The Legend of the Goddess Tin Hau, or Mazu By ReadWorks

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1 The Legend of the Goddess Tin Hau, or Mazu The Legend of the Goddess Tin Hau, or Mazu By ReadWorks From their special places on the shelf, the icons of Mazu's two guardians watched her weave. Thousand Miles Eye was red and had two horns. His eyes were two yellow sapphires. With the Wind Ear was green. His eyes were two rubies. He had one horn. Incense burned beside each icon. Mazu sat before the loom. Her red robe gathered around her feet as she wove. Mazu wove without thinking. The act of weaving occupied the part of her mind that asked questions, and replayed arguments with her parents, and dreamed about the future. As she wove, that part of her mind became peaceful and still. Mazu was alone. The icons saw nothing unusual. Mazu wove without distraction. She never glanced up. She never cleared her throat. She wove without interruption in the room, which was empty of furniture, except for the shrines for her two guardians. But outside the house something unusual was taking place. And something unusual was taking place inside Mazu as well. The wind picked up. Rain burst from the sky. And a sort of stormy struggle occupied Mazu's mind, though she hardly realized it. Mazu had sat down to weave because she was worried. She had seen the storm clouds on the horizon, and right away she feared for the lives of her four brothers. They were fishermen. They were out on their fishing boat and at this time of day would be far from shore, too far to return before the storm hit. While Mazu's guardians watched her, the typhoon descended on Mazu's brothers. Their wooden fishing boat was tossed about on the waves. The boat's nose rocked way up in the air, and the brothers all fell from their feet and slid across the deck and crashed into the back of the boat. Then a wave hit from the opposite direction, and threw them again across the boat's length. And while the brothers clung to the side of the boat and water crashed over them and filled their mouths, while the brothers fought for their lives, Mazu slipped into a trance. Mazu was no longer an ordinary girl. She had been touched by the gods, who admired her courage, and the fact that she was the sort who had no need to show off. It was a balanced courage, the rarest form of courage. And so they reached out and touched Mazu. A wave finally came that flung the boat totally into the air, turned it over, and smashed it to pieces as it landed. The brothers were separated. They couldn't see one another because 1

2 The Legend of the Goddess Tin Hau, or Mazu the waves were so tall and so frequent. To stay afloat, they grabbed whatever floating scraps they could find. Mazu saw all of this in her mind s eye, and without panicking, she guided them toward the largest, most trustworthy pieces of wood, pieces large enough to keep them afloat until the storm died down, until they could drift to shore. But the typhoon raged as though it were divine as well, and the brothers nearly drowned. First a wave would separate one from the wood he clung to, and Mazu concentrated her attention on saving that brother. No sooner had she helped him find wood than another wave would endanger a different brother. It seemed as though Mazu would save all four of her brothers. But it was not to be. Mazu's mother entered the room. Her mother saw Mazu weaving, as though nothing were out of the ordinary. And as she was a loving mother, she also feared for the lives of her sons, whom she knew were out at sea. Mazu! she said, I'm so worried about the boys! And Mazu snapped out of her trance. The vision of her brothers disappeared. She couldn't help them any longer. The two of them waited all night for the brothers to return. Many hours later, toward morning, they heard knocking at the door. Three knocks, slow, slow, slow. When they opened it, they saw the faces of three of Mazu's brothers. They looked at the three brothers with their eyes wide. They said no words, but their eyes asked the only question there was to ask. The three brothers shook their heads, slowly, slowly, slowly. 2

3 Name: Date: 1. What is Mazu doing at the beginning of the story? 2. What is an important event in the plot of this story? 3. What evidence from the story supports the idea that Mazu is a calm and strong girl? 4. Mazu is able to see in her mind's eye her brothers struggling to survive at sea during the typhoon. She is able to guide them to the largest pieces of wood so that they can stay afloat. Why does Mazu most likely have these special powers? 1

4 5. What is this story mostly about? 6. Read the following paragraph about Mazu and her mother. "The two of them waited all night for the brothers to return. Many hours later, toward morning, they heard knocking at the door. When they opened it, they saw the faces of three of Mazu's brothers. They looked at the three brothers with their eyes wide. They said no words, but their eyes asked the only question there was to ask. The three brothers shook their heads, slowly, slowly, slowly." What does the phrase their eyes asked mean? 7. What word or phrase best completes the sentence? Mazu has four brothers;, only three of them return home. 2

5 8. Three of Mazu's brothers survive. One does not survive. What evidence from the text supports this conclusion? 9. What causes the vision of Mazu's brothers to disappear, which stops Mazu from helping her brothers? 10. Why does one of Mazu's brothers most likely not survive the typhoon? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. 3