Review by BRIGITTE ROZARIO
EIGHT TREASURES OF THE DRAGON
Retold by Tutu Dutta-Yean
Illustrated by Tan Vay Fern
Publisher: MPH
This textbook-sized book with a few black and white illustrations in it features eight folk tales from India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, China and Japan. They all have the mythical dragon in them.
Dutta-Yean has once again done an admirable job retelling stories to her audience in a totally readable and highly captivating way. Her stories make you want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next and leave you thirsting for more.
She is really a good storyteller – that's all there is to it.
If I had one complaint it would be that the presentation of the book does not do justice to her stories. I wish MPH had published this book in hardcover, large book format with coloured illustrations.
The way it is presented, I fear not many people will pick up this book, let alone buy it. Hence, they will all miss out on the wonderful tales found within the book.
As always, Vay Fern's illustrations are beautiful but they seem lost because they're not in colour.
In Ho-Wori and the Princess of the Sea, we learn about Ho-Wori who is Lord of the Hills and his twin brother Ho-Deri, Lord of the Shores. The duo are blessed with luck on land and in the sea respectively. One day the brothers decide to trade places and Ho-Deri gives Ho-Wori his lucky fishhook to go fishing. Meanwhile, Ho-Deri uses Ho-Wori's bow and arrows to hunt in the hills. Unfortunately, Ho-Wori loses his brother's lucky fishhook and must get help from the sea king to find the fishhook.
The Acolyte, the Tengu and the Dragon, a folk tale from Japan, is about Hiroshi, an acolyte from the monastery of Mount Hiae, who befriends a dragon and helps it. One day when Hiroshi is in danger of being attacked by the tengu (shape shifter), the dragon comes to his defence.
The Dragon Wells of Yanjing tells the story of the dragon king and queen who disguise themselves as an old couple to steal all the water from Yanjing. Soldier Kao-Liang is tasked with retrieving the water by piercing their water barrel. Easy enough, right? The hard part is that he has then to turn his horse around and ride back as fast as he can without looking back for the first 100 paces.
The Cave of the Pearl Dragon, another Chinese folk tale, is about a star falling to Earth and causing the rice fields to be set on fire. The only way to save the village is by getting the green-water pearl. But to get it, the man-eating golden spider must first be defeated.
The She-Dragon of the South Seas, a legend from Java, Indonesia, tells the tale of Dewi Rembulan and her daughter Dewi Kandita who are cursed by the jealous Dewi Mutiara. After making them both ugly and their skin like that of a leper's, Dewi Mutiara poisons the mind of Prabu Siliwangi and gets him to cast them out of the Kraton where they all live together. Before Dewi Rembulan dies, she curses Prabu Siliwangi and the entire Kraton of Pajajaran and makes her daughter promise to avenge them both.
Sang Nila Utama, from Singapore, is about the journey to Temasek and how Singapore got its name.
In The Dragon of Tasik Chini, Malaysia's only contribution, we learn of Asan eating a serpeant's egg and causing the village to be cursed.
Prince Mombathi (The Candlewax Prince), from India, tells the tale of the Maharani who badly wants to conceive a son for her husband, the Maharaja, so that he will have an heir. She goes to a temple to make an offering and ask for a child. But, on her way back, she passes by an old woman without offering her any help and is cursed. While the Maharani does conceive, the child she gives birth to is a dragon.
I thoroughly enjoyed the stories although I am not sure which age group this book is for. Probably upper primary and lower secondary. Kids with a fascination for dragons and folk tales will enjoy this.
Recommended.