1. LORD OF The CRANES
A Chinese Folktale.
BY Rishi. S.VI C
SJPS
2.
3.
4. The story
• A spiritual entity named Tian lived in the clouds with cranes.
• Tian means heaven or cloud
• He took great care of the cranes and hence the name Lord of Cranes
• One day he decided to go down to the city to test the people’s generosity and
kindness
• So the old man settled himself on the back of a crane and flew through the clouds.
5.
6. No one offers help
• He disguised himself in rags and begged for food.
• Day after day, Tian went begging through the streets. Many wealthy people
passed by, but no one seemed to notice him.
• Not a single person dropped a coin in Tian’s cup.
• One evening Tian arrived, tired and hungry, at a small inn.
• Wang, the Inn keeper welcomed him.
8. Wang’s generosity
• Wang brought the old man a warm bowl of soup, rice, tea, and a plate of
sizzling meat.
• Tian’s heart was as full as his belly when he left the inn that evening.
• Tian came every day to Wang’s inn, where he was always welcome
• Tian rewarded Wang by painting cranes in the inn
• Tian began to sing and clap and the cranes began dance out of the
painting
9.
10. Rewards come when we are
generous
• Soon everyone in the city was talking about the wondrous dancing cranes at Wang’s Inn.
• The cranes attracted many people and Wang became rich and famous.
• Every night, the innkeeper found room for paupers, every night he fed people who
could not afford to pay
• Many years later Tian returned
• Wang asked who Tian was but Tian did not answer
• Tian played the flute
• “That was a melody from heaven,” whispered Wang. “I thank you for allowing me to hear it.
You have made me a rich and happy man. How can I ever repay you?”
13. Return of Tian
• Tian raised the flute again to his lips and played the melody
• The three cranes stepped off the wall and knelt before him.
• Tian flew on the back of one of the cranes, up away from the
city and into the sky.
• A great flock of cranes accompanied them.
