Chapter I : Little Guan and Grandmother Moon
The six year old Little Guan gazed up at the stars in the night sky. Suddenly, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, a little white rabbit, and a pirate ship all appeared before her eyes.
“Wow! So beautiful!” gasped an astonished Little Guan.
“Would you like to come up and play, Guan?” Grandmother Moon asked with a kind smile.
All of a sudden, Little Guan’s body felt very light.
“Guan, you just need to gently jump up into the air and then you can fly.”
Little Guan jumped and it was as though she had a pair of wings, she soared right up into the stars. A shower of meteors whizzed by, and Little Guan excitedly reached out and grabbed hold of a small one. Whoosh! It was like taking a roller coaster ride! She zipped through the bowl of the Big Dipper, then skipped along the tail of the Great Bear towards Orion. In front of her, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck began dancing in the air. Little Guan was thrilled. She flew over and joined hands with them, and they danced happily together.
After saying goodbye to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Little Guan flew back to Grandmother Moon. Her little hands touched Grandmother Moon’s warm, soft face, and she gave her many kisses on the cheek.
“Thank you, Moon Popo!”
Little Guan and Grandmother Moon laughed and merrily sang songs together. Little Guan felt so happy.
“Moon Popo, can I stay here with you?” begged Little Guan.
“Guan, be good. You need to return to your family. When the time comes, you can come again.” Grandmother Moon tried to comfort her.
“But, I really like it here.” Little Guan looked up at Grandmother Moon with innocent eyes.
“Aren’t you worried that your mother will be sad when she can’t find you?” asked Grandmother Moon with a tender smile.
“I think she will … Mama will be very sad if she can’t find me,” said Little Guan. Her brow furrowed and the corners of her mouth dipped into a frown.
“Don’t worry, Guan. I will be here watching over you. If you ever need Popo, just stand in a beam of moonlight and speak to me. I will certainly come to help you.” Grandmother Moon gazed down at Little Guan with a warm expression.
Little Guan nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”
“I will see you next year,” said Grandmother Moon. “Always remember that I love you.”
“Moon Popo, please don’t go. Moon Popo!” Little Guan called out to Grandmother Moon as she disappeared into the sky.
“Guan, what’s wrong?” Mother kissed Little Guan cute little forehead as she sat on her bedside.
Little Guan opened her eyes and saw her mother’s loving smile.
—
Little Guan’s mother kissed her sleeping children’s cheeks, foreheads, little fingers and little toes to wake them in the morning.
She would touch Little Guan’s legs and say: “These legs are so straight and smooth and well proportioned, just like your Papa’s. They are so beautiful. Your legs are works of art.”
“Mama, what are ‘works of art’ legs?” Little Guan once asked.
“Art legs are the legs you see in paintings,” Mother had answered with a smile. “So perfect.”
“Mama gave birth to me, so my legs are gifts from Mama. Thank you, Mama!” Little Guan smiled broadly.
“But it is also thanks to your own hard work,” Mother had said.
“My own hard work?” Little Guan was confused.
“Yes. Before you came into my belly, you had already picked what you wanted for your body and your face. You must have gotten in line very early to get a pair of art legs like your Papa.” Mother smiled.
Little Guan felt very proud and happy that she had a special pair of art legs.
—
Little Guan rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“Mama, Moon Popo took me flying in the sky. I flew and flew, and danced with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. They were so cute. But Moon Popo was afraid that you might get worried if you couldn’t find me, so she told me to hurry home.”
“But you wanted to keep playing, right?” Mother asked with a frown.
“No, Mama. Well … I was thinking five more minutes would be nice,” Little Guan answered, her cheeks turning red.
“Mama knows Guan will always love Mama. But one day, when you are all grown up, you will eventually leave Mama.” Mother gave Little Guan’s a sad look.
“Mama, Guan wants to stay with Mama forever. I will never leave you!” Little Guan held her mother tightly.
—
According to the lunar calendar, the day was August 15th, which is the Moon Festival. This is the day with the brightest and biggest moon of the year. Ever since Little Guan could remember, Grandmother Moon would come to visit her in her dreams the night before the Moon Festival to see how Little Guan’s life was going.
Little Guan was born in a small fishing village on an island called Formosa, which is located at the westernmost edge of the Pacific Ocean. About thirty families lived there, with one grocery store and one elementary school. Most of the people living in the village were related by blood or marriage. Everybody helped each other out and they took care of the village together. No one was richer or poorer than anyone else because they all shared what they had: the fish they caught, the vegetables and fruits they harvested, even the freshly made rice cakes and cookies. Whenever there was a wedding or a funeral, all the villagers would volunteer to help. In this peaceful village, nobody locked their door. The villagers kept a few dogs to guard over the children. Whenever a stranger came to the village, the dogs would bare their big white teeth and bark fiercely. Everyone would know there were outsiders in the area and become more cautious.
There were two classrooms in the elementary school, one for the younger children and the other for the older children. As there were only twenty-five students at that time, the teacher would sometimes combine the two classes for music and gym. When the weather allowed, the teacher would teach Little Guan’s favorite subject – “Nature at the beach.” Class was held on the rocks facing the blue water to the accompaniment of crashing ocean waves.
Little Guan was the youngest among the four children in her family. She had dark brown hair with a cute pageboy haircut. So adorable! She had one brother and two sisters, all of whom were much older than she.
Her oldest brother was named Yi-Pin, which means “champion.” He was thirteen years older than little Guan. Her parents wanted him to be outstanding, both as a student and a person.
Her oldest sister was named Little Zuer, which means “good luck.” She was ten years older than Little Guan. Little Guan’s parents said that Little Zuer was such a good baby, never fussing and so easy to take care. Everything about her was smooth and easy. Little Guan’s parents felt lucky to have her.
Her second sister was named Little Daer, which means “like a butterfly.” She was seven years older than Little Guan. Ever since Little Daer was a baby, she loved to skip around and flap her arms up and down. So Little Guan’s parents felt that Little Daer was like a happy butterfly.
The arrival of Little Guan was a complete surprise. Her mother was close to forty when Little Guan was born, and her parents did not think they could have another child. Seeing her big belly, her mother decided to go to a clinic with a professional midwife instead of taking the risk of having Little Guan’s Grandma deliver the baby like all of the other children in the village.
When Little Guan asked where she was from, her mother would tell her: “You were born in an egg.”
The Story of Little Guan’s Birth
A pink orange light from the sunset filters through the half-covered window and reveals an oval shaped egg covered with a thin oily membrane. It is a newborn baby quietly resting in the hands of a middle-aged woman and looking like a glowing ball.
“Isn’t she special?” the midwife says with a smile to the shocked middle-aged parents beside her in the room. “This kind of baby is very rare.”
The midwife uses her fingernail to gently break and peel the membrane off her tiny body. The oily little baby appeared as though she was soundly asleep.
“Strange, why is she still silent?” Alarmed, the midwife checks the baby’s pulse as the worried parents clutch each other’s hands looking at the their baby girl. She then slides two of her fingers into baby’s mouth and a few seconds later she draws out a small blood clot from the baby’s throat.
“Waah…waah…waah!” The piercing sound of a newborn crying fills the room. It takes the midwife a long time to wash all the oil off the baby’s body, after which the baby begins to smile happily. Finally, her parents could breathe easily.
From that moment, Little Guan loved to laugh, and her beautiful smile sparkled like the sunlight. Her surprise birth brought her family a lot of joy, and on top of that, she did look like a shiny ball when she was born. And so her parents gave her the name Guan, which means “light.”
--- Little Guan’s father was an outstanding diver. He did not need to wear an oxygen tank when diving deep into the water for fish or coral. He was also a gifted stargazer. He knew how the movements of the stars in the different seasons affected the weather and the ocean tide, and where the current would bring out the fish. Because of his experience, Little Guan’s father was often hired to go on long deep sea fishing expeditions and would often be away from home for over half of the year. But no matter how many fish he caught, or how many big and beautiful pieces of coral he brought up from the bottom of the sea, the money he earned was only enough to pay for their family’s daily living expenses.
To be a fisherman meant long hours on a boat or diving into the ocean. It was difficult work and could be terribly dangerous too. Little Guan’s father wanted his children to go to school and get a degree or to learn a skill so they would not have to endure the hardships of a fisherman’s life like he had.
Little Guan’s mother was an independent and passionate person. She loved to help people and always had good advice when her neighbors needed guidance in life. When Little Guan’s father would go on long fishing trips, Little Guan’s mother had to take care of the children and his parents all by herself. Unlike the other villagers who were born and raised in the area, Little Guan’s mother had come from someplace far away when she was still very young. She had a very distinguished look, especially her big almond-shaped eyes. She was like an ancient beauty who had walked out of an old Chinese painting. All of the villagers considered her to be a graceful and classical beauty.
Little Guan’s brother and older sister had each moved to the city at age sixteen. They went to study, but worked part-time jobs as well. They did not want to be a burden on their father, who was already fifty and still had to dive into the freezing cold water in the wintertime to catch fish for a living.
Little Guan wanted to grow up fast so she could be independent and move to the city to make money for her family like her brother and sister. Although her brother and sisters left the village one by one, there were many children in the village, so Little Guan was never lonely. Still, she was the youngest child in the village, so she couldn’t go out to pick guavas and the other wild fruits that grew in the surrounding hills. She spent most of her time close to her home playing games like hide and seek and hopscotch, catching fireflies at dusk, or watching cartoons on the small television in their living room.
On pleasant evenings, Little Guan enjoyed lying on the rocks on the beach and watching the cloud formations change in the sky. It was like a magic show, with clowns, mermaids, monkeys and floating castles appearing and disappearing before her eyes. It was really fun!
Once, as the sun was setting over the ocean, the color of sky at the horizon changed from blue to bright red orange, and then to a deep purple, and finally to a shimmering pink. It was so stunningly beautiful. Lying on the rock, Little Guan thought to herself: “The earth is my bed, the sky is my blanket … I have a most wonderful home. This must be paradise!” Little Guan closed her eyes and embraced the serenity of the moment.
All of sudden, she heard her mother’s voice calling her: “Guan, it is getting dark. Stop playing and come home now.”
Little Guan saw the smoke coming out of the kitchen chimney and her stomach started to rumble.
—
When Little Guan’s father was not away on a fishing trip, he volunteered to teach diving to a group of young men from the city. These young men would come to Little Guan’s home on weekends when the weather was good for diving. The whole house would be full of people day and night, and Little Guan’s mother would cook and serve food non-stop over the entire weekend. It was so exciting! Her parents did not hesitate to share the rooms of their small house and the food from their small kitchen with these young divers. It taught Little Guan that it was a blessing to be able to share what you have with others.
—
Little Guan’s mother said that before Little Guan learned to speak, she had already learned to sing. Little Guan’s parents loved it when she sang for them, and each time she finished a song, they would give her a quarter as a reward. Little Guan saved all the quarters that she earned in a glass jar, hoping that one day she would have enough to buy her favorite Barbie doll. It was with this doll in mind that whenever someone asked Little Guan to sing a song she would say: “That will be a quarter.”
“Guan will definitely make a lot of money when she grows up,” the neighboring uncles and aunties would say to her parents after paying her fee.
But there was one very handsome uncle whose money she would never take. He was her favorite uncle among the young divers. He was always so kind to Little Guan and would often bring her cookies. Little Guan’s mother once told her that the uncle had grown up at an orphanage. Little Guan wondered what kind of parents would abandon a kind and handsome person like him. When the other diver uncles were having their meal and talking, only this handsome uncle would pay attention to her. Little Guan decided to be extra nice to this handsome uncle, and so the handsome uncle was even nicer to Little Guan.
—
When it was warm outside, every household in the village would bring their handmade wooden dining tables out into their yards and have dinner while watching the sunset and enjoying the cool evening breeze. Sometimes, the children in the village would bring their rice bowls and visit their neighbor’s dinner table. And sometimes Little Guan would do the same. She would bring her rice bowl to the next-door neighbors while they were having dinner, and the neighboring uncles and aunties would pile food into to her bowl until it was overflowing. Little Guan would devour the food happily.
Once Little Guan returned home from her neighbor’s house with a bowl of unfinished food and joined her parents who were having dinner.
“Guan, you are a girl,” said her father. “Don’t bring your rice bowl to the neighbor’s dinner table and have dinner there.”
“This is not polite and does not look good either,” said her mother.
“But all the uncles and aunties welcome me, and it is them putting food into my rice bowl, not me taking it,” replied Little Guan. “And when other kids come to our house, you put a lot of food into their rice bowls too.”
Her father nodded and said to her: “This is our hospitality to guests.”
“This is their hospitality too,” Little Guan said with a big grin, as if she knew what “hospitality” meant.
“Yes, I suppose it is their hospitality too,” Little Guan’s father said with a laugh. Her mother laughed too.