La nouvelle « Dog to the Rescue ! » a remporté la 2ème place en Grade 1 à 3 dans la catégorie «Dashing Dog Story Writing Competition ».
« J’ai été extrêmement impressionnée par les recherches poussées que Maria a dû mener avant d’écrire son histoire sur le chien Xiasi Quan (qui est une vraie légende dans le Guizhou, lieu et place de l’histoire). Elle a dépeint une magnifique fresque du village chinois et des personnages, décrit de manière incroyable le typhon et a également réussi à intégrer six mots difficiles parmi un vocabulaire déjà riche. Elle était très proche de la 1ère place et j’ai hâte de découvrir davantage de son travail dans les mois à venir ! Bravo Maria ! » Sarah Brennan.
Découvrez son histoire ci-dessous ou rendez-vous sur le site internet de la compétition ici
Dog to the rescue!
A hundred years ago in the village of Xiasi in Guizhou province by the Qingshiu river there was an 8-year old boy named Jing. Jing had a problem. He really wanted a pet but he couldn’t get one because his parents said that he wasn’t responsible enough.
One hot, sunny day he saw a cute little puppy with pointed ears, brown eyes and a wide mouth and decided to ask his parents if he could have a pet just one more time. But before he did that, he decided to consult an illustrious philosopher who everyone said was omniscient and ask if taking the puppy home was right or wrong.
The philosopher answered “This puppy is a baby and it has no home. If you are sure you can look after it, then you must find a way to convince your parents “
Jing tried to be clever about convincing his parents this time. He told them “This is a Xiasi Quan dog, which is respected by our people because it brings wealth to the family it belongs to. Also, we can train her to guard our house because they are very loyal and brave. I know she is fast and agile, we can take her to hunt animals so we can eat more meat”.
His parents said, “are you sure you are responsible enough?” Jing answered, “Yes. I promise”! His parents finally agreed. Jing was ecstatic!
There also lived a mikado-coloured cat in the village. One day, she saw Jing with the Xiasi Quan dog. The cat heard Jing call the dog Xue De because of her resplendent white fur and became very jealous because nobody wanted her to be their pet. Instead, people often called the cat rude names like savaging or mean keen.
The cat was quite evil and had a voracious appetite for the auspicious golden flying fish from the Qingshiu river. The cat chased the fish until they were very tired and got slower so that she could catch them easily and eat them up. But what she didn’t know is that the fish had magical powers so the more fish the cat ate the less evil it became and also found the fish to be less tasty each time.
One day the philosopher told the villagers that a typhoon was coming their way. The villagers were very worried and decided to escape to a nearby safe place in the forest. Jing and his family packed a few belongings and some food. Just as Jing and Xue De left their home the evil cat suddenly jumped out in front of them so they couldn’t escape!
Jing thought they were doomed but Xue De was ready to fight with this cat and save Jing but secretly Xue De was terrified of fighting.
Xue De was badly scratched in the fight with the cat but all of a sudden, the cat lost her grip and fell down. Xue De quickly caught the cat but she struggled to get out of Xue De’s paws but couldn’t because Xue De was very strong.
The cat then begged Xue De and Jing to not hurt her and promised to stop attacking them if they took her as a pet and gave her a nice name too. Jing was very kind hearted and readily agreed to take her in.
Just then a huge blast of wind hit all of them. The sky had turned an angry grey colour, the wind was crashing all the trees and houses down and it was starting to rain! It was utter pandemonium as all villagers started screaming and running! The village started flooding, Jing shouted “We better get out of here quickly!’ “Follow me, I’ll lead you to safety!”
They followed him into the forest where his parents were already waiting. Jing’s mother was very relieved to see all of them because they were very worried.
Jing and his family ate the food they had packed. Jing had some of his favourite Miao style sour fish soup, which is the traditional food of Xiasi village. Xue De ate some bones and the cat ate fish bones and also kept trying to eat some of Jing’s soup!
Jing thought that was really funny and asked his mum “what’s a cat’s favourite soup?” His mum said “I don’t know, tell me”. Jing answered “Miao (meow) Soup”. Everyone burst out laughing, and after that they named the cat Miao Miao.
The villagers were very happy to see that Jing and Xue De had managed to make friends with the evil cat and made her good. Jing’s parents said they were very sorry that they said that Jing was not responsible enough to have pets.
It was many hours until the typhoon passed after which all the villagers returned to their homes. But they were horrified to see that their house was completely destroyed. But Jing’s father assured Jing that he could rebuild their home. They worked hard and also helped other villagers repair and build their homes.
Xue De and Miao Miao became best friends and helped keep Jing and his family safe from robbers and mice. And they all lived happily ever after.