erita di chines

The ancient lady from the new territories

(Favourite tale from Chinese)

There was an
ancient lady called Mrs. Wong who lived in the New Territories. She had two sons.
The elder son worked in a laundry in Kowloon. The younger son sold umbrellas in
a shop in Hong Kong. Whenever it rained, she worried about her elder son.
“Oh!  He will lose his business if it
rains,” she said. “how can he dry his clothes?” when there was no rain, she
worried about her younger son. “Who will buy his umbrellas? How will he earn
enough money to live?” it did not matter whether the weather was excellent or terrible.,
she was never pleased. After some time, she became ill. She could neither eat nor
drink.

A young boy
named Ah Foo lived next door to Mrs. Wong. He always used to play in front of
her house. One morning, the ancient lady said to him, “It’s such a fine day, but
there’s no rain. Who will buy my younger son’s umbrellas?” Ah Foo looked at her
but did not say anything. In the afternoon, it poured with rain. The ancient lady
looked up at the sky.

“How will my
elder son dry his clothes?” she questioned.

“Mrs. Wong,”
Ah Foo answered, “Please don’t worry so much, if it rains, your younger son will
be able to sell his umbrellas. When the rain stops, your elder son will be able
to dry his clothes.”

Mrs. Wong
was silent for a while. She then smiled.

“You are
right,” she said. “There is a excellent and terrible side to everything but we must
always look on the bright side”