The Evil Owl
by Ben
Once upon a time in China there was an owl perched on a tree. In China, the owl is considered to be evil even though American owls are thought to be wise and kind. It was said if you looked into the eyes of the owl you will get a disease by the next day. No one knows if that is true because every one is afraid to look. Hung Fu, a tall boy, was coming home from his first day of school when he spotted an owl. He threw a couple stones at the owl but it did not move and just stayed there. Hung Fu finally left it alone. It was 5 O'clock when his mother asked, "Hung Fu, can you please pick up two packs of rice?"
" Sure," replied Hung Fu. So Hung Fu ran down to the very small shop five minutes from his house. He picked up the two packs of rice and was just going home when he saw another owl. He ran home yelling "H-E-E-E-L-L-L-P". When he got home his mother asked, " Where are the two packs of rice I wanted? I only see one pack!"
"Sorry, I saw an owl and got scared. I think I dropped it," Hung Fu said in a weak voice.
" Ok, I accept that," his mother replied.
The next day at school Hung Fu told his friend, Chong Ming what happened last night. " I nearly looked into an owl's eye last night."
" So what!" Chong Ming replied. "You can't get a disease just by looking into an animal's eye."
"Yes you can." Hung Fu snapped back
" Saturday night you and me in the woods at seven o'clock. I will look into an owl's eye and prove you wrong!"
"Fine. What disease do you think you will get?"
"NONE!" Chong Ming retorted sharply.
When Saturday night came Hung Fu did meet with Chong Ming. They spotted an owl and Chong Ming looked right into the owl's eye. " There, I looked into the eyes and tomorrow you will see that you are wrong. The next day, Hung Fu went over to Chong Ming to see if he was sick and he was not! " Sorry, you were right and I am wrong" Hung Fu said apologetically. "See I told you," Chong Ming answered.
"Yes, you did" Hung Fu agreed.
The proverb of this Folk Tale is not to judge a book by its cover. Hung Fu believed what every one always said instead of believing Chong Ming.