| "Once upon a time, a long time ago, it was the custom of all the fathers and mother in China to give their first and honored sons great long names. But second sons were given hardly any name at all..." (from the first line) Now available in paperback, this classic Chinese legend tells the story of a boy who nearly drowns in a well because his brother cannot pronounce his very, very long name fast enough for an old man to save him. The lovely drawings capture the beauty of rural China.
Annotation:
Many years ago, Chinese parents gave their firstborn sons long and honorable first names--this folktale explains why that practice was stopped. In a small mountain town, there lived a mother who had two young sons, her younger son was named "Chang" which mean "little or nothing," while her firstborn was named Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo which means "the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world." One day, when the two brothers were playing by the well, Chang falls in. Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo runs to his mother, who tells him to fetch the old man with the ladder so that Chang can be rescued. All is well, until many months later when the brothers decide to play by the well again--but this time Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo falls in, and it is up to Chang to do the rescuing. However, because his older brother's name takes so long to say aloud, Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo almost drowns before Chang can get the old man with the ladder can rescue him. After this terrible event, all Chinese parents realized that it is better to give all their children short names. Watercolor and ink-and wash drawings accompany the text.
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