else in the world, so he wrapped a turban about his head and went out to look for them. He climbed steep mountain passes and then he ran down into the valleys. For many days and many weeks he wandered on and on, always calling to his little lost pigs. He wandered so far that one day, to his great surprise, he found himself in Heaven.
Now, Farmer Wu had often wondered whether the country called Heaven was at all like the country called Sekkim, so great was his delight to see lovely rolling hills and many little pigs running about. He was just sure that some of them were his own pigs that had run away. He was so happy that he begged permission to stay there forever and ever. But the people in Heaven replied:
"Oh no, you are not yet ready to stay in Heaven. You must go back to Earth for a few years more."
The way seemed very long to Farmer Wu as he trudged back to Earth. But, when he reached the Land of Sekkim, he told the men called Lepchas all about the country called Heaven, with many little pigs running about. The men called Lepchas were so excited that they all decided they would build a tower to reach to Heaven.
"With a tower to reach to Heaven, we can climb into Heaven from our tower, without taking the long journey over the steep mountain passes."
Every man in the Land of Sekkim worked on the tower. One storey on top of another storey, up and up they built it, one storey atop another storey. As they worked on, they looked up and saw that they were getting nearer and nearer to Heaven.
As each storey was completed, they left one little man of Sekkim there to act as a guard.
So they worked on for many days and many months. Finally, after two long years, their tower needed only one more storey to touch the country called Heaven. Then the little men of Sekkim grew impatient.
"If only we had some big hooks, we could pull ourselves up into Heaven without building the last storey," they said to each other.
This was a fine idea. So the man at the top called out to the man on the storey below him: "Send us hooks!"
And he called to the man below him: "Send us hooks!"
And he, in turn, called out to the man below: "Send us hooks." And he called to the man below: "Send us hooks!"
And so on, from storey to storey, the call made its way down to the Land of Sekkim. But on the way a very sad thing happened. The message was repeated so many, many times that it got twisted and, when it finally reached the bottom, instead of being still: "Send us hooks," it had become: "Cut us down!"
Whereupon the men called Lepchas got out their great stone axes and cut down the tower that reached almost to Heaven. It crashed in a heap on the ground.
And to this very day, far away on the western border of Tibet, there can be seen a flat green spot deep in a valley, right in the heart of a thick jungle forest. And the people say, as they pass that spot: "See that spot in the deep valley, that is the place where the Tower of Sekkim fell down, the Tower of Sekkim that almost reached the country called Heaven, where the hills are green and rolling, and many little pigs run about."
A Chinese Cinderella
West China
In the dim past, before the Ts'in and Han dynasties, there was a chieftain named Wu, who lived in a mountain cave. The people of the countryside called him "Cave Chief Wu."
Now Cave Chief Wu had two wives and a beautiful daughter named Shih Chieh. When this daughter was ten years old, her mother died, and she and her father became close friends. Shih Chieh was not only beautiful; she was clever, as well, and always happy. But one day her father died, and after that the stepmother became so jealous of Shih Chieh's beauty that she sought every possible way to mistreat her. She made the girl cut wood in dangerous places and draw water from deep wells, hoping that some day she would meet with an accident.
One day when Shih Chieh was out in her garden, she caught a beautiful little fish with red fins and golden eyes. It was so tiny that she kept it in a basin in her room. Every day she changed the water in the basin, but at last the fish grew so big that she had no bowl large enough to hold it.
Shih Chieh waited until her cruel stepmother had gone away one day, then she took the fish out and slipped it into the pond in the garden. Every day after that, she crept secretly into the garden to feed the fish scraps of food. So Shih Chieh and the beautiful fish became great friends and when she came to the pond each morning, the fish would swim to the edge of the pool, lift its head from the water, and rest it on the bank as on a pillow.
The cruel stepmother somehow heard about the beautiful fish with red fins and golden eyes, and she went often to the garden to try to see it for herself; but the fish would never show itself for anyone but Shih Chieh. The stepmother became very frustrated and angry and secretly determined to kill the fish. One day she said to Shih Chieh: "Aren't you tired today? It is a bright day, so let me wash your coat for you. Go draw water from the neighbor's well. When you return with it, I will wash your coat."
As soon as Shih Chieh had left with her pail, the stepmother hurriedly put on the daughter's clothes and, hiding a sharp sword in her sleeve, she went to the pond and called to the fish. The fish, thinking it was his mistress, raised his head out of the water. Instantly the cruel stepmother drew the sword from her sleeve and killed the fish. She carried it home, cooked it, and ate its delicious meat, then buried the bones under a mound in the field.
The next day Shih Chieh came out to the garden as usual and scattered crumbs on the pool, but the lovely fish with red fins and golden eyes did not come to greet her. Sitting on the bank, she wept piteously. Suddenly a man with tousled hair, and dressed in rough clothing, came down from heaven and comforted her.
"Do not weep, my child. Your mother has killed your fish and hidden its bones under a mound in the field."
Then he leaned close to her and whispered: "I will tell you a great secret. If you will pray to those bones, every wish you have will be granted."
As Shih Chieh turned to thank this stranger, he disappeared from view.
Shih Chieh did exactly as the strange visitor had told her. Each day she prayed to the bones of the fish and, just as she had been promised, gold, pearls, and beautiful dresses came to her as soon as she had wished for them.
Now, as it happened, the seventh day of the seventh moon was the day of the Cave Festival. The stepmother took her own daughter, who was not nearly so beautiful as Shih Chieh, and went off to the festival, leaving Shih Chieh behind to tend the house.
"Mind you watch the fruit in the courtyard while we are gone," she called out sharply to Shih Chieh as they
