Chinese Cinderella Full Text - Weebly

1 AfterawhileIsaid, Whendidmymama die? ThoughIwasonlyfouryearsold, , ,theyworkedtogetherinabankinShanghaiowne dbyourgrandaunt, , ALSO AVAILABLE IN LAUREL-LEAFBOOKS:THE HERMIT THRUSH SINGS,Susan ButlerBURNING UP,Caroline B. CooneyONE THOUSAND PAPER CRANES,Takayuki IshiiWHO ARE YOU?,Joan Lowery NixonHALINKA,Mirjam PresslerTIME ENOUGH FOR DRUMS,AnnRinaldiCHECKERS,John MarsdenNOBODY ELSE HAS TO KNOW,In-grid TomeyTIES THAT BIND, TIES THATBREAK,Lensey NamiokaCONDITIONS OF LOVE,RuthPennebakerIhavealwayscherishedt hisdreamofcreatingsomethinguniqueandimpe r-ishable, , , (asaten-year-old)inShanghai,withoutactua llyhavinglefttheirownhomesinSydney,Tokyo ,London, , Howsplendidofyoutovisitme! you are going through. 6/424 Author s of the Tianjin Nai s Bound in in Day at New School Sister s Birthday School in of from Aunt BabaThe Story of YeXian.

2 The Original Chinese CinderellaHistorical NoteAuthor s Postscript8/424 About the Author9 , ,Ihopenotonlytointrigueyouwiththeplighto falittlegirlgrowingupinChina,butalsotoin terestyouinherlanguage,history and , feel unwanted all my ,personaltaleofthejourneyofoneunlovedlit tleChinesegirlgrowingupinShanghaiandHong Kong, , ,includingfairytales,presentelementaltru ths,whichcansometimespermeateyourinnerli feandbecomepart of , ,todothebestyoucan,tomakethemostofyourta lents,tobehappywiththesimplethingsinlife ,andtobelievedeepdownthatyouwillultimate lytriumphifyoutryhardenough to prove your , ,pleasebe13 ;tohavefaithintheendyourspiritwillprevai l;totran-scendyourabuseandtransformitint oasourceofcourage, , , Loneli-nessandthefeelingofbeingunwanteda rethegreatestpoverty.

3 TothisIwilladd:Pleasebelievethatonesingl epos-itivedreamismoreimportantthanathous and negative ,achildiscalledbymany ssurnameisYen(). of a person s , ,myChinesenameisYenJunling. () , , (jie,)andyoungersister(mei,);olderbrothe r(ge,)andyoungerbrother(di,).SinceIwasth efifthchildinmyfamily,mynameathomewasFif thYoungerSister(WuMei,).However,myyounge rsiblingscalledmeWuJie(),whichmeans Fifth Older (), ()now means Fifth ()canmeanSe-condYoungerBrotherorSe-cond ,mynamebecame Adeline ,IadoptedthelastnameofmyChineseAmericanh usband,BobMah,andmynameisnowAdelineYen s()nameisLy-dia;BigBrother s()isGregory;SecondBrother s()isEdgar;ThirdBrother s()isJames;FourthYoungerBrother s()nameisFrank-lin;andLittleSister s()name is in two 1 CHAPTERCHAPTER 2 CHAPTERCHAPTER 3 CHAPTERCHAPTER 4 CHAPTERCHAPTER 5 CHAPTERCHAPTER 6 CHAPTERCHAPTER 7 CHAPTERCHAPTER 8 CHAPTERCHAPTER 9 CHAPTERCHAPTER 10 CHAPTERA syouread,youwillgraduallyrecog-nizetheCh inesesymbolsforthenum-bers one to (11)inChineseiswrittenas(Tennextto One)18/424 Twelve(12)inChineseiswrittenas(Tennextto Two)Twenty(20)inChineseiswrittenas(Twone xtto Ten)Twenty-one(21)inChineseiswrittenas(T wonexttoTennexttoOne)Sincethereareonlytw enty-twochaptersinChineseCinderella, word for hundred.

4 It is ().30 is ()31 is ()32 is ()33 is ()40 is ()50 is ()60 is ()70 is ()19/42480 is ()90 is ()100 is ()110 is ()20/424 AUTUMN 1941 AssoonasIgothomefromschool, my bed. What s that hanging on your dress? It Myauntlookedthrilled. Sosoon?Youonlystartedkindergartenaweekag o. What is it for? It , ,thiscertificategoeswithit. Iopenedmyschoolbagandhandedheran envelope as I climbed onto her Why,it ,mypreciouslittletreasure? Iknewshewaspleasedbecauseshewassmilingas shehuggedme. Onedaysoon, shecontinued, you ,we lljustwritetoday sdate22 ,pearlneck-laceanddiamondwatch,asifmyawa rdwerealsosomepreciousjewelim-possible to , , Isthisapictureofmyfatheranddead mama? I Shequicklytookthephotofrom me and locked it into her box.

5 Doyouhaveapictureofmydeadmama? Sheavoidedmyeyes. , to see them? AuntBabadidnotreply, I said, When did my mama die? Shehesitatedforamoment,thenexclaimedsudd enly, Howdirtyyourhandsare!Haveyoubeenplayingi nthatsandboxatschoolagain?Gowashthematon ce!Thencomebackanddoyour homework! , , ,theyworkedtogetherinabankinShanghaiowne dbyourgrandaunt, , luck. 25/424 Atthetimeofmybirth, , sdeathand never forgave , ,whomwecalledNiang, , , ,stoodverystraightanddressedonlyinFrench clothes, , ,darkbrowneyeswerefringedwithlong, , ,Chineseterm for ,theyhadason(FourthBrother),followedbyad aughter(LittleSister).Therewerenowseveno fus,fivechildrenfromFather sfirstwifeandtwofromourstepmother ,welivedwithourGrandfatherYeYe,Grand-mot herNaiNaiandAuntBabainabig27/424houseint heFrenchconcessionofTi-anjin, ,shyandunmarriedandhadnomoneyofherown, , , ,per-hapsitwasinevitablethat,intime,weca me to care for each other very ,Chinahadlostawar,knownastheOpiumWar, ,manycoastalcitiesinChina,suchasTianjina ndShanghai,cametobeoccupiedbyforeign ,claimingthemastheirown ter-ritories or concessions.

6 Tianjin ,ithadporches,balconies,bowwindows, School,wherethe teachers were French ,whentheJapan-esebombedPearlHarbor, , ,whichtheyexpectedeveryonetounderstand and , , , wayofannouncingthatnoChinesewereal-lowed thereexceptformaidsinchargeof white , , ,Iplacedmyfootnexttoherembroideredblacks ilk shoe to compare sizes. NaiNai,howcomeyourfeetaresotiny? I asked. WhenIwasthreeyearsold,atightbandagewaswo undaroundmyfeet, , , ,unboundfeet, was the custom. Did it hurt? Ofcourse!IthurtsobadlyIcouldn ,butshewouldn , , tbeabletorun or jump either. Iwenttothefootofthetableandsatinmyassign edseatbetweenSecondBrotherandThirdBrothe rasmythreebrothersranin, to , ,he dtriedtoteachmehowtowhistle,butnomatterh owhardItriedIcouldn to some new mischief today?

7 ThepreviousSundayafternoon,Ihadcomeacros shimcrouchedbyGrand-fatherYeYe sbed, ,BigBrothersuddenlyapproachedYeYeandcare -fullypinchedthenasalhairbetweenhis34 , ,mesmerizedandnotdaring to make a ,jumpedfromhisbed, ,BigBrotherrushedoutoftheroom,sliddownth ebanisterandmadeacleangetawayintothegard en,allthetimeholdingYeYe shair aloft like a ,heraisedhis35/424eyebrowandsmiledatme. What sthat? heaskedinhisquiet,thoughtfulway. It Congratulations!Firstweekatschool and you get a medal! Not bad! WhileIwasbaskinginThirdBroth-er spraise, me. Whatdidyoudothatfor? ,hardtwistwhilenoonewaslooking. Be-causeIfeellikeit!That swhy,youuglylittlesquirt!This llteachyoutoshowoffyour medal! 36/424 IturnedforhelpfromThirdBrother,buthewasl ookingstraightahead, ,Father,NiangandBigSistercameintogethera ndSecondBrotherimmediately let go of my , ,hermovementswereslowandawkwardandshelik edtoordermeorThirdBrotherto carry out her chores.

8 WuMei(FifthYoungerSister)! shenowsaid. IwashalfwayoffmychairwhenNaiNaisaid, Dothetranslationlater!Sitdown, ,letmefirstpickaselectionofsoftfoodstose nduptothenurserysothewetnursecanfeedthet woyoungest. SheturnedtoNiangwithasmile. tthatbewonderful? Niang stwo-year-oldson,FourthBrother,andherinf antdaughter,LittleSister, ,theywerealready special ,itwassimplyunderstoodthateveryoneconsid eredNiang s real children38/424better-lookingandsmarterth anherstepchildren simplysuperiorineveryway. Who dared disagree?Fordessert,themaidsbroughtinahu gebowlofmyfavoritefruit,dragon seyes!IwassohappyIcouldn thelplaughing out ,andIcountedsevendragon medal. Isthismedalforleadingyourclass? he , Istheleftsideofyourchestheav-ier?

9 Fathercontinued,beamingwithpride. Are you tilting? !Onhiswayout, , ContinuestudyinghardandbringhonortoourYe nfamilynamesowecanbe proud of you. !Mytriumphhadbe-comeFather striumph!Imuststudyharderandkeepwearingt hismedalsoI can go on pleasing ,shereachedoverandsnatchedtwodragon ,leavingmequitealonewithmysilvermedal,st aringatmyempty ,INEARLY1942; sFrenchConventSchool, ,therickshawpuller,topullusthere and , ,AhMaocouldbeseensweepingtheseat,washing thesides, ,butAhMaowasfiercelypro-tective and would scatter them ,anold, ,shewouldbanghertinplate,tiltbackherhead andwailinaloudvoice, Havepityonme! BigSister(DaJie,)andIwerebothalittlefrig htenedofher. Runfaster! Big43/424 Sister(DaJie,)wouldurgeAhMao. Get away from her as fast as you can!

10 :alltheoth-erlittlegirlsdressedinidentic alstarchedwhiteuniformsjustlikemine;theF renchFranciscannunsinblack-and-whitehabi tswithbigmetalcrossesdanglingfromtheirne cks;learningnumbers,catechismandthealpha bet; belonged. Unlikemysiblings,nobody looked down on ,whowassquattingonhishaunchesbetweentheh andlebarsofhisrickshaw, waved me onto his cab. Iwonderhowlongwe regoingtohavetowaittoday, hegrumbledashelit a fresh she took her own sweet ,fingersand toes were numb with ,Isawherappearintheplay-ground, ,steppedbetween the shafts and off we went. Whatdidthenunsteachyoutoday? Big Sister suddenly asked imperiously. TheytaughtusaboutGod, I IwashappybecauseIknewthean-swer. God made me. Why did God make you? Idon tknowbecauseTeacherhasn ttold us yet.