The Hunchback And Banana Boy—A Story Of The Miao Who Take Pride In Their Silver Jewelry Art
The Miao ethnic group in southwestern China boast their unique silver earrings, and interesting folktales. Below is a story about a boy born from a banana.
An old, hunchbacked man was a banana farmer. He led a good life by selling his bananas in the market. But without any children, he always felt lonely. Seeing his neighbors kids playing outside, he often said to himself: How wonderful would it be if I have a kid! Seeing the bananas he grew, he comforted himself: Look, I have plenty of bananas. They are my children!
One year a heavy snowstorm destroyed all the banana plants. The hunchbacked man felt so sad. The next spring, only one banana plant grew a bud. The old man watered and fertilized this plant carefully to expect a big harvest. But three months later he only found one banana on the plant. The old man was puzzled why there was only one banana. This banana was growing bigger and bigger, like a big barrel sitting on the top of the plant.
One day a beautiful peacock came to give the banana a peck, and flied away. Immediately the peel of the banana broke and came off, and a baby jumped out of the banana. He ran to the old hunchbacked man and yelled, Dad, Dad!
The old man was astonished at what just happened. Having the baby in his arms, he kissed his lovely face, and named him – Banana Boy.
Year after year, the banana boy grew up gradually. He helped his father grow more banana plants. Every year they had a good harvest.
As the hunchback on the old man’s back was becoming bigger and bigger, he felt it was more difficult for him to work. The banana boy felt sorry for his dad, so he planned to seek for a medicine to cure the hunchback. Unfortunately everyone he met said there was no such medicine.
One day, the banana boy came to a mountain where he saw a lady with glistening silver earrings combing her long hair. The banana boy asked her, Madam, do you know where to find a medication to cure hunchback? The lady answered, To the east of the mountain, there is a cave where you can find a pearl inset onto a stone. Eat the pearl, and hunchback will disappear.”
The banana boy went to the cave and got the pearl. On his way home, he saw a child on the ground, crying, his hands full of blood. The banana boy asked what happened. The child said, ” Two bulls were fighting. I tried to stop them, but got badly hurt. ” The banana boy said to himself, ” Maybe my pearl cures the would on his hands. ” So he let the child eat the pearl. After eating it, the wound was gone.
The banana boy had to return to the mountain and asked the lady where to get another medication to remove his father’s hunchback. The lady said, ” A red fungus grows on the top of the west mountain. Eat the fungus, your father will walk straight soon. ” So the banana boy went to get the red fungus. On his way home, he met a man lying on the ground moaning. He was hurt by a big fallen tree. The banana boy let the man eat his red fungus. The man stood up right away.
Without the red fungus, the banana boy had to go to the mountain again to ask the lady for medication. The lady said, ” At the foot of the south mountain, there is a pond with a golden stone. Eat this stone, and your father will get a straight back. But remember that this is the last medication I know for the hunchback. Don’t come back to me anymore.”
With the golden stone, the banana boy started to go home. On his way, he saw a woman and a baby lying under a bridge. The woman told him that she fell from the bridge and hurt her back. The banana boy said to himself, If I give her the golden stone, how about my dad? But if I don’t give her the stone, she might die and the baby would not survive. And he finally decided to give the stone to the woman. After swallowing it, she immediately recovered and said to the boy, You are really nice. I want to give you this peacock as gift.
The boy brought the peacock home and told his father what happened. My son, what you did was right! said the old, hunchbacked man after hearing the whole story. And they decided to keep the peacock at home. With beautiful plumage, the peacock liked to sing sweet songs everyday.
One day the old man felt pain on his back, so he took off his clothes and touched the hunchback. The peacock suddenly came to peck on his back. The old man fell over on the ground. The banana boy held a stick to beat the peacock, who jumped high and turned to be a beautiful girl. The banana boy was stunned.
Living at their home, the girl took care of the old man everyday, and brought him water to drink from a nearby water. Soon the old mans hunchback disappeared, and he could finally stand up straight.
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