Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: The Buffalo Boy's Friend

Throughout the years, our society has grown quite distrustful. People are raised to not trust others, always question reasoning, and never take others' words seriously before knowing on their own that is alright to do so.
However, in The Story of the Buffalo Boy's Friend, the buffalo boy has full trust in his best friend, without knowing anything about her at all, except for the fact that she "knows a lot of things". When Minli questions him, asking why he did not ask who the girl was or how she knew what she knew, he responded by saying, "She's my friend. That's who she is and that's enough for me." This is a rare sight.
Many people have different criteria for what makes a real friendship, yet, none of those definitions seem as simple as this one. There's always a form of judgment, whether it's the amount of time two friends have known each other, or someone who matches a certain class or appearance. The buffalo boy did not have any form of judgment, however. He only cared that she was kind to him.

On the other hand...I'm slightly confused about the buffalo boy's role in the story... See, I'm the type who's quick to ship characters (or celebrities in certain cases), and as soon as the buffalo boy made an appearance in the story, I thought, "And so it begins...". Naturally, I began to see the story in a different way. For once, it was not centered around Minli finding the Old Man on the Moon, it was about how the buffalo boy would accompany and aid her in her journey. So...I started shipping Minli with the buffalo boy. BUT. All of the sudden, he starts talking about his friend and mentions how pretty she was and how nice and friendly she seemed. I felt as if he were a little too fond of her to only be thinking of her in that way. But I read on, nonetheless. Though, I have to admit I felt some slight vicarious jealousy through Minli, since I shipped him with HER, and not with his best friend.

Apart from all of that, I'm quite interested in seeing how the story ends....Minli with her hope for wealth to help her family, the fate of the dragon who helps her with that journey and this friendship currently going on between Minli and the buffalo boy.

Thanks for reading ^~^

-thedoctormoreau.blogspot.com

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: The Story of the Paper of Happiness

Life is filled with many mysteries, one of which are whether certain events are coincidental or fateful. An excerpt from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon portrays this very well. In the story of the paper of happiness, a grouchy magistrate is denied access to the secret of happiness. The lack of revelation did not only frustrate him; it also frustrated me. Why couldn't I know what was written on the paper of happiness? I thought about it, and the conclusion I came up with was disappointing on one hand, but enlightening on the other. In the story, there was an answer, which was summed up into one single character. However, I believe the book had an overall purpose for keeping the information hidden. Not everyone is the same, and all people have their own ways to be happy. Success is the answer to some; love is the answer to others. One person could get excited over a shiny new car, while another could get excited over a shiny diamond ring or a bouquet of flowers or even a hug. This is why, even though the story provided one, there is no true paper of happiness. Only we can write down the answer to what makes us happy, others cannot write it for us.

This may have been the moral of the story as well. Why was the magistrate unable to read the secret that was written on the paper? Was it a coincidence or was he simply meant to find it on his own?...

HOWEVER: I did some research just for fun and looked up Japanese characters that had to do with happiness. I looked down the list for an expression that was translated into only one character, just as the story stated...and that expression was love. It makes complete and total sense. It may have been the answer; it may not have been, but it's very fitting for the nature of the story. If the magistrate would have seen it, he might've laughed and ripped it up, not taking it seriously. There are some things people just need to find out on their own. And maybe one day, if the magistrate is able to experience love (or whatever else provides him with never-ending happiness), he too will know the secret. And he'll keep it to himself, so others can experience all of the thrills on their own.

Site: http://japanese.about.com/library/bl50kanji_ai.htm

-thedoctormoreau.blogspot.com

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: Chapters 9-14

Ma and Ba have now set on a *very short* journey to find Minli. However, they were stopped in their tracks when they ran into the goldfish man and realized they were following his footsteps rather than their daughter's. The goldfish man turned out to be living proof of the existence of the Old Man on the Moon as well as the possibility to speak with him and change one's fortune. The story he tells is enough to convince even Minli's *very* practical and livid mother to drop the search and allow her daughter to continue on her journey without interference.

Minli, on the other hand, learns more about the dragon who did not receive a name, and turned out to have originally been a painting for a greedy magistrate.

Minli shows her first signs of developed wisdom by finding a way to surpass the greedy monkeys who were guarding the peach trees. She used memories and experience to aid her in her idea to *spoiler* trick the monkeys into focusing on "stealing" the rice, then proceeding to trap them in a fishnet while she and Dragon passed through the trees. However, this is only one demonstration of Minli's developing wisdom and intelligence. Throughout her journey, her skills and exterior as well as interior knowledge should continue to blossom. ^~^

-thedoctormoreau

http://thedoctormoreau.blogspot.com/