The Spring of Butterflies and Other Folktales of China's Minority Peoples

Selected and translated by a Chinese schoolmaster from Yunnan Province, this collection is based on folktales of the minority peoples of China. However, traditional Chinese themes run through these stories and there is almost always a moral lesson to be learned. ""The Wonderful Brocade'' teaches filial piety, ``A Woman's Love'' depicts a wife's devotion and chastity, ``The Dougarda Brothers'' cautions against greed. Chinese storytelling relies on the use of simile to create a vivid image, and the translation is true to this technique: ``Her eyes gleamed like stars in the sky. Her fine black hair cascaded like the leaves of a weeping willow. She was very kind, and her heart was as pure as the spring water.'' Two artists, husband and wife and graduates of the Guangxi College of Fine Arts, have illustrated the tales with color paintings, which beautifully portray the native dress of the ethnic minorities from which the stories originate. (12-up)