yyww2008

At least 23 people are reported to have died when a makeshift church building collapsed in eastern Nepal.

At least another 60 people were injured in the incident, in the town of Dharan, about 400km (240 miles) south-east of the capital, Kathmandu.

Police official Arjun Khadka told the AP news agency the victims had been staying in the building while they attended a Christian conference.

Nepal's home ministry said a temporary wall had collapsed on them.

Ministry spokesman Ekmani Nepal told the AFP news agency 23 people had been killed instantly and around 60 were injured.

Some of the victims are believed to have been children.

Police inspector Mohan Bikram Dahal told AFP the victims were on the ground floor of the temporary building preparing to go to sleep when the collapse happened.

"The wall was made of bamboo and it could not withstand the weight of the people in the church," he said.

More than 1,500 people are thought to have been inside the building at the time.

KUNMING, July 30 (Xinhua) - Hillary Callan, an anthropologist from London, found herself drinking in the landscape of the Keyi village, the home of 712 Axi people, a branch of the Yi ethnic group.

The village, a three-hour drive from Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan Province, is believed by local residents to be the birthplace of the Axi culture.

Legend says it is the source of an epic poem telling the beginning of the Axi people. The poem, passed down from generation-to-generation, refers the village as "an auspicious place".

What struck Callan was a folk dance named "Axi Tiaoyue" or "Axi dance under moonlight", traditionally performed to celebrate harvest and victory.

"It looks fantastic and sounds joyful. I like their music, costume and dance. It is traditional and creative," she said.

Together with Callan were dozens of foreign anthropologists who joined more than 3,000 scholars to participate in the ongoing 16th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) due to close on Friday.

Responding to the curiosity of foreign scholars in China's ethnic culture, the congress has arranged five fieldtrips during the five-day event to ethnic villages nearby Kunming.

IUAES President Luis Alberto Vargas told Xinhua that he found the work made by the Chinese government in relation to the minorities was "something to be known world over".

"Many countries have the same situation as China does. That is a country having multi-nationalities. But not all countries have learned to handle this situation. The way that China is doing is just one of several possibilities. I think it has to be known to the world because it's getting good results," he said.

Many participants enjoyed the change of pace the fieldtrips offered.

"It's good to see ethnic villages like Keyi and their cultural heritage are open to the national public and the international public," Callan said.

Yi, a modern ethnic group mainly living in China, Vietnam and Thailand, has a population of about eight million. It is the seventh largest of China's 55 ethnic minority groups. Its branch Axi were scattered in several counties and cities of Yunnan province, with a total population of more than 100,000.

Australian scholar Andrew McWilliams from the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies also greed that the Axi Tiaoyue Dance was one of their favorites from their Wednesday trip.

"It's amazing, and dances like that are things I have never seen before in anywhere else," said McWilliams.

The dance represented the essence of the Axi culture, such as primitive beliefs, songs, musical instruments, traditional costumes and religious rites. It has been performed in more than ten countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Austria, Poland, North Korea and Russia.

Callan was also impressed by the way the ethnic community works together with local government for its prosperity.

"They use their own cultural heritages and resources for tourism and economic and social development. The village shows enormous potential of tourism development," she said.

Another anthropologist from Chiangwai University in Thailand, Chukiat Chaiboonsvi, thought the village's traditional culture is "under proper protection".

"It looks very likely for the village to protect the culture and pass it to the next generation. The village is a good example of achieving economic development while at the same time protecting the precious culture," he said.

"I think the Chinese government has always been trying to support and take care of ethnic minorities. It's difficult and it takes time, but so long as the government keeps going on, it will have good results."

People from countries outside China are rarely aware of various ethnic groups in China or the government's policies towards ethnic groups, according to experts on the trip interviewed by Xinhua.

Shivendra Kumar Kashyap, an anthropologist from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in India, said he had no idea of China's ethnic groups until he visited the National Museum in Yunnan this time.

"In the museum, I got to know all the ethnic minorities in China, including how they survive and how they preserve their own culture," he said.

Callan said she would encourage young people from western countries to come and explore by themselves the real China.

"China is absolutely one of the most interesting parts of the world for anthropologists. I wish I could stay longer to learn in greater depth about this country," she said.
from xinhua

One evening, the sun was just setting in with true splendor when 1)a flock of beautiful large birds appeared out of the bushes. The duckling had never seen anything so beautiful. They were dazzlingly white with long waving necks. They were swans and uttering a peculiar cry. They spread out their magnificent broad wings and flew away from the cold regions toward warmer lands and open seas.       

They 2)mounted so high, so very high, and the ugly little duckling became strangely uneasy. He circled around and around in the water like a wheel, 3)craning his neck out into the air after them. Then he uttered the shriek so 4)piercing and so strange that he was quite frightened by himself. Oh, he could not forget those beautiful birds, those happy birds and as soon as they were out of sight. He 5)ducked right down to the bottom and when he came up again, he was quite beside himself. He did not know what the birds were or where'd they flew. But all the same, he was more drawn towards them than he had ever been by any creatures before. He did not envy them in the least. How could it occur to him even to wish to be such a marvelous beauty? He wouldn't be thankful if only the ducks would have tolerated him among them, the poor ugly creature.

Early in the morning, a peasant came along and saw him, he went out onto the ice and hammered a hole in it with his heavy wooden shoe, and carried the duckling home to his wife. There, it soon 6)revived. The children wanted to play with it. But the duckling thought they were going to ill use him and rushed in and he frightened to the milk-pan, and the milk 7)spurted out all over the room. The woman shrieked and threw up her hands. Then it flew to the butter-cask and down into the meal-tub and out again. Oh, just imagine what it looked like by this time. The woman screamed and tried to hit it with the 8)tongs, and the children 9)tumbled over one another in trying to catch it, and they screamed with laughter.

By good luck, the door stood open and the duckling flew out among the bushes and the new fallen snow. And it lay there, thoroughly exhausted, but it would be too sad to mention all the privation and misery had to go through during that hard winter. When the sun began to shine warmly again, the duckling was in a marsh, lying among the rushes. The larks were singing, and the beautiful spring had come. Then all at once, it raised its wings and they flapped with much greater strength than before and bore him off vigorously. Before he knew where he was, he found himself in a large garden with the apple trees were in full blossom. And the air was scentedly with lilacs, the long branches of which overhung the indented shores of the lake. Oh, the spring freshness was so delicious. Just in front of him, he saw three beautiful white swans advancing towards him from a 10)thicket. With 11)rustling feathers, they swam lightly over the water. The duckling recognized the majestic birds, and he was overcome by a strange melancholy.

"I will fly to them, the royal birds, and they will hack me to pieces because I who am so ugly venture to approach them. But it won't matter. Better to be killed by them than be snacked up by the ducks, 12)pecked by the hens, or 13)spurned by the hen wife, or suffer so much misery in the winter." So he flew into the water and swam towards the stately swans. They saw him and darted toward him with ruffled feathers. "Kill me, oh, kill me." said the poor creature. And bowing his head towards the water, he awaited his death. But what did he see? Reflected in the transparent water, he saw below him his own image, but he was no longer a clumsy dark gray bird, ugly and ungainly. He was himself, a swan.

Once upon a time there were a fisherman and his wife who lived together in a filthy shack near the sea. Every day the fisherman went out fishing, and he fished, and he fished. Once he was sitting there fishing and looking into the clear water, and he sat, and he sat. Then his hook went to the bottom, deep down, and when he pulled it out, he had caught a large flounder.

　　Then the flounder said to him, "Listen, fisherman, I beg you to let me live. I am not an ordinary flounder, but an enchanted prince. How will it help you to kill me? I would not taste good to you. Put me back into the water, and let me swim."

　　"Well," said the man, "there's no need to say more. I can certainly let a fish swim away who knows how to talk."

　　With that he put it back into the clear water, and the flounder disappeared to the bottom, leaving a long trail of blood behind him.

　　Then the fisherman got up and went home to his wife in the filthy shack.

　　"Husband," said the woman, "didn't you catch anything today?"

　　"No," said the man. "I caught a flounder, but he told me that he was an enchanted prince, so I let him swim away."

　　"Didn't you ask for anything first?" said the woman.

　　"No," said the man. "What should I have asked for?"

　　"Oh," said the woman. "It is terrible living in this shack. It stinks and is filthy. You should have asked for a little cottage for us. Go back and call him. Tell him that we want to have a little cottage. He will surely give it to us."

　　"Oh," said the man. "Why should I go back there?"

　　"Look," said the woman, "you did catch him, and then you let him swim away. He will surely do this for us. Go right now."

　　The man did not want to go, but neither did he want to oppose his wife, so he went back to the sea.

　　When he arrived there it was no longer clear, but yellow and green. He stood there and said:

　　Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I will

　　The flounder swam up and said, "What does she want then?"

　　"Oh," said the man, "I did catch you, and now my wife says that I really should have asked for something. She doesn't want to live in a filthy shack any longer. She would like to have a cottage."

　　"Go home," said the flounder. "She already has it."

　　The man went home, and his wife was standing in the door of a cottage, and she said to him, "Come in. See, now isn't this much better?"

　　There was a little front yard, and a beautiful little parlor, and a bedroom where their bed was standing, and a kitchen, and a dining room. Everything was beautifully furnished and supplied with tin and brass utensils, just as it should be. And outside there was a little yard with chickens and ducks and a garden with vegetables and fruit.

　　"Look," said the woman. "Isn't this nice?"

　　"Yes," said the man. "This is quite enough. We can live here very well."

　　"We will think about that," said the woman.

　　Then they ate something and went to bed.

　　Everything went well for a week or two, and then the woman said, "Listen, husband. This cottage is too small. The yard and the garden are too little. The flounder could have given us a larger house. I would like to live in a large stone palace. Go back to the flounder and tell him to give us a palace."

　　"Oh, wife," said the man, "the cottage is good enough. Why would we want to live in a palace?"

　　"I know why," said the woman. "Now you just go. The flounder can do that."

　　"Now, wife, the flounder has just given us the cottage. I don't want to go back so soon. It may make the flounder angry."

　　"Just go," said the woman. "He can do it, and he won't mind doing it. Just go."

　　The man's heart was heavy, and he did not want to go. He said to himself, "This is not right," but he went anyway.

　　When he arrived at the sea the water was purple and dark blue and gray and dense, and no longer green and yellow. He stood there and said:

　　Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I will

　　"What does she want then?" said the flounder.

　　"Oh," said the man sadly, "my wife wants to live in a stone palace."

　　"Go home. She's already standing before the door," said the flounder.

　　Then the man went his way, thinking he was going home, but when he arrived, standing there was a large stone palace. His wife was standing on the stairway, about to enter.

　　Taking him by the hand, she said, "Come inside."

　　He went inside with her. Inside the palace there was a large front hallway with a marble floor. Numerous servants opened up the large doors for them. The walls were all white and covered with beautiful tapestry. In the rooms there were chairs and tables of pure gold. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings. The rooms and chambers all had carpets. Food and the very best wine overloaded the tables until they almost collapsed. Outside the house there was a large courtyard with the very best carriages and stalls for horses and cows. Furthermore there was a magnificent garden with the most beautiful flowers and fine fruit trees and a pleasure forest a good half mile long, with elk and deer and hares and everything that anyone could possibly want.

　　"Now," said the woman, "isn't this nice?"

　　"Oh, yes" said the man. "This is quite enough. We can live in this beautiful palace and be satisfied."

　　"We'll think about it," said the woman. "Let's sleep on it." And with that they went to bed.

　　The next morning the woman woke up first. It was just daylight, and from her bed she could see the magnificent landscape before her. Her husband was just starting to stir when she poked him in the side with her elbow and said, "Husband, get up and look out the window. Look, couldn't we be king over all this land?"

　　"Oh, wife," said the man, "why would we want to be king? I don't want to be king."

　　"Well," said the woman, "even if you don't want to be king, I want to be king."

　　"Oh, wife," said the man, "why do you want to be king? I don't want to tell him that."

　　"Why not?" said the woman, "Go there immediately. I must be king."

　　So the man, saddened because his wife wanted to be king, went back.

　　"This is not right, not right at all," thought the man. He did not want to go, but he went anyway.

　　When he arrived at the sea it was dark gray, and the water heaved up from below and had a foul smell. He stood there and said:

　　Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te! Flounder, flounder, in the sea! My wife, my wife Ilsebill, Wants not, wants not, what I will

　　"What does she want then," said the flounder.

　　"Oh," said the man, "she wants to be king."

　　"Go home. She is already king," said the flounder.

One day a peasant took his good hazel stick out of the corner and said to his wife, "Trina, I am going across country, and shall not return for three days. If during that time the cattle dealer should happen to call and want to buy our three cows, you may strike a bargain at once, but not unless you can get two hundred talers for them, nothing less, do you hear."

　　"In God's name, just go in peace," answered the woman, "I will manage that."

　　"You, indeed," said the man. "You once fell on your head when you were a little child, and that affects you even now. But let me tell you this, if you do anything foolish, I will make your back black and blue, and not with paint, I assure you, but with the stick which I have in my hand. And the coloring shall last a whole year. You may rely on that." Having said that, the man went on his way.

　　The next morning the cattle dealer came, and the woman had no need to say many words to him. When he had seen the cows and heard the price, he said, "I am quite willing to give that. Honestly speaking, they are worth it. I will take the animals away with me at once."

　　He unfastened their chains and drove them out of the stall, but just as he was going out of the farmyard gate, the woman clutched him by the sleeve and said, "You must give me the two hundred talers now, or I cannot let the cows go."

　　"Right," answered the man, "but I have forgotten to buckle on my money belt. Have no fear, however, you shall have security until I pay. I will take two cows with me and leave one, so you will have good collateral."

　　The woman saw the wisdom of this, and let the man go away with the cows, and thought to herself, "How pleased Hans will be when he finds how cleverly I have managed."

　　The peasant came home on the third day as he had said he would, and at once inquired if the cows were sold. "Yes, indeed, dear Hans," answered the woman, "and as you said, for two hundred talers. They are scarcely worth so much, but the man took them without making any objection."

　　"Where is the money?" asked the peasant. "Oh, I have not got the money," replied the woman. "He had happened to forget his money belt, but he will soon bring it, and he left good security behind him."

　　"What kind of security?" asked the man.

　　"One of the three cows, which he shall not have until he has paid for the other two. I have managed very cunningly, for I have kept the smallest, which eats the least."

　　The man was enraged and lifted up his stick, and was just going to give her the beating he had promised her, when suddenly he lowered the stick and said, "You are the stupidest goose that ever waddled on God's earth, but I am sorry for you. I will go out into the highway and wait for three days to see if I find anyone who is still stupider than you. If I succeed in doing so, you shall go free, but if I do not find him, you shall receive your well-deserved reward without any discount."

　　He went out into the great highway, sat down on a stone, and waited for what would come along. Then he saw a farm wagon coming towards him, and a woman was standing upright in the middle of it, instead of sitting on the bundle of straw which was lying beside her, or walking near the oxen and leading them.

　　The man thought to himself, "That is certainly one of the kind I am in search of," and jumped up and ran back and forth in front of the wagon like one who is not in his right mind.

　　"What do you want, my friend?" said the woman to him. "I don't know you, where do you come from?"

　　"I have fallen down from heaven," replied the man, "and don't know how to get back again. Couldn't you drive me up?"

　　"No," said the woman, "I don't know the way. But if you come from heaven you can surely tell me how my husband is, who has been there these three years. You must have seen him."

　　"Oh, yes, I have seen him, but not everyone can get on well. He herds sheep, and these creatures give him a great deal to do. They run up the mountains and lose their way in the wilderness, and he has to run after them and drive them together again. His clothes are all torn to pieces too, and will soon fall off his body. There is no tailor there, for Saint Peter won't let any of them in, as you know by the story."

　　"Who would have thought it?" cried the woman. "I tell you what. I will fetch his Sunday coat which is still hanging at home in the cupboard. He can wear that and look respectable. You will be so kind as to take it with you."

　　"That won't be possible," answered the peasant. "People are not allowed to take clothes into heaven. They are taken away at the gate."

　　"Then listen to me," said the woman. "I sold my good wheat yesterday and got a lot of money for it. I will send that to him. If you hide the purse in your pocket, no one will know that you have it."

　　"If you can't manage it any other way," said the peasant, "I will do you that favor."

　　"Just sit still where you are," said she, "and I will drive home and fetch the purse. I shall soon be back again. I do not sit down on the bundle of straw, but stand up in the wagon, because it makes it lighter for the cattle."

　　She drove her oxen away, and the peasant thought, "That woman has a perfect talent for folly. If she really brings the money, my wife may think herself fortunate, for she will get no beating."

　　It was not long before she came in a great hurry with the money, and with her own hands put it in his pocket. Before she went away, she thanked him again a thousand times for his courtesy.

　　When the woman got home again, she found her son who had come in from the field. She told him what unexpected things had befallen her, and then added, "I am truly delighted at having found an opportunity of sending something to my poor husband. Who would ever have imagined that he could be suffering for want of anything up in heaven?"

　　The son was full of astonishment. "Mother," said he, it is not every day that a man comes from heaven in this way. I will go out immediately, and see if he is still to be found, he must tell me what it is like up there, and how the work is done.

　　He saddled the horse and rode off with all speed. He found the peasant who was sitting under a willow tree, and was about to count the money in the purse. "Have you seen the man who has come from heaven?" cried the youth to him.

　　"Yes," answered the peasant, "he has set out on his way back there, and has gone up that hill, from whence it will be rather nearer. You could still catch him up, if you ride fast."

　　"Alas," said the youth, "I have been doing tiring work all day, and the ride here has completely worn me out. You know the man. Be so kind as to get on my horse, and go and persuade him to come here."

　　"Aha," thought the peasant. "Here is another who has no wick in his lamp."

　　"Why should I not do you this favor?" said he, and mounted the horse and rode off at a quick trot. The youth remained sitting there until night fell, but the peasant never came back.

　　"The man from heaven must certainly have been in a great hurry, and would not turn back," thought he, "and the peasant has no doubt given him the horse to take to my father." He went home and told his mother what had happened, and that he had sent his father the horse so that he might not have to be always running about.

　　"You have done well," answered she. "You still have young legs and can go on foot."
　　When the peasant got home, he put the horse in the stable beside the cow which had been left as security, and then went to his wife and said, "Trina, as your luck would have it, I have found two who are still more stupid fools than you. This time you escape without a beating. I will store it up for another occasion."

　　Then he lighted his pipe, sat down in his grandfather's chair, and said, "It was a good stroke of business to get a sleek horse and a great purse full of money into the bargain, for two lean cows. If stupidity always brought in as much as that, I would be quite willing to hold it in honor."

　　So thought the peasant, but you no doubt prefer the simpletons.