A Grain of Rice

When Pong Lo - the son of a humble farmer - appears before the Emperor of China to ask for Princess Chang Wu's hand in marriage, the mighty ruler is outraged. But his gentle daughter convinces her father to offer the young man a job in the storeroom, and soon Pong Lo is making himself useful in

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ways both large and small. Using an old family recipe to cure Chang Wu, when she becomes ill, Pong Lo is offered a reward by the Emperor, and - the hand of the Princess still being refused him - he asks for one hundred days of rice. On the first day he shall receive one grain of rice, on the second day, two grains, with the amount doubling on each successive day. Soon the emperor begins to wonder if there is enough rice in the world to fulfill his side of the bargain!

After reading and enjoying Demi's One Grain Of Rice, which retells a traditional Indian folktale with a similar story (and mathematical theme), I was excited to discover that there were other variants out there. Sadly, it turns out that this is not actually a Chinese folktale, or, if it is, Pittman was unaware of it. Described as "an original story set in fifteenth century China" on the dust-jacket, A Grain of Rice appears to have been the author's own reinvention of the Indian tale (the stories are simply too similar for it to have been a coincidence), transplanted to China.

Although a fairly engaging story in its own right, Pittman's narrative lacks the moral strength of the Indian tale, in which the rice is won for the hungry people. Here it is used as a stratagem to win a bride. Still, this was an entertaining tale, and the black and white illustrations - they looked to be done in pencil - were quite pleasant. All in all, a winsome little fairy-tale, though not quite what I was expecting.

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