Personal Correspondence
To: HRH Princess Ao Cixi
From: HM Ao Jun, Dragon King of the Western Seas, Commander of the Armies of the Western Heavens
Re: Your Letter and accompanying gift
My dearest Xi-Xi,
I was so happy to find your letter in this morning’s mail. Your words warmed the waters of my day, knowing my Xi-Xi ‘s thoughts were with me. Thank you for the drawing of you, Mama Zhao, and Mama Jingfen. The nanny informs me that the squiggle on the back of the drawing is because Mama Zhao’s tail is too long to fit on a single page. What a clever girl you are, to wrap it around the back. I have had the picture framed so that I may look at it everyday when I go to work, and think about you. It is a pity that I cannot see Mama Zhao’s tail tip anymore, but I know it’s there since I can still see it in my heart. If you send more pictures, I will have them framed as well, but please use less glitter. Your Papa’s uniform was so full of sparkles he had to send it out to get it cleaned, because military commanders aren’t supposed to have sparkles on their uniforms. Your pictures are beautiful without the sparkles.
Your nanny tells me you have had a rather nasty fight with your eldest brother. I am happy to hear that you all enjoyed the shadow puppet show so much that you wanted to play out the story yourselves, but my dearest Xi-Xi, there is only one Rama in the Ramayana, and you know that your brother is the eldest and therefore is the first to pick a role. I agree that Sita is not a fun role to play, but if you did not want to play her, it would have been better to return to your room to draw pictures instead of throwing a crab at your older brother and calling him a doo-doo head. I am afraid that Mo-Ang is right this time; there are no pirate princesses in the Ramayana. Pirates are not real princesses; they only say that they are princesses because they are jealous of real princesses like you and your sisters. Real princesses would never stoop to piracy; they would rather be artists or rulers or warriors. So your Papa asks you nicely, please be a good girl and stop pillaging your brother’s room when he is playing the Ramayana.
You asked me why there are no “fun” girl roles in the story books, and to be honest, I do not know the answer. Perhaps boys write the books, and they like to write about boy things. Perhaps girls are so busy doing Important Things they have little time for book writing. Look at your mothers; if they did not work hard on Important Things, what would happen to our kingdom? But you are right; there should be more girl adventures, and I know the perfect little princess who can create them. Since your tutor tells me you must practice your writing more often, why not write a girl adventure story yourself? You can make your special story into a puppet show, and then when I am home, I will be your audience. You can call it, “The Ao Warrior Princesses in an Adventure with Pirates,” and the brave Ao sisters could save their poor brother Mo-Ang from the evil pirate hordes who have kidnapped him. It may seem like a big job for a little girl to make an entire puppet play all by herself, especially as she's still without limbs, but if you ask your nanny and your tutor to help, and ask each of your sisters to make their own puppet, then the entire play will be ready in no time at all. Xiao Mei is good with scissors, so she can cut the puppets out for you. Xiao Lei loves to make up songs, so she can help with the music. But tell Xiao Lei that Papa said no more than three songs, and the songs should not be more than three minutes long each, or else your play will go on for hours. Also, tell your tutor that you must learn ten new words when you write your story, and please do not use glitter on the puppets. You can only see a shadow puppets shadow, and shadows do not need glitter.
Tell your sisters that I am looking forward to seeing your play at the egg-laying. Many of your uncles and aunts will be coming to the party, and even Mama Yuling’s father, who is the king of Bhutan, will be coming, so you will have a large and important audience for your show. Everyone will know the story of the Brave and Resourceful Princess Ao Cixi. You will be even more important than Rama then.
I will be home as soon as I can, pumpkin. Yes, I will bring your birthday present with me this time, but in return you must remember to feed your pets and listen to your nanny when she tells you to go to bed. The anemones are watching, and they will tell me if you have been good, so you had better behave or no presents for you. As you can see, I have honored your request and have sent this letter on official stationary instead of just plain paper, so now you have one of those letters, too.
Give your sisters and brothers cheek rubs from me. I am thinking about you always, sweetness. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Love,
Papa
From: HM Ao Jun, Dragon King of the Western Seas, Commander of the Armies of the Western Heavens
Re: Your Letter and accompanying gift
My dearest Xi-Xi,
I was so happy to find your letter in this morning’s mail. Your words warmed the waters of my day, knowing my Xi-Xi ‘s thoughts were with me. Thank you for the drawing of you, Mama Zhao, and Mama Jingfen. The nanny informs me that the squiggle on the back of the drawing is because Mama Zhao’s tail is too long to fit on a single page. What a clever girl you are, to wrap it around the back. I have had the picture framed so that I may look at it everyday when I go to work, and think about you. It is a pity that I cannot see Mama Zhao’s tail tip anymore, but I know it’s there since I can still see it in my heart. If you send more pictures, I will have them framed as well, but please use less glitter. Your Papa’s uniform was so full of sparkles he had to send it out to get it cleaned, because military commanders aren’t supposed to have sparkles on their uniforms. Your pictures are beautiful without the sparkles.
Your nanny tells me you have had a rather nasty fight with your eldest brother. I am happy to hear that you all enjoyed the shadow puppet show so much that you wanted to play out the story yourselves, but my dearest Xi-Xi, there is only one Rama in the Ramayana, and you know that your brother is the eldest and therefore is the first to pick a role. I agree that Sita is not a fun role to play, but if you did not want to play her, it would have been better to return to your room to draw pictures instead of throwing a crab at your older brother and calling him a doo-doo head. I am afraid that Mo-Ang is right this time; there are no pirate princesses in the Ramayana. Pirates are not real princesses; they only say that they are princesses because they are jealous of real princesses like you and your sisters. Real princesses would never stoop to piracy; they would rather be artists or rulers or warriors. So your Papa asks you nicely, please be a good girl and stop pillaging your brother’s room when he is playing the Ramayana.
You asked me why there are no “fun” girl roles in the story books, and to be honest, I do not know the answer. Perhaps boys write the books, and they like to write about boy things. Perhaps girls are so busy doing Important Things they have little time for book writing. Look at your mothers; if they did not work hard on Important Things, what would happen to our kingdom? But you are right; there should be more girl adventures, and I know the perfect little princess who can create them. Since your tutor tells me you must practice your writing more often, why not write a girl adventure story yourself? You can make your special story into a puppet show, and then when I am home, I will be your audience. You can call it, “The Ao Warrior Princesses in an Adventure with Pirates,” and the brave Ao sisters could save their poor brother Mo-Ang from the evil pirate hordes who have kidnapped him. It may seem like a big job for a little girl to make an entire puppet play all by herself, especially as she's still without limbs, but if you ask your nanny and your tutor to help, and ask each of your sisters to make their own puppet, then the entire play will be ready in no time at all. Xiao Mei is good with scissors, so she can cut the puppets out for you. Xiao Lei loves to make up songs, so she can help with the music. But tell Xiao Lei that Papa said no more than three songs, and the songs should not be more than three minutes long each, or else your play will go on for hours. Also, tell your tutor that you must learn ten new words when you write your story, and please do not use glitter on the puppets. You can only see a shadow puppets shadow, and shadows do not need glitter.
Tell your sisters that I am looking forward to seeing your play at the egg-laying. Many of your uncles and aunts will be coming to the party, and even Mama Yuling’s father, who is the king of Bhutan, will be coming, so you will have a large and important audience for your show. Everyone will know the story of the Brave and Resourceful Princess Ao Cixi. You will be even more important than Rama then.
I will be home as soon as I can, pumpkin. Yes, I will bring your birthday present with me this time, but in return you must remember to feed your pets and listen to your nanny when she tells you to go to bed. The anemones are watching, and they will tell me if you have been good, so you had better behave or no presents for you. As you can see, I have honored your request and have sent this letter on official stationary instead of just plain paper, so now you have one of those letters, too.
Give your sisters and brothers cheek rubs from me. I am thinking about you always, sweetness. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Love,
Papa