Hello and welcome to Super Great Kids Stories.
Wise tales from storytellers around the world which will make you laugh and sometimes cry.
Recommended for ages 5 to 105.
I'm Kim and I love stories.
Happy New Year Super Great Kids.
We're going to start the new year with a storyteller who is new to Super Great Kids.
His name is Alton Takayama Chung, and he has not one, but two stories from Asia about kindness and being generous.
His first story is all about New Year in Japan.
Our current theme is fairy tales around the world.
And these two stories are fairy tales from Japan and China.
Now, just before we meet Alton.
Kindness is a theme which runs through quite a lot of traditional tales.
Can you think of any stories you like which has some kindness in them?
For example, how about Tianzhe and the Yellow Dress which Tuk told us?
Can you think of a couple of kind stories while we have a quick word with the grown-ups?
Ready?
Off you go.
Hello Super Great Kids, I'm back.
Did you think of any stories which have kindness in them?
Many of the stories have a little bit of kindness in them when you start thinking about it.
In Cinderella, the fairy godmother helps Cinderella get to the ball.
And in Stick Woman, the granddaughter feeds her grandma and then helps her escape the wild animals.
And in The Elves and the Shoemaker, the elves are kind to the old shoemaker.
And then he and his wife are kind back to them and make them a fine set of clothes each.
And now it's time to give a warm welcome to Alton, our storyteller, new to Super Great Kids Stories.
Hello, my name is Alton Takeyama-Chung and I'm coming to you today from the Pacific Northwestern part of the United States, near Portland Oregon, on the West Coast.
I have two short stories for you today.
The first is from Japan and it's called The Grateful Statues.
And it's about a kind-hearted man and some stone statues.
The second story comes from China, and it's called The Magic Pear Tree.
Now in Europe or North America, we often begin stories with once upon a time in a far and distant land or place.
But in Japan, they begin stories with mukashi, mukashi, aru tokoro ni.
In Japan, a long, long time ago, on the side of a mountain, there lived an elderly couple.
There was the old man, Ji-chan, grandfather, and his wife, the old woman, Oba-chan, grandmother.
This couple was very poor.
They would take straw and weave it into hats and then the old man Jichan would take the hats down the mountain to the village in the valley below and sell them to buy the things that they needed.
Oh, it was a hard life.
One day, the old man's bones began to ache.
As the pain grew, he looked back upon his poor life and grew sour.
He felt sorry for himself and began to complain bitterly.
In two days, it will be New Year's.
I wish that we had some mochi, some rice cakes, that we might be able to welcome the New Year properly, said Ji-chan, rubbing his bald head as he did when he didn't know what to do.
Oh, husbands!
Why don't you take these five hats down into the village and sell them?
Then you can buy more chi and we can have it for New Year's.
That's what the old man did.
He put the five hats onto his pack and began the long hike down the mountainside to the village below.
On the way down the mountain, there was a shrine by the side of the trail with six statues, for it was dedicated to Jizu, the protector of children.
There was also a statue dedicated to the god of the river, but the largest statue was dedicated to the god of the mountain.
The old man would always stop at the shrine on his way to and from the village.
He would burn incense, say prayers, and leave little offerings to the gods.
As was his custom, the old man stopped at the shrine and said, "'Ah, my friends!'
It is good to see you.
It has been a while since my last visit.
Oh, it has been a hard winter, and I am no longer young.
My bones ache.
Still, tomorrow will be New Year's Day, and I would be most grateful if you were to confer your blessings upon my wife and myself.
And the old man went down the mountain to the village.
But when he got there, everyone was rushing about trying to get their marketing done and to head home.
For you see, a storm was coming.
It had turned cold, and soon it began to snow.
By the end of the day, he had not sold any of his hats, and it had begun to snow very hard.
The old man packed up his hats and then made his way back up the mountain without any mochi for New Year's.
And when the old man reached the shrine on his way back up the mountain, he stopped and said Ah, my friends, this will not do.
And he began to dust the snow off the heads and shoulders of the statues.
And then he got an idea.
He took off his pack and pulled off the straw hats and began tying them onto the heads of the statues.
He tied hats onto the four little statues of Jizu, the protector of children.
He tied another onto the head of the statue of the god of the river.
When he came to the statue of the god of the mountain, he realized that he had run out of hats.
Oh, my goodness!
I have no hat for you.
I am sorry.
The old man did not know what to do.
Should he take the hat from one of the other statues.
Could he make another hat for the God of the Mountain?
He took off his own hat and began to rub his bald head.
Then he looked at his own hat.
Oh, I know.
He then tied his own hat onto the head of the statue of the God of the Mountain.
There you are, my friends.
Happy New Year.
And the old man hurried on home.
And when the old man got home, he was nearly frozen.
Oh, you silly old man.
What happened to your hat?
Come inside and warm yourself by the fire, chided his wife.
The old man then told her all that he had done.
And when she heard the story, his wife said, Oh, that is a good thing, a very good thing.
Oh, we have no more chi to celebrate New Year's, but we will be all right.
And after dinner, the old couple went to bed.
But in the middle of the night, they were awakened by someone knocking at their door.
Who could it be this time of night?
Well, they lit a lantern and they carefully opened the shoji screen door, the rice paper screen door.
And there, standing at their front door, were six stone statues, all wearing straw hats.
And then the largest one, the one of the god of the mountain, spoke.
Good evening.
Thank you for your compassion.
In repayment for your kindness, we have brought gifts.
And the four little statues of Jizu, the protector of children, each came forth and gave a mochi, a little rice cake, to the old couple.
Mochi, that you may never know hunger.
And then the statue of the god of the river stepped up and gave the couple a bottle of sake, rice wine.
Sake, that you may always remember the sweetness of life.
Then the statues of the god of the mountain stepped forward and gave them a little bundle of dried leaves.
And finally, my gift to you, fine mountain tea, that you may always have good health and long life.
Happy New Year!
And the six stone statues then turned and disappeared into the darkness.
Oh, the old couple was amazed.
They could not believe what had just happened.
They set the mochi and the sake aside to enjoy the next morning, on New Year's Day, but as it was cold, they decided to boil water for tea.
It was the most marvelous, delicious tea they had ever tasted.
And at last they went back to sleep.
The next morning, New Year's Day.
The man yawned and stretched, looked over to the woman laying next to him.
But what was this?
This woman was not his wife, but rather the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen.
Who are you?
And the woman yawned and stretched and turned to look at the man sitting up staring at her.
What was this?
This man was not her husband. but rather the most handsome young man she had ever seen.
Who are you?
And that is when they realized the true gift of the statue of the god of the mountain.
It had given back to them their youth.
And the couple rose and enjoyed the mochi and the sake.
And they vowed they would never forget to enjoy the sweetness of life.
The second story comes from China, and it's called The Magic Pear Tree.
And it's a story of a hard-hearted farmer and a poor beggar.
Long time ago, in ancient China, there was a farmer and he raised pears.
He would take them in his cart to the marketplace in town every day to sell them.
One day, he had a wonderful harvest.
These pears were not only huge and ripe, but juicy and sweet.
And as he was loading up his cart with the luscious fruit, he realized that it was going to be a very hot day.
He was going to sell a lot of pears today.
So he got a very old and gnarled stick, and he tied it to one of the corners of his cart.
To this, he tied an old umbrella to shade his pears and himself from the broiling sun.
He then went to town to the marketplace to his usual spot and began to sell his pears.
After a while, an old man came by.
He was a raggedy old man with tears and holes in his clothing.
He came up to him and said, Oh, luscious pears.
Oh, please, may I have a pear?
I have no money, but I am so hungry, and these pears look so wonderful.
Please, may I have one?
Something hardened that farmer's heart.
No, these pears are for sale.
I do not give them away.
Oh, please, sir, just a small pair, something of no value.
I am so hungry, and they look so wonderful.
Please.
The farmer's heart turned to stone.
No, no, go away.
Had the farmer been a little more observant, he would have seen a twinkle in the old man's eyes.
The old man turned away and began calling to whomever would listen to him.
Ah, this farmer is so cruel.
All I wanted was a little pear, something small, something insignificant.
But he will not part with any of his pears.
And he went on and on and on.
Pretty soon he drew a crowd.
But every time he asked the farmer for a pear, the farmer said, No, these pears are for sale.
Pretty soon the people in the crowd got tired of listening to the old man.
Finally, one of the shopkeepers reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins.
Here, old man, here.
Here's some money.
Now take your pair, so at least now we can have some peace.
Oh, thank you.
Now I would like to share my pair with all of you.
No, no, old man, now take your pair and eat it all yourself.
No, no, no, I will show you.
And the old man bit into the pear and the sweet juice ran down his face.
Oh, it was wonderful.
The old man ate the entire pear, except for the seeds.
He selected a single seed and he walked to the center of the marketplace.
It was hot, dry, and dusty.
He reached into his robe and pulled out a small hand shovel.
And he dug a little hole.
He dropped a seed into it and covered it over with dry soil.
And now all I need is a little hot water.
The shopkeeper, who had bought the old man the pear, looked at him.
He noticed that twinkle in his eye.
And he thought to himself, Ah, this man is not what he appears to be.
Well, he went back to his shop and he got a kettle of hot water and brought it back to the old man.
He then stood back and watched.
Well, the old man took the kettle and began to pour the hot water onto the spot where he had planted the seed, all the while making mystical gestures with his hands and mumbling to himself.
He then returned the kettle.
Now, everyone in the marketplace had gathered around the old man at this time to see what he was up to.
And to their amazement, they saw a little green shoot pop out of the ground.
And it began to grow and grow and grow.
And pretty soon it was a little sapling.
And then branches began coming out of it with leaves.
And now there was a huge, fully grown pear tree there in the marketplace.
And then suddenly there were delicate white blossoms everywhere.
And these quickly faded, only to be replaced by tiny green orbs that began to grow and grow and soon became luscious ripe pears.
Oh, everyone was astonished.
But the old man just laughed.
Then he called to some young boys.
My bones are old.
Go, go climb the tree.
Pick the pears and give them to everyone here.
Then two boys.
Quick, as monkeys climbed up into the tree and began picking the pears and handing them out to people.
Everyone in the entire marketplace got a pear, even the cruel farmer.
Well, he took his and he bit into it.
Oh, it was the most wonderful pear he had ever tasted.
Oh, it was not only huge and ripe, but juicy and sweet.
Oh, and he ate it all down.
He was licking his fingers, like everyone else in the marketplace, when they all heard chop chop, chop.
Oh, they turned to look, and there was the old man.
He had a small hand axe, and he was chopping down the pear tree.
And with each blow from his axe, the tree seemed to wilt a little and shrink a bit.
And soon, when he had chopped it down, all that remained of the tree was an old, gnarled stick, which the old man picked up and used as a cane.
He turned, waved goodbye to everyone in the marketplace, and hobbled away.
How everyone realized that they had just seen a miracle, and they were all talking about it.
Well, the farmer went back to his cart, scratching his head.
But when he got back to his cart, instead of being full of ripe pears, it was empty.
Ha!
That old man!
He tricked me!
He gave away all my pears!
Where did he go?
And the farmer went running after that old man.
He traced him all the way back to the city gates.
When he arrived, he saw, leaning up against the wall near the city gates, an old, gnarled stick.
And the farmer looked at that stick, and he recognized it.
It was the same gnarled stick that he had tied to the corner of his cart to hold up his umbrella that morning.
The farmer continued to raise pears, and he continued to bring them to the marketplace to sell.
But from that day on, whenever anyone came up asking for a pear, he was always very generous.
He usually took the biggest, most luscious pear and gave it away.
And he was especially generous to any old, raggedy men.
Oh, thanks very much, Alton, for sharing those stories.
I love the way Alton makes the voices of the old people.
I felt like he really knew them.
And I like the way he teaches us some words in Japanese.
And here's my question.
Who do you think the old man is in that second story?
He's certainly got magical powers, hasn't he?
Do you think you could draw a picture of the magic pear tree growing out of the ground or of the stone statues in the snow wearing straw hats?
Send them via our website at supergreatkidsstories.com and we can share your pictures with other story lovers or on our Facebook page, facebook.com forward slash supergreatkidsstories.
And now...
It's time to fly around the world with StoryOwl to say hello and thank you to all the owlets who've recently joined our storytelling club.
Let's begin in Lyndhurst Ohio, to say hello to Audrey and Kent, who are nine year old twins and soon to be 10.
They love listening to super great kids stories at bedtime.
And they say they love the cover of our new book.
Oh, thank you, Audrey and Kent.
Across to Blaine in Washington State in the US next to greet Brooklyn, who's turning seven.
Atlas, who is five.
Blair, who is three.
And Zoe, who is two.
They listen in the car before bedtime.
And they have so many favourite stories they say it's very hard to pick.
But the Hairy Toe and the Gingerbread Man are very high up on their favourites list.
And let's head next to the wild west of Wales in the UK to say hello to Ursula Anwen, who's just turned five and was gifted her membership from Grandad Pete the Elder.
Ursula's favourite stories are The Two Silly Witches, The Witch's Stone and, of course, all the Baba Yaga tales.
Ursula told the Ghost of the Bloody Finger to some friends at her birthday party.
Hurrah!
And up to Michigan in the US now to greet Owlet Adela.
And her favourite story is, well, all the Baba Yaga stories.
Good choices.
Adela turned eight this week, and Adela and her brother Victor, always go to bed listening to the stories.
Up to Iowa in the US next to greet Anderson and Connor who are eight and five.
Their favourite stories are A Nancy and the Hot Pepper Soup and Fox at a Party.
Good choices.
Up to snowy Alaska next To greet Owlet, Colton, who loves the ghost of the bloody finger.
He listens to the stories every morning on the way to school.
Flying down all the way across the US to the other corner and hello to Augustina, who is six, and Jackson, who is five, from Bostwick in Florida.
Well done, Augustina, for recently completing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
And Jackson is getting started too.
His favourite story is The Eagle Who Thought He Was a Chicken.
North.
Now up to Ambler in Pennsylvania to say hello to five-year-old Maddy, who hopes to travel to the UK one day to come to a storytelling festival.
We hope to meet you there, Maddy.
Her favourites are Bonita, the Tricky Sheep and Troll Ale, although any story told by Jason Buck is a big hit,
That's it for this week.
Thanks to all you Owlets for your super great support.
Our Pick of the Week pitcher goes to Rayansh, who loves listening to super great kids' stories from India and has sent us a beautiful illustration of Tianzhe and the Yellow Dress.
Such a lovely story about friendship, isn't it, Rayansh?
If you want to see that picture and many others, go to facebookcom.
Forward slash supergreatkidstories.
And if you follow us on Instagram, go to our picture gallery at supergreatkids underscore art.
And finally, a big thank you to all Super Great Owlets and their families who are supporting our podcast and making it possible for us to find new storytellers.
If you'd like to support us on Patreon or on Apple Podcasts, we'll say hello to you on the show.
You can hear our stories advert free.
And, depending on your level of subscription, you'll have access to lots of bonus stories and at least 40 Super Great Scary stories.
Plus, you'll get access to our Super Great Kids Stories Express with short introductions, no adverts, purely story.
Great for listening to stories back to back.
Keep telling your stories and singing your songs.
Thanks again to our new storyteller for this week, Alton Takayama Chung.
This podcast was produced at Wardour Studios in fabulous Fitzrovia in London.
