1b. Write your own practical Code of Living that can be applied to your everyday life. List as many rules as you can.
MY LIFE
A parent's word is law.
Life is a painting. Strokes must be applied slowly (Everything comes in good time).
Police your own life.
Treat others badly if you want to be treated badly.
Freedom is an illusion. (You must work to be free).
Respect is as valuable as Life.
Truth is Life.
SOCIETY
Difference is only skin deep.
Beauty does not mean royalty.
The Earth is our essence. Protect it.
Hunger means neglect. Which means abandon. Which means death.
War is pointless.
2. Keep reading your book of Chinese tales.
3a. Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Bring a piece of paper and a pencil. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and then close your eyes and sit quietly. Pay attention to your thoughts, to the sensations in your body, and to the things you hear and smell. Sit as still as you can. After 10 minutes, write about your experience of quietude.
As I sat outside, I immediately had a sense of peace. My heart slowed, and also my senses began to overload me. As the songbirds sang, and the shade hugged me, I was relaxed. I was soothed and did not think of the stress of the day, or about dying, or anything. I now know how to clear my mind. There was a faint trace of smoke in the air from the local fires, but that was okay. I could make out at least 5 different songbirds singing. Part of the experience, my eyes were open, so I would have enough detail to fill one page. I was sitting in a chair next to and elephant ear plant. It had a foamy stem, and the leaves were already crumpling up for winter.
To get even more perspective, I moved to a shady spot. It hugged me coolly like a blanket. If I had a quiet place, I would have gone into it. It is great for people who are stressed.
4. Finish the Chinese tales book.
I am.
5. Finish reading The Rainbow People and choose one of the tales to summaraize for your next assignment.
6. Summarize one of the Chinese tales you have read.
The Rainbow People starts when a young wanderer decides to go up a magical mountain. The path is winding and he ends up where he was. The wanderer decides to play his flute to straighten the path. The sad song seems to straighten the path, and make the fishermen on the beach cry.
He walks up the mountain and finds a colony of farmers with a field of vegetables. The farmers do not answer his questions. He plays his flute to earn dinner, but a girl around his age says he can have some of hers. After some debating, they decide that he can work for his. They work all day and night. At night, their faces shone with rainbow lights. Finally, at midnight, they had their meal, which consisted of weed stew. He asks why they eat weeds when they had a bountiful garden. The girl informs him that the landlord eats all of the vegetables, and leaves none.
He decides to confront the landlord, who is a wizard. He went to the top of the mountain, where there was nothing but moonlight and a giant tree. Looking into the tree, the wanderer saw small globules filled with glowing worms. Lots of small men with knives danced around, doing servant work. Some stood guard around a brass box. on top of the box sat an old wizard with green moss for hair. He puts on a satin robe. As he takes his black robe off, the wanderer notices that he has lots of legs, like his tree. The wanderer also catches a glimpse of a brass key around his neck. He decides that it probably goes to the brass box. He wonders what is inside. The wizard hits a gong that was set behind the box.
The little men vanished. The wizard went to sleep on the box. The wanderer waited, then snuck out from behind the vines. He switched out the gong for a pail of water, then used an unraveled string from his sash to tie the wizard up. He hid in the chest, and tugged on the string until it broke, and the wizard got up. He shouted and struck the pail of water , which splashed all over him. The wanderer risked a peek, and saw the wizard poke at his mossy hair. He looked all around the tree for the gong, and the wanderer ducked down. The wizard decided to change, and went over to the chest. As he lifted the lid, the wanderer straightened up, and the wizard surprisingly asks who he was. The wanderer ripped the key from around the wizard's neck, and unlocked the box.
Unfortunately, in unlocking the box, the gong fell out of his pocket, where it had been. The wizard picked it up and made the armed men appear. The wanderer opened the box and found a golden flute. The wanderer picked it up just before the men started slashing at him. He put off most of the slashes with his old flute. Then, since he was breathing hard, the flute gave a little toot, and all of the men hopped. Curious, he began to play the flute. The wizard and his army started to dance. The wizard pleaded and bribed, but the wanderer kept playing.
Finally, the wanderer said he would only stop playing if the wizard let the Rainbow People go. The wizard complied, and chanted a spell. The wizard told the wanderer that you can lose something in the very act of saving it. The wanderer ran down the mountain, and saw the field. But all that was in the field were Asian dragons. He looked in the huts, but found only torn clothes. He thought that the dragons had eaten the farmers. But then he heard the girl's voice behind him. He turned around, but found only a dragon. He looked closer, and noticed the same birthmark he had noticed on the girl earlier. He asked how long she had been in her human spell. She said too long. Then a stream of dragons cascaded into the sea. They said good-bye, and then she joined them.
THE END
3. What are the main parts of a flower? Describe each one in a few words or a sentence. Assume that the flower has both male and female reproductive parts.
