Chinese Fables and Folk Stories/The Rattan Vine and the Rose Tree

THE RATTAN VINE AND THE ROSE TREE

蔓莖與梅樹

In the San-Wui district, in the garden of a rich merchant, lived the Lon-da-Tang^[1] (rattan vine) and the Mui-Kwi (rose tree).

One day the rose tree said to the rattan vine, "Lon-da-Tang, please tell me how you grow so fast. What do you eat that you are able to go any where you wish? Nothing seems to hurt you. Nothing seems to stop you, not even the stone fences or the clay roofs. You have no fear, and there seems to be no danger for you. You care not for the heat of the sun when he is close in the summer time. The rain comes down with a rushing noise from dark places in the heavens, and you are not afraid. The wind blows hard and bends our heads to the earth, but you seem not even to heed it."

Then the Lon-da-Tang with a proud and happy summer face answered the rose tree, "Mui-Kwi-Si^[2] (Mrs. Rose Tree), you should be made to leave this garden. I would not allow you to grow here if I were master.

"I have known you five or six years. The master put you in the earth and gave you much dirt to feed upon. He gives you water every morning. In the winter time he gives you a cover and a bed of straw. He trims your branches and serves you in many ways. And yet you do not grow.

"You are nine years old now, and only five or six feet tall, while I am only four years old and my branches measure many thousands of feet. You bear a few flowers in the summer, and that is all you can do. You have no fruit and not many leaves. You stand still in the garden and do nothing useful. You ought to be ashamed. Do you see my branches? Although I have been here but four years, I now reach over this house and am climbing the fence on the other side. Next year, I shall go and cover up another house.

"The master likes me in summer, because I keep the hot sun from the roof and make his house cool. The children like me, too. Sometimes they climb in my arms and swing. And the fence likes me, because I cover it so thickly that I protect it from the children and the pigs. The birds build their nests high in my arms and they like me also. The bugs like me, because I give them a home and they feed upon my leaves. So the master knows that I am good for many things.

"The birds would not go to you, because you are so small; they can not build a nest upon you. The master's wife does not care much for you, because you have so many thorns that she finds it hard to gather your flowers. You are pretty, but who cares about that? The fence is high and no one sees you. And so you stand there and do nothing."

Then the rose tree replied, "Lon-da-Tang, with all your boasting, you can not even stand alone. I can at least do that. I know I am not large, and the birds do not build their nests with me. I can not grow so fast as you, but my children are known to the whole great world of mankind, and are called the sweetest of all flowers.

"And besides, I am independent. I do not lean upon other things. If your house or your fence falls down, where then will be your vain boastful head?

"I care not what you say of me, whether you think a rose is good or bad, strong or weak. I do not wish to lean on the fence or roof as you do. Some day, when the house and fence grow old, they will fall down, and what will you do then?"

Soon after this, there came a great storm. In San-Wiu many houses were partly destroyed and the fences fell to the ground. The roof of the merchant's house was blown off. The proud rattan vine, Lon-da-Tang, was broken in many places, and his head lay low on the earth.

But the rose tree stood firm. And she laughed and said to the rattan, "I told you that it was dangerous to lean upon other things and never to learn to stand by yourself. I would not trust any house or fence to do my standing for me. I would rather be independent. I grow all the leaves, stems, and flowers I want, and so I stand here forever. The north wind comes and I bow my head to the south. Then the south wind comes and opens my beautiful flowers. I am the rose tree, and in my own strength I stand."

The following new Ee-Sze has been added to this old story:

Ee-Sze (Meaning): China and her people should be as the rose tree. We must rely upon ourselves. We are better students than warriors; once, when we found ourselves in trouble, we leaned on Japan. Then, when we had trouble with her, Russia told us she would help. But she was much worse and wished to take our land and to make us a people without a country.

1. The literal meaning of "Lon-da-Tang" is, "Never stop growing." This is a vine-like rattan brought from the Pang-Wu Island to China over a thousand years ago by some Chinese fishermen. It grows with wonderful rapidity, completely covering a house in about three years. It affords valuable protection from the hot sun to the thin-roofed Chinese houses.
2. Mrs. Rose Tree:—The Chinese fables call all fruit or flower-bearing plants or trees, Mrs. or Miss. Trees, or plants that do not bear flowers or fruits, are called Mr.