The Secret of the Magic Gourd - Selected Long Fantasy Tales by Zhang Tianyi (Selected Long Fantasy Tales by Zhang Tianyi)

Author: Zhang Tianyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Let me tell you a story. But first, I need to introduce myself: My name is Wang Bao. What I’m going to tell you is about something that happened to me—my story with the Magic Gourd. You might ask, “What? Magic Gourd? The kind from fairy tales?” Yes, exactly that kind of Magic Gourd. But let me clarify: I’m neither a god nor a monster. I’m just an ordinary person like you. Look, I’m a Young Pioneer, and like all of you, I love listening to stories. As for the story of the Magic Gourd, I’ve known it since I was a child. It was my grandmother who told it to me. Whenever my grandmother asked me to do something, she had to tell me a story first. That was the rule in our family.
“Good little Bao, come now, Grandma will wash your feet for you.” Grandma would chase me while waving her hand.
“I don’t want to, I’m afraid it’s too hot.” I would slip away while shaking my head.
“It’s not hot. It’s been cold for a while.”
“But I’m afraid of the cold.” Grandma caught up with me and said, “The water is just right—not hot and not cold. You have to wash your feet.”
I had no choice but to give in. But I had a condition:
“If you want to wash them, go ahead. But you have to tell me a story.”
So Grandma told me a story about the Magic Gourd.
“Okay, little Bao, don’t move!” Just as Grandma had finished washing my feet, she suddenly had another request.
“Let me give you a haircut.” What! Cut my toenails? No way! With my bare feet, I’d run the moment I stepped on the ground. But Grandma pulled my arm. There was nothing I could do. But I had to make my condition:
“Well then, you have to tell a story.”
So Grandma told another one—another story about the Magic Gourd.
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