The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck:
This is a neat story! I think it's really cool that the princess repeatedly stood by what she believed in and did not waver - in choosing the beggar as her husband and by faithfully remaining his wife even though an apparent stranger/emperor was asking about her marital status. I wonder how she knew (in the first place) that the beggar was the "favorite of fortune." I'm certainly sure his appearance did not give that impression. I was saddened by the fact that her father did not continue to love and respect her once she chose the beggar. Thank goodness her mother took care of her, even if it was in secret. I'm glad the beggar-husband came back to her, but I hate that the wife died. She stayed so true and faithful - I wish she had a better ending.
The Cave of the Beasts:
I have mixed feelings about this story - I like how it ends so happily, but I also don't like that the daughters and their father pretended nothing happened - it's like they intentionally ignored the fact that he meant to leave them to die in the mountains. The girls are smart too have not let the wolf/fox escape even though they said they'd give up some jewels - that would have lead to their destruction for sure.
Why Dog and Cat are Enemies:
This is an interesting take on cats versus dogs. When I first started reading the story, I thought I recognized it but as I read on, I came to realize that I don't think I've read this version. The story is easy to read and concise - with enough detail to keep it interesting but not too many details to get caught up in. I wonder how many dog versus cat stories show the dog as the evil one - it certainly seems like the ones I've read make cats out to be the bad ones.
The Girl with the Horse's Head (Silkworm goddess):
This is such a strange story. First of all, the promise to marry the horse didn't shock me too much - I feel like I've read enough stories that involve cross-species relationships to not be thrown for a loop too much. As for the horse hide wrapping her up - that's super weird. Also, it's weird she became in charge of the silkworms rather than anything related to horses. It's also possible silkworms are somehow significant to horses, though - I do not know much about horses so maybe so.
The Miserly Farmer:
This is a cool story - I like how even though the farmer wouldn't give the priest a pear, a kind person paid for one for the priest - faith in humanity restored. It would have been so neat to see the tree go so quickly - it stuck out to me that they brought hot water to pour on the planted seed though. I'm sure the stingy farmer felt silly afterwards, and I hope he decided to be more generous from then onward.
A modern day view of "Greater China"
Source: Wikipedia
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