Week 6 Storytelling: The Diary of Dschou Tschu

Dear Diary,Today, I got into another fight! And of course, I won. We were drinking beers at the tavern all night and some old man looked at me in an odd way from across the room, which I didn't like one bit, so I through my beer mug at him. It hit him right in the forehead and he came charging at me, throwing punches left and right. I easily picked him up by the collar of his shirt and took one swing at him, which knocked him straight out. Everyone at the bar was really upset that I hit the old guy so they were all crying and yelling, but no one kicked me out or anything. They were probably just overreacting but I knew it wasn't a big deal. I get into fights all the time... and at least I always win! The people in this town just don't appreciate me or my strength.

Dear Diary,
Tonight, as I was walking home from drinking at the tavern, there was a man crying on my doorstep. I was in a good mood so I continued singing loudly and flinging my sword around until I was close enough to him that I could not bear his foolish crying anymore. So I asked him who he was and he told me that he was saddened because of the people's distress. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I laughed in his face and told him of the abundant harvest and how happily people lived in our village. He then told me that the people claimed there were three evils in the land: the dragon (understandably scary), the tiger (which didn't really seem all that scary to me), and me (which is ridiculous). He told me I had to take care of all three evils and then left... I know people here think poorly of me and that I am always causing fights, but I had no idea they considered me the third evil of the land... I must leave tomorrow morning to kill both of these monsters and then I should exile myself to a far away land where I can never bother anyone again.

 (The evil tiger in his cave)

Dear Diary,
I am briefly pausing on my journey to write that I have killed the tiger. I hunted him out of his cave and fought his savage claws and teeth before I threw his neck to the ground with my left hand and beat him with my right. He died before me and I carried him home on my back to show the people that the tiger is no more. Now I am about to embark on the second part of my journey, which is killing the dragon. I am more nervous about this part of my commission.

Dear Diary,
I have slain the dragon. I walked on the long bridge and dived into the water in which I encountered the dragon sleeping peacefully. I grabbed him by the neck with my mighty hands and we wrestled beneath the water for some time, both taking turns with the upper hand. Eventually, the dragon's strength began to fade and he realized he was no match for me and my own supernatural strength. The dragon flapped his wings desperately in a last attempt to get away, which sounded like the hooves of a thousand horses galloping around me. Finally, I cut the dragons head off and rose from the waves out of the water that was turning red with the dragon's blood. I then took the dragon's head, along with the tiger, to the man and told him that I had accomplished what he asked of me. He then told me to travel far from here and leave him to rule the people. This saddened me because I have lived in my village my entire life, but I knew I had to do it.

 (The evil dragon that Dschou Tschu killed)

Dear Diary,
Now I am sitting on a rock, overlooking the ocean at sunset, writing this and deciding where to travel next. I suppose I will wander until I find a country that will allow me to use my strength to fight as a soldier for the people. I will use my talents for good rather than for my own enjoyment now. And perhaps people will like me and I will never be banished again. I will write again when I have enlisted as a soldier and fought my first battle.

Author's Note:
For this story, I kept the entire plot the same but focused on telling the tale from the perspective of Dschou Tschu himself, rather than the mandarin. As I was reading the source story, I imagined Dscou Tschu as a brute who is not very smart and had no idea that the people disliked him so much for his eagerness to start fights and cause trouble. I wanted to highlight how he must have felt hearing the news of the evils and his adventures during the battles he fought and it made me laugh to picture him sitting down to journal the events that unfolded each time. I have never written in this style before and it was fun to try something new. However, it was difficult for me to decide what language style was best since it needed to sound personal because it was a diary entry, but I wanted it to be understandable and still convey the story appropriately. So I settled on a slightly modern take and I am not yet sure if it worked. Another thing I had difficulty with was finding images to illustrate this story because there were none available of the actual fights with the tiger and dragon. Regardless, I liked writing this piece and hope it was enjoyable to read!

Bibliography:
The Chinese Fairy Tales are a selection of stories from Wilhem's Chinese Fairy Book.