Let me choose

I doubt we shall not get much nearer to the nature of love by mere talking. Intellectual statements are of little use. God does not make intellectual statements, He creates. We have to find our way about in the vast medley of created things that life spreads out around us, and pick up what bits of knowledge we can as we make our way along.

Let me choose five images that will give an idea of what the awaking of this new life means.

I. Shall we not say that the creature without love is like the lamp unlit? There it is, and no one needs it. But touch it with flame, and it trembles and glows and becomes the centre of the room where it stands. Everything that falls under its rays is new-gilt. So does the lover see all natural things quite new.

All these angels

All these angels, who were waiting, turned their beaming eyes upon the people who were carried up into the star; and some came out from the long rows in which they stood, and fell upon the people's necks, and kissed them tenderly, and went away with them down avenues of light, and were so happy in their company, that lying in his bed he wept for joy.

But, there were many angels who did not go with them, and among them one he knew. The patient face that once had lain upon the bed was glorified and radiant, but his heart found out his sister among all the host.

His sister's angel lingered near the entrance of the star, and said to the leader among those who had brought the people thither:

"Is my brother come?"

And he said "No."

She was turning hopefully away, when the child stretched out his arms, and cried, "O, sister, I am here! Take me!" and then she turned her beaming eyes upon him, and it was night; and the star was shining into the room, making long rays down towards him as he saw it through his tears.

diplomatic service

Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. One day, he asked his father, "Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her."

"I do not believe you could," said the father, "but the agreement was that you are not to know...not yet."

The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come. One of the darkest days that ever pass through a son. He stood with his father over his mother's casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to reveal the mother had no outer ears.

"Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut," his father whispered gently, "and nobody ever thought mother less beautiful, did they?"

enough now

My son,

I think my life has been long enough now,and I won’t visit Seoul anymore. But would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come to visit me once in a while？ I miss you so much.And I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school…for you. I’m so sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you.

You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident and lost your eye. As a mom, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye. So I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son to see a whole new world for me with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did. During the couple of times that you were angry with me, I thought to myself, it’s because he loves me.

My son…oh, my son…

Don’t cry for me because of my death. I love you so much.

the other eye

My mom only had one eye.I hated her. She was such an embarrassment.

She ran a small shop at a flea market and collected old clothes and some other things to sell for the money we needed. Once during elementary school, it was field day, and my mom came.I was so embarrassed and wondered how could she do this to me？I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school, my schoolmates asked me,“your mom only has one eye?!” and taunted me.

I was so angry with my mom and wished that she would just disappear from this world. So I said to my mom,“Why don’t you have the other eye?!If you’re only gonna make me a laughingstock!” My mon did not respond, I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, I felt so good to have had said what I wanted to say. Maybe it was because my mom hadn’t punished me, I didn’t think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.

image might

II. Or take the image of the withering plant that is dying of drought. The sun’s rays have parched it; the roots have searched and searched for moisture in a soil that grows every day harder and drier. The plant wilts and hangs its head; it is fainting and ready to die, when down comes the rain in a murmuring multitude of round scented drops. the purest thing alive, a distilled essence, necessary to life. Under that baptism the plant lifts itself up; it drinks and rejoices. In the night it renews its strength; in the morning the heat it has had from the sun, reinforced by the rain, bursts out into coloured flowers. So I have known a man battered by hard life and the excess of his own passions: I have seen love come to such a man and take him up and cleanse him and set him on his feet; and from him has burst forth a flood of colour and splendour—creative work that now lends its fiery stimulus to thousands.

III. Another image might be of the harp that stands by itself in golden aloofness. Then come the beautiful arms, the curving fingers that pluck at the strings, and the air is filled with melody; the harp begins to live, thrilling and rejoicing. down to its golden foot.

all too soon

But while she was still very young, oh very, very young, the sister drooped, and came to be so weak that she could no longer stand in the window at night; and then the child looked sadly out by himself, and when he saw the star, turned round and said to the patient pale face on the bed, "I see the star!" and then a smile would come upon the face, and a little weak voice used to say, "God bless my brother and the star!"

And so the time came all too soon! when the child looked out alone, and when there was no face on the bed; and when there was a little grave among the graves, not there before; and when the star made long rays down toward him, as he saw it through his tears.

Now, these rays were so bright, and they seemed to make such a shining way from earth to Heaven, that when the child went to his solitary bed, he dreamed about the star; and dreamed that, lying where he was, he saw a train of people taken up that sparkling road by angels. And the star, opening, showed him a great world of light, where many more such angels waited to receive them.

handsome for his misfortune

He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music.

"But you might mingle with other young people," his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart.

The boy's father had a session with the family physician... "Could nothing be done?"

"I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured," the doctor decided. Whereupon the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man.

Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, "You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret."

The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs.

a school reunion

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. Lying to my wife that I was going on a business trip, I went back to participate in the reunion. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack, which I used to call a house, just out of curiosity. There I found my mom fallen on the cold ground. I did not shed a single tear.

Then a piece of paper in her hand came into my eyes. It was a letter to me.

Imagining and pondering

Imagining and pondering, one is apt to grow a little wise; now perhaps we may say that love is a radiant atmosphere of the soul, a celestial energy, a fluid force.

This force, this energy is set running in the wide kingdom that is within us by some Spirit touch. A soft tumult takes place in the life within; waves on waves of joy, desire, grief, ecstasy begin to run, making a trembling music that often causes the whole body to shake and tremble too.

I am in love with love; I do adore it;—from the smile on that rough fellow’s face as he talks to his dog, to the ardours of a St. Francis or a Joan of Arc. That bright creative flame, winged, conferring the gift of tongues, master of all music, of all joy, is the best thing we have of life.

unlighted house

IV. Or picture the unlighted house, empty at fall of night. The windows are dark; the door shut; the clean wind goes about and about it, and cannot find an entrance. The dull heavy air is faint within; it longs to be reunited to the wind of the world outside. Then comes the woman with the key, and in she steps; the windows are opened, the imprisoned air rushes out, the wind enters; the lamps and the fire are lit; so that light fills windows and doors. The tables are set, there is the sound of footsteps; and more footsteps. The house glows and lives.

One could please oneself by many more images; such as the white garment of feathers that the young swans put on in the spring: the young flowers opening out their cups to the Sun that fills them with his golden wine. All life is full of such images, because nature has ruled that love, energy, beauty, and joy are one.

God bless the star

There was once a child, and he strolled about a good deal, and thought of a number of things. He had a sister, who was a child too, and his constant companion. These two used to wonder all day long. They wondered at the beauty of the flowers; they wondered at the height and blueness of the sky; they wondered at the depth of the bright water; they wondered at the goodness and the power of God who made the lovely world.

They used to say to one another, sometimes, supposing all the children upon earth were to die, would the flowers, and the water, and the sky be sorry? They believed they would be sorry. For, said they, the buds are the children of the flowers, and the little playful streams that gambol down the hill-sides are the children of the water; and the smallest bright specks playing at hide and seek in the sky all night, must surely be the children of the stars; and they would all be grieved to see their playmates, the children of men, no more.

There was one clear shining star that used to come out in the sky before the rest, near the church spire, above the graves. It was larger and more beautiful, they thought, than all the others, and every night they watched for it, standing hand in hand at a window. Whoever saw it first cried out, "I see the star!" And often they cried out both together, knowing so well when it would rise, and where. So they grew to be such friends with it, that, before lying down in their beds, they always looked out once again, to bid it good-night; and when they were turning round to sleep, they used to say, "God bless the star!"

see my baby

"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked.

When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks.

He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big boy...called me a freak."

got married there

For the words I had said to her earlier,there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty. I told myself that I would become successful in the near future, so I studied very hard. Later I got accepted by the Seoul University, I left my mother and came to Seoul to study. Then I got married there.

I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too. Now I am living happily as a successful man. I enjoy the life in Seoul because it’s a place that doesn’t remind me of my mom and my past. This kind of happiness was getting bigger and bigger, until one day someone knocked at my door. It was my mom!And still with her one eye!It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl ran away, scared of my mom’s eye.

I screamed at her,“Who are you？ I don’t know you!How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter!” To this, my mom quietly answered,“Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address,” and she disappeared out of sight.

the pleasure

V. A last image only I would like to add because of the pleasure it has given me. On the north door of the Cathedral of Chartres there is a sculptured design, some six hundred years old, of God creating the birds. God is charming, quite young, not more than thirty-eight or so; He has a most sweet expression. Behind Him a little stands the Son, about seventeen, tall as He and very like Him, but beardless. He has the same sweetness of look, as though upon each countenance an ineffable smile were just dawning. The Father is holding something that time has broken in His hand; most likely it is a bird. What a fortunate moment! What a fortunate thought! No wonder they both look pleased. Never have the birds disappointed Him as have we, His ruder children. Every spring since then these small creatures praise Him, head turned skywards, for the joy of the beloved, for the secret nest.

The Magic Moneybag-2

The old man chuckled and said to the woodcutter in a warmhearted tone of voice, "I've known for a long time that you are a decent couple and lead a frugal and hardworking life. I shall give you a piece of treasure. Take it back with you and it will provide you with your livelihood."

As soon as he had finished speaking, there came seven fairies who led the young man into a magnificent palace. Its golden eaves and gleaming roof tiles shone so brightly that the moment he entered, he could no longer open his eyes. Inside the palace there were many kinds of rare objects on display that he had never seen before. Moneybags of all shapes and sizes hung in one room. The fairies asked him, "Which one do you like best? Choose whichever you please, and take it home."

The woodcutter was beside himself with joy, "I'd like that moneybag, the one full of precious things. Give me that round, bulging one." He chose the biggest one and took it down.

Just at this moment, the white-haired old man came in and, with a stern expression on his face, said to the y


oung man, "You cannot take that one. I'll give you an empty one. Every day you can take one tael of silver out of it, and no more." The woodcutter reluctantly aGREed. He took the empty moneybag and, clinging onto the enormous rope, he was lowered to the ground.

Once home, he gave the moneybag to his wife and told her the whole story. She was most excited. In the daytime they went as usual to cut firewood. But from then on, whenever they returned home after dark, they would close the door and open the moneybag. Instantly, a lump of silver would roll jingling out. When they weighed it on the palm of their hand, they found it to be exactly one tael. Every day one tael of silver and no more came rolling out of the bag. The wife saved them up one by one.

The Wooden Horse-3

"What are you looking at?" he asked a man beside him. The man gave him a scrutinizing glance

and replied, "Our king has a princess. No one in the world can match her in beauty. The king

loves her so much that he will not let anybody look at her. The princess used to live in the

palace, but the king thought that she was not safe enough there, so he has had a mansion

built in the sky and the princess lives there all by herself. Every day, when the court is

dismissed, the king goes up to see her. He has been there for quite a long while and is

expected to return at any moment. That's why everyone is here, waiting for him."

This sounded quite strange to the little prince.

"Surely it's impossible to build a palace in the sky?"

"The palace was built by an immortal, and only the king can go there," said the man.

The little prince bore these words in mind. That night he mounted his wooden horse and flew

up into the sky, where sure enough, a magnificent palace GREeted his eyes. He flew directly

to the door, dismounted from his horse and walked in. Seeing a man come in, the princess at

first took him for her father. When she discovered her mistake, she thought he must be a god

come down from heaven and hurriedly stood up


to GREet him. "What a lovely young lady!" thought the prince. "What a handsome young man!"

thought the princess. They fell in love at first sight and without knowing what they were

doing, they walked up to each other and embraced.

The following morning the little prince returned to the inn on his horse, and later that

day, the king came to the palace in the sky as usual. The first thing he did was to weigh

the princess. He used to do this every day, for he knew that a woman would put on weight if

she had touched a man. As he weighed her that day, he found the princess two pounds heavier

than usual. He flew into a rage, he scowled and his beard stood on end. People were very

puzzled that day because the king returned to his palace rather early. Seeing that he was in

a bad mood, his courtiers came forward to ask what was troubling him. The king told them

what had happened. "Who else can go up there but me?" he asked, and then added, "You must

find me a way to arrest this man."

The Magic Moneybag-3

Time went slowly by. One day the husband suggested, "Let's buy an ox."

The wife didn't aGREe. A few days later, the husband suggested again, "How about buying a few acres of land?"

His wife didn't aGREe with that either. A few more days elapsed, and the wife herself proposed, "Let's build a little thatched cottage."

The husband was itching to spend all the money they had saved and said, "Since we have so much money in hand, why don't we build a big brick house?"

The wife could not dissuade her husband and reluctantly went along with his idea.

The husband spent the money on bricks, tiles and timber and on hiring carpenters and masons. From that time on, neither of them went into the mountain to cut firewood any more. The day came when their pile of silver was almost exhausted, but the new house was still unfinished. It had long been in the back of the husband's mind to ask the moneybag to produce more silver. So without his wife's knowledge, he opened the bag for a second time that day. Instantly, another lump of snow-white silver rolled jingling out of the bag onto the ground. He opened it a third time and received a third lump.

He thought to himself, "If I go on like this, I can get the house finished in no time!" He quite forgot the old man's warning. But when he opened the bag for the fourth time, it was absolutely empty. This time not a scrap of silver came out of it. It was just an old cloth bag. When he turned to look at his unfinished brick house, that was gone as well. There before him was his old thatched hut.

The woodcutter felt very sad. His wife came over and consoled him, "We can't depend on the magic moneybag from heaven. Let's go back to the mountain to cut firewood as we did before. That's a more dependable way of earning a living."

From that day on, the young couple once again went up to the mountain to cut firewood and led their old, hardworking life.

The Wooden Horse-4

One of his courtiers made a suggestion, "We have four mighty warriors in our kingdom. Your

Majesty can send them up to stand at the foot of the four walls of the palace. When the man

turns up, they wil1 he sure to catch him." The king thought this an excellent idea. That

evening he personally took the warriors up and showed them where to hide and keep watch.

When everything was set, the king went down to his palace. But, unfortunately for his plans,

the warriors were inveterate sleepy heads and soon fell asleep at their posts. The little

prince came again and stayed with impunity until dawn.

When the king arrived and weighed the princess, he discovered that she had put on weight

again. He was speechless with rage.

He called in another courtier for consultation. The courtier said, "Why not apply a coat of

paint to the bed and chairs of the princess? Then tomorrow we can search the city and

whoever has paint on his clothes is our man." The king followed his advice and had the

princess' bed, chairs and all her other furniture painted. In the evening the little prince

came again. On his way back, he noticed that his clothes were badly stained with paint, so

he took them off and threw them away.

It so happened that in the town there lived a poor old man who got up before dawn every day

and went from door to door waking people to go to mosque. While he was on his rounds that

day, something dropped from the sky. He picked it up and found it to be a set of very fine

clothes. "I have been serving Allah all my life and this must be my reward!" the old man

thought to himself and took the clothes home.

That evening, when the whole town came to the mosque to pray, the king secretly sent his men

to search for the suspect. The old man who was happily wearing his "reward from Allah" soon

got into trouble. In the middle of the service, he was arres


ted and brought to the king. "Why are your clothes stained with paint?" the king questioned

him. The old man answered, "I picked these clothes up off the ground and they were like this

when I found them." The king didn't believe his story and sent him to prison to be

interrogated under torture. Without much trouble, they managed to extract some sort of

confession from him, and he was sentenced to death by hanging.

The whole town was abuzz with this affair, and everyone was curious to know what this man

was like who had succeeded in getting into the palace in the sky. When they saw this old man

being led to the scaffold, no one thought he could possibly have done it. They began to talk

about the case, and all felt that he must have been

The Wooden Horse-1

A carpenter and a blacksmith had an argument. Each of them insisted that he was more skilful than the other. Who was actually the more skilful of the two? They disputed this question for a long time without reaching any conclusion. Finally they aGREed, "Let's go to the king and ask him to be the judge."

So they came to the king who asked them, "What have you come for?"

"I am a carpenter," said the one. "And my handiwork is more ingenious than the handiwork of any other carpenter in the world. But he said that I cannot match him in skill."

The blacksmith said, "Whoever sees my work praises it. But he insists that my skill is inferior to his."

"We want Your Majesty to be our judge and tell us whose skill is truly superior," the two pleaded. This put the king in a difficult position. "How can I form a judgement without seeing a single thing you have made?" said he. "I'll give you ten days. In that time you must each make a sample of your work and bring it here."

The two went home and each set his hand to his task. Ten days later, they came to the king again. The blacksmith brought with him a huge iron fish. "What can this do?" asked the king.

The blacksmith told him, "This iron fish of mine can float in the sea loaded with a hundred thousand sacks of grain."

These words made the king laugh inwardly. "This fellow is bound to come out the loser," he said to himself. "Such heavy iron will definitely sink when put in the water. How can it possibly float? But anyway, they may as well put a hundred thousand sacks of grain into the thing and see what happens." On his orders, the iron fish was launched. Strangely enough, it moved through the water with speed and without the least trace of clumsiness. It caused quite a sensation among the spectators. The king was most impressed and even promised the blacksmith an official post. Later he actually made him beadle of one of his districts.

Aniz the Shepherd-3

It made the landlord very angry to watch his three sons lose three thousand strings of cash like this, without so much as a piece of fluff to show for it.

"You fools!" he cried. "You worthless pack of fools! Tomorrow I shall go and catch it myself!"

So the following day the landlord went into the forest. When Aniz spotted him, his eyes blazed with hatred. Before the landlord could open his mouth, Aniz took out his flute and began playing. All the beasts of the forest -- rabbits, bears, snakes, wolves, foxes and many different


sorts of birds -- came and encircled the landlord. Terror drove the last drop of color from his cheeks. He fell to his knees in despair and entreated Aniz, "My lord, save me ! Save me!"

"Landlord! Do you remember Aniz? At one sound from my flute, these animals will eat you alive!"

"Alas... Ah! My lord! Don't treat me as once I treated you!" He lay prostrate at Aniz' feet and sobbed, "I promise to give you anything you want. Don't let them... I'm so scared...."

"Very well. I will spare your wretched life this once. But you must never bully poor folk again! If you don't turn over a new leaf, I won't be so easy on you next time. And when you get home, you must give half of all your worldly goods to the poor villagers. Is that clear?"

"Yes! Yes!" The landlord rose to his feet and fled in abject terror. He followed Aniz' instructions and distributed half of his estate to the poor. That made Aniz more popular than ever.

Aniz the Shepherd-2

The eldest son reckoned gleefully, "Compared with the property I am going to inherit, a thousand strings of cash are nothing!" In the evening he returned to the forest with the money and found Aniz sitting on a tree stump, playing his flute. All the little animals were squatting round him entranced, pricking up their ears to listen to the music. The eldest son saw the white rabbit among them at once. It really did have had a tiny black spot on the top of its head.

Aniz saw the rabbit too. He put down his flute, stretched out his hand, took hold of it by its long ears and handed it to the eldest son. "Here you are. Hold it tightly! If it escapes, it's none of my business."

The eldest son paid the money, thanked Aniz profusely and set off home with the little white rabbit. He was about to leave the forest when he heard Aniz playing the flute again. As soon as the rabbit heard the music, it burst from his hand and ran for all it was worth. The eldest son searched for it for a long time but could not find any trace of it. In the end he gave up and went to see Aniz again.

"The white rabbit has run away. What can I do?" he asked.

Aniz answered, "There is nothing I can do about it. Didn't I warn you a moment ago to hold it tightly? It's no use blaming me."

The eldest son had no alternative but to go home empty-handed and tell his story to the landlord.

The second son said, "Father, don't worry. I'll go and catch it tomorrow." Next day, the second son went to try his luck and met the same fate as his elder brother -- time wasted and another thousand strings of cash down the drain. On the third day, the youngest son went, but he fared no better.

Aniz the Shepherd-2

One day the landlord summoned his sons and said, "Last night I dreamt of a beautiful rabbit, white as snow, with a black spot on the top of its head. I liked the look of it very much. You must try your best to catch it for me in the forest."

"Father, we have never even heard of such a rabbit!" his sons replied. "Where can we go to catch it for you?"

"You hopeless creatures! Didn't you hear what I said just now?" cried the landlord in a temper. "Go and look for it. Whoever finds it will inherit all I have when I die."

The eldest son thought to himself, "I am the eldest. I should inherit father's property anyway, whether I catch the rabbit or not. But supposing they..." He stepped forward and said, "Brothers, let me go! I fear no danger, if only I can make father happy!"

He set off on his way loo


king around him carefully, and after a while an old man came towards him and asked, "Young man, where are you going?" The eldest son told him why he had come.

"Go to the forest then," said the old man, "and look for the rabbit! Aniz is tending my cattle there. Tell him what you want and he'll help you."

The eldest son went into the forest, found Aniz and asked him for his help. "Of course!" Aniz smiled, "I can help you to find the strange rabbit. Come and get it this evening. But you must bring with you a thousand strings of cash to pay for it."

Aniz the Shepherd-1

Once upon a time a landlord hired a shepherd boy whose name was Aniz. He was very well liked. What people liked most of all was to listen to him playing the flute. His flute looked very simple, no more than a length of bamboo; but in his hands it became a wonderful instrument. Whenever they were free, people would sit around Aniz and entertain themselves by listening to him play. The landlord was heartily sick of both the boy and his flute. He was constantly finding fault with him and scolding him, "You little wretch! Do I pay you to sit there playing the flute?" In point of fact, Aniz' flute-playing did not interfere with his work in the slightest.

One day the landlord found some slight pretext to give Aniz a terrible beating. That was not enough; he was not content until he had driven him out and trampled his flute into little pieces. "Good! I should like to see you play the flute now!"

Poor Aniz left the landlord's house and, with tears trickling down his face, wandered through the streets.

He chanced to meet an old man. "Hello! What's the trouble, young fellow? Who are your parents? Why are you out here all on your own, crying?" the old man asked, stroking Aniz's head.

"Grandpa! I am a shepherd. My name is Aniz. The landlord beat me, drove me out and trampled my lovely flute to pieces..." Aniz began crying again.

"Don't cry, Aniz," said the old man kindly. "Come along and stay with me! I shall show you a way to avenge yourself." He took Aniz to his home. There he used a length of bamboo to make him a new flute which was much better than his old one. He taught him how to play it, and after his lessons with the old man, Aniz could play more beautifully than ever. This time it was not just people who enjoyed his playing; even the various animals in the forest came and sat round him, listening to him quietly and never wanting to leave. As time passed, Aniz and the animals became close friends.

The Wooden Horse-2

The carpenter came with a wooden horse slung over his shoulder. When he saw it, the king

pulled a long face, "Surely this is a child's toy? How can it compare with the iron fish?"

"Oh, it's even better than the iron fish," said the carpenter. "It has twenty-six screws on

it. When you loosen the first screw, the wooden horse will fly into the sky; when you loosen

the second screw, it will accelerate. If you loosen all the twenty-six screws, it will fly

more quickly than any bird and take you around the world."

The young prince happened to be present while they were talking about this. His curiosity

was GREatly aroused when he heard that the wooden horse could fly. How he wished he could

fly up into the sky and have a look at the world! He turned to the king and asked him to let


him have a ride. The king said, "No, it's out of the question. Are you even sure that it can

really fly? What if it rises into the sky and then falls to the ground?"

"Don't worry," said the carpenter. "There is no chance of that ever happening."

The little prince kept pestering his father. Since the king doted on him and had never

refused him anything, he got his way in the end. "But you can only try it out," said the

king. "You must fly slowly and only loosen the first screw." AGREeing to this, the little

prince mounted the horse. He loosened the first screw, and sure enough, the wooden horse

rose into the air. He looked down and saw everything beneath him moving further away: the

mountains, the rivers, the trees, the towns, the crowds of people. He was so delighted that

he loosened one screw after another. The wooden horse flew faster and faster and soon

crowds, trees, towns were all out of sight. As he flew, the little prince became hungry. He

looked down and saw another city beneath him. He tightened the screws one by one. The wooden

horse slowed down and gradually landed. The little prince had a meal and put up for the

night at an inn. What fun! To arrive like this, in the twinkling of an eye, in a new town, a

town he had never seen before!

The next day the little prince went sight-seeing. Having strolled along several streets, he

found himself in a square filled with people gazing up into the sky. "There must be

something fascinating up there in the sky," he thought. He elbowed his way into the crowd

and looked up, but there was nothing to be seen.

The Magic Moneybag

Long, long ago there was a young couple who lived in a small thatched hut in a gully. They were so poor that every day they had to cut two bundles of firewood and carry them to market on their backs.

One day, the young couple came back from the mountain carrying the firewood. They put one bundle in the courtyard and planned to sell it at the market the next day to buy rice. The other bundle they kept in the kitchen for their own use. When they woke up the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had mysteriously disappeared. There was nothing to do but to sell the bundle which they had kept for themselves.

That same day, they cut another two bundles of firewood as usual. They put one bundle in the courtyard for market and kept the other bundle for their own use. But the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had vanished again. The same thing happened on the third and fourth day as well, and the husband began to think there was something strange going on.

On the fifth day, he made a hollow in the bundle of firewood in the courtyard and hid himself inside it. From the outside it looked just the same as before. At midnight an enormous rope descended from the sky, attached itself to the bundle and lifted it up into the sky, with the woodcutter still inside it.

On his arrival in heaven, he saw a kindly looking, white-haired old man coming in his direction. The old man untied the bundle and when he found the man inside it, he asked, "Other people only cut one bundle of firewood a day. Why do you cut two?"

The woodcutter made a bow and replied, "We are penniless. That's why my wife and I cut two bundles of firewood a day. One bundle is for our own use and the other we carry to the market. With it we can buy rice to make porridge."

Care your dream

My dream ended when I was born. Although I never knew it then, I just held on to something that would never come to pass. Dreams really do exist. But in the morning when you wake up, they are remembered just as a dream. That is what happened to me.
I always have the dream to dance like a beautiful ballerina twirling around and around and hearing people applaud for me. When I was young, I would twirling around and around in the fields of wildflowers that GREw in my backyard. For hours I would dance as if people were watching me. I would dance so fast that I would forget where I was, until I would hear sounds that reminded me of where I really was. I thought that if I twirled faster everything would disappear and I would wake up in a new place. Reality woke me up when I heard a voice saying, "I don't know why you bother trying to dance. Ballerinas are pretty, slender little girls. Besides, you don't have the talent to even be a ballerina." I remember how those words paralyzed every feeling in my body. I feel to the ground and wept for hours.
We lived in the country by a nearby lake and I would sometimes go there to hide. My parents were never home anyway and I did not like to be at home where I could hear the walls talking of pain. When they were home, my mother just yelled and criticized because nothing was ever perfect in her life. She dreamed of a different life but ended up living in a country far away from the city where she believed her dreams would have come true.
I enjoyed hanging out by the water. I would sit there for hours and stare at my reflection. There I was, looked nothing like a pretty ballerina dancer. Reflections don't lie. Once the waves would come, my reflection was gone. Washed away just like my dream to dance. I sat there staring at the water, hoping that my reflection would reappear and be different.
As I GREw older, I began to realize that the reason my dream was even born in the first place, was because it was something that was inside of me. The dream I had was never nurtured and cared for, so it slowly died. It's not that I wanted it to die, but I allowed it to die the day I started listening to the words, "You can't do it." When I finally woke up from many years of dreaming, I realized that you can't settle for dancing in the wildflowers, you have to move on to the platform. I still go to the lake sometimes and sit there. Looking at my reflection is different now too. When I was young, I looked at how others saw me, now that I am older and wiser; I look at how God sees me.

learn chinese

Chinese-online is the main website under Chinese International Institute. With online teaching as our basic method, we are mainly providing multi-language training and learning, especially Chinese language teaching, for the people with English, Japanese, or Korean as their native languages. Nowadays we are trying to expand our branches and cooperation institutes all over the world including North America, Japan, Korea，Southeastern Asia, Australia, and Europe.The Institute has greatly utilized its R&D results to improve teaching. In China, we have been cooperating with teaching & research organizations, experts and professionals from top Chinese universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Language Institute, NanKai University, and Wuhan University, to carry on researches and development on teaching methods and textbooks. Characterized with its unique and effective teaching methods , systematic teaching materials and educational thoughts the institute also learns from others by extensively absorbing the distinct language teaching approaches and concepts from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, as well as foreign countries, and practically we adopt top popular Chinese teaching materials.Our teachers are mainly from top universities and research organizations which are well-known for its high quality on education of Chinese and other languages. The universities, include China’s main normal universities with Beijing Normal University as the representative, Peking University, Renmin University, Tsinghua University, Nankai University, Fudan University, Nanjing University, Wuhan University, Beijing Language Institute, Beijing Foreign Languages University, and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, etc .Moreover , we have many senior Chinese teachers including emcees from CCTV and China Radio, professors of teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, senior translators, language experts, and experienced professionals, with whom you can make appointment to employ your own senior Chinese instructor.With two years of hardworking, we have completed this Chinese online educational website http://www.chineseonline.cc/ or http://www.chinesepal.cn/, we have been upgrading it since the July -September trail-run started this year. At present, the website still needs improvements, and we appreciate any suggestions/opinions from you. As a return, we offer a one-month FREE teaching to every learner from July to September 2007. Chineseonline aims at the interactive online multi-language teaching and training, for instance, Chinese-English. With ‘Natural Approach’ and two-way language partnership with our on line tutors learning as our unique features, our main characteristics are as follows: 1. Instant one-on-one teaching, training and tutoring 2. 7*24 non-stop appointment services 3. Worldwide online web-cam visual teaching 4. Chinese teaching in standard native language by teachers from top Chinese universities. 5. Providing the education organizations with tailored supplementary teaching, training and education cooperation. 6.Providing personalized learning plan or client-required learning plan. 7. Advocating international companionship, self-help and free interactive language partnership. 8. Register as a lifetime member in http://www.chineseonline.cc/ or http://www.chinesepal.cn/ and enjoy both online and offline help in any branches of our institute 9．We have many senior Chinese teachers including emcees from CCTV and Radio China , professors of Chinese as a Foreign Language, senior translators, language experts, and experienced professionals, with whom you can make appointment to employ your own senior Chinese instructor.Note: Chinese-Online (http://www.chinesepal.cn/) is a place to Learn Chinese, and to find free Chinese Tutors to teach Chinese Lessons ,a place to learn mandarin! The fees is in the page(http://www.chinesepal.cn/class_type.html).The Site map of our site to learn Chinese language is the link(http://www.chinesepal.cn/sitemap.html).You can find something what you want to Learn Chinese Online! If you have interested Learn Mandarin Chinese Online ! Please click the link to study Chinese Language! Your Chinese Translation will begin to here! you can find Chinese characters, Chinese writing , Chinese dictionary and so on!