Storytelling: Two of Everything (Chinese Folktale)

I first discovered this folktale through Cynthia DeFelice and Andrea U'Ren's delightful Irish-flavored homage One Potato, Two Potato.

The basic story is simple; a lonely impoverished peasant farmer discovers a magic pot in his fields, digs it up and carries it home.  Usually he throws something inside the pot to help him carry everything.  Once he gets home, he's simply happy about the free pot, but his clever wife realizes that the item he threw into the pot has doubled, and they set about doubling the little bits of things they own, working hard to grow more prosperous, and eventually (through mishap or purpose) doubling themselves to provide company and extra hands to share work.

It's a sweet story, with no real villains or unfortunate events, other than the poverty and loneliness which are overcome during the story itself.  I rather like that about the story, because it puts the focus on the delight of having more after having had so little for so long.  It also illustrates how quickly everything multiplies, using simple mundane items like candlesticks or kindling wood or potatoes.

The implications are that these farmers are clever enough and humble enough to enjoy the magic of the pot without screwing themselves over like The Fisherman's Wife does.  Also, unlike Why The Sea is Salt, or another Chinese folktale called the Magic Pot (The Runaway Wok) there's no trick to use, or an evil/trickster spirit that requires cleverness to outwit or that inflicts damage on neighbors/enemies.  It also has echoes of Stone Soup, in that it illustrates quite vividly that starting with next-to-nothing isn't quite the same as starting with absolutely nothing, and that companionship and generosity are intrinsic to human nature.

Related picture books to use for thematic, comparative, or contrasting concepts:

One Potato, Two Potato
Cynthia DeFelice, illustrated by Andrea U'Ren
ISBN: 0374356408

Two of Everything
Lily Toy Hong
ISBN: 0807581577

The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale
Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Sebastia Serra
ISBN: 9780525420682

Stone Soup
John J. Muth
ISBN: 9780439339094

The Magic Fish
Freya Littledale, illustrated Winslow Pinney Pels
ISBN: 9780590411004

A Catfish Tale: A Bayou Story of the Fisherman and his Wife
Whitney Stewart, illustrated by Gerald Guerlais
ISBN: 9780807510988

Stone Soup, Jon J. Muth

Stone Soup, Jon J. Muth.  ISBN: 043933909X

Read July 23, 2013

 

Picture Book: Three monks (named for the Chinese deities for health, wealth, and prosperity) visit a town crippled and isolated by bad fortune.  They set up in the town square and begin to cook stone soup, and the peculiar sight draws the townsfolk in to investigate and assist.  By the end of the night, a town-wide party is underway, people are visiting and making merry, and the monks are given a fond send-off the next morning.

 

I love the extra touches in this book (many of them mentioned in the afterword).  The little girl in the sun-yellow coat that first breaks the ice, the gentle but sly expressions on the monks' faces as they trick the townies into being nicer and happier, the omnipresent black cat.

 

I also like that the monks perform shadow puppets for the townies - I love puppetry, and having a puppet-scene illustrated is a nice touch.

 

Muth is the author/illustrator of the Zen Shorts set of books, and I dearly love his illustrations.  His writing is also gentle and clear, which fits the "teaching" style of his moralistic stories.