It's Good Luck and Bad Luck

It's good luck in Japan if:
Your cat has a kitten which is male and red, white, and black
You throw a fish back into the sea.
You eat a big fish.
You find a 5-yen coin on the road.
You have a good dream on the first day of the year.
Meet a white cat.
You see a snake in your dream.
You see a spider in the morning.
You see a stray bullet.
Your nail becomes white.
A tea stalk floats erect in your tea

It's bad luck in Japan if:
You kick something around a temple
Chopsticks break
You see a spider at night
You step on the threshold
You kill a white snake
You rest your elbows on the table
You break a needle or a hairbrush
You whistle at night
You break a rice cup
You cut your nails at night
A cat passes your crotch

It's good luck in Taiwan or China if:
you eat a red egg on your birthday
A baby smiles at your
You're fat
You knock on glass
You throw sugar over your shoulder

It's bad luck in Taiwan or China if:
You put rice on the ground
You open a bottle of wine n the morning
You see moss
You eat an egg on the New Year
You cut your finger while cooking
You walk on the left

It's bad luck in Bangladesh if:
You have a pain in your leg before working
You hear a dog cry near your house at night

Yuzuru

A long time ago, there was a man whose name was Ajohyo.  He was a single; however, he was about 30 years old.  He (had) cultivated farm products.
   One day while he walked on a mountain path, he found a crane that was hurt. (At that time), Ajohyo treated her wound, then, she could fly up again.
   A couple days later, a beautiful woman visited Ajohyo and she asked him to marry her.  He was surprised and glad.  (Since then) they started living together.  Her name was Thu.  She had a skill to weave beautiful clothes and those price were very high.  Before she weave the cltoh, she told Ajohyo, "Don't peep in my room!  Don't!"  At first, Ajohyo agreed her word.  But, after Thu finish to weave clothes, she always got thin. Ajohyo wondered why she was so looked thin therefore she only to weave clothes.
   One day, Ajohyo decided to weep in her room and did that.  And then, he was very surprised because he saw a crain!  He couldn't believe his eyes!!  He saw again, but there was only a crane.  He was at a loss.  Then, Thu came out of her room and told him, "You saw my real figure… Why… I told you do not peep in my room but you…" You know.  Thu was not a woman but a crane.  She told him, "I cannot stay here so long as you know I'm a crane..  Good-bye Ajohyo… Take care of yourself…"  Thu was treated by Ajohyo.  She wanted to repay on obligation.  As soon as Thu went out from the house, she flew up to the sky.  He shouted, "Thu! Thu!!  Returned to my house… Please.. Thu.."

The End
   -Yuki Sato

Who is Luckier?

A thousand years ago, a temple was located on the top of an unkown mountain.  The inhabitants of the nearest village rarely visited this temple.  Therefore, the goddess of the temple was very dull.
   One night, a kid with a la rge lump on the right side of his neck slept in the temple.  Nobody was willing to make contact with him.  The inhabitants regarded him as a monster because of his ugly appearance.  When the goddess saw the kid lying on the floor, she noticed the large ' ball ' of the kid.  She took away the 'ball' and played with the 'ball'.  It was funny.  Then she went away with the ball.
   After a while, the kid woke up.  He discovered his lump had disappeared.  Immediately, he knelt down quickly and told everybody the goddess had cured his lump.
   Another girl also with a lump on her neck heard this.  She went to the temple and lied down.  After the goddess retruned to the temple, she put the large 'ball' back into the girl's neck.
   When the sun was rising, the girl woke up.  She found her self having one additional lump which was much bigger than the one she originally had.  Her heart was broken and she cried.  Then she went away with two lumps.

The Moon and the Light

The light shining out from the big, round Moon was bright, so that the Moon was proud of herself.  She shined on a narrow lane on the dark nights.  Every passer-by praised her when they looked upward and saw the beautiful yellow Moon.
    There was a small street-light and said,
You are so stupid to shine.  Your weak light is no use at all under my light!"
   Suddenly, a strong wind blew a dark cloud towards the Moon.  And, unfortunately it stayed in front of the Moon.  Her beautiful face was covered.
   At this time she heard the voice from a man who passed by the road.  He said, "What a dark night it is!  How would it be without this street light?"
   Then the light said to the Moon, "Now you know that everyone has their own value, and nobody can shine forever!

Korean Proverbs

A needle thief will become a cow thief.
A baby dog is not afraid of a tiger.
An unskilled man always blames his tools.
A good word can pay a large debt.
If you gather a lot of dust, you'll have a mountain.
Even if the salt is on the counter, it must be in the food to do some good.
Even if you have a long beard, you cannot live without eating.
If a dog lives in a school for three years, it will be able to read one character.
Don't be choosy about where you eat, only be choosy about where you sleep.

Lun San-Bo and Chu Zing-Tae

Spring 1993
Fairy Tales

   This is a very famous story in our country.  A long time ago, there was a very poor student.  He went to the big city to study with an attendant who took care of the poor student and took his luggage.  The girl whose name was Chu Zing-Tae.  She went to study too.  For safety, the girl wore a boy's dress.  San-Bo didn't know "she" was a girl.  When they met together, they had a good time.  One day, San-Bo wanted Zing-Tae to sleep with him.  Zing-Tae said no, and he told Zing-Tae that it was OK.  They were good friends, so Zing-Tae said "yes" very reluctantly.  Whenever they studied, ate or went anywhere, they were always together.
     One day, Zing-Tae's parents wrote in a letter to her that her mother was sick and wanted her to come back as soon as possible.  Before she went home, she hinted to San-Bo that she was a girl, bt San-Bo never figured it out.  Zing-Tae was a girl for a long time.  Their teacher's wife had known that Zing-Tae liked San-Bo, so she told San-Bo the truth.  When Zing-Tae came back to her house, San-Bo sent something to her eighteen times.  They loved each other very much.  But when she had gone home, her parents had wanted her to marry another guy.  When San-Bo heard this news he vomited blood and became very sick.  After many days he died.  When Zing-Tae found out she committed suicide at his grave.  They couldn't become a couple when they were alive, but after they died they became a couple of butterflies.

-Stella,   Taiwan

A Stupid Grandfather Who Moved a Mountain

  Once upon a time, there was a man who was very old.  He was named stupid grandfather.  Why did people call him this name?  There is a story about him.
   That was a small village.  The villagers lived a simple life.  They could not contact another village easily, because a big mountain was in front of the village.  The villagers had to take a detour to go to another village.  That took a long time, and was very inconvenient.
   One day, there was an old man who wanted to gather the villagers to move the mountain, but they thought he was crazy.  It was impossible to do the task, but he said, "Never say die."
   He took his tool and started working.  The procedure was slow, but he kept doing it every day.  The villagers laughed at him, and called him "stupid granfather."
   After 10 years, he finished the task.  He moved the mountain.  The villagers would not call him stupid again, since he moved the mountain.  This story tells us that nothing is difficult if you work hard.

         -Henry, Taiwan