STORIES

THE ISLAND OF THE SUN 

A Chinese folk tale told by David Heathfield

There once was a farmer who had two sons. The eldest son was selfish and greedy, while the younger son was kind and generous. When the farmer died, the eldest son took all the wealth of his father, while his younger brother with a basket and a knife to cut firewood and sell it to buy food. So one day the poor boy went into the woods and while sitting on a rock encountered a bird. This bird took him up on his back and took him to an island where there was always sunshine and lots of gold. The boy took a piece of gold, took it home, and so did his brother decided to take the gold island. When he went into the forest the bird took him on the island, but the greedy guy stole all the gold. The story ends with the death of the boy, sunburned.