During the time of the Ch’in and Han dynasties. A cave chief named Wu married two wives and each gave birth to baby girls. Before long Chief Wu and one wife died leaving one baby, Yeh Shen , to be reared by her stepmother. The stepmother didn’t like Yeh Shen for she was more beautiful and kinder then her own daughter so she treated her poorly.

Yeh Shen was given the worst jobs and the only friend she had was a beautiful fish with big golden eyes. Each day the fish came out of the water into the bank to be fed by Yeh Shen . Now Yeh Shen had little food for herself but she was willing to share with the fish. Her stepmother hearing about the fish disguised herself as Yeh Shen and enticed the fish from the water. She stabbed it with a dagger, and cooked the fish for dinner.

Yeh Shen was distraught when she learned of the fish’s death. As she sat crying she heard a voice and looked up to see a wise old man wearing the coarsest of clothes and with hair hanging down over his shoulders. He told her that the bones of the fish were filled with a powerful spirit, and that when she was in serious need she was to kneel before the bones and tell them of her heart’s desires. She was warned not to waste their gift.

Yeh Shen retrieved the bones from the trash heap and hid them in a safe place. Time passed and the spring festival was nearing. This was a time when the young people gathered in the village to meet one another and to find husbands and wives. Yen Shen longed to go to the festival but her stepmother wouldn’t allow it because she feared that someone would pick Yeh Shen rather than her own daughter.

The stepmother and the daughter left for the festival leaving Yeh Shen behind. Yeh Shen wanting desperately to go asked the bones for clothes to wear to the festival. Suddenly she was wearing a beautiful gown of azure blue with a cloak of kingfisher feathers draped around her shoulders. On her feet were beautiful slippers. They were woven of golden threads in a pattern of a scaled fish and the soles were made of solid gold. When she walked she felt lighter than air. She was warned not to lose the slippers.

Yeh Shen arrived at the festival and soon all were looking her way. The daughter and stepmother moved closer to her for they seemed to recognize this beautiful person. Seeing that she would be found out, Yeh Shen dashed out of the village leaving behind one of the golden slippers.

When she arrived home she was dressed again in her rags. She spoke again to the bones, but they were now silent. Saddened she put the one golden slipper in her bedstraw. After a time a merchant found the lost slipper, and seeing the value in the golden sold it to a merchant who gave it to the king of the island kingdom of T’o Han.

Now the king wanted to find the owner of this tiny beautiful slipper. He sent his people to search the kingdom but no ones foot would fit in the tiny golden slipper. He had the slipper placed on display in a pavilion on the side of the road where the slipper had been found with an announcement that the shoe was to be returned to the owner.

The king’s men waited out of site. All the women came to try on the shoe. One dark night Yeh Shen slipped quietly across the pavilion, took the tiny golden slipper and turned to leave, but the king‘s men rushed out and arrested her. She was taken to the king who was furious for he couldn’t believe that any one in rags could possibly own a golden slipper. As he looked closer at her face he was struck by her beauty and he noticed she has the tiniest feet.

The king and his men returned home with her where she produced the other slipper. As she slipper on the two slippers her rags turned into the beautiful gown and cloak she had worn to the festival. The king realized that she was the one for him. They married and lived happily ever after. However, the stepmother and daughter were never allowed to visit Yeh Shen and were forced to continue to live in their cave until the day they were crushed to death in a shower of flying stones.

Pada masa dinasti Ch’in dan Han. Kepala koki bernama Wu menikah dengan dua perempuan dan masing-masing melahirkan seorang bayi perempuan. Lama sebelum kepala Wu dan salah satu istrinya meninggal dan meninggalkan seorang bayi, bernama Yeh Shen,yang kemudian diasuh oleh ibu tirinya. Ibu tirinya tidak suka dengan Yeh Shen karena dia lebih cantik dan ramah dibanding anak perempuannya sendiri, jadi dia memperlakukan Yeh Shen dengan kurang baik.

Yeh Shen diberi pekerjaan yang berat dan dia hanya mempunyai satu teman, temannya adalah ikan cantik dengan mata emas yang besar. Setiap hari ikan datang mendekati tepi sungai untuk diberi makan oleh Yeh Shen. Suatu hari, Yeh Shen hanya mempunyai sedikit makanan untuk dirinya,tetapi dia berniat untuk membaginya dengan ikan. Ibu tirinya mendengar tentang ikan yang disembunyikan oleh Yeh Shen dan mengambil ikan dari air. Dia membunuh ikan tersebut dengan pisau belati dan memasak ikan untuk makan malam.

Yeh Shen sangat binggung ketika mengetahui ikannya mati. Dia sangat sedih dan menangis, dia mendengar suara dan melihat seorang laki-laki tua mengenakan pakaian yang kumuh dan dengan rambut yang menggantung diatas pundaknya. Dia berkata pada Yeh Shen bahwa tulang ikan itu terisi dengan penuh energi dan ketika dia membutuhkan bantuan dia harus berlutut di depan tulang ikan dan memberitahu tulang tentang keinginan hatinya. Dia diingatkan untuk tidak membuang hadiah-hadiahnya.

Yeh Shen mengambil tulang-tulang ikan dari tumpukan sampah dan menyembunyikannya di tempat yang aman. Waktu berlalu dan festifal musim semi mulai dekat. Ini adalah waktu dimana orang-orang muda berkumpul didesa untuk bertemu satu sama lain dan untuk menemukan suami dan istri. Yeh Shen sudah lama tidak pergi ke festival,karena ibu tirinya tidak memperbolehkannya untuk mengikuti festival itu. Karena ibu tirinya takut ada seseorang yang akan meminang Yeh Shen daripada anak perempuannya.

Ibu tiri dan anak perempuannya berangkat ke festival dan meninggalkan Yeh Shen dibelakang. Yeh Shen ingin mati-matian untuk pergi ke festival tersebut, Yeh Shen meminta tolong tulang untuk memberikannya baju yang dia pakai ke festival. Tiba-tiba dia sudah mengenakan gaun indah berwarna biru dengan jubah bulu yang tersampir di bahunya yang terbuat dari benang emas. Dia mengenakan sepatu sandal yang terbuat dari emas murni. Ketika Yeh Shen berjalan, dia merasa lebih ringan dari udara. Yeh Shen diingatkan Tulang, untuk tidak kehilangan sepatu sandalnya.

Yeh-Shen sampai di festival dan semua orang memperhatikan Yeh Shen. Ibu tiri dan anak perempuannya mendekati Yeh Shen karena mereka tampaknya mengenali orang ini . Melihat bahwa ia akan ketahuan, Yeh-Shen pergi dari festival meninggalkan salah satu sandal emasnya. Ketika ia tiba di rumah, dia berpakaian compang-camping tidak seperti sebelum dia datang ke festival . Dia berbicara ke tulang, tetapi mereka sekarang diam. Dengan perasaan yang sedih dia meletakkan sandal emasnya di tempat tidur nya. Setelah seorang pedagang menemukan salah sepatu emas milik Yeh Shen yang diberikan kepada raja kerajaan pulau T'o Han. Raja ingin menemukan pemilik sepatu kecil yang indah ini.

Dia mengirim orang-orangnya untuk mencari disekitar kerajaan, tapi tidak ada kaki yang cocok dengan sepatu emas kecil itu. Raja menampilkan sepatu emas itu, di paviliun di sisi jalan di mana sepatu itu telah ditemukan dengan pengumuman bahwa sepatu itu harus dikembalikan kepada pemiliknya.

Raja menunggu diluar . Semua wanita datang untuk mencoba sepatu. Suatu malam yang gelap Yeh-Shen diam-diam ke paviliun, mengambil sepatu emas kecil miliknya. Saat ia akan mengambil sepatunya , raja melihat Yeh Shen yang akan mengambil sepatu. Raja mendekati Yeh Shen, raja terpesona oleh kecantikannya dan dia melihat Yeh Shen memiliki kaki yang kecil. Raja dan anak buahnya ke rumah Yeh Shen, untuk memastikan Yeh Shen mempunyai pasangan dari sepatu yang hilang itu, ternyata Yeh Shen mempunyai pasangan sepatu itu.

Saat ia memakai sepatu emas itu,pakaiannya berubah menjadi gaun yang indah dan jubah seperti waktu dia pakai di festival.

Raja menyadari bahwa dia adalah jodohnya.

Mereka menikah dan hidup bahagia selamanya. Tapi, ibu tiri dan putrinya tidak pernah diizinkan mengunjungi Yeh Shen dan dipaksa untuk terus hidup dalam gua sampai mereka mati di pancuran dari batu terbang.

During the time of the Ch’in and Han dynasties, a cave chief named Wu married two wives and each gave birth baby girls. After Chief Wu and one of his wives died and leaving one baby, Yeh-Shen is reared by her stepmother. The stepmother didn’t like Yeh-Shen for she was more beautiful and kinder than her own daughter so she treated her poorly. Yeh-Shen was given the worst jobs and the only friend she had was a beautiful fish with big golden eyes. Everyday, the fish came out from the water into the bank to be fed by Yeh-Shen.

Now Yeh-Shen had little food for herself but she was willing to share with the fish. Her stepmother hearing about the fish disguised herself as Yeh-Shen and enticed the fish from the water. She stabbed it with a dagger, and cooked the fish for dinner.

Yeh-Shen was distraught when she learned of the fish’s death. As she sat crying she heard a voice and looked up to see a wise old man wearing the coarsest of clothes and with hair hanging down over his shoulders. He told her that the bones of the fish were filled with a powerful spirit, and that when she was in serious need, she had to kneel in front of the bones and tell of her heart’s desires. She was warned not to waste their gifts. Yeh-Shen retrieved the bones from the trash heap and hid them in a safe place.

Time passed and the spring festival was nearing. This was atime when the young people gathered in the village to meet one another and to find husbands and wives. Yeh-Shen longed to go to the festival but her stepmother wouldn’t allow it because she feared that someone would pick Yeh-Shen rather than her own daughter.

The stepmother and the daughter left for the festival and leaving Yeh-Shen behind. Yeh-Shen wanting desperately to go. She asked the bones for clothes to wear to the festival. Suddenly she was wearing a beautiful gown of azure blue with a cloak of kingfisher feathers draped around her shoulders. On her feet were beautiful shoe. They were woven of golden threads in a pattern of a scaled fish and the soles were made of solid gold. When she walked she felt lighter than air. She was warned not to lose the shoe.

Yeh-Shen arrived at the festival and soon all were looking her way. The daughter and stepmother moved closer to her for they seemed to recognize this beautiful person. Seeing that she would be found out, Yeh-Shen dashed out of the village with leaving behind one of the golden shoe.

When she arrived home she was dressed again in her rags. She spoke again to the bones, but they were now silent. Saddened she put the one golden slipper in her bedstraw.

After a time a merchant who gave it to the king of the island kingdom of T’o Han. Now the king wanted to find the owner of this tiny beautiful slipper. He sent his people to search the kingdom but no ones foot would fit in the tiny golden slipper. He had the slipper placed on display in pavilion on the side of the road where the slipper had been found with an announcement that the shoe was to be returned to the owner.

All the women came to try on the shoe. One dark night Yeh-Shen slipped quietly across the pavilion, took the tiny golden slipper. As he looked closer at her face he was struck by her beauty and he noticed she had the tiniest feet.

The king and his men returned home with her where she produced the other slipper. As she slipped on the two shoes her rags turned into the beautiful gown and cloak she had worn to the festival. The king realized that she was one for him. They married and lived happily ever after. However, the stepmother and daughter were never allowed to visit Yeh-Shen and were forced to continue to live in their cave until the day they were crushed to death in a shower of flying stones.

We can take moral value from this story are :

- We may not conduct people unfair

- We must be fair person

- We will meet our happiness in the future, it’s a certain something

- We must help our friends if she or he have difficulty