Cora Cheney (–1999)

Arranged chronologically, in accordance with the traditions and festivals of the Taiwanese lunar year, Cora Cheney's Tales from a Taiwan Kitchen presents twenty-one folktales from Taiwan, all from the settler Chinese population (rather than the indigenous, or aboriginal peoples). Collected when Cheney was teaching English in Taipei, the tales are accompanied by the cut-paper illustrations of legendary folk-artist Teng Kung Yun-chang (Grandma Teng), as well as folk-motif designs from an old Dover publication. The stories themselves are fascinating, some familiar in their themes, some unfamiliar; and the ghost stories, in particular, are gripping! Selections include:

The introductory How the Dragon Lost His Tail, which explains the formation of Taiwan, once the tail of father dragon, who - spurred on by his mischievous offspring - writhed and twisted until it fell off. Father Dragon himself is now the Himalayan mountain range.

For the Lunar New Year, A New Year's Story, in which a poor widow, Mrs. Teng, discovers the two things - blood wiped on the door, and loud noise - that will frighten away the terrible dragon ghost that returns to her village every year, demanding a first-born son to eat. The custom of placing red papers on the door, and setting off firecrackers, during the New Year's celebration, honors her discovery.

For the First Moon, and the Lantern Festival, The Lantern Baby, in which the poor duckherd Koo and his wife are finally granted their heart's desire, when 'Little Thing' - a half dragon, half human creature that they have informally adopted - is transformed into a real human baby.

For the Second Moon, and the Feast of the Excited Insects, The Man Who Loved Tiny Creatures, in which humble Wang Tang, always kind and generous with smaller creatures, from birds to insects, is rewarded many times in turn: saved from a terrible flood, and helped to marriage with the beautiful Precious Jade. A second selection for this moon, Good Neighbors Come in All Sizes, is a brief fable in which Neighbor Wood Pigeon and Neighbor Ant save one another in turn, demonstrating that difference in size should not preclude friendship, and that the humble should not be despised.

For the Third Moon, and Matsu's Birthday, The Reward, in which a Taiwanese fisherman named Jingi, praying to Matsu for deliverance from a terrible storm, finds himself safely landed on mainland China, where he outwits a greedy castle guard, and performs a service for the king. Also included for the Third Moon, is Curious Taro, in which the Japanese foster-son of a Taiwanese family saves a sea turtle who belongs to the Sea Princess, and ends up joining the princess in a blissful life under the waves. His return to land, seemingly a short time later, and discovery that many years have passed, reminded me of the Irish story of Oisin in Tír na nÓg, and his return to Erin.

For the Fifth Moon, and the Dragon Boat Festival, How to Become a Dragon, which explains - through the story of a determined little carp, and how he managed to pass through the Dragon Gate - how dragons are made, and also, how the waves are formed.

For the Seventh Moon, with its Feat of the Hungry Ghosts and Birthday of the Weaving Maid, Clam Girl, in which Aho the fisherman offers his only treasure to the ocean, and is rewarded with a beautiful wife - the ghostly adopted daughter of the King of the Sea Dragons - in turn. Also included in this section is Sister Na-Tao, in which a lonely Taiwanese widow marries a mainland Chinese man against the advise of the fortune-teller, only to discover, when he makes off with all her money, that he has deceived her, and is already married. In a gruesome twist, the widow hangs herself, in order to pursue her deceptive husband as a ghost! A third selection is The Happy Ghost, in which a ghost pleads with an expectant father, hoping to be allowed to become the soul of his child, whose birth is expected at any moment. Finally, The Story of the Weaving Maid, in which the youngest daughter of the Kitchen God, whose duties include the weaving of clothing for the gods, falls in love with a handsome cowherd, and creates havoc by neglecting her celestial duties, once married. Her eventual separation from her husband, by the wide swathe of the Milky Way, and her annual reunion with him, is a popular tale that can be found in many sources, amongst them Tom Birdseye's picture-book, A Song of Stars.

For the Eighth Moon, and the Moon Festival, The Wicked Stone Horse of Shilin, in which a farming village discovers one morning that its rice crop has been decimated in the night, and a young man named Chang eventually succeeds in stopping the culprit: a demonic horse run wild.

The final section is devoted to the Winter Moons - the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Moons - and includes eight tales, beginning with Waiting for Rabbits, which explains the inventions of rabbit traps on Taiwan. Also included are: Winter Bamboo: A Filial Story, in which a young boy's devotion to his ailing mother so moves the god of bamboo, that he creates winter bamboo in order to help the boy heal his mother; the deliciously creepy The Tiger Witch, in which two sisters, Ah-bi and Ah-lee, find themselves confronting a terrible child-eating witch, when their mother must leave home for the night; and The Baby Water Buffalo, in which old Mr. Lin and his grandson, taking their baby water buffalo to market, discover that it is impossible to please everyone, and that they should follow their own preference, when it comes to how to travel.

Wu-Feng: A True Story, sets out the historical legend of the Taiwanese magistrate who, by sacrificing himself to the native head-hunters, created peace between the Chinese settlers and the native peoples of Taiwan; while The Mud-Baked Hen tells the story of a poor old couple who are briefly brought prosperity by some magic mud, and a talking chicken, until the wife's greed, and refusal to share their blessings with the local monks, ruins everything. The stories are brought to a close with Lin Tachian, in which the titular hero misses out on becoming Emperor of China by two minutes; and A Story for Poets: A Folktale for Today, in which a student at university encounters the ghost of a young woman whose remains were disturbed by the building of his school.… (plus d'informations)