Fairy Tale Fix - 15: Quick, Somebody Stop That Head!

Episode Date: April 13, 2021

This week we celebrate the Dai Water Splashing Festival with one of Abbie’s childhood favorites, The Demon King, and Kelsey covers two short Chinese fairy tales; The Dragon After His Winter Sleep and How Three Heroes Came By Their Deaths Because of Two Peaches.

Hi, this is Kelsey and Abby with Fairytale Fix. We're kicking off our April Fantastic Fun Drive in cahoots with our podcast network, Fantastic Worlds Productions. So making this podcast is a dream come true for us, obviously. It's incredibly fun to make, and it's been so rewarding to start interacting

with this wonderful group of people who love fairy tales as much as we do. It's been really gratifying, and we feel like we've found our people. Yes, absolutely. But also, did you know making podcasts is really expensive? I did know that. I know you did. I know you did.

But them, I'm talking to them. I'm talking to the beautiful people listening to this episode. Yes. Our website, Upkeep, hosting fees, audio equipment, editing software, and just our time really add up when it comes to keeping this thing going. And we could really use your help with it. But it's not for nothing. If you join, you will get extra content like bonus episodes. our original pilot, behind the scenes stuff. We do shout outs on our listener tales episodes. Sometimes I write original fiction.

Cool swag. You'll be entered to win giveaways, all starting at just $3 per month. And as an extra incentive for signing up for this month, every person who signs up for our Patreon from now until the end of April will get entered to win a gorgeous copy of The Book of Witches by Ruth Manning Sanders. It's one of the editions that is getting newly reprinted by Mab Media, but it's complete with all of the original illustrations by Robin Jacques, in addition to some really great podcast swag. Yeah, it's one of my favorite books from them. It's one of my favorite editions of Ruth Manning Sanders books. And I actually am going to release a bonus episode where I go over one of those stories, the donkey lettuce. From the Book of Witches. Yeah. So we've got some great Patreon content for you this month so follow us on instagram twitter and facebook for updates and check out all of our patreon perks at fairytalefix.cash

anything you can spare to help us out would be greatly greatly appreciated and i also just want to say we totally get it if you don't have any to, times is hard. We absolutely still love you and hope that you continue to listen and keep just making us feel like we've just really found our people on the internet. Thank you so much. His hair is made of knives. A single hair can kill him. His hair, it's actually just a battle axe. I heard from my Aunt Julie this week, and she told me that she left us a review on our Apple Podcasts page. And she was apologizing to me because she's like, I spelled your name wrong. I'm so sorry. I spelled it with a Y like an idiot.

Oh no. She's so sweet. She's the best. And she also joined our Patreon. I know that's so cool. Thank you so much. And Julie, I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I have the coolest family members. They are super supportive. Yeah, zero of my family members listen to the podcast or are on Patreon. But you know, I actually, we've already talked about this, but I prefer it that way. Mm-hmm. I mean, not that I'm going to say anything bad about my family. I have nothing but love for them. Yeah, I remember feeling that way with my first podcast, with the Fantastic Worlds podcast. I was like, oh my God, I hope no one I know ever, ever finds this.

I mean, it's not that I'm not proud of it, but it's definitely like a version of myself that I am, you know, it's with you. It's my relationship with you, not other people. So I'm a little bit sillier, giggling constantly. You're the best version. Exactly. I get it. Yeah, it makes sense to me. I also found out my aunt has started stanning this podcast to all of her friends too. Oh, I love that.

In addition to Aunt Julie, I want to say, hi, Martha. I don't think we've ever met. I can't remember if we have. I'm really sorry. But also, you sound great. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. My mom really likes you. This is wonderful. Thank you for listening. Welcome. I mean, thank you to everyone who is listening. Sincerely. We actually got an email from a listener in Germany, which was so cool. She translated a couple of fairy tales for us. So that'll be coming out in a listener tales episode. Yes. Soon, if it hasn't already. By April, we will have done another one by April. Yeah, you're right. Actually, that one will come out on the 8th.

This one comes out on the 13th. Yeah. So you've already listened to it, dear listeners. But it's so exciting to have a listener from Germany. Yes! Especially because, you know, we tell so many Brothers Grimm's fairy tales. It's really cool to have a listener from Germany.

So, Anita, thank you for listening to this show and writing to us and translating things for us and being my favorite German person. Hands down. Yep. Of all time. Of all time. 100%. You're the best. Thank you. Yeah, it's so cool. I hope that every person who writes into us who is from the original culture of the stories that we're sharing is equally gracious. Yes, and kind. About it. It's always very scary, especially when, you know, it's folktales and fairy tales that, you know, aren't necessarily ours to tell. Mm- tell. But I think they're important to hear and talk about. And they're so good. Yeah, I think so too. I think it's one of the best parts about

folklore and fairy tales is learning about other cultures through these stories. Just really opens up your world and the kinds of things that you think about and exposes you to new forms of storytelling and new character archetypes and i just it's really it's just really important like knowledge to have about the world around you yeah and we we studied anthropology so that's just our jam what i really like about it is and it's what i loved about anthropology as well, is I love all the differences between all these cultures, but I also love that they're also so similar. Yeah, that there are a lot of through lines. They're so human and so there's humor and

sadness and it's just, it's so much fun. I agree. Like, and go, go figure. It's so much fun. I agree. Like, and go, go figure. Yeah, right. Go figure. People, people are people. Well, sometimes I genuinely forget because I think we tend to talk about how different we all are a lot, which is also important.

And it's, it's very important to, to discuss that and understand what are, what, what our differences are and where they come from. And important to be respectful when people tell you how they're different from you. But I also think that something to keep in mind is like people, people do be people everywhere, all over the place. And you could really see that in a lot of folk legends. Actually, one of my first anthropology classes that got me into anthropology, I think this was before I chose my major. It was really fun. We were watching a movie about a tribe in Africa. I have no idea what it was. I mean, there's like a thousand tribes in Africa. Africa is a big place.

It's real big. And there's also like a thousand tribes and cultures in new guinea who's which is not a big place fun fact but um it was so it's a movie we're watching and it's really cute because they all you know they look so different because of what they wear where they live you know they live in huts they you know don't wear tops they were kind of like grass skirts or something and it's there's a great part where like these adults are doing drugs and they're all giggling and like and the whole class was like kind of cracking up because it's like yeah that's same like that's exactly what we do too we're college I recognize this. Like they're hanging out, sitting around a fire,

doing drugs. Like just having a grand old time. It was really fun. And I love that. Yeah. It was me. I love it. I have no idea if that's a good story to keep in,

but it was so like, I think it's a great story. It made me love. It was one of the beginning parts of what made me love anthropology was just, you know. Like, I want to know more about this. Yeah. Yeah. I want to find the book that it was in so that I can do it justice.

But my first introduction to wanting to study anthropology specifically was a book where someone was, I think she was, it was an anthropologist who was visiting the Maasai people. They tell stories during the rainy season, since that's kind of all there is to do. And they asked her to tell a story and she was currently reading Hamlet. And so she told them the story of Hamlet and they both had such wildly different interpretations of the story. Oh, yeah, that's so fun. Which is so fun. So I need to find that and double check it because I read that when I was 20 and not necessarily thinking about any of the ways in which it was potentially problematic. So I need to reread it and see if it holds up as a story that's actually cool.

Yeah. I remember just really having my mind absolutely blown by the idea that there could be two and different interpretations of Hamlet. Definitely. And that, of course, like that would completely vary depending on what your values were as a culture. Stupidly, it makes me think of How I Met Your Mother because I just finished watching it and how Barney thinks the blonde kid from The Karate Kid is the good guy in that story. The good guy.

God damn it. I can't remember his name. William Zabka. Yes, Billy Zabka. And he's like, he was The Karate Kid. He was The karate kid. I mean, that's an analogy. That's what I was trying to think of. It was a terrible analogy. No, that's a hilarious analogy. I totally forgot about that. That is so, honestly, yes,

kind of the same thing of depending on what your values are. Yeah. You can have a totally different interpretation of a story. Oh, my gosh. Oh, boy. That is so fun. Okay. I think this is a good segue into getting into it. Yes. Speaking of fairy tales that aren't necessarily ours to tell, but are freaking awesome. Mm hmm. Yeah. And then also speaking of how the world is a very, very diverse place, aren't necessarily ours to tell, but are freaking awesome. Yeah. And then also speaking of how the world is a very, very diverse place, I want to talk to you a little bit about China. So I am reading to you today, The Demon King and Other Festival Folk Tales of China. Awesome.

This is a very, very cool book. It's retold by Carolyn Han, translated by Jay Han, and illustrated by Li Ji. And it has just the most gorgeous illustrations throughout. With a name like the Demon King. That sounds amazing. Yeah. And that's just one of the stories that are in here. I think there are five stories total from different groups in China that have a cool festival. So I just want to talk to you a little bit about sort of China in general to sort of set the scene for this book. The author wrote that China is a country of incredible diversity. The majority of its people, so like about 93% of Chinese people are Han Chinese. That's the predominant ethnic group in China. And the remaining 7% make up the 55 national minority groups that live within the borders. So there are a bunch of different people that live in China, like lots and lots of different ethnic groups. And these vast numbers of people account for the immense variation in language, custom,

religion, art forms, food, dress, and festivals. And so the stories in this book are five stories from smaller ethnic groups that live in China. Ordinarily, not who we think of when we think of Chinese people or the kinds of Chinese folktales that we typically see in Western lore. So I also really appreciate what Carolyn wrote in her preface, which was, when we listen to the stories, legends, and folk tales and learn more about who the minority people are and what they believe, we begin to understand them. We learn to respect their differences and possibly see that we share some similarities. Ultimately, we learn that we all share a very small planet inhabited by many interesting and unique people. As we learn about other people and why they celebrate their festivals, we are encouraged

to ask questions about our own celebrations. In this way, we may explore our past and see ourselves from new perspectives. We didn't even plan that. No, I know. I was so excited. I was so excited. We had not talked about this before our conversation about our different but similar small world. Yeah. And our conversation just naturally went in that direction. I was very excited. It's with that kind of in mind that this book was written. That's really beautiful.

I love that. I think so too. Before we actually get to the story itself, I think it would be fun to tell you about the festival first and then see if you can guess correctly what sort of story inspired this festival. Okay. I'm really excited. Abby told me that she wanted to do something based on the water splashing festival. I hadn't heard of it and I decided to not look it up and I wanted you to tell me about it. I'm so glad that you waited to look it up. It is so cool. And now I get to tell you this story without you being spoiled about it. So this is the water splashing festival of the Dai people. And they live in a region called Zhishuangbanna, which is the

autonomous Dai prefecture in southern China, and it's right on the border of Laos and Myanmar. And the festival itself is usually like a three-day affair held in mid-April. This year, it's April 13th to 15th. And it's celebrated on the banks of the Langkang River. And it marks the Dai people's New Year celebration. And that's today when this episode comes out. Oh, yeah. So today, if you're listening, the day this episode drops is the first day of the Water Splashing Festival. This is an open festival, by the way. Outsiders are welcome to come, which is definitely on my bucket list as something I want to do because this festival sounds really cool. So there's usually a big outdoor market with food, crafts, masked dances, singing, and then they do a dragon boat race on the river during the first two days, and then lanterns get floated on it at night.

That sounds pretty. It does sound pretty. But the big day, the climax of the festival is on the third day. And on that day, the Dai put on their newest and best clothes and they go to the local Buddhist temple and the monks do some chanting. They chant some Buddhist scriptures. And then afterwards, they symbolically Buddhist scriptures, and then afterwards they symbolically splash a Buddhist statue with water. According to the article I read, the ritual is called

bathing the Buddha, and it serves as a signal that encourages ordinary mortals to themselves engage in mutual water splashing once they've finished bathing the Buddha. So people flock to the streets with pots, pans, bottles, and they uninhibitedly splash spray and completely douse each other with water for religious purification. Yeah. But also for as a gesture of goodwill among people, like you're supposed to like splash your neighbor, splash your grandparents, splash your kids, splash your friends, like splash any strangers toward whom you have a good feeling.

Because it's good luck and you wish good luck and prosperity for that person. That's so cool. The more doused in water you are, the more good luck has been wished upon you. Nice. Which sounds adorable and I really just I you. Nice. Which sounds adorable. And I really just, I want to go. That sounds like so much fun. Yeah.

That sounds like a really fun, really fun thing. I got this from a 2021 article about it, about the festival. This book was written in, I think, the 1990s. So I don't know that its information is totally up to date. The book says that the water splashing starts on the second day and that the third day also features homemade rockets that are stuffed with small gifts, kind of like a Christmas cracker, but way better. Cool. that's essentially it. That's, that's the festival.

So I want you to give me three predictions for the demon King, which is the story that is the, the legend behind why this festival is celebrated. Okay. It's so funny. Cause the demon King sounds like such an ominous title for such a like hopeful and happy spirited yeah okay i want to guess that the water splashing has to do with splashing the demon king to like ward him off or something i don't think that's right but that's where my brain went. I'll take it. So I'm gonna

stick with it. And I'm also going to guess, well, it's still a folk tale. So I'm going to guess that there is a dragon in the story somewhere. Nice. Okay. Because that's what I want. That's what I deserve. That's what we all deserve. And I would also like to guess, can I guess that there is a theme of some kind of water like racing? Like you mentioned dragon racing. Yeah. Dragon boat racing which is there is a festival that i've heard of that's just the dragon boat races all on its own it's like a week

long festival cool okay because my bottle manufacturers take the week off and they're like if you want to order these, do it before these dates. China has a lot of those. I kind of love it, though. I wish we did like month-long holiday celebrations. If you sense any bitterness in us, it's because we're wildly jealous. So I'm going to guess that there's some sort of water racing. Yeah, that there will be a race on the water.

Yes. Great. That's what I'm going to guess. Sensational. I love it. I love all of your guesses. I'm sure it's wrong, but I... Here we go. Let's do it. The Demon King of the Dai, the story of the water splashing festival. Long, long ago in Xishuangbanna, a far off southwestern section of China, there lived a group of people known as the Dai. In those early days, the Dai had a cruel and violent ruler who was hated by all the people. This fierce demon had descended from the 16th level of heaven and brought with him incredible supernatural powers. He did whatever he wanted, took whatever he wanted, with never a thought or concern for those in his kingdom. If he wanted rice and crops, he took them. If he wanted land and livestock, he took them. If he wanted slaves, he took them. The greedy king

was never satisfied. He was known throughout the land as the demon king. I also love that there's a 16th level of heaven. I know. I want to know more about the levels of heaven. We, yeah, we should, I don't know, see if we can find stories that break it down. Is there like a Dante's Inferno, but for Chinese heaven? It sounds like it. Because that would be cool.

I want to know where the Hound of Heaven is in that scenario. Yeah, which level of heaven does the Hound of Heaven come from? You know, he's got to be in the first levels because he bit the head off, one of the heads off, the nine-headed bird. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he's got to be close ish that's my guess i wonder which level the heavenly maiden from the deer and the woodcutter lives all right go on go on okay so the die are a really gentle and kind people and they are absolutely just defenseless against the demon king. Nothing in the world seems to be able to destroy him.

Water could not drown him. Fire could not burn him. Spears and swords could not penetrate him. He was indestructible. And they had to serve this dreadful tyrant because he had crazy powers and he was happy to use them if he was refused so in keeping with his vile reputation the demon king stole six of the most beautiful die women to be his wives each woman had been taken from her family without their consent and each of them hated him and wanted revenge. Are they going to take him down?

You'll see. Because that's the only one now. Can you see this illustration? Uh-huh. Of the demon king and his wives? Yeah. He looks like a genie. A little bit, yeah.

He looks like the illustration makes him look a little bit like a djinn. Really cool. He's got blue skin, tusks, long black hair. He looks very scurry and there are beautiful die women crouched in fear beneath him looking very sad it's a gorgeous illustration of something very terrible are they gonna fuck him up you'll see you'll see yes yes um that's why i love this story so much revenge so the greedy demon king was never content with what he had and always wanted more his inability to be satisfied made him search for yet another wife but after weeks of hunting through all the villages in the Xishuangbanna, he still had not found a new bride. He was really frustrated.

He was pretty mad about it. The people were starting to get a little worried. And they were right, too, because he decided to take his revenge on them that he couldn't find a woman to suit his needs he began planning his retaliation but first he needed to return to the palace and to return he had to cross the langkang river by way of a swaying bamboo bridge and when he was on the bridge he saw an enchanted being walking toward him. A princess. I know. I bet he wants her for his bride. His next bride.

What? Do you think he'll want to marry her? Do you think he finally figured it out? I think he found the woman he wants because this is what she looks like. Truly the most magnificent woman he had ever seen was directly Because this is what she looks like. Her shiny black hair was pulled back from her face and fashioned into a loose coil on the side.

She did not raise her head to look at the demon king as they passed, but he could see that her dark almond-shaped eyes sparkled. Her beauty was beyond compare. Instantly, he knew that he had found a treasure, his seventh wife. She does sound pretty. This woman knows that she's a bad bitch. Mm-hmm. I bet. I bet he chose the wrong bad bitch, though. He made a mistake.

Let's just say he made a horrible mistake. There is a huge flaw in this guy's plan, and it's marrying this woman. At once, he orders her to be captured, and Nan Zhengbu, as as she is called was immediately taken to the palace an auspicious date was set for the wedding to ensure a prosperous long marriage the longest day of the year was chosen cool soon after their wedding the demon king realized his new wife not only possessed the most captivating beauty but also was the most intelligent of all the wives because of her outer and inner beauty, she soon became his favorite. Which, rude to your other wives.

Yeah, it's rude to have a favorite. But he's also the demon king. Yeah. So, probably. This guy's, you know, he's a jerk anyway. It's pretty on brand for him to be kind of a jerk about it. I'm sure they're all beautiful and intelligent. Equally.

Yeah. I'm sure they're all very smart, you know? But he's rude. So she, like the other six wives, hated the demon king, obviously, for obvious reasons. But she's a tricky one. Oh, yeah. So so unlike them she does not let her true feelings show she pretends to be very fond of him she like attends to all of his needs tries to be very pleasing and she is so believable that he never knows how she really feels

good actress is nan Jung-bu. I've heard stories of women doing this with their captors. Yes. Like as a way to trick them into letting them go. Or into dropping their guard. I like it. Exactly that. So one evening she decides to test the demon king when he was in a unusually good

mood. And she says to him, my lord, everyone knows that you have unlimited powers and nothing can harm you. It's very sexy. I love it. You are so strong and I feel so safe with you. If you could grant me one wish, it would be that we could live together forever. He's falling for it though. He is delighted by her words and decides to tell her his secret. Oh, he's got a secret. He's got a secret. Yeah. And he has very wisely never told this to anyone before, but he, like many men, is all too willing to believe beautiful women when they're flattering them. Sweet, sweet baby. I like it. You have one fatal flaw, one flaw that no one must know. And she goes, how can that be? You are almighty and all powerful. Surely you're teasing me. She's got game. If you promise never to tell, I'll confide my secret to you. But you must promise.

I want to know the secret. I know. Tell me, tell me. Stepping closer to the Demon King, Nan Zhang Bu assured him that she could be trusted with such a secret. He leaned even closer to his wife and whispered in her ear, Kelsey, what do you think his whisper is? I don't know. It's getting splashed on my water.

That's a good guess. That's a good guess. It's a good guess. But you are incorrect. Yeah. You would need to garrot him with it. Yeah. But we'll see what she does. Oh, I want to know.

Nan Jung-bu is a very resourceful woman. So the very same night, the seventh wife made sure the demon king had an extra cup of sweet rice wine before he retired and when he was fast asleep she plucked a hair from his head and with it she cut into his neck his big head fell off and dropped to the floor she shouts it is done i can tell the others okay so that must have been some pretty thick hair yeah absolutely like thick and. Like I'm wondering if he has razor wire for hair. Uh-huh. He is a demon king. That is not outside the realm of possibility. I guess not. That's definitely not something I would have guessed.

No. That she would garrot him with his own hair. I wonder if there are more stories out there that the theme is a man losing power by having his hair messed with somehow. You know the whole story of Samson, right? But yes, yeah, the Samson and Delilah. But that's if his hair gets cut off, not his hair is made of knives. A single hair can kill him. It's actually just a battle axe growing out of his head like a ponytail.

Amazing. Well, that seemed way too easy. It did, didn't it? Did that seem too easy? Yeah, it seemed a little too easy. Hmm, I wonder why. Well, there is more to the story, apparently.

So, you know, she she shouts like it is done. I can tell the others. And word of the demon king's death spreads quickly throughout Shishwangbana. Everyone is thrilled that his terrible reign has come to an end. They planned parties parties they rejoiced they are so excited that now their lives are going to be happy and peaceful because they're no longer going to be tortured by this king but alas wherever the head rolls disaster follows it rolls on the ground and the ground caught on fire. If it rolled into the river, the river boiled and all the fish died.

Oh no. Quick. Somebody stop that head. This guy is still just causing so much trouble even after death. And when the dye tried to bury the head under the ground, the stench was overpowering and nothing would grow there. So Nan Zhang Bu felt that she had no other choice but to hold the head with her hands so that it might not bring grief and disaster to her people. Mm-hmm.

Day and night, night and day, she held the head in her hands until she became horribly exhausted. And seeing her plight, the six other wives felt compassion toward her and each decided to take a turn holding the demon king's head. All seven women took turns and passed the head from one to the other. When the wives rested, they refreshed themselves by pouring and splashing water on each other. With the splashing water, they also washed away the bloodstains and the revolting smell that came from the severed head. So the seven women thus took on the enormous task of tending to the head so that the other die would not be burdened. In celebration and to commemorate the seven brave women who were ready to suffer for the others and in thanks for

killing the demon king, the die people held a festival. One of the festival rituals was that people splashed water on each other, not only to imitate the seven Dai women washing off the Demon King's blood, but also to show their respect and shower blessings. People in Xingxuanbana and Dehang continue to this day to hold a water splashing festival, retell the story of the Demon King's death, and honor these seven courageous women. And each year, the Dai pour, splash, and sometimes drench each other in the memory of Nan Jung-bu and the six wives who sacrificed themselves for the good of the Dai people. That was really, really beautiful. I know.

Love that so much. Gosh, me too. Such like camaraderie and, you know. Yeah. And sacrifice and just like being a badass. Yeah, absolutely. Playing it smart. I love this story that was first published in 1941. And this is a reprint from 1995.

So my mom gave me this book when I was a kid. And this was my favorite story in it. I've vaguely remembered it to this day. I haven't read it in a while. But I love this story. And I have since I was a very small child. It is so inspirational, I think. Yeah, absolutely. And I love that there's a whole festival dedicated to it. It's super cool. Bucket list, for sure.

Yes. I was just telling Stephen before I came upstairs to record, I want to go to this festival really badly someday. That's so fun. Yeah. Thank you for telling me that. You're welcome. I don't really have a fix for it. No, no, I don't think so. It's pretty good as is. I think this worked out. Other than I would have liked to know more about the levels of heaven. That was really cool.

Yes. A lot of these Chinese fairy tales have just little bits and pieces to the story where it's just kind of a passing note and i'm like oh that i need that whole story yes like where do i find more information about that yeah exactly yeah i i would love like we we need to find um the chinese version of Dante's Inferno and read that so that we can know what all 16 or more levels of heaven are all about. But yeah, but as for as for this story itself, like I think I think it's pretty perfect. Well, I absolutely love that. I definitely did not get any points.

I could see an argument where they're splashing water on the woman carrying the Demon King's head. Yeah, but it wasn't. Kind of splashing water. I was thinking more like a weapon, like his weakness. So. Yeah. Definitely not what I had intended. But that was a beautiful story.

I definitely don't have a fix for that. Yep. I think it's pretty perfect as is. I genuinely love this story too much to have had very many funny comments about it either. So I apologize to our listeners if that was kind of different than our usual thing. But I genuinely find like the prose of it really beautiful. So I also just kind of read you the whole thing. Yeah.

Pretty straight. But I just I love the story very much. It wasn't like a what the fuck fairy tale. It was this is awesome fairy tale. I could only come up with like a few jokes about it. They were very lackluster because it was just a great story. Because it's yeah, because it's legitimately just a really cool story. Yeah. A lot of them are going to be like that. I'm sure. So no, I thought it was awesome. That makes me feel a lot better because I was like, did I just like, I don't know. No, it was wonderful. I feel kind of bad that I didn't make more jokes.

You know, like a fucked up story, which is fine because a lot of them are like that. Yeah. That like things happen that don't make any sense. But this story made sense for what it was. If you accept the premise that a demon king descended from heaven and that you can cut his head off with a hair. Yeah. Then like the rest of the story actually makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it was really pretty. All about camaraderie and bravery and again, like strong women and helping each other out. You know, that's something that I forgot to mention as part of why I love that story so much is that it is about like also just women cooperating with each other and

helping each other. And I just really appreciate the solidarity with the other women who had also been harmed by him. yeah like they're all helping each other out and taking care of each other and uh sacrifice that was the term you use that i really love they're just basically sisters now it sounds like and it's nice that there's a festival dedicated to you know their sacrifice yeah and to them like yeah taking on taking on this burden collectively and not just leaving just one person to suffer yeah oh that's gorgeous that's such a good story i i love it i love it so much and also like i love a tricky i love a tricky main character

oh hell yes so smart i actually chose a couple of shorter Chinese fairy tales as well from my book, Chinese Fairy Tales and Legends. It's my absolute, actually, like my favorite fairy tale book so far. Even though I will say I've gotten a lot of new books recently. Our editor and producer, Dustin, bought me a couple of books that i'm really excited about and then of course i bought some so yeah it's funny because um our libraries adam's like are you gonna run out of fairy tales impossible like how long can your podcast go there's only so many right i'm just like'm just like, oh, there are so many. It is the best.

Yeah. I mean, he is right. There are only so many, but there are enough that we could do this podcast every day for the next hundred years. And then maybe we would start like scraping the bottom of the barrel. Yeah. I think what we might find eventually is that there's a lot of shorter ones. So we'll probably just do, you know, a couple of fairy tales. So this first one I'm going to read you is actually just one page.

Okay. So I'm only going to let you do one prediction. Okay. Because it's literally one page. Okay. So I'm only going to let you do one prediction. Okay. Because it's literally one page. And it's like a small page. Okay. That reminds me of when I did the Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed story. It was like two paragraphs. Yep. Yeah, this one's three. And I chose this one because it's you know just into spring it's mid-april um so it's fitting for this story and also it makes me think of abby totally makes me think of you when i read it i was like oh this is abby's gonna love this one so it's called the dragon after his winter sleep The Dragon After His Winter Sleep. Oh my gosh. Oh, wow. Oh, I'm so excited. What do I think happens when the dragon comes out of his winter sleep? I guarantee you're going to love it.

Oh my God. My brain broke a little bit. Okay. What do I want? Sorry. What do I want? What do. Okay. What do I want? Sorry. What do I want? What do I want? What do I want? I mean, I want everything. I like dragons. Dragons.

And it's a Chinese dragon. Those are my favorites. So good. Okay. When the dragon comes out of his winter sleep, he is going to discover that something has changed in his environment drastically since he went to sleep. Okay. And I'm not talking like a seasonal change because obviously if he's waking up in the spring, it's a different season. I'm talking like something else has dramatically changed. Okay. spring it's a different season i'm talking like something else has dramatically changed okay and he's way he's waking up to like a a totally different experience all right of some sort

i'll take it before i read it it has a little paragraph in the beginning that says the chinese believe dragons sleep during the winter and wake up when the first spring storm comes the scholar Oh my God! I really love how this book has some history before the story, and it also has just little, not a spoiler, but like a little hint. Oh man, I am probably so wrong, but I am so excited to find out how. Okay. Probably so wrong, but I'm so excited to find out how. Okay. Once there was a scholar who was reading in the upper story of his house.

It was a rainy, cloudy day and the weather was gloomy. Suddenly, he saw a little thing that shone like a firefly. It crawled up on the table and wherever it went, it left traces of burns curved like the tracks of a rainworm. Gradually, it wound itself about the scholar's book and the book too grew black. Then it occurred to him that it might be a dragon. So he carried it out of the doors on the book.

There, he stood for quite some time, but it sat uncurled without moving in the least. It's reminding me of like when I try to rescue spiders. Yeah, same. Also, I love that it's reminding me of like when i try to rescue spiders yeah same also i love that it's like tiny yeah i'm really surprised that it's like a little firefly yeah then the scholar said it shall not be said of me that i was lacking in respect. With these words, he carried back the book and once more laid it on the table. Then he put on his ceremonial robes, made a deep bow, and escorted the dragon out on it again.

No sooner had he left the door than he noticed that the dragon raised his head and stretched himself. Oh, okay. You had to just be proper about it. You can't just take me outside like some common spider. It is not a spider. That's exactly right. Then he flew up from the book with a hissing sound like a radiant streak. Once more, he turned around toward the scholar who saw that his head had only grown to the size of a barrel while his body must have been at full fathom in length the dragon gave one more snaky twist that there was a terrible crash of thunder and the creature went sailing through the

air yeah scholar went back inside and looked to see which way the little creature had come and he could follow his tracks hither and thither to the chest of his books oh no the end oh no he went to the oh no what's he gonna do to his books i well the dragon no that's where he was so the dragon was sleeping or like hibernating in his bookshelf isn't that so cute that is so cute and i love that like he he gets like large in size like he starts off like this tiny little firefly size and then just like wakes up and is like, bye. But first it's like, no, no, bow to me.

Yes. Give me the respect that such a magnificent creature is due. Yeah. And then I'll leave. It shall not be said of me that I was lacking in respect. I love this guy. It totally made me think of you because of like the dragon hiding in the books.

Oh my God. My dream, my dreams. So cute. I love that so much. If any dragon is just listening, I don't know if dragons listen to podcasts. If they do, you are more than welcome to hibernate on my bookshelf. Absolutely. Come anytime. I don't have ceremonial robes, but I will bow a lot. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I will do this. I thought that was cute. I love the idea of a dragon hibernating. Hell yes. That is adorable. And like a tiny dragon hibernating in books. That is so cute.

Leaving like little scorch marks. Cute, cute, cute. All right. That was really cool that was great all right this next story is called and i love this title so much how three heroes came by their deaths because of two peaches so this one is about two pages long um so go ahead and give me two predictions for how three heroes came by their deaths because of two peaches. I'm pulling a little bit from a Garden of Eden thing, I guess. But there is a tree

and it is forbidden to eat the peaches that grow from the tree. And two of these guys are going to eat the peaches anyway. That's prediction one. Okay. And prediction two, the guy that doesn't die becomes a very rich man. Wait, I'm going to read the title again.

How three heroes came by their deaths because of two peaches. Oh, okay. They all die. Okay. Sorry. Three heroes, two peaches. No, I totally. My listening comprehension skills are really bad tonight. It's okay. Okay. Hang on. Okay. That might change my first prediction because I was thinking like two of them die. Yeah. Yeah. Like two heroes and three peaches or. Okay. That is a lot less straightforward as far as guessing goes. Well, okay. There is a tree and it is forbidden to eat the peaches on it. I'm going to keep that. And my second prediction is they die fighting each other. That's it. Okay.

I was waiting for you to finish. I was like. I'm trying to get less specific with my predictions. You are pretty specific with your predictions, huh? Yeah. I've been noticing over the past few, several, all of our episodes that I make really specific predictions. And then sometimes part of it's right, but part of it's wrong. So I'm trying, I am trying to get like a little vaguer. So I'm trying, I am trying to get like a little vaguer.

So like I said, this book, Chinese Fairy Tales and Legends, has these cool little paragraphs beforehand. Nice. So this one says, yes, the title of the story does rather give away the plot, but it's a colorful tale of heroism and honor. And what's interesting is not so much what happens as how it happens. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited. Yeah. I remember before I read this one, I was actually trying to come up with predictions myself. And it definitely wasn't what I expected.

Okay. I am excited. Without further ado. And there's a lot of names in this story. I have. So I definitely apologize if I pronounce anything wrong. I looked up as much as I could. But a lot of the names have only two or three or one letter.

So you can't really look up how to pronounce it that I could find. So I did try. If we have any like helpful listeners who speak Chinese. Yeah, let us know. Please let us know. At the beginning of his reign, Duke Jing of Tsai loved to draw heroes about him. Among those whom he attached to him were three of quite extraordinary bravery. Okay.

So he just likes to fill his court with heroes oh yeah i mean he doesn't what duke doesn't why not the first was named gung sun saya the second tian kai yang and the third gu yi zai okay those are our heroes gung dion and goo they sound great all three were highly honored by the prince but the honor paid them made them presumptuous and they kept the court in a turmoil and overstepped the bounds of respect which lie between a prince and his servants oh oh oh man okay do we get do we get like stories about what they do that's yes that's the best we find out why they're heroes and it's pretty great okay all right so at the time yon sai was a chancellor of sai that so he that's his chancellor yon okay the duke consulted him

as to what would be the best to do and the chancellor advised him to give a great court banquet and invite all of his courtiers. Okay. On the table, the choicest dish of all, stood a platter holding four magnificent peaches. Damn it. Very upset. Okay, go on. I mean, so I guess these are very, you know, peaches are very delicious as we all know, but. Peaches are delicious.

Kind of a big deal. Are they kind of like a rare delicacy? Mm-hmm. Exactly. Okay. So, in accordance with his chancellor's advice, the Duke rose and said, Here are some magnificent peaches, but I cannot give one to each of you. Only those most worthy may eat of them.

I myself reign over the land and am the first among the princes of the empire. I have been successful in holding my possessions in power and that is my merit. Hence, one of the peaches falls to me. Exactly. Yan Cai sits here as my chancellor and he regulates communications with the foreign lands and keeps the peace among the people.

He's made my kingdom powerful among the kingdoms of the earth. That is his merit. So he gets the next peach. Sounds fair. So there's only two peaches left. Oh, no. So the Duke says, I cannot tell which ones among you are the worthiest. You may rise yourselves and tell us of your merits.

But whoever has performed no great deeds, let him hold his tongue. Hell, yeah. Everybody shut up. Everybody tell me why you deserve this peach. but shut up. Everybody tell me why you deserve this peach. Then Gung San Zaya beat upon his sword, rose up and said,

I am the prince's captain general. In the south, I besieged the kingdom of Lu. In the west, I conquered the kingdom of Jin. In the north, I captured the army of Yan. All the princes of the east come to the Duke's court and acknowledge the overlordship of Tsai.

That is my merit. I do not know whether it deserves a peach. And the Duke replied, Great is your merit. A peach is your just due. Oh. Okay. I mean, he's not going to listen to all of them before he makes his decision, but, you know.

Yeah, I mean, there's only two peaches left, so I feel like every courtier should have a chance to say their piece before you decide if they get a peach or not. He's just going for it. He's just going for it. It's his court. He can do what he wants. Then Tian Kai Yang rose, beat on the table, and cried. I have fought a hundred battles in the army of the prince. I have slain the enemy's general in chief and captured the enemy's flag.

I have extended the borders of the Duke's land till the size of his realm has been increased by a thousand miles. How is it with my merit? And the Duke said. It doesn't sound as good as the first guys. I got to say, like, see it doesn't sound as good as the first guys i gotta i gotta say like that just doesn't sound as impressive it kind of sounds like they did the same thing ish but the first guy did more well the duke is impressed oh all right and he says great is your merit a peach is your just due and now there's no more peaches so no one else needs speak and

let's go on with our banquet like civilized people, right? Oh, but guess who? Guess who arises next? Is it the third hero? Yes. Gu Yizai arose. His eyes started from their sockets and he shouted with a loud voice. Once when the Duke was crossing the Yellow River, wind and waters rose.

A river dragon snapped up one of the steeds of the chariot and tore it away. The ferry boat rocked like a sieve and was about to capsize. Then I took my sword and leaped into the stream. I fought with the dragon in the midst of the foaming waves, which sounds so fucking awesome. That sounds so badass. And by reason of my strength, I managed to kill him.

Though my eyes stood out from my head with my exertions. That guy's the coolest. Oh, just wait. There's more. Okay, keep going. Then I came to the surface with the dragon's head in one hand and holding the rein of the rescued horse in the other. And I had saved my prince from drowning. with the dragon's head in one hand and holding the rein of the rescued horse in the other. And I had saved my prince from drowning.

Whenever our country was at war with neighboring states, I refused no service. I commanded the van. I fought in single combat. Never did I turn my back on the foe. Once the prince's chariot stuck fast in the swamp and the enemy hurried up on all sides. I pulled the chariot out and drove off the hostile mercenaries. Since I have been in the prince's service, I have saved his life more than

once. I grant that my merit is not to be compared with that of the prince and that of the chancellor, yet is greater than that of my two companions. Both have received peaches while I must do without. This means that real merit is not rewarded and that the Duke looks on me with disfavor. And in such case, how I may ever show myself

at court again. And with these words, he drew his sword and killed himself. Oh my God. Right? No, we can fix this. We can get you a peach. god right no we can fix this we can get you a peach you're clearly the best

one holy shit that was the most epic I fucking deserve a peach speech ever what yes that was incredible they should have let him go first i know that's what i was like the duke needs to calm it down and listen to everyone first yeah um also especially if like if people want the peach this badly like if if it's if it's not really about the peach and it's about like if it's a matter of honor and you're standing in the Duke's eyes, the Prince's eyes.

Yeah, the Duke, Prince. I think that's the same thing. Interchangeable. If it's about that and not really about the peach, you should really wait until everybody's had their say. You just lost the coolest guy i agree hands down that is the best one well guess who also thinks that was the best one everybody else then gung's son zaya rose bowed twice and said with a sigh both my merit and that of tyan kai yang

does not compare with goo yee size and yet the peaches were given to us we have been rewarded beyond our desserts and such a reward is shameful hence it is better to die than to live dishonored he took his sword and swung it and his own head rolled on the sand oh god okay then tion kai yang looked up and uttered a groan of disgust he blew the breath from his mouth in front of him like a rainbow and his hair rose on end with rage then he took his sword in hand and said, we three have always served our prince bravely. We were like the same flesh and blood. The others are dead and it is my duty not to survive them. He thrust the sword into his throat and died. The Duke sighed incessantly and commanded that they be given a splendid burial.

A brave hero values his honor more than his life. The chancellor knew this, and that was why he purposely arranged to incite the three heroes to kill themselves by means of two pieces. Oh, no. The end. The end?

Isn't that so fucked? That's it? Yep. That's pretty fucked. That's it? Yep. That's pretty fucked. That's wow. Wow. Okay. Devious.

Devious Chancellor. A.F. Idiot. Idiot Prince. So stupid. Oh my goodness very dumb he wanted them to be respectful and die with honor and not die without wow i was not expecting that i i mean neither was oh man uh i mean uh oh yeah so your second prediction i I mean. That's wrong.

I definitely. Did they fight? They kind of fought. Not really. They didn't. Well, that's kind of, that's why they were tricked. So all three were highly honored by the prince, but the honor paid them, made them presumptuous. They kept the court in a turmoil and overstepped the bounds of respect, which lie between a prince and his servants. And that's why the chancellor wanted to kill them or make them kill themselves.

At the time. Yeah. Yon-Sai was, oh yeah. So the Duke consulted him as to what would be best to do. And the chancellor advised him to give a, okay. Yeah.

Oh, so was the prince in on it the whole time to get them to kill themselves honestly i don't know that's a good question i feel like it was the chancellor knew that they would all rise i don't know i have no idea i mean i'm happy to take the point for sure it actually kind of reminded me of the billy goat's gruff politically correct version just a little bit like no i should die i should be the one Billy Goats Gruff politically correct version just a little bit. Like, no, I should die. I should be the one.

It does. It does sound like that a little bit. Wow. Were they really fighting each other? No. Which was my prediction. I mean, they were all fighting for the peach by saying what they did. I wish I wish I'd said they died fighting for the peach. Because I mean, because that's kind of what I meant as I

meant they as like, I meant they died fighting each other over the peach, but I didn't. I didn't say that. That's true. You didn't. I didn't. I Yeah i yeah anyway it's up to you and since you have not been so kind to me in the past i have been ruthless in the past with my like with my pedantic interpretation of your of your predictions i award you no points that's fair i was thinking about it as you were saying it i was like wait say it again yeah that's kind of how i like i kind of figured like okay i'm close because she's asking for like what is the specific wording like it's kind of a fight i mean it's but they are not fighting each other and that's not why they die yeah but oh i thought that was so fun i love that was a great story i love this book it has so many great stories that is a fantastic twist ending i loved that thank you for that

me too oh do you have a fix for it oh Oh, that's such a good question. I actually didn't even think about that. I wish they all had better stories. I wish the first two had better stories. Yeah, exactly. Because the third was so good. A river dragon. Fighting a river dragon to rescue a prince is so cool. I do wish it didn't end so abruptly. I would love to get, again, just a little more backstory on the Chancellor.

Oh, yes. I want to know how the heroes had transgressed. I want to know what they did that was so rude and so disruptive to the court or the princes that the chancellor decided to kill them. That's what I want to know. Or get them to kill themselves. That would be really fun. I would love that. More detail, please.

That's all these Chinese fairy tales. I just want more. More, please. Same with the dragon in his winter sleep or after his winter sleep just i just want more i want to know more about that dragon and where did he go off to why did he pick that chest of books to hibernate how cute is a tiny little dragon i loved that i loved that so much all right well we can probably skip fixes for this one because neither of us really had one for our stories um the demon king is perfect

it's funny i'm imagining the demon king is like a made as a disney style cartoon and i'm imagining how much we would end up loving the demon king maybe as the villain sympathizer sympathizers we are yeah i bet they i bet like i'm imagining him having a great song about how badass and awesome and cool he is oh yeah they probably would do that i don't know like one of the reasons why disney villains i think always end up being so great though is because they are like they are very heavily queer coded and and i just like which means they're just they're just great and they always end up being like relatively sympathetic yep ursula in particular i get you oh yeah she's great i really love dr felicia in the princess and the frog he's one of my favorite villains he's excellent uh just

because i mean he has my favorite line of all time which is you know power in this world isn't magic it's money it's money he's just trying to fucking make a living and he's just trying to make that green just trying to climb that ladder yeah which that's all of us it's really unfortunate but yeah i got him yeah I love it. So good. So that's going to do it for us. Thank you so much for listening to Fairytale Fix. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple or Stitcher. It helps people find us and encourages them to give us a listen.

So we really appreciate that. If you love the show and want to support us you can get extra episodes merch books and other bonus content at our patreon by signing up at fairytalefix.cash for you know three to six bucks a month you get lots of good stuff it's pretty good yeah pretty sweet and you can find us on twitter and instagram at fairytale fix pod. We post lots of great fairytale inspired art by your favorite artists and fun stuff. And also please email us your favorite fairytales, folklore, nursery rhymes,

and just whatever you want. We just want to hear from you. We love it at info at fairytale fix pod.com. Translations of folk tales and their original languages that you would like us to have. That'd be cool. More of those. It's the best. Thank you so much to everyone who's reached out. We love hearing from you. We do. And yeah, I guess we're skipping the fixes on this one because those were pretty perfect. All they needed was more information.

And most of them lived happily ever after. The end.