THE WEAVER"S WIFE.

The cranes carving,used as a coffee table.


THE WEAVER’S WIFE
copyright(c)byMayFam.2005

Along the shores of Shanghai, there once lived a weaver. He weaved brocade of silk tapestry for the rich and sewed brocade gowns for the ladies. He lived alone on a hill top.

When ever there was a big storm or strong wind all the sea birds came to find refuge in his garden. He grew a lot of big trees and had huge caves at the back of his house. The cranes usually came to seek shelter in the caves.

The Chinese believe that cranes bring you luck and if you feed them and care for them you’ll have a long and happy life. Brother Wong always like to watch the cranes doing their elaborate and spectacular courtship dance. He noticed a group of eight cranes; they were always together and seldom mixed with the other cranes.

One night after a big storm, he saw a lot of the cranes were very wet and could not fly. He put fresh straw and grains out for them. As he was walking back to his house, lying on his veranda was a crane.

It had blood on its head and one of the wings was broken. Its eyes were closed, fearing that it was dying; he quickly went in for warm water and towels to clean it.

After he had bandaged its wing, he gently carried it to the house. That night he sat next to it, singing softly, cuddling its head in his lap. The next morning, he was more afraid. The crane lay, not moving.

He covered it with more blankets and went down to the shops to get some Chinese medicine. After boiling the herbs, he trickled some down its throat and rubbed some on the broken wing.

That night the crane opened its eyes and Brother Wong was very happy. He took care of the crane for 4 weeks before it was well enough to fly.
Brother Wong also noticed that while the crane was wounded the other seven cranes were always around in his garden.

As the crane was ready to fly away, Brother Wong said, ‘You have very loyal and faithful friends, they waited around for you while you were wounded’.
Three days later, Brother Wong woke to a knock on his door.

All my stories are extracts from my yet to be published book of chinese fables. If there is a publisher who would like to help me publish it please contact me at,
feedback99@gmail.com
Thank you.