Week 11 Story: Those With Fortune and Those Without


(Chinese Lucky Coins
Pxhere)


There once was a powerful and mighty king who had a charming daughter, but the daughter was prone to bad luck. When it was time to find her a suitor, her father assembled potential suitors for her at his palace. She was told to throw a bag of three lucky coins to the men below her. Whoever caught the bag of coins was to be her husband.

She looked down at the crowd of men and noticed a beggar. The beggar wore ripped clothes and had bugs crawling into his ears and crawling out from his nostrils. She somehow became captivated by his aura as he was a child of luck.

The daughter intentionally threw the bundle of coins to the beggar in hopes of having good life with fortune.

Her father came running up the stairs to meet her and asked yelled: "Why did you throw this to the beggar INTENTIONALLY? I saw you."

She calmly replied, "He is a child of luck. I will share his good fortune and have a happy life." The king was angered by her answer and demanded her to leave the palace. With rage and forcefulness, he pushed his one and only daughter out of the palace.

The beggar and the princess went off together into his little hut. Together, they hunted for herbs, roots and meat for dinner. She sat and began cooking what little they had so that they could have some nutrition. There were many days they where they had no food and starved.

A couple of months passed by and the beggar began to feel sorry for his wife. He said to her: "I will go and find fortune for us. Once I have found our riches, I will return back to you."

The princess was surprised by his remark, but she was willing to wait for him. She lived in hardship and struggled to have a proper meal everyday. Her mother gave her food, clothes, water, and money to help her daughter survive. Without her mother's help, she would have starved to death.

Three years later, the husband returned to the little hut and found his wife. He was now a king of a powerful empire. The beggar's appearance changed. His skin even shined bright and looked like gold. He wore marvelous clothes made out of silk. His wife no longer recognized him.

"Who are you?" asked the wife.

"Love, it is me...your husband" replied the king.

"Is it really? You took three years to return home. Oh, the troubles I have gone through. Were you successful?"

"Yes, we were," he said lovingly.

Together, they lived peacefully. With their new grand life, they were never in shortage of food or clothes. They helped those who were in similar situations as they once were. The child of ill luck became the child of luck.




Author's Note:
In the original story, a princess wishes to marry a beggar because he is a child of luck. Her father becomes disappointed by her decision and demands her to leave the palace. Her husband decides to go on a journey to find a better fortune, while the wife waits for him for 18 years. He was successful in his journey and became a prosperous emperor. However, the wife did not share his good fortune. She suffered years without him and died after being empress for only 18 days.

The princess's struggles and hardships are what inspired my story. I wanted to show that with hard work and dedication, she can also have a good future. Instead of 18 years, I did the magical number of three. In the beginning, I made her throw three lucky coins instead of a red ball of silk. These elements were inserted to show how she did have lucky moments throughout her life, and it helped her later in life. This was my take on the story! Hope you enjoy!



Bibliography:
The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens

Comments

  1. Daniel ThomasNovember 1, 2019 at 6:04 PM

    Hey Avani,

    I really liked the amount of detail you put into this story. The part where bugs crawled out of the beggar's nose and nostrils was pretty gross! It looks like you changed the ending of the story but I'm not sure. Did the princess die after 18 days (3 days?) like in the original story? Or did she live for a long time? Good story! Looking forward to the next!

    ReplyDelete
  2. zNovember 2, 2019 at 11:08 PM

    Hi Avani,

    I wonder how the princess knew the beggar was a “child of luck” — what gave him away? Especially with all the outward symbols of misfortune?

    I like the story of how the princess’ faith in fortune works out, though it reads a little oddly to a modern sensibility.

    Best,
    A.M.

    ReplyDelete
  3. themanthemythNovember 3, 2019 at 11:57 PM

    Hi Avani!

    I really liked this story! You put a lot of detail into it, and it was definitely more detailed than I was expecting. I wonder how you decided on the changes you made the original, such as the length of time before she died. Overall, I have really enjoyed what I have read from you and hope to read more soon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dallas JonesNovember 4, 2019 at 11:40 AM

    Hello Avani,
    I loved your story! It was a story with a happy ending. I can’t really side with the father in this story it didn’t make much sense what he did. Unless that was all the money he had in the world. I also don’t understand how a man could go without his wife for three years…That must have been so hard on the both of them!

    ReplyDelete

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