The Vow of God
Sze On Chiu, Group 4: Fiction, Pentecostal Lam Hon Kwong School
van, I can’t walk; the wind is too strong! We gotta find a shelter,” Catherine shouted.
“
Sorry dear, I can’t see any shelter so far. We gotta keep walking, OK?” Ivan used his hands to
shield his eyes as snow flew at him from every direction. The road was covered with a blanket of
snow.
“
Did you see that? Is that a house? Come here, Ivan, come with me!” Catherine was so excited.
While she was running, she beckoned Ivan to follow. Ivan quickened his pace and briskly followed Catherine.
“
Anyone inside?” Catherine knocked at the door. No one answered.
“
Can I help? ” A soft voice came from behind Catherine.
“
Oh Jesus!” Catherine and Ivan turned around quickly, wondering who was at their back.
“
Can I help you?” A beautiful young lady was standing in front of them. Catherine was a charming girl
but her beauty seemed pale beside the young lady.
“
I … I … we … we ...” Ivan was so shocked by the beauty of the girl that he couldn’t say a word. His jaw
hung open until Catherine lightly kicked his leg.
“
We are tourists. Actually, we wanna visit the Great Wall but, you know, the weather is really bad, so we
think maybe we should take a rest first, but we couldn’t find a shelter so...”
The young lady suddenly realized the purpose of the visitors. “Oh, come in please," she said kindly.
The small house was decorated elegantly with spick-and-span furniture. Everything was placed neatly.
Ivan quietly sat down on the wooden chair but vivacious Catherine curiously walked around the house.
“
Welcome to my humble dwelling,” the young lady politely began the conversation.
“
It’s freezing outside now, isn’t it? Would you like a cup of tea?”
“
Yes, thanks. You are such a nice person.” Catherine took the tea from the young lady and carefully
placed the cup and saucer on the table.
Ivan took a sip of his tea and asked, “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“
Well, it depends on the type of questions you ask, ” the young lady answered with a smile on her face.
“
So…you live here alone, do you?”
“
Yes.”
“
Wow! Can you believe that? This beautiful lady isn’t married yet,” Catherine whispered to Ivan.
The young lady looked at Ivan and Catherine confusedly, wondering what they were talking about.
Under the young lady’s gaze, Ivan smiled in embarrassment. In order to make himself appear natural, Ivan
tried to talk about something else. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you my name. I’m Ivan and this is my
fiancée, Catherine. May I know your name?”
The young lady hesitated, and answered, “Isabella.”
“
What made you two travel a long way to visit the Great Wall?” Isabella asked.
“
This is Catherine’s idea. She said she’d like to come to China and visit the magnificent Great Wall.”
“
Have you ever heard of the tales of the Great Wall before?”
“
Yes, I read about its history in a book. The Great Wall was built to protect the Chinese Empire against
intrusions by nomadic groups and military incursions by various warlike peoples. Parts of the walls were built
by the first
Emperor of China,
Qin Shi Huang.
However, little of that wall remains. The majority of the existing
wall was reconstructed during the
Ming Dynasty.
Am I right?” Ivan was proud of himself.
“
Yes. This was what most people know but there is actually another tale of the Great Wall.” Isabella
spoke as if deep in thought.
“
Really? A New Tale of the Great Wall?” Ivan asked doubtfully.
“
Oh, I know it. Do you mean the story of Lady Meng Jiang?” Catherine asked excitedly.
“
Lady Meng Jiang? I haven’t heard of this story before,” said Ivan.
olk tale about the
Great Wall
of China. Meng Jiangnu was the main character in the story. Her
husband was caught and sent to build the Great Wall on the day they married. Meng Jiangnu was worried about
her husband, so he set out to find him. She discovered that her husband had already died by the time she arrived
at the Great Wall. Hearing the bad news, she cried her heart out. Her howling caused the collapse of the Great
Wall,” Catherine told Ivan the whole story in detail.
“
This was one of the sad stories about the Great Wall but I have another version,” Isabella said in a
melancholy tone.
“
Isabella, please. I wanna hear your story,” Catherine begged like a child.
“
I