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Draw Dragon Dot Eyes: an old Chinese fable. Retold by Ellen N. Ching. Illustrated by Xiao-Huan Li and Pi-Chi Dodds. Animated by Rick Lin and Chen Pei. |
A drawing of a paintbrush and a painted dragon. The dragon is missing one eye. |
Sung-Yow had a secret. He could paint a picture and make it come alive! This happened only when the picture was finished. | Sung-Yow paints a goldfish. The fish leaps from the painting and into a fish bowl. |
Sung-Yow loved to paint dragons. He left out their eyes because he didn't want them to come alive. In this way his secret stayed a secret. | Sung-Yow paints a long, snake-like dragon with horns and a spiky tail. He leaves out the dots for the dragon’s eyes. |
The king heard that Sung-Yow was good at painting dragons. He asked Sung-Yow to paint four dragons on a wall. | Sung-Yow shows his dragon painting to the king. The king nods and smiles. |
In three days the painting was almost finished. The dragons looked like they could jump off the wall. They didn't jump because Sung-Yow had left out their eyes. | Dragons appear on the wall as Sung-Yow paints. |
People came from far away to see the paintings. "The dragons look so real!" They said. "But where are their eyes?" They asked. |
Many people walk by the wall. They stop to look at the dragon paintings. |
"If I dotted the eyes, the dragons would fly away," said Sung-Yow. Everyone laughed. No one believed him. | A man and a child point at the missing eyes. Sung-Yow looks worried. |
Sung-Yow was not happy. This time he would not leave out the eyes. He painted little black dots on two of the dragons. | Sung-Yow finishes two of the dragon paintings. |
Crash! Crack! The wall split open. The two dragons jumped off the wall. | Lightning strikes, and the dragons fly into the air! The people are amazed! |
Sung-Yow went on to become a very famous artist with a very famous secret. | Sung-Yow holds a bundle of rolled-up paintings. People gather around him. |
In China, when someone adds a finishing touch to their work, you might say, Draw Dragon Dot Eyes. | Four Chinese characters represent the words, Draw Dragon Dot Eyes. |
(Chinese language) Draw Dragon Dot Eyes | The Chinese characters highlight as the words are spoken. |
The end. | A paintbrush draws a flower and dots the center. The flower comes to life, and a butterfly flies by. |