Week 7 Storytelling: The Silkworm Goddess

Goddess of the Silkworms 

There once was a beautiful and spirited girl. She was the only daughter of very hardworking father. Her mother had died when she was young, and ever since it had just been the two of them. One day her father left to go on a journey. He would be traveling all over China for he had to purchase grains and seeds and new livestock for which to grow his farm with.

Several weeks past and the girl became very lonely without her father. It was very hard work to tend to the farm all day by herself, and having no one to talk to was beginning to wear on her. She had only the animals to keep her company through out most of the days, and as a result had begun to talk to them, as if they were friends who could speak back.

One day the girl was feeling particularly alone. She missed her dear father very much, and longed to see her only family. As she was walking through the pasture, she came upon their stallion. Stopping to see him, she began to stroke his neck.

 "Stallion," she said. "If you could but run to my father and bring him back, why I would be so delighted, I would marry you." She giggled at her own joke.

The horse however began to bow down. He knelt down on his front knees, bowing his head as if to say "Your wish is my command, my lady."

Then he raised up and tore across the pasture, quickly disappearing from sight. The girl chased after him, but catching him was impossible. The girl fretted and fretted over the horse, wondering what she would do when her father arrived home and realized she had lost him. Days past and there was no sign of him, until one day, from a far distance she spotted a man sitting atop a horse riding towards her family's farm.

As the horse and its rider neared, the girl realized it was the stallion and her beloved father. She was so excited that she picked up her skirts and ran to meet them. "Oh father! You are back, and you have brought the stallion! I was so worried when he ran off, and I have missed you so!"

Suddenly though the horse stepped towards the girl and tried to bite her. She jumped back as her father swatted the stallion, and then looked towards her questioningly. "What is the meaning of this? Why would he bite you?"

"Oh no," the girl paced. "Oh no! Oh no! This can't be. Father, I was so lonely here, and one day I was tending to the animals and I said to the stallion if he would go and bring you back, I would marry him! Oh papa, I was just joking! It cannot be that he believed me!"

Her father stepped towards her, heaving in a breath. "Speak of this to no one, daughter, else the neighbors will talk." With that he grabbed the stallion pulling it towards the house where his bow lay. He quickly shot the horse, wasting no time in skinning it, and then hung the skin to dry in the barn before burning the carcass.

One day however, while walking with a friend, the girl came upon the horse's hide. "Stupid horse," she said, kicking it. "Thinking you would ever be able to marry a human, serves you right." Just as she said it however, the hide reached out and grabbed the girl! Wrapping her up tightly as she screamed before running away quickly.

The girl's friend was horrified, and so she took off sprinting in the direction of the house. Running to the girl's father, she relayed what had just transpired. The girl's father gathered the neighbors, and they spent many days and nights looking for the girl. but she was no where to be found.

Many days later however, they came upon her hanging from a tree still wrapped up in the horse hide. There was no way to loosen her from the tree, so day after day they watched as she gradually turned into a silkworm and wove a cocoon. She spun many strong and thick threads, and gave them to her friend who wove them into silk to sell for profit.

One day she finally disappeared from the tree and her father and her friends began to long for her greatly after several weeks. One night after they had spent the day telling stories about times when the girl had been alive, she suddenly appeared.

"Father, friends, you must yearn for me no longer. I have been sent into heaven to watch over the silkworms.  I am important here, you must not sorrow for me anymore." And so the community stopped sorrowing for the girl, and instead built many temples to her, and offered her many sacrifices in the silkworm season, and from then on they always had large profits of silk to sell for profits.

Author's Note: This story is from the Chinese fairy tales unit. The original story really appealed to me because it was so odd, and I was so surprised by the events of it. I wanted to keep the general story much the same because I love the surprise of the girl suddenly getting wrapped up into a horse hide and then turned into a silkworm. (very random, right?) Instead because the original story was so short, I wanted to add a little more detail to it just to elaborate more on the events of the story and make it easier to picture in your head. You can find the link to the original story here though! Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!