Reading Notes: China, Part B

Pigeon (Javardh on Unsplash)

 Probably the story that caught my attention the most from Part B of the Chinese Fairy Tales unit was "Retribution."  The tale begins with Ma, a boy who looks out the window at his elderly neighbor, Wang, who is watering his flowers.  As Ma watches, a water-carrier walking by stops and offers to help Wang.  When Wang refuses, he and the water-carrier get into a short scuffle, which ultimately culminates in the water-carrier losing his balance and falling to his immediate death.  Wang is in shock, and Ma watches as he moves the body to the edge of the river and leaves without getting help.  Ma doesn't say anything either, so a few hours later, the water-carrier's body is found, although no one can figure out how the man died--eventually, they pronounce it an accident.  Years later, Ma is now a teacher, and is sitting in his old room preparing his students' exams when he sees the water-carrier's ghost go by.  Ma, intrigued, follows the ghost to one of the neighbor's house, the Li family.  As Ma arrives, a servant is leaving to get incense, but a maid stops him, saying that it is too late, and the baby has already been born.  Ma is impressed that the water-carrier's spirit is reborn to such a rich family.  Years pass again while Ma keeps an eye on the Li's son.  When the boy is seven years old, Ma looks out the window to see Wang in his garden again, and the boy in his room taking care of his pigeons.  One of the pigeons escapes, so the boy throws a rock at it to get it back.  But the rock misses the bird and hits Wang instead, killing him instantly.  The boy, shocked, closes his window without telling anyone.  Hours later, people find Wang's body, but declare his death an accident.

In general, this story was so fascinating and strange in subject.  I liked the ghost story aspect to it, and the shock of the accidental murders.  As a result, I want to keep those elements in the story in my retelling.  I think I might try to retell it from Ma's perspective in first-person perspective, so that the readers can get his internality better when shocking events happen.  I thought the theme of revenge was fascinating in this story.  It might also be fun to experiment with Ma's possible guilt for seeing two murders and not telling anyone.

Bibliography: "Retribution," Chinese Fairy Tales, R. Wilhelm.