Old man and wife worried her and asked her.  Why you so looks suffer, but she didn't tell them.  she was really confused because she really like them but she has to go back to her home town.  One day, moon is really circle, what is shining from a moon.  This day is deadline of her go back home.
    Her boyfriend is waiting on the moon but she still care about old man and wife.  They gave her a lot of good memories, and they are like her parents.  Although, she doesn't want to tell them about she has to go back home so she think about what is good for them.  Result, she left too much money and some memories.  However, they are not glad too much money.  they just kept those money and her memories but they could have nice and very common life with her memories.  Also Princess got marry with nice guy and she had nice life, too.



 -Sawako Suzuki

Is He Fooling

Long long ago, there were two brothers who lived in the bottom of a mountain with their father.  The older brother was a selfish man but the younger brother was very honest.  Everyday they went to the mountain and cut trees and brought it to the city to sell for money.  Day after day they did this.

   One d ay when they went to the mountain, the younger brother's hatchet got lost in the lake.  He had no idea how he could get back the hatchet.  Suddenly, there is an angel who showed up under the lake and brought a gold hatchet for him.  He didn't accept it and he said that his hatchet was very simple.  After that the angel brought a silver hatchet for him but he didn't accept it also.  Finally, the angel found his true hatchet and gave them to him because of his honesty.

When the older brother knew the younger brother got a gold hatchet and a silver hatchet just because he lost his hatchet in the lake he did the same thing.  The angel showed up like before and also brought a gold hatchet for the older brother.  But the older brother didn't accept it and he said he lost two hatchets, one was gold, one was silver.  The angel was angry that the older brother lied to her.  In the end, the angel disappeared and the older brother didn't get any hatchet.

   This story is from Taiwan.  When you had read this story, I believe smart guy like you must know this story tell us how important it is about honor.  If you are honorable you will get extra money.  The truth is if you are honorable for everything, you will have a happy ending.

A Golden Ax and A Silver Ax

Once up on a time in Korea, a longer went to a forest and he started cutting down some trees.  After a while, he wanted something to drink because he felt tired and thirsty.  Therefore, he went to a pond and drank some water.  After he drank some water, he kept on cutting down trees.  When he was cutting down trees, he threw his bronze ax into the pond.  therefore, he was really upset because he was very poor and he couldn't buy another ax.  At that time, the guardian spirit of the mountain suddenly appeared before the logger with a golden ax.  At that time, the guardian spirit said, "Is this golden ax yours?"
   The logger replied, "No, that is not mine."  Therefore, the guardian spirit went into the pond and appeared with a silver ax.
   The guardian spirit said, "Is this silver ax yours?"
   The logger replied, "No, that is not mine."  so, the guardian spirit went into the pond and appeared with a bronze ax.
   The guardian spirit said, "Is this bronze ax yours?"
   The logger replied, "Yes, that is my ax, thank you very much."
   The guardian spirit said, "I am deeply moved by your honesty; therefore, I will give you a golden ax and a silver ax."  So, the logger went back to his home with three axes.
   This fable is very common in Korea.  In my childhood, I heard this fable from my mother.  At that time, my mother said, "You have to become an honest person because honesty is the most important thing in your life.  If you always live honestly, you will have many friends around and they will think that you are a reliable person."  In addition, I think that my mother's speech is true; therefore, I like this fable.  Finally, I expect that many children will read this fable and they will recognize the importance of honesty.

  -Ui-Suk, Chung

Thursday, September 20, 2012

The White-Snake Legend

In ancient times, there were a white-snake and green-snake.  They lived many thousands of years.  They had much power to change things that they wanted to.  One day, they changed into a women's bodies from snakes.  Many animals that could change into person's bodies were bad.  They could kill people to gain their food and absorb the important air from humans' bodies.  The white-snake and green-snake, which were different from the other animals, were good.  The white-snake was a maid lady.  The green-snake was a servant to the white-snake.  Both were beautiful and looked young.  The white-snake was more beautiful than the green-snake.
   One day, in a village, a young man , who looked handsome and merciful, was poor but had faith and studied hard.  The white-snake and green-snake met the man.  The man and the white-snake fell deeply in love.  Day by day their love got deeper and they got married.
   They had a long and sweet period of time after they were married.  Unfortunately, a man who had power to beat bad animals that could change into human bodies passed through the village which they lived in.  He discovered a strange glow coming from the home where they lived.  He knocked on the door of their home.  The white-snake's husband opened the door, and they had conversation.  The husband didn
t know his wife was white.  The man who had power was determined to beat them down, because he thought the white-snake and green-snake were harmful to people.  The white-snake's power frightened the white-snake and green-snake and the man won.  In other words, the couple who loved each other were forced to seperate by the man.
   It is a great love story, but my English expression is poor. Please use your imagination.
  

Get the Power Together

A long time ago, there was an old man who had three sons.  But the sons were not nice to each other.
  One day the old man was sick.  He knew that he had no more time to live in this world.  He also knew that he could not leave the problem alone.   After dinner, the old man had his sons come into his room.  Then, he gave one chopstick to each one, and had each son break each chopstick into two.  It was easy to make on chopstick into two.  Next, he gave them each two chopsticks.  It was still easy to break them.  The third time, he gave a bundle of chopsticks to each one.  It was hard for the sons to break them.
   The old man died in a few days.  After a week, a typhoon destroyed their house.  They had to build a new house together.  finally they realized what their father had meant- get the power together.

The Foolish Man Who Moved the Mountain

Once upon a time, an old man lived in a village.  In front of the village was a mountain.  If he wanted to go to another village or downtown, he had to cross the mountain.  The transportation was very difficult.  So, he decided to move the mountain so that the village people wouldn't have that problem.
   In that village there was another old man.  Everyone called him "Wise Man."  When they heard about this, he laughed at the man who wanted to move the mountain.  And the wise man called him "Foolish Man."  But he said, "Every day, I will destroy the mountain, and move the ground to a convenient place.  One day, I will succeed.  If I can't finish the job, I want my son, my grandson, and my family to help me.  The work won't end until I finish."  Now, everybody laughed at him.  But he didn't feel sad.
   Finally, he finished to job.  Everybody enjoyed the convenience and admired him.  On the other hand, they laughed at the "wise man."
   The story tells us, "Where there is a will, there is a way."  Never mind if you fail, if you can work hard, one day, you will get what you want.

A Beautiful Kind of Monkey

A long time ago, there was a monkey which was born in a stone.  It could live in the world forever because it could eat food from heaven.
  It had many supernatural powers from God.  For example, it could jump a thousand kilometers at a time if it wanted to do something in a hurry.  It had seventy two ways to attack its enemies.
  It also had a strong body.  It was not afraid of any poisons or fire or water.  It could go up to heaven and down underground.  It was a wonderful monkey.
   It was a very important animal in Chinese mythical stories, because it could do many things which people can not do.

Ali baba and the Forty Thieves

A long time ago there was a guy whose name was Ali Baba, and he was very strong and smart.  One night Ali Baba went to hunt in the jungle.  While he was hunting, he saw forty men who were carrying a lot of things on their horses.  Ali Baba followed those men, and they went to a very big mountain, and one of the men shouted and said, "Open Sesame!"  Immediately, when he said those words, a large door from the stone opened and all the men went inside, and after that the door closed.  The next day Ali Baba went to the jungle early, and said to the big stone, "Open Sesame,"  and the door opened.  He went inside the big hole in the mountain, and saw many piles of gold and money that had been stolen from the city where ali Baba lived.  When he went to get out from the hole in the mountain, he forgot the words that made the door open, and stayed there until the forty thieves came.  When they came inside he was hiding in the corner, and stayed the hwole night.  In the morning he remembered the words and went home.
   One day the thieves decided to rob the Ameer (prince) of the city.  The way they would do it was to put 39 of them in a big cup, while another one would go to t he Ameer and kill him.  Ali found out about htis so he went to the palace and told one of the women who worked in the palace and when the thieves came, the woman brought hot honey and threw it over the thieves, so all 39 died, and went to the other thief and killed him.  so when the Ameer learned that Ali Baba had saved his life, he gave him a very big reward.

A long time ago, there was an old man.  He had three sons but his sons were very lazy.  He loved his sons very much and he was very worried about their lives after he died.  One day, he laid down on the bed and called his sons to come to the front of the bed.  He told them that he would die and that he had buried a lot of gold on the farm.  His sons heard aobut this and were very happy, so they went to the farm directly to dig.  They did their best to dig deeply and find the gold.
   After they finished digging as deep as they could on all the farm, they still didn't find any gold.  They were very angry about what the father had said, and tried to discuss it with the father, but hte father had died.  At that moment, they were ready to give up doing anything more, but the older brother said to his two younger brothers, "Althoug hwe couldn't find any gold underground, why don't we put some seeds in the ground.  When the seeds grow up, their roots will grow and the old will be webbed by the roots,"
   They all agreed with the brother's idea, and they were more careful about the plants, because they wanted plants which would have long and strong roots which could hold or web the gold.  Until autumn, they couldn't find any gold, but they did have lots of oranges.  They finally knew what their father had said about gold; therefore, the old man's sons became very hard.

Hachitarou

Hachitarou was one lazy farmer.  He never worked very much.  One day he was sleeping underneath a tree.  A bee came from somewhere and went into Hachitarou's nostril.  At that time, he had a dream.  Chosan's daughter was terribly ill.  He had already tried many ways to heal her, but he hadn't done it yet.  The cause was a young tree.  This tree was trying to grow, but it couldn't grow, because of the house.  The tree was growing under the house, and this was the cause of her illness.
   When the bee came out from Hachitarou's nose, the dream ended.  The next day Hachitarou went to Chosen's house.  Truly, the family was in trouble, and the young tree was there.  Hachitarou told Chosan, "If I make her well, would you give me your daugher?"  Chosan said "Yes."  Hachitarou opened the floor and dug up the young tree, and moved it outside.  After this, Chosan's daughter got well and Chosan became happy.  And Hachitarou married his daughter.  Everybody got happiness, and this story is going to end here.

The Cock-Star

A long time ago, in the country, there was a poor farmer who had a son.  At that time, they couldn't grow rice or anything, because they hadn't had rain for a long time.  They had a hen and her chicks.  She loved her chicks with all her heart although it was very hard to find some food to feed them.
   One day, the farmer's son told the farmer, "We're going to die, I want some food.  Let me kill the hen."  And he caught the hen to kill.  Before the hen died, she talked to her chicks, and she had a lot of tears.  She told them that the farmer had fed her when she was young and built the home for her.  Now the land was not abundant, and she should do something for him and his family.  She was pleased to die for him.  She was killed and put in the boiled water.  Her chicks were very sad, and they agreed to jump into the boiled water and they died.
   When the farmer saw that, he was very sad.  "I should not killed my only hen."  That night, while he thought about the hen and her sons, he saw something in the sky.  He saw the appe4arance of new stars.  He was very surprised because they looked like his hen and her sons.  From that day until now, you can see the group of stars that look like a chicken.  You should know that the stars are the spirits of the hen and her sons.  The stars are landmarks for the love of the little cocks for their mother.

Oman

Once upon a time there was an old man whose name was Saud.  He had three children, two boys and one girl.
   The old man became very sick and he thought that he would die any time, so he wanted to speak to his daughter and the two boys.  So he asked them to come to his room and he brought each of them a thin stick and he asked them to break it.  So they did what he said, and then he brought three sticks together and asked the first boy to break them.  He tried very hard but he couldn't, and neither could the others.  After that he asked them, "Did you understand why I asked you to break the sticks?," and they answered, "No."
   After that, he said, "At first I asked you to break one stick, and you did.  Then I asked you to break the three sticks, but you couldn't, and that's because the sticks become stronger when they are in a group.  So do you.  If anybody wants to kill one of you, and you are alone, they will.  But if you are in a group, they won't kill any of you, because you become stronger.  I want you to always be together."

Rabbit and Tortoise

Once upon a time, there was a rabbit that could run fast and a tortoise that couldn't run fast.
   One day, while the tortoise was walking along very slowly, the rabbit came up to him and asked him, "Why are you so slow?" and "Can you run very fast?"  The tortoise answered, "Of course, I can run faster than you."  Then, the rabbit thought, "He must be a liar, he can't run faster than me," so he asked the tortoise to race with him.  The tortoise said "Yes."
   The next day, the rabbit was waiting for the tortoise under a big tree.  He was coming very slowly.  Both of them made a rule; they had to start to race from the line near the big tree to the hill over there.
   Finally, the rabbit said, "Ready, go!"  He ran as fast as he could.  However, the tortoise started to walk after him.
   When the rabbit noticed that the the tortoise was still walking near the start line, he had already finished halfway.  The rabbit felt so funny and safe.  So he decided to take a nap and rest.
   On the other hand, the tortoise was still walking 3/4 of the way when the rabbit woke up.  Two hours ahd already passed.  However, the rabbit thought that maybe only a half an hour had passed.
   Then he started to run fast again.  When he  saw the flag on the hill, the tortoise had already arrived and had been sleeping near the flag.
   After that, the rabbit never teased the tortoise.

Parasol Guardian (Kasa Jizo)

Long long ago, there was an old couple on the outside of the village.  They were not rich but they  both had good warm hearts.
   Today was the end of the last day in December.  He had to earn some money to prepare the New Year's celebration.  They had made some straw parasols the previous night.  So he went to sell them in the village early in the morning, while he wife cleaned their old home.
   Since he'd got to the village, he tried to sell the parasols.  The atmosphere in the village was very active and noisy; the people who were there were moving busily.  He made an effort to sell them, but he couldn't sell anything in the end.
   It was getting dark when he gave up selling them.  He felt very sad, because he knew his wife was waiting for him and something.  He thought about the next day (New Year's day) for a while, and he started to walk to his house.  It began to snow at that time.
   While returning, he found six guardians standing.  All their heads were covered with snow.  He thought they looked very cold.  So he stopped to wipe the snow off their heads, and he covered their heads with his parasols.  But he had only five parasols, lacking one.  He thought and he gave his own parasol to the guardians.  He felt very happy and he hurried to walk home.
   When he got to his house, he talked about that story to his wife.  She didn't get angry; she felt happy, too.
   The next morning, they found much gold and food outside of their house.  The six guardians had give it to them, because they were thankful for the old man's kindness.  So this old couple spent a good New Year.

Momotaro (Taro who comes from a peach)

A long long time ago, there were an old man and old woman who lived in the mountains.  They always went with one another.  The old man went to get a bunch of branches every day, and the old woman went to wash their clothes in the river.  While she was washing them, something came to her in the river.  It was a huge peach.  Although she was surprised at it, she took it home in a hurry.  Then, she told her husband about it.  They decided to cut it eventually, but as it was so hard, they couldn't cut it.  They tried to cut it again.  The huge peach was cut at last.  They were really surprised at it because a small boy came out of the broken peach.  He was really cute and small.  They decided to bring him up.  They didn't have any children.  As he ate a lot, he grew well.  After three months, he was taller than both the old man and the old woman.  The boy, whose name was Momotaro, heard from them about a devil.  The devil sometimes appeared at their town, and he killed people.  After a year, Momotaro was already an adult.  He was strong enough to fight with the devil.
   Then, he began his struggle to kill the devil.  He had much Kibidango, which is made from egg, to get power.  On the way to go to kill the devil, he got friends, a big bird, a big dog, and a big monkey.  They went to kill the devil while singing.  They found the devil but he was really strong.  At that time, Momotaro ate some more Kibidango, and got really strong power.  His friends, the bird, dog, and monkey, cooperated with im, and they killed the devil at last.
  He went back home.  The old man and woman were waiting for him.  They were really glad to see him again.  Then they lived together forever, happily and peacefully.

Princess of Bamboo

Long long ago, an old couple who didn't have any children lived near a woods of bamboo.  The old man would go to the woods to cut down some bamboo to live.
   One day, he went into the woods as usual.  Then he saw a shining bamboo.  He was very surprised and got close to it.  After a while, he cut the middle of that bamboo.  Then he saw a very small pretty baby, who was only the size of his hand, in that bamboo.  He took her to his house immediately and showed that baby girl to the old lady.  They decided to bring her up. 
   The girl grew very fast and became very beautiful, like the moon.  The boys who heard rumors about her wanted to get married to her but she didn't want to get married to anybody.  One day, the king of this country proposed to her but she didn't want to.  The old couple asked her why she didn't want to get married.  At first, she didn't want to talk about that.  Finally she said that she was not a human, she was a person from the moon, and she had to go back to the moon in a few days.
   On the day that she had to go back to the moon, the king of this country surrounded her and her house with many people.  But it didn't work because some people from the moon were shining very brightly, so they couldn't open their eyes.  Then, she went back to the moon with her court.

Tsang-Yeo Run Moon

I want to write a Chinese ancient magic story.  This story is not true, but it is a mystical story.
   A long time ago, a girl was very beautiful but her family was very poor.  Her name was Tsang-Yeo.  At the age of sixteen, she married an emperor.  At first, she and this emperor had a sweet life.  After several years, they became gradually older, but he didn't want to die.  He wanted to live forever.  His wife knew where the girl who had the medicine of long life was.  She stole the medicine from the maker of medicine.  Then, she gave the medicine to her husband, but her husband didn't believe her and asked her to try the medicine first.
   When the girl took the medicine, her body became light and flew.  And then, she flew up into the moon.  After that time, she lived in the moon forever.  Her husband couldn't fly into the moon, because there was only one dose of medicine.
   The ancient Chinese people believed this magic story.  When scientists found the moon and flew to the moon, people realized that the moon didn't have a woman whose name was Tsang-Yeo.  The events of science broke this magic story.

Draemon

Once upon a time, a boy lived in a small town.  His name was Nobita.  He was very weak, so he was always teased by bullies.
   One day, when he got up in the morning, his drawer opened suddenly and he said, "I'm Draemon.  I intend to help you life because my master is your grandchild; he is always talking to you.  Nobita couldn't believe it.  But a few days later they became friends and his life was happy and successful.  It continued for a long time.
   "Hey dad, look at Nobita.  He smiled!"  said Nobita's mother in the hospital.  Nobita was very sick.  He hadn't moved in his life.  But this story was Nobita's dream!


Friday, September 7, 2012

A Tale in Japan

Once upon a time, a couple of elderly lived in a village.  One day the husband went to a mountain to get some woods and wife went to a river to wash their clothes.  The wife found a big peach which went down from up.  She brought it to their house and showed it to her husband.  They tried to cut the peach and then a little boy appeared from the peach.  The couple were so surprised.  They who did not have any kids bring up the boy.  11 years later, many demons appeared in the village and they killed many people in the village.  The couple thought they might be killed y the demons, so they made their kid to wipe out the demons.  The boy who had a strong sense of justice granted the request.  He tries to find some helpers and a dog, a monkey, and a bird became helpers with him.  They went to castle of the demons and finally they defeated the king of demon.  People in the village got happy.

   -Taku Kato

Untitled

Once upon a time, a young man had lived in a small country.  He has a good heart, and worked very hard, but he is very poor so that he can't marry any women.  Someday, he caught the wurung (small shell) for dinner from a stream, and he brought it home.  After that he just fell asleep.  When he got up, he was so surprised because a beautiful woman making dinner in the kitched, so he asked why are you here, and what are you doing here?  She replied that I'm your girl now.  But you have to promise me one thing, that is do not watch when I am taking a bath, and we can't sleep together until 60 days from now on.  He couldn't understand that but he gladly accepted that.  They are so happy for a while.  One night, before 1 day left from 60 days, she was taking a bath but he couldn't keep the promise because he wanted to know what she was doing in there every night.  He couldn't believe what he saw it because she is not human but a wurung.  At the same time she died because he didn't keep the promise so he lost his wife and everything.
   This story tells us how promise is important in our life.

   -J.B. Park

A monkey in the Heaven

Long long time ago, there was a naughty monkey in China.  He was assigned as a guard to protect a peach tree.  That is a magical tree.  The peach on the tree has an unknown power.  The monkey even didn't know this.  The master always told the monkey, "What the peach and don't steal it."  Everybody liked to ask the monkey what is the secret of that peach tree.  The monkey gradually thought that the peach should have mysterious power which can make him become stronger.  One day, when the moon was dark and the wind was strong, he can't bear his curiosity, so , he stole a peach and ate it.  Suddenly, his body raised to the heaven over the cloud.  He became a God in the heaven.

   Wei-Kang Tu

The Story of Crane

Long long ago, there is a poor and old married couple in country.  Also, they were very kindness persons.  The grand father was a hunter.  He was looking for animal; however he could not find an animal.  When the grandfather went home without an animal, he found one crane which was injured on its foot.  He thought that it was a very good catch.  However, he stopped to catch the crane and he cured the crane's foot.  And then he went home and talked about the matter to the grandmother.  She said that he did a good thing.  There was no food; however their feeling was very good.
   A few days later, one beautiful lady visited to their home and she said that she wanted to live in their house.  The grandfather and mother were surprised; however they became happy.  And then the lady said to please not come to my room.  The grandfather and mother thought about mysterious; however they were very happy because they could get a daughter who said that she would work for them.

    Since the daughter had come into their home, she brought the very beautiful and expensive silk fabrics every day.  The grandfather stopped hunting and started to sell the fabrics to the market.  They because rich and they are very happy.
   However, the grandfather and mother started thinking what their daughter was doing on midnight every day, because they had heard the sound of something from the daugher's room.
   The grandfather and mother wanted to know what their daughter was doing on midnight.  Finally they decided to peek into the daughter's room.  They peeked into the daughter's room.... There is one crane which was the crane the grandfather cured.  They were surprised about that.  What was worse, the daughter noticed that they peeked on her.  The daughter said that she could not live there anymore because she was founded what she was.  The daughter said she was the crane which was cured from the grandfather, and she very much appreciated his action.  She wanted to do them something as a token of gratitude.
   Finally, she left from their home.  The grandfather and mother could live as rich because she left many fabrics and they lived happily.  The crane flew to a far place..

The king of the jungle

Once upon a time in the jungle there was a big, strong, bad lion, ruling the jungle and getting whatever he wants and if anyone says no the lion will hurt them.  Therefore all the animals in the jungle are afraid of him, even the animals which are bigger than him like; elephants.  One day the lion was walking in his jungle and looking for someone to beat, while the lion was walking, he felt in to the hunters trap, a big heavy net felt on him, the lion was struggling to get out of the net but he couldn't, the lion asked for help but the animals refused to help him because he is bad and if they cut him loose he will continue harming them.  All the animals left the lion in the trap, and the great big lion was carrying.  In the mean while, a small weak rat heard the lion, when the rat arrived there, he saw the king of the jungle carrying and he said: look at the king of the jungle who gets whatever he wants can't get out from a trap.  The lion asked for the rat's help but the rat refused to help him and he told him that he is evil and he deserves that, the lion said that he will change, he will be a good animal then the rat with his sharp teeth started biting the net until the lion was free.  Then the rat said to the lion:   I did my part, now do yours.  Then the lion did what he told the rat, he became a good lion, he helps the small animals and the big ones and never harmed any animal, so the lion and the rest of the animals live happy ever after.

The Young Man and the Girl

There was a young man who used to live with his father rearing their sheep in the desert.  Years later his father died and all that he left for him was 200 pieces of silver coins besides the sheep.  He was wondering what to do with the money and kept thinking for a while.  One day he went to the market area where people sell and buy sheep and other goods.  He heard an old man shouting "who is going to buy these pieces of advice?"  The young man stood there perplexed.  Can advice be sold?  He headed to the old man and asked "are you sure you are selling pieces of advice?"  The man answered "yes. would you like to try some?  He thought for a moment and then said to himself "why don't I see what these pieces of advice that can be sold are?  The young man paid all his money and bought two pieces of advice.  After the young man paid the money the old man released the two pieces of advice to him.  The first one was "everyone has his own way of choice," and the second one was "whenever you are offered a good favor, do not reject it."  The young man thought for a moment, "do these deserve the two hundred?"
   After a couple of years the young man, having no money, decided to work with an ameer of a nearby tribe.  The ameer had a very beautiful girl.  Her father wanted to send her with some women to buy certain goods and supplies for the tribe.  He found nobody as honest and kind as the young man to escort and take care of his daughter and the other women.  They set out their journey and walked for a couple of days on their camels.  The girl was keeping her eye on the young man.  She was impressed by the young man's kindness and charm.  She started to talk to him gently but paid no attention.  One night as their were sleeping, she tried to make a sexual relationship but he refused since she was not his wife and the ameer was kind and generous to him and he can not deceive him.  The girl was very angry at the young man but she did not express this feeling.  She decided to get rid of him since he might tell her father then she would be punished.  On their way back she asked him to bring them water from a certain well that she knew.  He said that the well was abandoned for years and nobody got their supply of water from it anymore.  He knew that anybody who ever got into that well never came out.  But she insisted.  Finally he went down through a rope.  As his feet touched the ground, he was shocked to see a huge bald man with sword in his hand and two girls.  One of them was white and the other was black.  Immediately the huge man asked pointing his sword at the young man "You tell me which is more beautiful this girl or the other or I will kill you?"  The young man was horrified and thought for a second then remembered the two pieces of advice that he bought years back.  So he replied "everyone has his own way of choice."  The huge man looked at him in amazement.  Then said you deserve to have water.  After that the young man went out of the well.  The girl was shocked when the young man went out.  She was sure he would never go out.  At that moment she did not show him that she wanted to get rid of him.  Then they continued their journey.  When they approached the area where the tribe lived, the girl wrote a letter and told the young man to hurry up to her father and give him the letter and she ans her other escorts will follow.  The young man took the letter and hurried toward the ameer.  As he approached the tents of the tribe, a man who was keeping his eye on the young man called for him and invited him to have some coffee.  The young thought for moments: "shall I go this man and take a cup of coffee but the letter has to be delivered as soon as possible."  Then he remembered the pieces of advice he bought earlier from the old man:  "Whenever you are offered a good favor, do not reject it."  He went to the man's tent and sat.  The man gave him a cup of coffee and asked him about the letter.  The young man told him that it was from the ameer's girl to her father and it was urgent.  The host thought for moments and then said: ok then just stay here, have your coffee and I'll take the letter to the ameer since it's urgent and I'll be back."  The young man's second piece of advice was still in his mind "whenever you are offered a good favor, do not reject it."  He agreed and gave the letter to the man who hurried to the tent of the ameer happily hoping that the ameer would reward him.  As he got there the ameer opened the letter and read it then ordered that this man be killed right away.  That was what the girl had written in the letter in order to get rid of the young man.  After waiting for sometime, the young went to the ameer's tent.  He was shocked when he saw the man dead.  The ameer welcomed him and asked him about his daughter.  The young man did not know what to say then he told the ameer that the girl gave him that letter.  The ameer understood that there was something wrong and asked the young man what went wrong.  The young man told the ameer the whole story.  When the girl came she could not believe her eyes that the young man was still alive.  She cried and cried and offered her apologies to her father and to the young man.  Her father agreed to accept her apology but on the condition that she accepts the young man as her husband.  The ameer thanked the young man so much and decided to reward him for his honesty and kindness and declared that his daughter will be the young man's wife.  The young man was very happy and realized that pieces of advice can sometimes be as precious as life.

   -Awad Al Mohy

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

About watching football game with classmate

I often play with Toshi, Honda, and the others.  We drink beer and whiskey together.  We usually drink until morning two days a week.  EVerybody likes to drink them.  A few days ago, we went to Kansas City to watch football games.  Recently, I learned the rules of football.  The game was a hand-to-hand fight, so we were excited by the game.  After all our cheering team was defeated, so we were disappointed.  We went to a Japanese restaurant to eat SUSHI.  It tasted good!
   I hope that I go to many interesting places with classmates again.
  
   -Akimasa Yamakawa

Write a story that will entertain your classmates

So I'm writing about me.  So about 4 months ago, I lived in Hawaii.  One Sunday, I went to Waikiki Beach.  This day was just Japan's golden week, so many kinds of tourists came to Hawaii.  Of course many beautiful girls came to the beach.  Then I thought I would try girl hunting.  I was looking for a nice girl.  Then I found a girl.  I thought that maybe she was single.  After a few minutes I said "Hello!  How's it goin'?  How's Hawaii?"  and she said, "Hi!. . . Are you Japanese?. . .,"  then I thought, "Lucky".  So.  I talked about Hawaii and something with her. I had a good time.  I invited her to go to a disco or movie.  Then one guy came to our seat.  Oh my god!!!  When she said, "This is my husband.  This trip is a honey-moon," so I was too much surprised.  An instant I couldn't move or talk.  After a few minutes, I changed the subject.  So.  In Waikiki they have a nice Japanese restaurant.  Later I ran away.  Now, I thought that girl is a devil.

    -Tadao Hayashiguchi (Honda)

Variation

This class, level 4, consists of Japanese, Chinese, Bangla and two guys from oil country.  All of them are young and active.
    Since class started, one month has passed.  Mostly I enjoy this class.
   There are three girls in this class.  They are cute, pretty, and foxy.  Nowadays it's one of my pleasures to see them.  If they were not here, I'd commit suicide.
   Actually, the Japanese young generation seems to be more active than the others.  After class, they are very busy studying playing, and watching young girls in the pool.  They are also very good athletes.  Usually, they play soccer, tennis, exercise and so on.  Thanks to playing so hard, some guy sleeps soundly during the class, dreaming of young girls.  It's just a kind of certificate of youth.  Now my advice to him.  His broken leg hasn't recovered completely.  So, next time when he plays soccer, he should kick the ball on his face.  If he has a broken face, I'll be the doctor for him.  How's that sound, Honda!?
   There are some memories in my brain which I'll never forget.  Probably, everybdoy still remembers such a wonderful sentence.  "My name is you.  My phone number is 123-4567."  I'm really proud of having performed with him.  He will be a popular actor in this future.  I'll get his signature from him on my T-shirt before he becomes the actor.  After he becomes famous. I'll work with him as his manager.  How's that sound, Toshi!?
   Anyway, there are other interesting characters in this class.  I'll never be bored in this class, and I'm looking forward to what will happen next time.

   -Angel

My story

When I was a little child I liked to play soccer and volleyball, but I liked to play soccer more than volleyball, and I also liked to play defense.
   One day when I was playing soccer something very funny happened.  The goalkeeper and my business was to defense.  I mean, it was to try to get the ball off and take it from the other player.
   When I tried to get it and shoot it very far, my foot hit my friend's foot and broke it.  He fell down and put his foot between his hands and cried.  I was afraid of his parents and mine too, because I thought maybe they would hit me.
   I felt very sorry for him.  I never forgot this story because the player was my best friend and it also was the first time it happened like this in my life.

   -Sami Tannous

My funny friends

I have a friend who is so funny.  He is a student at church.  So he must always behave himself.  This means always being a good boy. 
   But he has a problem about his language.  For example, when he made some mistake, he said, "Oh, XXX!"  This word is too dirty to write on this paper.
   One day, the church father made a suggestion about his language.  The Father said, "Don't use that kind of word.  Behave yourself."
   But the next day, my friend used that word again, "Oh XXX!"  The church father heard that.  The father said, "Next time if you use that, God will get angry, then flash lightning down on you."  My friend was very scared.  He tried not to use that word.
   But at last he used that dirty word, then a flash of lighting attacked him.  He was about to die.  He said, "Oh XXX!"  Then he died.

   -Nobuyori Oshima

Kumiko

The first meeting with Kumiko, it was May, 31, 1988 in Los Angeles.  I came together with Izumi and Aki.  Because we had the same destination, we moved together.
   In summer semester, we were not in the same class, but we often played together.  Kumiko wasn't timid.  She was a positive girl.  She played tennis three or four times per week.  She is taking good care of herself, but she often catches a cold.
   She comes to my room every day, because I have a single room.  When she was watching TV in my room, she was talking alone.  The program was volleyball of the Olympics.  She can devote herself to anything.  I think it is a good thing.

   -Chisato Y.

My Classmate

I met Chisato for the first time at the Los Angeles airport.  She and I were on the same airplane from Tokyo to Los Angeles.  I didn't know that I would go to the same university with her.  And we stayed at the same hotel one night.  We were surprised then.  Also she took the I.E.P. class.  Since then, she and I have made friends.
   She is usually sleepy.  When she is sleeping her face seems comfortable.  Now, her life is filled up because she moved into a single room.  So her last roommate was no good.  She had lots of trouble.  Now she is happy and I am too.

   -Acha

Trip

We had decided to take a trip by long distance bus from Pittsburg to San Francisco for twelve days in winter vacation.
   First we arrived in Colorado, then we stayed in a hotel which is in the middle of a mountain of the Rocky Mountains.  It had a ski area, so everybody tried skiing, making a snowman and throwing snowballs.
   We visited Great Salt Lake.  Its appearance was like a sea.  Somebody was walking around it with a girl.  Somebody shouted, "That guy is an Angel," so he put his back to the evening sun, and was walking with the girl.  This view seemed like the scene of a movie.  I thought he was probably a romanticist.
   We passed Nevada, at least we arrived at the destination, San Francisco.  He had free time and were active individually.
   We were so tired that we slept in the bus during the trip back.
   -Mitsugu Kinjo

Untitled

Once upon a time two brothers lived.  The older brother's name is Nol-bu, and younger brother's name is Heung-bu.  Nol-bu was very rich and Heung-bu was very poor and had a lot of children.  They were almost ten.  Nol-bu was greedy.  He didn't give any food or money to other people even his brother.  On the other hand, Heung-bu was very nice.  He even gave away his own food or own clothes to other people, even if he had nothing.  One day Heung-bu cured a swallow's leg.  It was broken.  The swallow gave a seed to him for his kindness.  He planted a seed and next year he harvested its nut.  When it was broken, there was many treasure in there and Heung-bu became rich.  Nol-bu heard the fact.  He broke a swallow's leg by himself and next year he also harvested its nut.  When he broke the nut, there were a lot of evil in there.  The evil took all his property, and he became poor.
  After all a good Heung-bu became rich and a bad Nol-bu became poor.

   -Kim Chang Geuai

Untitled

A long time ago, there was a very generous man.  He used to give people anything they asked him.  He never said No!  Every time somebody came to his house he slaughtered one of his sheep and served it for lunch or dinner.  Also, he used to own a very nice looking horse that nobody had like it.  One day some one came to his house, however, he didn't have any sheep to serve.  So he slaughtered their horse and served it to him.  After a while the guest asked him to give him that horse because he heard about it.  Then he said, "Sory if you asked me to give it to you before the meal, I would have given it to you."  That was Hatim Al-Taier, the most generous person I have ever heard of.
Thank you.

   -Basim

Long long time ago, a person who was very old

A long long time ago, a person who was very old had a lot of sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters.  Every time he wanted to go to the market it was very inconvenient, because there was two mountains in front of their house.  Then, he decided to move the mountains.  When his neighbors listened about this everybody laughed at him.  But this family supported him very much, they worked together, everybody to move the mountains.  Finally, his neighbors went to help him, everyone worked together.  One night, these two mountains discussed together, they were both afraid that they would be moved, so they ran away in the night.  The next day, when every one saw the mountains had gone, they were very happy.  And, they had a convenient life to go to the market.  This story tells us that "Where there is a will, there is a way"

   -Wang, Chien-chih

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves

One day AliBaba was walking between the mountains and he saw the wood door into the mountain and he said "Eftah Ya SemSem".  That means door open; the door opened and he went through that door and after he entered the door closed and he saw too many gold and demons; Soon he heard the theives come and said the secret word and he was behind the door waiting.  Then to go out he told of of took some of that gold and demons and he tried to open the door and he couldn't remember the secret word "Eften i.e. SemSem" and when he said that opened he went out and he told everyone that story; when he asked them to go to that place everyone pleaded him and they caught the thieves.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Cap o' Rushes

This is a story about a rich man having three daughters.  One of the days, the father asked how much his daughters love him.  One of the daughters said she loves her father like fresh meat loves salt.  Her father thought she didn't love him so her father chased her/  His daughter went away from home and went to the swamp.  In the swamp, she saw a dress from head to toe.  When she wore the dress, she looked different.  After that she became a servant in the Aegant house.  In the elegant house, everybody called Cap o' Rushes because she wore cap or hat and she went to hurry to get a job.  One of the nights, the master's Cap o' Rushes got a party and Cap o' Rushes came back.  The master's son fell in love with Cap o' Rushes.  Before midnight, Cap o' Rushes scrapped out but the Master's son gave a ring.  After that party, the master's son didn't see Cap o' Rushes again until he was sick.  When he was sick, Cap o' Rushes made a porridge.  The other servant gave a porridge to the master's son.  Something different was in the porridge because Cap o' Rushes took a ring and the master's son knew who Cap o' Rushes is.  Finally, the master's son and Cap o' Rushes were married.  This story is like Cinderella but a different version.

   -Kun

Sendbad

He was born in Bagdad.  He travels to many countries by ship.  He faces many bad people, he is a hero.  In one of his journeys he faces a genie.  This genie is a good genie.  He helps Sendbad, he always in Sendbad comments.  He serves him many times.  But actually Sendbad didn't use him a lot of the time to help him.  Sendbad is a good guy, he helps poor people and the weak people.  He was never hostel or scared from anything.  He is a hero.

   -Shaker

The Midget: a True story

There was a woman who had difficulties to be pregnant.  One day she decided to go to Saudi Arabia in order to make a wish in the Holy Yosk.  She went and began to pray, her wish was "I want, I need a little, - small child, God almighty."  One year later, she got a birth and the baby aws a midget.  Because of her mother made a wrong wish, the child was born a midget.  So, if one day you make a wish, say it in the right way.

   -Allaouia

Farmer and Cobra

A long time ago, in the field, the farmer grew rice.  He was hungry.  After that he went to his house.  When he cooked food, he saw the cobra was sick.  He helped the cobra until it was able to talk and creeped.  In the midnight the cobra creeped into the farmer's bedroom and kill him.

   -Ulich
   Once upon a time in a small village, one twelve-year-old gold named Blancha was living with her dad.  She had lost her mother and her dad got married to another woman.  Unfortunately, her dad's second wife was really bad towards this little girl.  One day, this woman warned the little girl because she had broken down a glass and told her to pay it back.  But this poor kid hadn't money and couldn't complain about this wife's behavior to her dad.  So, she went to her mother's burial and was crying.  Suddenly, two angels came and took her and transformed her to a beautiful wealthy princess.

    This tale is still in my country.  A piece of advice for those who behave badly to the others.

   -Charlotte

A Lilial daughter Sim Chung

A long time ago, a man called "Sim, Hack Gyu" and a girl called "Sim Chung who was the man's daughter lived together.  They loved each other so much as a father and a daughter.  They were very poor. besides he was a lilial.  She always worried about her father.  One day, they met an old and ugly priest.  The priest said that if they paid a worth of 3 hundred straw bags of rice to puda, he might be able to see and live as a normal person.  Because they were very poor, they couldn't.  Sim Chung, who always wanted her father to see, decided to sell herself to pay for that.  However, if she sold herself to the merchant, she had to die by putting herself into the sea because the merchant needed a sacrifice as a gift to God.  She did it but she didn't die because the sea of King didn't want her to die.  She was sent back to the land and met a prince of the country, and they got married.  Sim Chung and her father were able to meet again, and they lived together happilly.

   -Lee, Yoon-S

Rabbit's liver

A long long time ago, one rabbit lived near the coast.  That rabbit was very smart and intelligent.  On the other hand, one sea empire is in a deep sea.  That empire's king has seeked too much, so octupus doctor say "If you don't find good medicine you will die."  According tot hat saying, every sea person wanted to find that medicine.  One of the most famous doctors in the pacific ocean said "You have to eat rabbit's liver.  Only that is your living way."  So King and every sea person went to find a rabbit, but rabbit do not live in the sea.  Every sea person was in agony.  Squid talk to King, "Rabbit usually live in the ground."  But, who go to the ground?  If they get out of the water, they must be dead.  So they are worried about that.  At that situation, turtle say "I can live on the ground.  Can I go to the ground for you, King?"  King and every sea person are pleased for that saying.  So, turtle go to the ground.  But, the turtle didn't know about the rabbit's living place.  Therefore, turtle can't find rabbit and is badly living on the ground.  In the long run the turtle found the rabbit.  The rabbit was shining under the sun.  So the turtle talked to the rabbit: if you go with me into the sea empire you get everything.  But the rabbit didn't go.  Because rabbit can't live in the water.  So, the king can't eat the rabbit's liver.  As a result, the king died.
-Jaison

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Who broke the ecosystem somewhere in Carbondale?

Every world has a little world inside. A city had infinite existences, all living together; sometimes they go unnoticed, sometimes not. Now I live in a house west of Carbondale. When I arrived there, the first night, I was in the backyard and I could hear already, the different sounds of birds before they begin a deep sleep. I was surprised by a tiny light in the dark that it was dancing around me; the lighting bugs, they told me. From the next morning until now, I have come to know every animal that lives there, in the backyard. But now something has happened...... Everything began when a little fountain stopped working, because of the movements of a family of a raccoon that lived under the deck. Also, the birds drank the water from there, and they eat over the chipmunks' house, my friend Chip. Around them, squirrels, rabbits, and finally a big black cat. Whose cat is that? Every morning I have put crackers in front of Chip's door, a little hole under the deck. IT is very funny because he ate the cracker with two hands, he looked good, he was strong. I think the cracker was good for him. Or not? The other day I saw the cat again. The last time I had noticed fewer birds in the feeders; "they need the water from the fountain but now it is broken", I thought. I didn't want to see the reality. I saw the cat's eyes, hungry, spying and I could see him, also looking in front of my friends' house. Two days ago I put out a cracker for Chip again, like every morning. I thought that if he always had the food in his door, he would never go away. Two days later the food is still there. The birds have disappeared and I haven't seen Chip again. Where is he? I know the answer; I'm sad. The cat would have eaten the birds before, if they had been there, if the fountain had been working, if I hadn't put the cracker for my friend. -Victoria Iglesias

International Church

Have you ever been to International church in Carbondale before? I went to there with Korean friends, American friends and Sayaka. Since we can meet many international students and listen to many songs, which are sung in different languages, I'm not a Christian, but I could enjoy it very much. When I went to the church, it was a special day. Many people wore traditional clothes. I didn't have Japanese traditional clothes, but Sayak wore Japanese traditional clothes, which is called "Yukata". She was very cute. At the church, I talked with Malaysian, Chinese, Kenyan, and Indian students. AT some of them were their country's traditional clothes, it was really impressive for me. I learned greetings like "Hello" or "Thank you" or "Good bye" from them. Before coming to the USA, I had thought that I couldn't come to church because I'm not a Christian. However, I realized that church is one of the places to communicate with many people. Although I had never been interested in Christianity before, I like church and I want to make many friends at church, so I want to learn about Christianity. -Miyuki Yamasaki

I got Lost!

I go to school by bicycle every morning. It's so very hard for me to go up two long hills, but I don't think I can go by foot every day. IT takes about half an hour from house to school walking, so I decided to get a new bicycle. Anyway, one day after school, I got lost on my way from school to home, because it was the first time for me to ride a bicycle in Ashland. Besides I have no sense of direction. Believe it or not, I went the opposite direction, even though the direction to my home is very easy from school. I was so embarrassed,. but I tried to find the right way. Unfortunately, I went to a downward slope, so it was hard to go up hill again. While I was going up hill, I saw a sign of the hospital. Finally, I got it. IT was so terrible. Now I enjoy riding the bicycle every afternoon, but not in the morning. -Yuko

Untitled

I have been in the United States for about five months. Now I am living in Andrews Hall by myself, but I was living in Kilhefner Hall about two months in March and April. At that time, I had an American roommate. His name was John. He was a big muscular man, so he was a member of the Ashland College football team. When I was his roommate, he was kind and friendly to me. However, I couldn't call him a serious man even as a compliment. Frankly speaking, he had something strange in his personality. On Friday night, I came back to our room at eleven o'clock. In our room, my roommate was dancing with one of his girlfriends in a sweet atmosphere. He was very surprised to see me because I was not scheduled to come back that night. He seemed to invite her to his room. After that, I was staying in other American friends' room for three hours. The clock pointed to two o'clock in the morning. I wanted to go to bed, so I came back to our room. When I arrived in front of the door, I didn't feel the presence of some person in the room. Then, I opened the door to enter our room, but I couldn't. Why? Because there were two, a man's and a woman's, silhouettes on his bed in the dark. -Tetsuya Miyahara

Halloween Party

When I came to Ashland, I lived in Kem Hall on the seventh floor. At that time, I made many friends on the seventh floor. My friends were very friendly. In a Halloween party, we changed clothes, then we visited houses and played trick or treat. When I visited houses, I changed into a gangster. I wore a black coat, and black hat, and sunglasses. MY friends also wore funny clothes. For example, one person changed into a parrot, another person changed into a policeman, another changed into a ghost, another changed into a pumpkin, and something like that. Then, we visited several houses, at night. We shouted, "trick or treat!" At that time, I acted like a gangster. I hit the children with a gun. "Bring me to candy!" My friends acted too. On the other hand, the children also changed clothes, and many houses changed. They were dark, and it looked like ghosts haunted the houses. We each had a lot of fun acting, and we got a lot of candy. Finally, we came back to the dormitory. Then we had a Halloween party all night. We drank a lot and danced on the seventh floor. Also we took a lot of pictures. I had a wonderful time because I had a nice experience with American friends playing trick or treat. I'll never forget this experience of my American life. -Michiyo

Meet with Thai Students

It was at the beginning of March that I came here. First, I stayed in Amstutz Hall, on the second floor. I didn't expect that many Japanese would be here, so when I saw Japanese students in the dormitory at first, I was very surprised. At that time, there were some Thai students on the same floor. When I saw them the first time, I thought they were also Japanese. They looked like Japanese, and at the same time, we can say we look like Thais. One of them also said, "You look Thai! Your skin is a little bit dark!" When I heard that, I was shocked because they said my skin was dark. I had thought that my skin was not dark. After they said so, I also said, "You look Japanese!!" Well, well... Can you distinguish between Japanese and Thai? Suppose you meet each other in the U.S.A. Maybe, if we met each other in Japan or Thailand, we could distinguish between foreigners and natives. In the U.S.A., there are many international students. It is hard to know where they are from at a glance. EVen though we are Oriental, it's difficult to distinguish between people who are from Thailand or China and so on. I guess Americans cannot distinguish between Japanese and Thai. I've never been to Thailand or any other Asian country except Hong Kong. I had never known about Thais until I met them. I think I'm lucky to have an opportunity to talk with another country's people. I can know about their country and people, then I feel like traveling to many countries. -Yuki Sato

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Last March, my roommate and I went to the music concert in my roommate's car.  We left Ashland at 6:30 PM.  Then, the weather was very good.  I felt spring was coming.  I was looking forward to seeing that concert because it was my first time to see a concert in the U.S.  The concert was by a popular rock group who was Bon Jovi.  We enjoyed it.  After the concert finished, we went out of the stadium.  Then, I was surprised at the weather because it was snowing.  We couldn't find our car because of snow.  IT took about 30 minutes to find our car.  Our clothes were wet and very cold.  My roommate tried to open the door but he couldn't open it.  The door lock didn't work because of the cold weather.  He tried to open it several times but the door lock still didn't work.  After 30 minutes, the door was opened.  We had stayed in the cold weather for about one hour even though we had a car.  Next, my roommate tried to move his car.  However, he couldn't control his car because his car was a sports car, which had too much power to drive on the snow.  He moved very carefully.  He couldn't speed up.  Finally, it took 2 hours to drive about 30 miles and when we went back to our room, the time was midnight.

   -Toshiki Ikeda

Japanese Girl

One day while I was walking on a road I heard a shout.  It was from a car.  He said, "Japanese girl!"  I wondered why he knew I was Japanese.   The car came up behind me.  He didn't see my face.  He judged that I was Japanese by seeing only my back style.  Some Americans have long black hair, but he knew that I was a Japanese.  I thought about Japanese.  I thought I was very short, so he thought I was Japanese.  But American children are as short as me.  Suddenly I became aware of my style.  My legs' length is about 1/3 of my whole body.  American people's legs' length is about 1/2 of their whole body.  Usually Americans are fatter than Japanese, but their legs are thinner than Japanese.  I knew why he said to me, "Japanese girl."  But why didn't he think I was Chinese or any other Oriental people?  Japan is a very small island.  There are more Chinese than Japanese in America.   I think Japan is the most famous country among Oriental countries, but it's not only in a good way.  Many countries' people don't like Japanese.  I hope Japan will become famous in a good way.

   -Kayo Nagamine

My Misjudgement

When I came here at first, I had stayed in Amstutz for about one month.  Then I needed an American roommate ardently because I thought practice was the best way to improve my English.  But most people who stayed in Amstutz were Japanese and no American students stayed there, so I couldn't get an American roommate there.  I was determined to move to another dormitory where American students stayed.  I asked a responsible person on my floor to look for an American roommate for me.  I thought he would look for a roommate quickly.  But then he was very busy because he studied for a test, moreover as most American students had already had then, I couldn't get a roommate easily.  After I had waited for about two weeks, he found a roommate at last.  I planned on talking to my American roommate every day.  But my plan collapsed completely.  My American roommate had a girlfriend in this college, so he always went to her dormitory.  I had little time to talk to him.  The double room with an American was like a single room because he hardly stayed in his room.

   -Tetsuyuki

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Companion

I have stayed with an American lady, Suzy Rader, and one dog named Crithy for three months.  Two weeks ago, we got two kittens from one of Suzy's friends.  They were only six weeks old and so cute.  I gave the name "Mieko" to one kitten because she mewed, "Mie, mie", and Stephanie, who is a niece of Suzy, gave the name "Dotty" to the other kitten because she has a dot on her chin.  We enjoyed playing with the kittens and Crithy enjoyed it also.  Crithy licked the kittens like their mother.  The kittens were interested in everything which they saw.  They got near something interesting and touched or struck it.
   It happened last Sunday.  Suzy ran over Dotty with her car when she was taking her car out of the garage in order to go to church.  There is a bed of the kittens in the garage.
   I was sleeping at that time, so I didn't know what happened to Suzy and the kitten until she told me about that accident.  When I heard about that terrible accident, I couldn't say anything at first because of surprise.  We knew it was dangerous for kittens to get near the car.  Once I hit Dotty almost when I was taking Suzy's car from the garage because Dotty was interested in the car and she ran under the car, but she was OK at that time.
   I was very sad about Dotty and moreover, I was anxious for Suzy because she did it by herself.  She likes Dotty very much and took care very well as a friend.  As I thought Suzy was discouraged, I was really very anxious for her.  After we buried Dotty in the garden, I tried to console Suzy.  But I couldn't, I failed in that.  I regretted my poor English.  I tried to say that it might be me to run over Dotty because sometimes I took the car from the garage and once I hit her almost.  However, she misunderstood what I said.  She thought i said Dotty died because of what I had done before.  And she explained to me how she ran over Dotty.  And also she said it's still good it was Dotty.  I couldn't believe what she said.  She was more sad than me, but she was anxious for my feeling.  I'm very sorry I couldn't console her.  I thought I was not her companion yet.  She called her friend up and she was cheered up.  I really regretted my poor English.  I hope she thinks I'm a companion of her some day because I like her very much.

   -Hiro Goto
It was November '88 when the event happened.  My friend called Hiroshi and I intended to get to Niagara Falls.  We started to leave for there at about five o'clock.  However while we were driving, after about three hours, we noticed that we had gotten lost on the way, so we were going to go back to a place we could recognize on the map.  We looked for a suitable place where we could do a U-turn and we decided to do a U-turn in someone's garden, because it was difficult to find a place for a U-turn.
   When my friend was about to do the U-turn, our car began to slip on the grass.  Our car never held still.  We tried to make the car move for over one hour.  It was getting darker.  The air was cold.  We wanted to set out for Niagara Falls as soon as possible.
   Then the house owner came to us.  He was very angry with us.  He said, "How will you make up for this?"  I'm going to call the police!"  My friend became very nervous because he must have thought that the policeman would take us to the police station . He was about to drop tears.  I had a hard time stopping a laugh.  Finally the policemen only ordered us to pay fines.  After that, we started to get to Niagara Falls.  It was about 11 o'clock when we reached there.

   -Kiyo

Wedding Ceremony

Summer 1988

One day, I went to a wedding ceremony with my American host family in Ashland.  The wedding couple was my host family's friends.  It was the first time I had worn a suit since I had come here.  It was my first experience to go to an American wedding.  After the wedding ceremony had finished, I went to the wedding reception.  This wedding reception really impressed me.  The wedding couple gave the reception in a house which was near a small lake.  The reception was simple and all the food was self-service.  I was so surprised that it was different from Japanese wedding receptions.  It was the first time I ever saw a bride eating a hamburger.  After we had finished eating, we had some games and dancing.  The wedding couple did not care when their wedding dress and suit got dirty.  I felt that this is America.  At an American wedding, we can relax and enjoy it.  At a Japanese wedding ceremony, we will get tired and bored.
   -Yukiko

David Jones

When I was in my middle school days, I was studying so hard.  Every day we couldn't go home until 10:00 P.M.
   One day, when we went to home a friend of mine was run over by a motorcycle at the crosswalk in front of school's gate.  Unfortunately my friend couldn't see it because the motorcycle was very fast and its head-light was turned off.  The motorcycle was overturned and simultaneously he was knocked down.  At that time we had no time to spend because the enterance examination was coming up.  So my friend cried because of pain and worried about the examination at a ambulance.  His situation was very serious but he insisted that he study  continuously.  Fortunately he could apply for the examination at the hospital, and he succeeded in the examination.
   After the accident, traffic signal light was built at the crosswalk.

The Narrow Road

8/12/1987

Early one morning an old woman was walking from her village to the town.  She was carrying a big sack of cabbages on her head.  She was taking them to the market, where she hoped to sell them to the people from the town.
   The road which she was on was a very narrow one over a mountain.  There was a cliff on one side and a wall of rock on the other.  There was very little traffic at that early hour, but she was walking very carefully on the side of the road, because she didn't want to have an accident and lose her cabbages which she had grown herself.
   But as the old woman was climbing a steep hill, she suddenly heard a loud bell and a bicycle came around the corner, and passed her, going very fast down the hill.  The old woman had to jump to one side so quickly that the sack of cabbages nearly fell into the ditch.
   She looked up, and saw that a young girl from the town, wearing green trousers and a red blouse, was riding the bicycle.  She was riding without even looking around to see whether the old woman was all right.
   The old woman began to shout, "Come back, Come back, Little lady!  You dropped something!"  The girl heard the old woman's shouts and stopped her bicycle so suddenly that she nearly fell off.  Then she turned and began to push the bicycle back up the hill.  She had ridden on quite a long way past the old woman, and the slope was steep, so she was quite hot and tired when at least she reached her again.
   "What is it?"  she asked "What did I drop?"
   "Little lady"  the old woman answered,
"You dropped your manners."

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Ghost

I will tell you a story about something that happened to my friends and me, thirteen months a go.  This is something that I don't wish to happen to any of you, because it was the worst experience of my life.
   It was August 6th, the day of independence of Bolivia.  The day was sunny and all the streets were crowded with people watching the national parade.  I went with some classmates to see the parade, but we never expected to see what we saw.  About ten months before that day, we knew that our math professor in the intermediate school had died.  We were sure about that, because we had sent some flowers to his family the day he died.  We were standing still on the sidewalk watching some pretty high school girls and laughing about some of them hwo used to have a very hard time knowing that ten eyes were looking at them at the same time.  Suddenly we saw the teacher who was dead.  We couldn't believe it, and all of us were afraid; we didn't know what to do or what to say, so we started to run behind him.  While we were running one of my friends asked in a very low tone of voice:
"Could it be a ghost?"  Some started to laugh and others saved their words.  One of us said that we could be wrong, and that we were looking at someone who looked like the teacher.  Finally we reached him, so we started to walk behind him.  When we were face to face, we said, "Hi!" and he said very angrily: "Who are you?", so my friend explained to him that we thought he was our teacher.  The man laughed and said, "Oh! you are talking about my twin brother, you didn't know that he died a bout ten months ago?"  That moment we had to make things easier, so we told him that we didn't know and that we were sorry about that.

Graveyard

The night of the nightfall has arisen from the death of the night.  With the chilly touch of the nightwind and with the soulless sense of the darkness of the night, you can hardly imagine one can do what one likes in the mysterious side, the immortal side of death.
   Yes, you can always hear the voices from the ground of death every now and then at night.  Often, its echo can easily still your movement.  Yes, it never happens to the heartbeat of  yours, not until the last moment of your life.
   To you, the graveyard is not the place that you like to be in when the midnight clock strikes.  To me, it was a place where the spirits of others and me reunioned.  It was always a creative view when the time was right for our transparent bodies to never  stop balleting with the nightwind.  Also, it was the only time that we were free from the daysleep.  Nevertheless, the spirits moved in an undetermined way, in the path of up and down and in various entertaining ways either vertically or horizontally.  Like the stage of a play, it was never much different than any kind in the other world.
   At the time of daybreak, it was another play of life for me; it was also an end for the activities of the night.   Night by night, and second by second, life was just another particle of mother nature when I was a member of the death then.  As for the present period, day by day and minute by minute, it never did change in any way.

No Title

I have been studying since I was 7 years old; sometimes, I really feel bored of studying.  Every time I want to quit studying and join the workers' ranks, however, my brother's advice always appears in my mind.
   My eldest brother has always regretted that he decided to quit his study when he was in the 4th grade, no matter how my parents tried to make him understand the importance of education to his future.  He always writes to me and tells me to be more concerned about my study.  He said if he hadn't decided to quit studying, he would have experienced the real life of an American instead of just reading what I write back to him.  In his letters, he always reminded me that he was only twenty five, but he had to work instead of studying.
   His embarrassing moment also appears in my mind when I feel tired of studying.  One afternoon, he received a letter from the manager of his company.  When he opened the letter, he couldn't catch any word in it, because it was written in the Malay language instead of in Chinese.  He took the letter and went to ask the manager's secretary to explain to him what it said.  The secretary said, "What?  You can't understand our national language?"  It made him feel very embarrassed at that moment.  After that event, he decided to take night classes to improve his language skills.  After he had experienced learning the Malay language, he felt that maybe it was too late for him to learn, because his mind didn't function very well after not studying for about 15 years.
   Whenever I see a bunch of homework on my table, it always makes me think of giving up studying; however, my brother's experience in lacking education always encourages me to continue, even though it makes me tired.

Most Embarrassing Moment

Early last month there were great sales at the Mall on winter coats.  My friend and I went shopping for a winter coat before our scholarships arrived; we wanted to be careful to choose something cheap, yet beautiful.  My friend had earlier browsed through several shops, and ended up at J.C. Penney's and Braun's.
   She brought me to Braun's first, and pulled out two coats which had been separated out earlier.  After we had tried them both, we went to Penney's.  I could not decide which coat to choose.  As we were browsing around Penney's, I saw three mannequins and said, "Hey this one would look good on me!"  But as I tried to touch the coat, the mannequin turned and said, "Do you mind?  It is my coat."  On realizing that the mannequin was a real lady, we quickly walked out of the store and back to Braun's.
   Looking at the first coat back at Braun's, I grabbed it without any second thoughts and paid the cashier.  The cashier said, "Can't keep your hands off of that coat, can you!"  Smiling at her, I wondered if only she had known the truth.

Amnesia

Tom is a nervous and forgetful husband.  One day, coming back from his office, he recalled that his wife wanted him to send her letter on his way to work that morning.  After examining his suitcase, he found no letter in it.  Thus, he complacently told his wife, "Honey, I have sent your letter off.  I am not forgetful, like I used to be."
   "Sorry, my darling, the letter is still on the desk.  I forgot to give it to you this morning."  his wife said.

Philosophy

The incessant endeavor of listening and speaking do me good.
We usually teach the importance of clothes to children by doing without it on a certain day.
It make not too relaxed today for tomorrow and not to be faithful today.
Nobody cannot break out IBM's castle.
War gives death of earth to us.
Finally, Dust as each other makes a mountain as all of persons, there is a Korean saying.
Liberty is the basement of freedom.
Money cannot buy love, nor poorness.
My ritual is Buddha.

Paul Simon

I went downtown last weekend.  It's very cold.  The large neon-sign was brighten on the top of the building.  It was to advertise for samsung watch.  The advertising was changed immediately and continued.  IT was very interesting to me.  But people seemed not to watch the advertising on the top of the building, because it's too cold to make a slow walk.  But in my case, I had an appointment with my friend at 8:00.  It was just 6 o'clock.  And so I had better spend 2 hours.
   I walked down the street which was very cloudy.  When I saw some clothing store where there were beautiful mannequins in the window.  I stopped and looked at the mannequins.  There were really beautiful and seemed to be real women.  After 10 minutes, I found they're real women.  I watched they went out the window for a short break time.
   Even though I walked long distance, I should wait one and a half hours to meet my friend.  I could not wait any more.  And so, I changed my mind to get a dinner along.  I tried to find some Korean food restaurants.  But I couldn't find a good place.  There were only instant restaurants or western restaurants.  Finally I could find a Korean restaurant though it looked like not a good place.  I couldn't choose to go or not.