Bamboo Fluteby Fan ZuyuBefore the instrument, the phoenix once fed on its fine fruit.Now sounding like a dragon, after transforming into a flute.Pity that it wasn't discovered by Cai Yong.Or ever played by Ma Rong.Fan Zuyu (1041-1098), a famous historian and litterateur. In Chinese mythology, th...

Didyou ever hear of the golden apples, that grew in the garden of the Hesperides? Ah, those were such apples as would bring a great price, by the bushel, if any of them could be found growing in the orchards of nowadays! But there is not, I suppose, a graft of that wonderful fruit on a single...

Ink Painting of Bamboo by Palace Attendant Shi on the Temple Wallby Guo XiangzhengNeither red nor green hues does he rely on,With ink alone he completes a wonder, outdoing natureStrokes go soft or hard, as he sees fit,To style lush blooms and solid spirit.Guo Xiangzheng (1035-1113), a Romantic poet...

Once upon a time Odin, Loki, and Hœner started on a journey. They had often travelled together before on all sorts of errands, for they had a great many things to look after, and more than once they had fallen into trouble through the prying, meddlesome, malicious spirit of Loki, who was never so h...

Long, long ago, there once lived a king and a queen who had a daughter. One day, when the daughter went walking in the garden, a tremendous storm suddenly came up and carried her away with it. Now the storm had come from the bird with nine heads, who had robbed the princess, and brought her to his c...

Vivian’s family had just moved to Japan for her mom’s work. She missed a lot of things about living in her old home in Missouri. But she liked how close they were living to the ocean now, at least. She could see the ocean from her window. She often did homework with the window open, or sometimes s...