Grammar Activities

Chinese Folktale  

When the night is clear, you can see shadows on the moon. According to an old Chinese folktale, they are shadows of the cinnamon tree in the moon. This tree came to be because of the laziness of an inmortal, Wu Kang.

Wu Kang was in charge of guarding the dragon. However, he was lazy. Whenever he drank wine, he often allowed the dragon to run away. One day, he went to Mount K'un Lun. While he was there. During that time, he met some of his friends. They began to drink, compose poems and throw dice. He continued to drink, even after night came. After he drank some more he became completely tipsy. When he saw some fellows playing chess, asked to join them. They adviced him to go home because they knew he was being negligent, but Wu Kang offered to wager the dragon's. After they played a few moves of the game, Wu Kang lost the pearl. He had wagered and lost the dragon pearl. As soon as he wagered and lost the mighty dragon the Immortals learned of the loss. They were furious. They immediately sowed a pearl in the ground and a tall cinnamon tree grew  from it. When the tree reached a great height they gave Wu Kang an ax and told him to cut off the branches. As soon as he had cut off all the branches, bigger ones sproded and grew. Wu Kang had to cut them off too. Wu Kang is still there to this day cutting off branches. Whenever you see shadows on the moon, you will know that they are branches of cinnamon tree falling down.