[00:00.66]Unit 7 Storytelling
[00:04.94]Lesson 27
[00:10.82]Exercise 1.2
[00:14.68]Tiger shoes are often fond on babies' feet
[00:17.62]in the contryside of China today,
[00:20.29]just like they were in the past.
[00:23.07]The shoes are made of cloth and the front of
[00:26.50]them is made into a tiger's head.
[00:29.43]The tradition of tiger shoes comes from a
[00:32.46]Chinese folktale about Yang,
[00:35.10]his beautiful wife,and their son.
[00:38.61]Long ago, in the famous old town Yangzhou,
[00:42.78]there was a boatman called Yang who
[00:45.72]was very generous and willing to help others.
[00:49.53]One day he got an old picture from
[00:52.38]one of his passengers.
[00:54.63]In this picture,
[00:56.18]a beautiful woman was making
[00:58.91]a pair of tiger shoes.
[01:01.40]The boatman was very happy with the gift.
[01:04.60]He liked the picture so much
[01:06.94]that he put it on the wall above his bed
[01:10.60]as soon as he got home.
[01:12.77]One evening, the woman in the picture
[01:15.61]stepped out of the picture.
[01:17.77]She fell in love with Yang
[01:19.71]and they got married.
[01:21.74]They had a happy life together,
[01:24.27]and soon they had a son who brought much joy
[01:27.06]to the family.
[01:28.80]Although they were happy, things soon changed.
[01:32.84]The magic picture was taken away
[01:34.62]by the town official
[01:36.76]who had heard about the beautiful woman.
[01:39.99]The official put the picture on the wall
[01:42.70]above his bed,
[01:44.20]but the woman never came down.
[01:47.36]The son missed his mother
[01:49.00]and often cried for her.
[01:51.67]Yang told him that his mother had gone
[01:53.86]far away to the west.
[01:56.46]The son insisted on looking for his mother,
[02:00.12]even though he knew it was very difficult.
[02:03.42]He traveled day and night,
[02:05.58]and in the end,he found his mother in a forest.
[02:09.73]"My son, you are so brave!" said the mother.
[02:14.00]"Mom, let's go home. I missed you so much."
[02:18.90]"I can't go back until you take the picture
[02:21.69]from the town official.
[02:23.56]You have to go into the official's bedroom
[02:26.13]and bring it home.
[02:27.86]Take the pair of tiger shoes I made for you.
[02:31.26]You'll need them.
[02:32.58]Now close your eyes and I'll send you home."
[02:37.15]Within a second, the son was at home.
[02:40.20]He put on his tiger shoes
[02:41.75]and went to the official's home.
[02:44.06]He told the official
[02:45.69]that he could make the beautiful woman
[02:47.98]come down from the picture.
[02:50.29]The official was so excited that he
[02:52.85]led the boy into his bedroom immediately.
[02:56.58]As soon as the boy saw his mother,
[02:59.19]he spoke to the picture,"Mom, let's go!"
[03:03.30]The beautiful woman stepped out of the picture.
[03:07.35]The official tried very hard to stop them,
[03:10.59]but suddenly the tiger shoes turned into
[03:14.33]a large tiger.
[03:16.18]The tiger jumped at the official,
[03:18.51]and the mother and son were able to escape.
[03:22.10]The son brought his mother back home
[03:24.54]and the family was able to live together
[03:27.53]happily ever after.
[03:29.56]Since then, people have made tiger shoes for
[03:32.66]their own children in order to protect them
[03:35.33]and their families.
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