Long, long ago, in a small Chinese
village, there were two children, a boy named Jie and a girl named Lei. They
were brother and sister; Jie was eight years old and Lei was six years old. It
was night time and they were supposed to be asleep but Jie wasn’t asleep; he
was staring up at the stars in the night sky from his bedroom window.
“Jie I can’t sleep” said Lei, who was still awake.
“I can’t sleep either” said Jie “I can’t stop looking out at the stars.
Whenever I look at the stars it reminds me of how our wish came true, and how
you and I now live a happier life”. It was true; Jie and Lei used to live an
unhappy life before.
Their story began a week ago, at that time they lived with their Aunt
Mei-Zhen. Their parents died when they were still young and they had lived
their aunt ever since. But they lived a miserable life with her. Mei-Zhen was
not a very nice woman; she never treated Jie and Lei with kindness. She made
them do all the cleaning and would abuse them if they misbehaved. Worst of all
she made them sleep in the cold cellar, with only one blanket for them to share
between them. Jie and Lei were unhappy living with their aunt; they missed
their parents and would often wish that they were still alive. Jie remembered
that their parents really loved them, not like their aunt who hated them.
One night Jie could not sleep, he had dropped a bucket of water onto the
floor and he had been beaten by Mei-Zhen and it hurt him very much. He was
staring at the stars from the cellar window; it made him wonder if his parents in
heaven could see the same stars. Then he saw a very bright star, he remembered
when his mother was alive she would tell him that a very bright star is known
as the wishing star. Jie wasn’t sure if that was true, but he got onto his
knees and made a wish upon the star.
“Wishing star I wish that my sister and I had a happier life than the
life we are living now” he said.
Next morning Mei-Zhen told Jie and Lei to clean the house while she was
at the market. “If this house isn’t clean by the time I get back” she said “you
will get no dinner and sleep outside tonight”. Then she left. Jie and Lei got
to work straight away; Jie washed the windows and chopped the wood, while Lei
washed the floors and cleaned Mei-Zhen’s room. By splitting the work between
them, Jie and Lei got all the house work done in no time at all.
They were just about to go have a rest after all that cleaning, when
they both heard a yelping noise from outside.
“That sounds like an animal that’s in pain” said Lei.
“You’re right it does sound like that” said Jie “come on let’s find
out”.
When they got out the door they saw two big black dogs lying on the
ground. They were a male and female and both looked exhausted and in pain. “We
have to do something Jie” said Lei “we can’t leave them like this”. “You’re
right” said Jie “but we can’t let our aunt see them. I know we will put them in
our room. She never goes in there”. Lei went into the cellar and spread the
blanket out onto the floor, for the dogs to lie down on. While Jie picked the
dogs up and carried them to the cellar (one at a time). Lei filled two bowls
with water for the dogs to drink and found some spare bread for them to eat.
“What do you suppose happened to them?” asked Lei.
“I don’t know, but my guess is they were abused by their owners”
answered Jie.
It was at that moment when Mei-Zhen returned home. “Oh no aunt is back”
said Jie “we must not tell her about the dogs, okay?” Lei nodded yes in return.
They ran out of the cellar and welcomed their aunt home. “I take it you did
what I told you to do?” Mei-Zhen asked. “Yes aunt all the rooms are neat and
tidy” answered Jie. “Fine” replied Mei-Zhen “well now you two can go wash
yourselves. I don’t want you two to make this place smell. I’ll have your meal
ready when you’re done”. Their meal was
really just a tiny portion of rice each; Mei-Zhen hardly ever fed them with
enough food, while she had more than them.
That night, after Mei-Zhen went to bed, Jie and Lei continued to care
for the dogs. Suddenly one of the dogs, the male one, woke up. “Are you all
right?” whispered Jie. “Yes thank you child” the dog whispered back.
Jie and Lei could not believe what they just heard; the dog actually
spoke to them. “Did you just talk?” gasped Jie. “Yes he did” said the female
dog “I can talk too”. “How can you talk?” asked Lei “dogs aren’t supposed to
speak”. “We will explain everything to you” replied the male dog.
The two blacks introduced themselves as Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien and told
Jie and Lei their story. They were actually humans living peacefully as husband
and wife in a mansion in the middle of the forest.
“I’ve heard of that mansion” said Jie “are you two the master and
mistress of that mansion?”
“Yes we are” answered Sheng-Li “we were living happily, until that day”.
What happened was that Sheng-Li’s younger brother, Feng-Li, wanted the
ownership of the mansion. During that time Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien were friends
of a magician named Ju-Long. To get what he wanted, Feng-Li imprisoned Ju-Long somewhere
in the mansion and used his magic spell scrolls to gain control of the mansion
by turning Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien into black dogs.
“How did you end up hurt like you are now?” asked Jie.
“We tried to fight back when he turned us into dogs” replied Sheng-Li
“but he seemed too powerful for us”.
“Is there a way to break this spell?” asked Lei.
“The only one who can break this spell is Ju-Long” replied Mei-Lien “but
with him tied up in prison and us like this, it will be impossible for us to be
free of this spell”.
Jie and Lei were just about to think what they could do to help, when
they heard shouting from their aunt. “Jie and Lei get up here now you little
brats!”
“Oh no aunt Mei-Zhen is in a bad mood” said Lei.
“We better see what she wants” said Jie. They quickly ran out to see
what their aunt wanted.
“From the sound of her voice” said Mei-Lien “I don’t think that woman is
very nice”.
“I don’t think so either” said Sheng-Li.
When Jie and Lei came back to the cellar, Lei was crying and had bruise
on her face. “What happened?!” said Mei-Lien, running over to Lei. Jie
explained that their aunt had hit her because she thought that Lei hadn’t made
her bed properly. “Does she always do this?” asked Sheng-Li. Jie told Sheng-Li
and Mei-Lien how they had lived a miserable life with their aunt ever since
their parent’s death.
“Aunt Mei-Zhen hates us” said Jie “I think she only decided to take us
in, so we would do all the housework for her”.
Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien felt sorry for them and were angry about
Mei-Zhen’s cruel ways. Mei-Lien licked Lei’s face to make it feel better. Lei
felt happy with Mei-Zhen and fell asleep on her back. Jie fell asleep on
Sheng-Li. While they slept, both Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien agreed to take them away
with them.
The next morning Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien woke up just before the sun
started to rise. “Wake up Jie and Lei” whispered Sheng-Li. He explained to them
that he and Mei-Lien were going to leave now and decided that their wish is to
take them with them.
“Is it okay for us to come with you?” asked Jie.
“Yes it is” Sheng-Li answered. Jie and Lien looked at each other and
with a smile they both agreed.
So Sheng-Li, Mei-Lien, Jie and Lei quietly and quickly got out of the
house and left. This was the last time Jie and Lei were ever to see that house,
nor were they to see their aunt again. But Jie and Lei were happy, leaving
their house and aunt was one of their wishes come true.
On their journey they came across a
market. “This is the market that aunt Mei-Zhen always goes to” said Lei.
“You’re right it is the same market” said Jie. They were just about to continue
when they heard a man talking to someone else; “Have you seen two black dogs?”
he said.
“Oh no that’s Chi-Fu, Feng-Li’s servant” said Sheng-Li.
“Your brother must have sent him to look for us” said Mei-Lien.
They needed a way to get through the market without being seen. Then Jie
had an idea; “There is a horse and cart around here that goes to and from your
mansion. I saw it when I came here with aunt Mei-Zhen once. We can use that to
the forest then will walk the rest of the way to the mansion”. Everyone agreed
that was a good idea, so Jie and Lei went to find the driver of the horse and
cart. Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien stayed outside the market, so Chi-Fu could not find
them. Jie and Lei returned with good news; “We found the driver and he was just
about to leave” said Jie “we asked him if he would give us a lift to the forest
and he said he would”. Without being noticed, they quickly and quietly ran to
the driver and got onto his cart. “Thank you for the lift sir” said Jie. “No
problem son” said the driver “I always give lifts to those who head towards the
forest”. The driver brought them to the forest in no time at all. Jie, Lei and
their dogs got down from the cart, said thank you to the driver and waved good
bye to him (Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien barked at him).
“How far is it from here to your mansion?” asked Jie.
“Not that far” answered Sheng-Li “we will get there soon enough on foot”.
He was right; they soon arrived at the mansion.
“What should we do though?” asked Mei-Lien “we need to look for Ju-Long,
but Feng-Li will be looking out for us”.
“I know Lei and I will look for Ju-Long, while you keep Feng-Li busy”
said Jie.
“All right” said Sheng-Li “but be careful you two”.
Jie and Lei entered the mansion and started to look for Ju-Long, without
running into Feng-Li. They looked through all the rooms, until at last they
found him. Ju-Long was in the cellar, tied up with ropes and his mouth was
gagged. Jie and Lei set him free immediately.
“Thank you” said Ju-Long “but who are you?” Jie and Lei introduced themselves
to him, and then explained what was happening. “We must hurry” said Ju-Long
“Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien will need help at once”.
Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien were facing Feng-Li in a fight. “I never thought
you would return here alive, I’m surprised” chuckled Feng-Li. “Sorry to
disappoint you brother” said Sheng-Li “but you are not getting away with what
you have done”. Feng-Li was just about to fire a blast of magic at them, when
another blast of magic stopped him. “What?!” gasped Feng-Li, he saw Ju-Long,
“how did you escape?” “I had two helpers” Ju-Long, Jie and Lei were next to
him. Feng-Li, in rage, was just about to cast another blast of magic, but
Ju-Long acted quickly. He transformed Feng-Li into a rabbit and Sheng-Li and
Mei-Lien ate him up very quickly.
“I never thought that I would have had to do this to my own brother”
said Sheng-Li “but I could not forgive him for his own greed and hate”.
Ju-Long used his magic again to turn Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien back into
humans. “I’m glad that you have returned safely” said Ju-Long. Jie and Lei were
amazed by all this and just stood there surprised. Sheng-Li and Me-Lien noticed
them and walked over to them. “Jie and Lei it’s us” said Sheng-Li, holding out
his arms. Mei-Lien held her arms out too. Jie and Lei stood still for a second,
and then Jie ran into Sheng-Li’s arms while Lei ran into Mei-Lien’s arms. Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien held them tightly as if
they were their own children.
“Jie and Lei” said Sheng-Li “you two are our children now”.
“Huh?” said Jie and Lei together.
“The reason we brought you with us is that we wish to have you as our
son and daughter” replied Sheng-Li. Jie and Lei were delighted and hugged
Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien again. Their hugs were returned.
“I still can’t believe that all happened” said Lei, after their
remembering was finished.
“Yes” said Jie “once we lived a sad life, now we live a happy life. Who
would have thought that my wish upon a star would have come true?”
“I was amazed when aunt Mei-Zhen agreed to let us be adopted by our new
parents” said Lei. Sheng-Li and Mei-Lien met Mei-Zhen after the spell was
broken and told her about their wish of adopting Jie and Lei. Mei-Zhen agreed
with that and was glad to be rid of Jie and Lei.
“Yes but don’t forget she didn’t like us or want us in the first place”
replied Jie. Lei agreed with that.
Just then their bedroom door opened, Sheng-Li entered the room. “Why
aren’t you two asleep?” he asked. “We cannot sleep father” replied Jie. “I see”
said Sheng-Li “come with me”. Jie and Lei followed him out of the room and they
both walked to his bedroom. Mei-Lien was still awake and saw them come in. “The
children can’t sleep” Sheng-Li said to her. Mei-Lien held out her arms for Lei
and Lei ran up to her. They all got into bed together. Lei fell fast asleep in
her new mother’s arms, while Jie fell asleep in his new father’s arms. And for
the rest of the night Jie and Lei dreamt of the happy future they were going to
have, with their new adopted family.
