Foreign voices tell a classic story: tale of the rat’s wedding

Loving their daughter so much, they decided that on this year 2008 of her coming of age, and being so pretty and of such an affable nature, they should do the right thing and find a nice husband to take care of their daughter.

After searching the four corners of the map, they decided on the sun as being an appropriate suitor for their beloved daughter, but after approaching him and making the offer, the sun declined humbly, claiming that he thought “perhaps the clouds are a more suitable choice, they really are phenomenal things after all. Anyway, I might be a bit too hot.”

So, mum and dad rat plodded over to the clouds to pay them a visit, bringing up the possibility of their pretty young daughter as a potential match for life. Unfortunately, the clouds grew a bit dark and conceded that they felt inferior to the powerful and intimidating wind, which blew them here and there with a whistle and a howl.

After listening to the vaporous, floating tuft of fluff, the old couple made their way with haste to look for the wind, which they finally found to make their proposal on behalf of their precious. The wind blew them down immediately, saying that the walls were a far more sturdy and settled match for a young female that would require the security and support that a capricious, fluttery, moody force of nature such as himself wouldn’t have a hope of providing.

So, the bristly two turned their heads to face a wall and entreated it to take their child off their hands. But after all of their talking, the wall simply wouldn’t budge. “I’m a wall, no match for a rat; she would just find me stubborn and complain that I stifle the life out of her. Besides, where do you get off thinking that I would want a rat burrowing holes inside of me?” After all, it explained, walls are mortally afraid of vermin.

After sitting befuddled for a time, mum and dad rat suddenly came to a realization.

Nodding to each other, the immediately decided to hold an event where they throw a “xiuqiu,” giving their daughter to whomever caught the colorful ball of fabrics. After “thousands upon thousands” of choice suitors appeared to take part in the event, a future son-in-law was finally selected. After picking the particularly auspicious day of the third day of the Lunar Calender to host the festivities of the union, they banged their drums and rang out in glee as their daughter set off with her husband to make a new home and life for herself.

Chinese tradition places great stock in the good luck of the marriage, as the success of choosing a good suitor for the pretty little bride will play an important part in determining how fruitful the year will be for the earth. That’s why, on the third day of the Lunar Calender this year (Saturday Feb. 9), believers should sleep early, taking care not to turn on lights or make loud noises, which will frustrate the efforts of the anxious parents in their quest to find a suitor for their daughter.

This tradition of the rat’s wedding is rare in that it is only performed on the Year of the Rat, which occurs on a cyclical basis every 12 years.

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