Kitty Goes Fishing is a lovely story about a little cat who goes fishing with his Mom. The moral behind this story is to teach children that success comes from staying focused, yìxīnyíyì, meaning with whole heart and mind. It is one of DD’s favorite Chinese children’s stories.
One day, a little Kitten goes fishing with his Mom. When they sit down, a dragonfly comes. Kitty puts down his fishing rod and chases the dragonfly. But the dragonfly flies away, and kitty comes back empty-handed. Just at this moment, his Mom lands a big fish.

When Kitty sits down again and continues fishing, a butterfly comes. Kitty puts down the fishing rod again and chases it. But the butterfly also flies away, Kitty comes back empty-handed. At this moment, his Mom lands a big fish again.
Kitty asks his Mom, “Why can’t I land even one fish?” Mom looks at Kitty and says, “You have to be focused when fishing. You chase dragonfly and butterfly now and then, how can you land a fish?”

His mom’s words make Kitty feel ashamed, so he begins to focus on fishing. The dragonfly comes again, and then comes the butterfly. Kitty doesn’t make any move, as if he has not seen them at all.

After a while, he lands a big fish!

Related posts:
Chinese mythology: Pangu and Nüwa
Chinese mythology: Nezha Riots the Seas
Chinese folktale: The Snail Girl
Chinese mythology: The Magic Locus Lantern

Tags: Bringing up Baby Bilingual, chinese for children, chinese language for young children, Chinese learning for babies, teaching young children chinese | Bilingual Baby, Fourth Year, From Lina | Lina | August 17, 2011 6:42 am | Comments (0)