The Triphindia Girls Story Collection

Kai-Lan's Story: Hibiscus and the Tiger

Once upon a time, an old lady came to the castle of a cruel and selfish prince named Rintoo. She offered him a hibiscus in return for shelter. Repulsed by her appearance, Rintoo sent her back into the night without another thought.

Suddenly, the old lady turned into an enchantress. She turned Rintoo into a tiger and placed a spell on the rest of the castle.

If Rintoo could learn to love and be loved in return before the last petal of her hibiscus fell, the spell would break. If not, he would be a tiger forever.

Not far away, a young woman named Kai-Lan dreamed about a more exciting life than what she found in her small Chinese village of Baoyang. She wanted adventures like those she saw in those fabulous books.

Kai-Lan always had her nose in a book, so the villagers thought she was strange. But she was also very beautiful. That's why Hu Wang, the most handsome and conceited man in the village, wanted to marry her.

Hu Wang was certain that Kai-Lan would feel lucky to marry him. But Kai-Lan didn't want to marry such a boorish fellow, especially one who didn't appreciate her love of books and writing.

"It's not right for a woman to read," said Hu Wang.

"Soon she starts getting ideas and thinking."

As Kai-Lan headed home, Chang's sidekick, Xin Xin, laughed and called her grandfather Ye-Ye, a crazy old loon.

"My grandfather's not crazy! He's intelligent!" replied Kai-Lan.

Then a loud BANG! came from her house, where Ye-Ye was working on a new invention.

"I'll never get this contraption to work!" Ye-Ye said, kicking a piece of his new invention, an automatic wood chopper.

"Yes, you will," Kai-Lan said. "And you'll win first prize at the contest tomorrow."

With her encouragement, Ye-Ye fixed his invention.

While preparing for the journey to the contest, Ye-Ye wore a big brown hat on him.

On his way to the contest, Ye-Ye got lost, and his horse, Zhen, bolted in fear. All alone, Ye-Ye was surrounded by snarling wolves. To escape, he stumbled through a huge gate near a big castle.

Ye-Ye later went inside the castle. Its shadowy hall seemed empty, but Ye-Ye heard whispering.

"Is someone there?" Ye-Ye called. He picked up a candle lantern with a monkey carved on it.

"Hello!" the hamster answered.

Ye-Ye couldn't believe his eyes! The castle was full of enchanted animals that could move and talk. They appeared to be servants in the house.

The hamster, Mr. Fluffy, and the koala, Tolee, led Ye-Ye to a comfortable chair, where he sat. He was given some food and tea by Lulu.

Ye-Ye later walked to Rintoo's garden and found a pretty pink hibiscus. He forgot about it that it was Kai-Lan's favorite flower, so he plucked it quickly and walked back to Zhen, until the terrifying tiger Rintoo stalked at him!

"So, you've come to stare at the tiger Rintoo, have you?" Rintoo said.

"I meant no harm. I-I just wanted to pick a flower just for my granddaughter," Ye-Ye said.

"How dare you trepass my garden! " Rintoo snapped.

"But I was trying to pick a flower for my daughter," said Ye-Ye.

Rintoo angrily took Ye-Ye to his castle. Then he locked Ye-Ye in the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Hu Wang had decided that the day of his wedding has arrived. He was sure Kai-Lan would marry him, so he had made all of the preparations-except one. He hadn't bothered to propose yet.