Happy and the Plums

Many, many years ago, a fisherman, his wife and their baby lived near the Yangtze River in China. The fisherman was called Hai. His wife's name was Lan. Their baby was a happy little boy. He laughed a lot so Hai and Lan called him Siaole. It means 'happy' in English so his English name was Happy The family lived in a little house near the river. The house was very small. They were poor but they were happy. Hai worked very hard and they always had enough food to eat.

One day Hai became very sick. He could not go fishing. After a few days he died!

A few months later, Lan had to sell Hai's fishing boat because she had no money. Then she bought some food . 'Soon we'll have no money I can grow fruit and vegetables in our little garden, but I need to buy rice for Happy I must work to get some money,' Lan said to herself.

Then she sat down and looked round her little house.

Everything was very clean. 'Some women do not like cleaning their houses or washing their clothes but I like cleaning and washing,' thought Lan. 'Perhaps I can work in a rich lady's house. I can clean the house and wash the clothes, and then I will have some money. Probably Happy can come to the house with me.' Lan was happy.

A week later, Lan found a job. She got up very early every morning. She bathed Happy and gave him his breakfast. She cleaned her little house and worked for an hour in her little garden. Then Lan and Happy went to Mrs Huang's big house.

When Lan cleaned Mrs Huang's house and washed the Huang family's clothes, Happy played beside his mother. They were both happy. Mrs Huang was very rich but she did not give Lan much money. Little Happy always had rice to eat and clean clothes to wear. Lan was sometimes hungry but she was happy because her little son was happy and he was growing very quickly.