It requires much study of the Oriental mind to catch even brief
glimpses of the secret of its mysterious charm. An open mind and the
wisdom of great sympathy are conditions essential to making it at all
possible.
Contemplative, gentle, and metaphysical in their habit of thought, the
Chinese have reflected profoundly and worked out many riddles of the
universe in ways peculiarly their own. Realization of the value and
need to us of a more definite knowledge of the mental processes of our
Oriental brothers, increases wonderfully as one begins to comprehend
the richness, depth, and beauty of their thought, ripened as it is by
the hidden processes of evolution throughout the ages.
To obtain literal translations from the mental store-house of the
Chinese has not been found easy of accomplishment; but it is a more
difficult, and a most elusive task to attempt to translate their
fancies, to see life itself as it appears from the Chinese point of
view, and to retell these impressions without losing quite all of their
color and charm.
The “impressions,” the “airy shapes” formed by the Oriental
imagination, the life touches and secret graces of its fancy are at
once the joy and despair of the one who attempts to record them.
In retelling these Chinese stories of home and school life, the writer
has been greatly aided by the Rev. Chow Leung, whose evident desire to
serve his native land and have the lives of his people reflected truly,
has made him an invaluable collaborator. With the patient courtesy
characteristic of the Chinese, he has given much time to explaining
obscure points and answering questions innumerable.
It has been an accepted belief of the world’s best scholars that
Chinese literature did not possess the fable, and chapters in
interesting books have been written on this subject affirming its
absence. Nevertheless, while studying the people, language, and
literature of China it was the great pleasure of the writer to discover
that the Chinese have many fables, a few of which are published in this
book.
As these stories, familiar in the home and school life of the children
of China, show different phases of the character of a people in the
very processes of formation, it is earnestly hoped that this English
presentation of them will help a little toward a better understanding
and appreciation of Chinese character as a whole.