The Emperor's Party
by Julie
Long ago in China there was an eleven
year old boy named Yong Su. Yong Su was the son of the emperor. His father,
(the emperor), his mother, and he were all living together in the Summer
Palace in Beijing. Yong Su was very mischievous and independent. His parents
would always worry about him getting into trouble, especially withfire.
Yong Su loved to play with fire. He was always burning sticks and leaves
outside. And he always had candles burning in his room. His parents told
him over and over again that fire was dangerous and that he shouldn't play
with it, but he never listened. He liked to do his own thing and he didn't
like toldtold what to do.
Yong Su's parents were planing a big party. It was going to take place tomorrow
in their beautiful Summer Palace. The palace had beautiful jade sculptures
and a beautiful marble boat outside that a former empress had ordered to
be built. They were inviting all of the villagers and their families. They
were having the party because Yong Su's father had just become the emperor,
so he wanted to make a good impression on everybody to show that he would
be a good emperor.
Yong Su's parents had been begging him to be good the next day and not to
ruin the party. Yong Su promised, but his parents didn't know if they could
trust him. They knew his personality and they knew he was very sly and that
he could get away with great mischief.
Yong Su really wasn't planning on doing anything bad at the party, but it
was hard to convince his parents that he wasn't going to do anything wrong.
Yong Su went to his room to get ready for bed. He wanted to get a good night
sleep for the party . He could hear the servants downstairs setting up for
the party. He rolled out his sleeping mat and soon he was fast asleep dreaming
about the party tomorrow. He was hoping to find a friend at the party, since
all of the villagers were going to be there even the children.
It was the morning and Yong Su could already smell the food cooking for
the party. He got up and rolled up his sleeping mat. Just then his mother
came into his room,
"Good morning my son!" his mother said in a cheerful voice. Are
you ready for the party?" she continued.
"Yes, I am!" Yong Su exclaimed.
"Good, here are the clothes I want you to wear for the party."
she said.
"Okay, thank you mama."
Yong Su's mother started to walk out of the room, but before she was through
the door she turned and added,"And remember no trouble."
"I know!" Yong Su responded in an annoyed voice because he felt
his mother didn't trust him.
Yong Su lit one of his candles and started to get dressed. He knew he was
forbidden to burn candles in his room, but this he couldn't help himself
because this was such a special occasion and he was so excited. And besides
he thought I will just get dressed and then blow out the candle and go to
the kitchen for breakfast, so his mother and father will never know. But
as he was putting on his shirt on he knocked over the candle. His rug quickly
caught on fire and rapidly it spread through the hall.
"Help, there is a fire.," yelled Yong Su
His father and the servants all came running up with buckets of water. They
put the fire out but the carpet in his room and the carpet in the hallway
were burnt.
"Oh no! we can't have the party with the carpet all brunt up!"
"I'm sorry," Yong Su said ashamed.
"Well,sorry isn't good enough. You should have listened to us, because
now it is to late to blow out the candle"
And that is where the Chinese proverb, "When your horse is on the brink
of a cliff it is to late to pull back the reins" came from.