The Golden Nugget
once upon a time many, many years ago, there lived in china two friends named ki-wu and pao-shu. these two young men, like damon and pythias, loved each other and were always together. no cross words passed between them; no unkind thoughts marred their friendship. many an interesting tale might be told of their unselfishness, and of how the good fairies gave them the true reward of virtue. one story alone, however, will be enough to show how strong was their affection and their goodness.
it was a bright beautiful day in early spring when ki-wu and pao-shu set out for a stroll together, for they were tired of the city and its noises.
"let us go into the heart of the pine forest," said ki-wu lightly. "there we can forget the cares that worry us; there we can breathe the sweetness of the flowers and lie on the moss-covered ground."
"good!" said pao-shu, "i, too, am tired. the forest is the place for rest."
happy as two lovers on a holiday, they passed along the winding road, their eyes turned in longing toward the distant tree-tops. their hearts beat fast in youthful pleasure as they drew nearer and nearer to the woods.
"for thirty days i have worked over my books," sighed ki-wu. "for thirty days i have not had a rest. my head is stuffed so full of wisdom, that i am afraid it will burst. oh, for a breath of the pure air blowing through the greenwood."
"and i," added pao-shu sadly, "have worked like a slave at my counter and found it just as dull as you have found your books. my master treats me badly. it seems good, indeed, to get beyond his reach."
now they came to the border of the grove, crossed a little stream, and plunged headlong among the trees and shrubs. for many an hour they rambled on, talking and laughing merrily; when suddenly on passing round a clump of flower-covered bushes, they saw shining in the pathway directly in front of them a lump of gold.
"see!" said both, speaking at the same time, and pointing toward the treasure.
'they saw shining in the pathway, directly in front of them, a lump of gold.'
ki-wu, stooping, picked up the nugget. it was nearly as large as a lemon, and was very Ptty. "it is yours, my dear friend," said he, at the same time handing it to pao-shu; "yours because you saw it first."
"no, no," answered pao-shu, "you are wrong, my brother, for you were first to speak. now, you can never say hereafter that the good fairies have not rewarded you for all your faithful hours of study."
"repaid me for my study! why, that is impossible. are not the wise men always saying that study brings its own reward? no, the gold is yours: i insist upon it. think of your weeks of hard labour - of the masters that have ground you to the bone! here is something far better. take it," laughing. "may it be the nest egg by means of which you may hatch out a great fortune."
thus they joked for some minutes, each refusing to take the treasure for himself; each insisting that it belonged to the other. at last, the chunk of gold was dropped in the very spot where they had first spied it, and the two comrades went away, each happy because he loved his friend better than anything else in the world. thus they turned their backs on any chance of quarrelling.
"it was not for gold that we left the city," exclaimed ki-wu warmly.
"no," replied his friend, "one day in this forest is worth a thousand nuggets."
"let us go to the spring and sit down on the rocks," suggested ki-wu. "it is the coolest spot in the whole grove."
when they reached the spring they were sorry to find the place already occupied. a countryman was stretched at full length on the ground.
"wake up, fellow!" cried pao-shu, "there is money for you near by. up yonder path a golden apple is waiting for some man to go and pick it up."
then they described to the unwelcome stranger the exact spot where the treasure was, and were delighted to see him set out in eager search.
for an hour they enjoyed each other's company, talking of all the hopes and ambitions of their future, and listening to the music of the birds that hopped about on the branches overhead.
at last they were startled by the angry voice of the man who had gone after the nugget. "what trick is this you have played on me, masters? why do you make a poor man like me run his legs off for nothing on a hot day?"
The Origin of Chinese New Year The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the SpringFestival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms incoodination with the changes of Nature)。 Its origin is too old to be traced. Severalexplanations are hanging around. All agree， however， that the word Nian， which in modernChinese solely means year， was originally the name of a monster beast that started to Py onpeople the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great manypeople with one bite. People were very scared. One day， an old man came to their rescue，offering to subdue Nian. To Nian he said， I hear say that you are very capable， but can youswallow the other beasts of Py on earth instead of people who are by no means of yourworthy opponents? So， it did swallow many of the beasts of Py on earth that alsoharrassed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that， the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian. He turned out to be an immortalgod. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of Py are also scared into forests， peoplebegin to enjoy their peaceful life. Before the old man left， he had told people to put up redpaper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case itsneaked back again， because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on， the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation togeneration. The term Guo Nian， which may mean Survive the Nian becomes today Celebratethe (New) Year as the word guo in Chinese having both the meaning of pass-over andobserve. The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian shouldit have a chance to run loose is still around. However， people today have long forgotten whythey are doing all this， except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement ofthe celebration.
