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What Is Parental Alienation Syndrome and Why Does It Matter?
Custody Custody Q&As Divorce Modification Paternity Practical Advice Teens and Custody
Parental Alienation is child abuse, and must be stopped before permanent damage is done. Children are entitled to a loving relationship with both parents free from judgment or blame from anyone, much less a parent. Parental alienation happens to moms and dads and can be stopped with proper intervention.
What happens when the children do not want to see one parent?
In cases where the children have aligned with one parent and are rejecting the other parent, parental alienation may be at play. To determine if parental alienation syndrome is an issue a careful analysis of the facts must be made.
Parental alienation syndrome is not a recognized disorder, but has been extensively studied and documented.
The research and findings have revealed extremely negative consequences for the children involved and has influenced courts to award custody to the targeted parent. Hoult, JA (2006), "The Evidentiary Admissibility of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Science, Law, and Policy", Children's Legal Rights Journal 26 (1).
The theory of parental alienation syndrome was developed in 1985 by licensed child psychiatrist, Richard Gardner. Children with parental alienation syndrome develop denigration against a parent without justification. The denigration develops from brainwashing by the alienating parent. Further, parental alienation syndrome occurs "when a child becomes an unwitting ally to the alienating parent and occurs when one parent campaigns successfully to manipulate his or her children to despise the other parent despite the absence of legitimate reasons for the children to harbor such animosity." Hatch, Rebecca (2012), Proof of Parental Alienation in Action for Modification of Custody of Child, American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts 3d (6).
Children with parental alienation syndrome will have a persistent rejection of a parent, ambivalence, support of one parent against the other, absence of guilt, and spread of animosity to extended family of the rejected parent. Id.
Techniques used by the alienating parent include:
Not telling the children about phone calls from the target parent,
Refusing to acknowledge positive experiences between the children and the target parent,
Attacking the target parent's family, career, and living arrangements,
Forcing the child to take sides,
Manipulating and rearranging the child's schedule so that the targeted parent cannot see the child,
Excluding the target parent from information or the children's important school events,
Insisting that the child make decisions about seeing or talking to the target parent,
Rejecting targeted parent from attending school events and activities,
Makes delusional false statements to the children,
Does not correct the child's rude, defiant behavior towards the target parent,
And over involves the child in adult matters and litigation. Id. at 7.
These behaviors can lead to severe consequences for the child. The children will likely have difficulty forming future relationships. They may also feel guilt, loss, anxiety, and withdrawal. Id. at 9. Courts have found that it is not in the best interests to keep the children with the alienating parent, and have often given full parenting time rights to the alienated parent. Further, it is important for the parents and children to go through an extensive comprehensive intervention.
When we see cases where PAS may be at play, we request intensive and immediate intervention by a qualified mental health professional. Intensive family therapy may be ordered and, if that does not work, the children may be sent to live exclusively with the non-alienating parent. If you believe PAS may be at play, give us a call to discuss your options and a strategy for moving forward.


General terms and conditions of supply and sale of Lovechock B.V.
Lovechock B.V. is established at Asterweg 20 K5 in 1031 HN Amsterdam and filed with the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce.
1.4. Goods: The goods that Lovechock B.V. supplies the Client with under the Agreement.
2.1. All offers and Agreements are solely governed by these general terms and conditions of supply and sale. Any other general terms and conditions or any reference to them shall be rejected by Lovechock B.V.
2.2. The Client expressly accepts the applicability of these terms and conditions by his mere mandate.
3.1. Unless agreed otherwise in writing, all offers made by Lovechock B.V. are subject to confirmation.
3.2. It is solely in the case of a consumer purchase within the meaning of Article 7:5 Dutch Civil Code that the Client has to accept the offer within two weeks. The offer will lapse once this period has elapsed.
4.1. Should one or more cost components rise after the date on which the Agreement is formed then Lovechock B.V. is entitled to unilaterally raise the agreed price accordingly.
4.2. Lovechock B.V. will deliver the Goods to the agreed delivery address.
4.3. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are quoted in euros exclusive of VAT and exclusive of transportation costs and handling costs.
4.4. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, an agreed delivery date/time is not a strict deadline. Any agreed delivery date/time is merely indicative. The applicability of Article 7:46 f Dutch Civil Code is expressly excluded.
4.5. The exceeding of the agreed deadlines does not entitle the Client to any compensation nor is the Client entitled in such a case to terminate the Agreement, unless the exceeding of the deadline is such that the Client cannot be reasonably expected to maintain the Agreement. In that case, the Client is entitled to terminate the Agreement, in so far as this shall be strictly necessary.
5.1. Immediately after delivery, the expense and risk in relation to the Goods pass to the Client, who bears the risk for any damage that may be caused to or by these Goods.
5.2. Notwithstanding this risk, ownership of the Goods is expressly not transferred to the Client until Lovechock B.V. has received all that it is owed for the delivery, including interest and costs. Lovechock B.V. may exercise this retention of title on all Goods.
5.3. The Client may sell the Goods to third parties as part of his normal trading activities, unless Lovechock B.V. has asked the Client to return the Goods in accordance with Article 5.4.
5.4. Notwithstanding the other rights that Lovechock B.V. is entitled to, Lovechock B.V. is irrevocably authorised by the Client to take possession on first demand of the supplied Goods without any notice of default or judicial intervention, should the Client fail to fulfil his payment obligations to Lovechock B.V. on time or at all.
6.1. All payments must be made to Lovechock B.V. without any deduction or setoff no later than fourteen (14) days after the invoice date, unless agreed otherwise in writing. The Client has no right of suspension.
6.2. If the Client fails to pay by the deadline stated in Article 6.1, then the Client will be deemed to be in default (verzuim) by operation of law by the simple expiry of this deadline, and Lovechock B.V. shall be entitled - without any notice of default (ingebrekestelling) to the Client – to charge the Client interest from the due date onwards at a rate equal to the commercial interest rate at that time under Article 6:119a Dutch Civil Code, with the Client also owing all the extrajudicial collection costs incurred in connection with the collection of Lovechock B.V.'s claim, with a minimum amount of 15% of the amount to be recovered.
6.3. In addition, the Client shall owe Lovechock B.V. all judicial costs actually incurred by the latter in all instances, in so far as they shall be reasonable. This last point only applies if Lovechock B.V. and the buyer engage in legal proceedings in relation to an Agreement that is governed by these general terms and conditions and a final judicial ruling is in force where the Client has been ruled against in full or for the most part.
7.1. Claims must be sent to Lovechock B.V. in writing and/or by fax quickly but in any case no later than 6 days after delivery, this on penalty of forfeiture of all rights to claim. This 6-day deadline replaces the qualification 'expeditiously' as referred to Article 7:23 paragraph 1 Dutch Civil Code. No claims of any kind shall suspend the Client's payment obligation.
7.2. After finding any defect, the Client is obliged to stop using the Goods in question immediately and furthermore to do or refrain from doing all that is reasonably possible to prevent further damages.
8.1. If Lovechock B.V. is unable to fulfil its obligations to the Client due to a nonattributable breach (force majeure) then fulfilment of the obligations will be suspended for the duration of the state of force majeure.
8.2. The Client is not entitled to any compensation in connection with force majeure, even if Lovechock B.V. should derive some benefit from it.
8.3. Force majeure is deemed to mean: any circumstances independent of Lovechock B.V.'s will that prevents the fulfilment of Lovechock B.V.'s obligations to the Client in full or in part or where Lovechock B.V. cannot be reasonably expected to fulfil its obligations, irrespective of whether this circumstance could have been foreseen at the time the Agreement was entered into. Such circumstances shall in any case include: strikes and lockouts, electric power supply problems, standstill or other problems affecting Lovechock B.V.'s production or its suppliers and/or its transportation, whether carried out by itself or by third parties.
8.4. Lovechock B.V. will inform the Client as quickly as possible of any current or imminent state of force majeure.
9.1. Apart from the case in which losses are the result of an intentional act or gross negligence on the part of Lovechock B.V. or its managerial employees, Lovechock B.V. will only accept liability for losses up to a maximum of twice the amount of the invoice in question; this up to maximum of € 1,000.
9.2. In no case will Lovechock B.V. accept any liability for consequential loss/damage, which shall be deemed to include losses due to delay, the Client's or his counterparties' trading losses and lost profits.
9.3. Lovechock B.V. is entitled to have the Agreement performed by third parties. If losses are the result of a shortcoming on the part of these third parties then Lovechock B.V. shall not be liable for this.
9.4. The Client knows how to use and store the Goods. Any liability on the part of Lovechock B.V. shall cease to apply if the Goods are stored or used incorrectly by or for the Client.
9.5. Lovechock B.V. shall reject any liability for Goods that have already been processed by or for the Client.
10.1. All intellectual and industrial property rights attached to or connected with the activities and work performed or goods supplied by Lovechock B.V. in connection with the performance of the Agreement belong to Lovechock B.V.
10.2. The Client will not make any changes to the packaging of the Goods or make changes to any ordered or unordered promotional material.
10.3. The Client shall refrain from analysing the chemical composition of the Goods and from performing any other analysis and from permitting this to be done by third parties, other than with the consent of Lovechock B.V.
11.1. Any disputes arising between the parties in connection with or further to an Agreement entered into between them that is governed in part by these general terms and conditions shall only be adjudicated by the competent court in Amsterdam or, and this solely at Lovechock B.V.'s discretion, by a court located in the Client's town/city.
11.2. The parties expressly declare that the Agreement shall be governed by Dutch law.


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Playmusic
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Play Video Lyrics
Tags: classic rock rock 60s The Beatles pop
"Get Back" is a song recorded by the Beatles, originally released as a single on 11 April 1969 and credited to "The Beatles with Billy Preston."[3] A different mix of the song later became the closing track of Let It Be (1970), which was the Beatles' last album released just after the group split. The single version was later issued on CD on the second disc of the Past Masters compilation. The single reached number one in the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France, West Germany, and Mexico. Read more on Last.fm.
Tracks by The Beatles:
Hello Goodbye
Band on the Run
Paul McCartney & Wings
Good Times Bad Times
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Please fill in the form for transportation booking we will confirm your reservation by email.
There are two options to get from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island.
The express bus to Cat Ba departs Hanoi and you are driven to the ferry dock in Hai Phong where you board the ferry and take the 30 minuet ride to Cat Ba Island. Once there you get on another bus that takes you into Cat Ba Town where we meet you to start your adventure.
Hai Phong – Cat Ba hydrofoil ticket.$12/per person/per way.
Noi Bai Airport pick-up or Drop Off add: $25 US per vehicle.
We would recommend you to let us to book and reserve the ticket to you Please fill out the form below and we will arrange the tickets for you.
You can buy ticket on departure day the bus could be fully book out, so buy tickets in advance to be sure.


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XMAS TRAIN WARNING
Christmas transport meltdown feared as ministers urged to put on more trains and scrap engineering works
URGENT plans are being prepared to prevent a transport meltdown over Christmas as ministers are urged to put on more trains and scrap engineering works.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is being told he must put on more trains as the nation heads home for the festive season over the five-day relaxation of coronavirus rules.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is being told he must put on more trains during the Christmas periodCredit: Alamy
A Christmas travel tsar has been appointed in a bid to avoid transport chaos during the festive period.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy will scrutinise whether train, air and road networks are ready for millions of people making trips over the five-day window when coronavirus restrictions are eased.
He will be able to tell operators to change timetables and report to the Government about any problems he thinks will pop up.
Rail operators are particularly worried about December 27, sources told the Telegraph.
That date will have a watered-down timetable due to it falling on a Sunday, and is likely to be extremely busy as people return from seeing family on Christmas Day.
The Department for Transport said he had been asked to "rigorously scrutinise the winter preparedness plans of all transport operators to ensure journeys are smooth and safe".
Earlier this week, Mr Shapps warned people to "look very carefully at the transport route they take" when people cross the country.
He added:" We have got to understand there are limitations to the (train) network caused by, for example, things like the need on some trains to pre-book tickets at this time, in order to prevent overcrowding.
It is the reality of the situation we're in, we will try to do everything we can with the network to make it as good as possible, but I think it is worth people being aware that busy times of travel is a problem.
"So we are going to be appealing to people to look very carefully at the transport route they take and of course even making a choice about whether they travel at all.
"It is the reality of the situation we're in, we will try to do everything we can with the network to make it as good as possible, but I think it is worth people being aware that busy times of travel is a problem."
He also warned there would still be significant disruption on the network from planned engineering works - which cannot be changed.
Yesterday the Railway Industry Association (RIA), hit back over the request to stop essential upgrades.
Their Chief Executive Darren Caplan said: "The work that rail suppliers deliver over the Christmas period is essential to ensuring our railways continue to run effectively and reliably.
"Despite recent reports suggesting this work is unnecessary, the vast majority of the rail network, around 95%, will be unaffected by these engineering projects, and the work that does take place is vital to keeping the network moving for the future.
"We should all be grateful that this Christmas, whilst we are spending time with our families, railway workers across the country will be working hard, as they have done through this whole challenging year.
"The rail supply sector, working in particular with Network Rail, will ensure our network continues to run for the benefit of communities in all parts of the UK."
In a letter, the Lib Dems warn that it will be "simply dangerous for trains and stations to be overcrowded" adding the government lack of action "risks causing chaos and needlessly putting lives at risk."
Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney said: "Being able to see loved ones this Christmas will mean a lot to millions right across the country, but people must be able to travel safely. Failing to prepare for a surge in travelling will be disastrous.
"The trains and stations are notoriously rammed around Christmas time in normal years – Ministers must learn from their ridiculous 10pm curfew and ensure that we do not see our trains and stations mobbed in the lead up to Christmas day.
"The Liberal Democrats are clear - the Tories must have a plan to increase the number of trains so everyone can travel safely, but must also cancel all non-essential engineering works during the Christmas period."
Train passenger tells mum to 'get out of the country' for refusing to wear mask in front of her young children


I have a hard time with transition and change. I tend to always look for a place to anchor, and to stay. But that is not how life happens. I blogged at the conclusion of 2017 and 2018 and shared some of my learning in years of transition, hard decisions, surprises, challenges, and celebrations. 2019 is not so different from the previous two years, but I am focused on my anchor and floating above the water.
And so, we come to the last in my series. If I could grab your face and hold it in my hands to make you hear this last strategy, I would. Dear sister, change is inevitable, and growth is hard, BUT we are called to progress. Progress regardless of the road, progress regardless of the circumstances, progress regardless of someone else's decisions, progress regardless of loss, progress regardless of abundance, progress. That kind of progress requires something that I often lose sight of.
Progress, as it is intended, requires the ability to anchor oneself in hope and float above whatever life brings.
I have a fear of deep water. Even deep pool water. But ocean water is the most fearful. In my early years of staying at home with my littles, I did a sprint triathlon in Santa Barbara, twice, maybe three times. Each time, I trained hard. And each time swimming in the open water took me out. The first time I hyperventilated and doggy-paddled the distance. The second time was basically the same, but I had a friend having a harder time than me, so I side-stroked with her, very happy to do so. I just can't get my face in the water. A lot goes on below the surface of the water; whole ecosystems thrive, animals swim, things grow, things get eaten and you cannot see what is in front of you. I prefer the above. I prefer a boat that is anchored, allowing me to float above the changes, transitions, abundance, and scarcity.
If we acknowledge our vulnerability and admit our weaknesses, we have no choice but to anchor our heart and hopes in God. Henri Nouwen wrote about the concept of abiding in Christ. To abide is to dwell in, constantly, not to just walk alongside or to reach out when needed. It is a state of being. And when we abide, we anchor and then float. This floating is what enables our growth. We float because we are anchored and that enables us to not be pulled down by any circumstance, environment, change or joy. As we float we grow through our life experiences because we have a higher sense of belonging; a sense of abiding in the one and only life-giving source.
In reflection, the times in my life when I was the lowest, hit the hardest, or feeling the most stuck, was when I jumped out of the boat and thought I could swim in the ocean by myself. And I can't even get my face in the water! So, I doggy-paddle back to the boat and climb in, wet and exhausted, spent from the battle. Soon I begin to feel the rolling swells of the waves that rock me into a peaceful state. The sun warms my face and heart, calms my mind and I experience, once again, the comfort of safely being anchored. That is how I choose to do 2019, and that my sister, is how I encourage you to do life.
The ocean is filled with beauty, as is our life. There are gifts everywhere and in every circumstance. If we micro-focus on the effort or the problem or the shock or even the abundance, we miss something. So, I encourage you to keep your toe in the water, settle in but don't settle, journey with adventure, remember your shoes, enter with intention, find some heroes and anchor and float.
Have courage, dear heart. Anchor yourself and enjoy the ride!


Bobbie Ruben captures the essence of Darwin's tropical wetland environment, viewed through the iconic Darwin louvred window. Each lotus lily, lily pad and pod has been individually positioned to create an artificial while also realistic landscape.
These designs look stunning as furnishings, cushions, skirts, dresses and jackets or simply hung on your wall.


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Cramer: Buy U.S. Bancorp and Diageo, But Sell Penn West Petroleum and Melco Crown
Alex Capel
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Buy. The stock's 52-week high is $35.46, and its 52-week low is $28.58. "People are upset," Cramer said. "They feel there is not enough growth in the mortgage business. The stock can fall a bit, but it is too well-run for me to abandon. Two years from now, that stock is going to be higher, even though two days from now, it is going to be lower."
EXCLUSIVE OFFER! Take Advantage of the Tax Relief 50% Off Sale for a Limited Time. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW!
Diageo (NYSE:DEO): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Buy. The stock's 52-week high is $127.51, and its 52-week low is $92.55. "I like it," he said. "Buy 25 here, wait until it gets to $115 and buy more. Then at $110, you will get yield protection."
Penn West Petroleum (NYSE:PWE): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Sell. The stock's 52-week high is $17.58, and its 52-week low is $9.19. "It is not doing that well," he said. "There are tax considerations. It is not the same as an American trust."
Melco Crown Entertainment (NASDAQ:MPEL): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Sell. The stock's 52-week high is $23.69, and its 52-week low is $9.13. "It is too sensitive to the situation in China because of Macau," he said. "I have to see the situation in China improve before I can recommend a casino stock."
Don't Miss: Uncle Sam Needs Your Tax Payment Now.


110A. Algebra (Honors). (4) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 115A. Not open for credit to students with credit for course 117. Ring of integers, integral domains, fields, polynomial domains, unique factorization. Honors sequence parallel to courses 110A. P/NP or letter grading.
The following schedule anticipates 24 days of instruction, with 2 holidays and 4 days for exams and reviews. If there is extra time, one could do section 6.3 - the structure of R/I when I is prime or maximal and/or section 4.6 - irreducibility in R[x] or C[x].
Math 110ABC is the basic undergraduate course sequence in abstract algebra. Math 110A covers rings and fields, while Math 110B treats group theory.
An honors course sequence 110AH-110BH runs parallel to 110A-110B, however the order of topics is juxtaposed. Math 110AH is devoted to the study of group theory. Groups are a mathematical expression of symmetry and are vitally important in many areas of Mathematics, e.g. Number Theory, Topology and Geometry. Group theory plays an important role in Physics, especially in Quantum Theory. The course will cover the definition and properties of groups as well as the structure of finite groups. The honors sequence in Algebra is essential for those interested in pursuing pure mathematics at any higher level as well as being one of the most interesting and challenging mathematics courses at UCLA.
Math 110AH covers group theory in the Fall, while Math 110BH in the Winter covers rings and fields. Math 110BH is devoted to Ring Theory, especially commutative rings. Rings play a central role in many areas of mathematics, e.g. Algebra, Algebraic Geometry and Number Theory. The highlight of the course is the theory of modules over Principal Ideal Domains with applications to the theory of canonical forms in linear algebra and to the structure of finitely generated abelian groups.
Thus a student who has a difficult time surviving group theory in Math 110AH in the Fall can continue in Math 110B in the Winter and learn group theory really well. In the reverse direction, no student has ever taken 110A in the Fall and switched to 110BH in the Winter, though there always could be a first. The prerequisite for 110BH is 110AH or consent of instructor.
Students who take 110AH but not 110BH can take 110A or 117.
Math 110C, offered in the Spring, is designed for students completing either the 110A-110B or the 110AH-110BH sequence. Math 110C covers Galois theory. This is the theory initiated by Evariste Galois (killed in a duel at age 21), which laid an abstract foundation for proving the theorem of N. Abel (died of consumption at age 27) that the general quintic equation is not solvable by radicals.
The Integers: Well ordering and greatest common divisors.
Group actions: orbit decomposition theorem.


You are playing 3D War Truck. Do not forget to play one of the other great Racing games at GamesXL.com!
Race in a war truck through the streets and avoid the objects and other vehicles on the road. Ear as much money as possible so you can improve your truck.


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Unseen pictures reveal historic boat wreck discovered… in the mountains
Alex Webber November 28, 2020
While the Syrena was discovered five years ago, this is the first time pictures have surfaced of its watery grave. Sławomir Paćko/TOPR
Dramatic photos of a historic wreck at the bottom of Morskie Oko have caused a splash online after being released late in the week by the Tatra Volunteer Search & Rescue Group.
The wreck was found during a training exercise conducted by the Tatra Volunteer Search & Rescue Group.Sławomir Paćko/TOPR
Though first discovered five years ago after years of rumour and speculation, this is the first time images of the sunken Syrena have been made public.
Regarded as one of Poland's greatest natural wonders, Morskie Oko has for centuries thrilled with its overpowering sense of beauty.Grzegorz Momot/PAP
Thought to have been acquired at the start of the 20th century, anecdotal evidence suggests that in 1908 the Tatra Society was swayed into buying two seaworthy lifeboats from a firm in Bremen by a local activist by the name of Valery Eljasz. Arriving soon after, the pair of vessels were christened Świstak and Syrena.
Evidence suggests that in 1908 the Tatra Society was swayed into buying two seaworthy lifeboats from a firm in Bremen by a local activist – one of them was the Syrena.Sławomir Paćko/TOPR
While little fact-based information exists, it's widely recognized that these boats were similar – if not identical – to those used by the Prussian sea rescue service in the Baltic Sea. Likely to have filled a dual role, they would have been utilized not only to act as lifeboats, but also as pleasure boats ferrying tourists across the calm waters of the lake.
Each year Morskie Oko is visited by around 50,000 tourists.Grzegorz Momot/PAP
However, archived reports suggest that by 1912 the boats had already been allowed to deteriorate into a state of abject disrepair and it was only the personal intervention of Mariusz Zaruski, the founder of the Tatra Volunteer Search & Rescue Group (TOPR), that saw them restored to their original glory.
Some have jokingly called the Syrena "the Polish Titanic".Sławomir Paćko/TOPR
Thereafter, their story remains a mystery, and while it's believed they survived the wartime years, it's unknown just how long they continued to sail Morskie Oko. For decades, the fate of these boats mystified visitors and was just one more legend connected with an area already rich in myth.
Regarded as one of Poland's greatest natural wonders, Morskie Oko has for centuries thrilled with its overpowering sense of beauty. Nestled in the Tatras, and surrounded by soaring mountains, some of the more outlandish tales associated with the picturesque lake allude to a watery subterranean passage leading all the way to the Adriatic Sea.
According to one legend, Morskie Oko is connected to the Adriatic Sea.Grzegorz Momot/PAP
More believable, though, are the tales of riches that lie below the surface. With many of Morskie Oko's 50,000 annual tourists throwing a coin into the lake for good luck, it's said that a not-too-distant operation to remove some of these netted several tons of coins from a total of 54 countries.
Fifty-one metres at its deepest, and set an altitude of 1,395 metres above sea level, the lake became something of a tourist hotspot in the mid-19th century after its virtues were enthusiastically promoted by Dr. Tytus Chałubiński, a Zakopane-based physician that did much to put the region on the map as a holiday destination.
Pictured in the inter-war years, for decades the fate of the Syrena mystified visitors.Public domain
In fact, it is from this time that the first recorded mentions of pleasure boats on Morskie Oko exist. Referenced in the area's original guidebook, a tome penned by Maria Steczkowska in 1858, glorified rafts proved a popular attraction among the visitors of the time.
But with the lake's jetty dismantled sometime in the 1980s, evidence of Morskie Oko's nautical heritage had appeared to have vanished entirely until the discovery of the Syrena. Found during a training exercise conducted by TOPR, and subsequently photographed by Sławomir Paćko, his ethereal images have stormed the internet with many users jokingly referring to the Syrena as "the Polish Titanic".
Tags: Tatra, Syrena, Mountains, wreck, pictures, tatra mountains, photos, images, Morskie oko, topr
Extraordinary photos reveal long-forgotten cemetery where Jesus GROWS out of a tree
Powerfully poignant photographs reveal incredible remains of abandoned memorabilia in neglected club for WWII Veterans
Polish Tatra resorts suffer 40 pct tourist traffic slump - lobby
'Mountain girl' hits new heights with her stunning highland fashions


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R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse is a 2003 short 4-D film. It debuted in several United States theme parks, including SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld San Antonio. The film was created by Busch Entertainment Corporation and Lookout Entertainment. It is the first 3-D film featured at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

The film was shot in 3D using a 5 perforation/70mm format. The effects in the show include water/air jets and seats wired with special effects (buzzers), remote speakers, and other tactile elements. The ending features water cannons mounted under the screen which soak many people in the theater.

Plot
The film tells the story of the ghosts of two children who are cursed to remain forever on a Cape Cod beach and in a 19th-century era lighthouse. After 100 years, they meet two children visiting the beach and take them to the lighthouse, hoping to turn them into ghosts like them.

Cast
 Christopher Lloyd as Cap'n Jack
 Lea Thompson as Peg Van Legge
 Michael McKean as Captain Van Legge
 Bobby Edner as Edgar
 Matt Weinberg as Mike
 Sara Paxton as Ashley
 Daveigh Chase as Annabel
 Rachel Hunter as Rich Widow Feeney
 "Weird Al" Yankovic (cameo) as Waiter

Later appearances
The film had begun shows at the UK theme park Flamingo Land until 2016 when the ride was removed from the park to make way for the hub, an entertainment complex and Go cart track.

Shows formerly located at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Busch Gardens Williamsburg were replaced by Pirates 4D in early 2006.

See also
 List of ghost films

References

External links

Haunted Lighthouse at the Iwerks Entertainment website

R. L. Stine
2003 films
2003 3D films
2000s adventure films
2003 horror films
2003 short films
American 3D films
American adventure films
American supernatural horror films
American horror short films
3D short films
Amusement park films
Amusement rides introduced in 2003
Amusement rides that closed in 2006
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
American ghost films
SeaWorld San Antonio
SeaWorld San Diego
4D films
Films directed by Joe Dante
Works set in lighthouses
2000s English-language films
2000s American films

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


I'm sick. As you are aware from my prolific and detailed Facebook updates, I was up very late last night making poor health choices, and now wish to be excused from established course or lesson expectations.
I'm not sick. I'm very sick, and by the end of this hour, you will be, too.
I have a family/fraternity/church/extracurricular thing that I have to go to. I wish to make choices but not suffer consequences.
I'm going to be honest: I haven't practiced, so I don't want to waste your time. I believe that honesty, rather than being seen as a baseline expectation for civilized conversation, should be considered a noble enough gesture to excuse my failure to meet expectations.
Did I miss anything important in class? I think your class is mostly time fillers and stalling, with the few "important" things scattered throughout the semester.
I have something I have to do for another class. My other class is too important to blow off, but yours isn't.
Don't worry, I already know the material. Expect me to crash and burn, hard, at the exam/jury.


Whether its to compliment any paving or construction we have done, or just to make an area look presentable and attractive, our landscaping services will advise, design and complete any landscaping requirements you have.
Our Artificial Lawns are the latest product available at the highest qulaity, and very realisitic. Being fully weatherproof and maintenance free, they are a superb choice to any landscaping project.
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text:
Q: Rails AplicationController trouble I have it in my ApplicationController
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  protect_from_forgery with: :exception
  $banner = Banner.first
  $template = Template.first
end

and in my _myfile.html.erb
<%= $template.mainpage_benefits.html_safe %>

My terminal has next error:
ActionView::Template::Error (undefined method `html_safe' for nil:NilClass

I don't met this practice before($template = Template.first). Please, explain me, how i can fix it

A: Correct your view with:
<%= $template.mainpage_benefits ? $template.mainpage_benefits.html_safe : '' %>

As someone else pointed out in comments, usually it's better to use instance vars ( @template ) in these situations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Election Coverage Explained
VINNY TENNIS - DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Ryan Costello makes an acceptance speech for the U.S Congress at the Hilton Garden Inn in Exton on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014.
VINNY TENNIS - Daily Local News Ryan Costello makes an acceptance speech for the U.S Congress at the Hilton Garden Inn in Exton on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014.
Costello leads Trivedi for 6th congressional district
By Ginger Rae Dunbar gdunbar@21st-centurymedia.com @GingerDunbar on Twitter
Republican Ryan Costello defeated Democrat Manon Trivedi for Congress in the 6th U.S. Congressional District Tuesday.
Costello, the chairman of the Chester County Board of Commissioners, declared victory over Trivedi, a doctor from Berks County.
Trivedi conceded that Costello won, congratulating him on his win and his "spirited campaign," said Darren Berringer, Trivedi's campaign manager.
"Thank you to voters and our many campaign volunteers for believing and trusting in me," said Costello in a statement from his victory headquarters at the Hilton Garden Inn in Uwchlan.
"I want to thank Manan Trivedi for being a part of the process and for his service to our country," said Costello. He ran a spirited campaign and I wish him all the best in the future. I also want to thank Congressman Jim Gerlach for his many years of service representing local residents and for his support of my campaign."
At 10:45 p.m., Costello had 57 percent of the votes, while Trivedi had 43 percent of the votes. He was leading in balloting in Chester, Montgomery and Berks counties.
Costello and Trivedi were seeking to replace Gerlach, who announced he would not seek re-election for his seventh term as congressman.
Costello is a land use and real estate attorney at the Phoenixville firm of O'Donnell, Weiss & Mattei. Trevedi is a physician. He served in the U.S. Navy as a combat physician with the Marines during the invasion of Iraq 10 years ago.
"We face many challenges as a country," said Costello in his victory statement. "What we want is a government that responds to and respects the American people, policies that put hardworking families back in the driver's seat of our economy, and principles that protect our nation's freedoms and liberties."
"I look forward to working in a bi-partisan manner with the new Congress to put America back on the path to prosperity. That means setting aside party labels and working harder to find commonality and areas of agreement. We need to begin efforts to bridge the partisan divide that has created gridlock in Washington. I believe we can do that. And we should start with tackling some key issues that should be able to garner bipartisan support: like investing and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, tackling trade issues, and implementing key tax reforms."
Mary Cee, of West Vincent, who participates in Olympic-like shooting sporting activities, said she voted for Costello because she votes for candidates who support gun rights. Costello's campaign received support from the National Rifle Association.
"I research candidates before I vote," Cee said, who added that she is a NRA supporter.
"I voted Republican and I did it for gun laws," Cee said. "I vote out anybody who is anti-gun. I'm pro-gun rights."
Costello previously said that at the county level he is helping to fund a study with the mental health department, emergency rooms physicians, law enforcement and service providers that would put a person's name in the firearms instant check system if they are identified to have a mental illness. He explained that it would prevent the purchase.
During a political debate between the two candidates seeking the sixth congressional district, Costello said, "I believe in reducing gun violence." When asked, Trivedi said he would support legislation that requires background checks in Pennsylvania to purchase a gun.
Trivedi ran for congress but lost twice to Republican U.S. Rep. Gerlach in 2012 and 2010. Gerlach, R-6th of West Pikeland, was first elected to Congress in 2002.
Earlier in the day, voter Carol Eagles of East Caln said she voted for Costello. She said that she thinks the Republicans are working to improve the future economy. She said she knows of Trivedi, but did not vote for him because she said the Democratic Party is "too liberal."
"If I don't know a lot about the person's campaign, I rely on the principals that party represents," Eagles said. "The Republican Party represents my ideals more."
She said the Republican Party promotes jobs and businesses, which are "things the county really needs right now."
Dionna Harris, of East Caln, said she voted for Trivedi because he represents what the Democratic Party stands for. She said the party shares the same values that she does as a middle class citizen. She said she cares about education, healthcare and wages.
During a political debate, Trivedi said the federal government should have a role in providing funding with "basic guidelines" but to let school districts be "flexible and make the decisions that are best for them." Costello said that the challenge is that "we don't want the federal government telling states through performance grants what they need to do." He said that teachers should have the "flexibility and discretion to teach students as they find appropriate."
"Right now it's important for us to get Democrats in the office to help President Obama do what he needs to do to help the country," Harris said.
She explained to her children that local races are "equally as important" as presidential races because "those people are ultimately going to support the president's initiatives."
"I hope the Democrats can pull it off," Harris said.
After his service in Iraq, Manan received a Masters degree in Health Policy. He has served as health policy advisor to the Navy Surgeon General and was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. Manan now works as a health policy consultant and a part-time primary care physician at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center.
Costello is a former supervisor in East Vincent where he was elected chairman. Before becoming county commissioner, he was elected recorder of deeds for the county.
Robert Shapley, of West Vincent, said he has met and voted for Costello.
"I was impressed," Shapley said. "I thought he was a knowledgeable person."
Costello grew up in Chester County. He is a graduate of Owen. J. Roberts High School. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Ursinus College and the Villanova School of Law.
50 famous firsts from political history
Donald Trump's plan to move to Mar-a-Lago faces challenges
No. 2 Senate Dem: Riot was like a 'banana republic'
Commentary: Trust the vaccine for its life-saving merits
New police officer is familiar face to the community
Morning Briefing: Local Congressional members all vote to impeach Trump for second time; Officials look to ramp up COVID vaccinations; Flyers roll to season-opening win
Man faces trial in fatal shooting in Norristown
Morning Briefing: Former local firefighter arrested in connection to Capitol riot; County officials keep an eye on security; Villanova gets back to practice after COVID shutdown
Following vehicle thefts, Norristown Police urge residents to keep car doors locked
FBI arrests retired Chester firefighter for throwing fire extinguisher at police during Capitol riot (With Video)
Montgomery County sheriff unveils program to assist court participants who need mental health services


GDPR takes effect on May 25th 2018. We would like to take this opportunity to advise you of our position regarding your data and the way we comply with GDPR.
In compliance with section 161 and section 19(2) of schedule 19 Finance Act 2016, the Company is publishing in its internet site its tax strategy for the year ending 31 December 2017.
Acciaierie Valbruna is a private company with 2,500 employees and an annual output of approximately 200,000 tonnes of specialty steels.
Our Nickel Alloys for Special Applications Brochure has landed.
We have released a new brochure for 2010. You can find it in our catalogue section.
The new press was installed to produce forged round bars in sizes ranging from 250 to 700 mm diameter.


Bickham, George (c. 1704–1771), engraver and printseller ?
Bonfiglioli, Kyril Emanuel George [Cyril] (1928–1985), art dealer and writer ?
Bowles family (per. c. 1690–c. 1830), print and mapsellers ?
Bowles, Carington (1724–1793), printseller ?
Bowles, Henry Carington (1763–1830) ?
Bowles, Thomas (d. 1721) ?


We needed to design and develop a new enterprise platform that could easily manage all of Electrodry's websites and be able to leverage the same functionality across each of the sites.
At the same time, we had to come up with a design that would incorporate the recognised Electrodry branding while dramatically improving user experience on all devices.
To meet these challenges, we designed & built a new website for Electrodry.
We created the main Electrodry website in the Umbraco Cloud CMS, developing a tailored functionality to integrate the new site's lead form into Electrodry's central booking system.
Our content team worked closely with Electrodry to create engaging & relevant content that delivered an improved user experience, while at the same time optimising the site for organic search and conversion.
We leveraged the functionality and design of the main site for multiple independent sub sites with their own unique content.
Compared to the previous July, there was a 57% leap in online bookings.
Unique page views grew by a massive 81%.
Electrodry saw a 33% increase in goal completions.
Across the site, there was a 19% improvement in page load speeds.


This is a great Whitetail Deer antler plaque mount, featuring a clean walnut wood plaque and a great set of antlers that achieve an SCI Rough Score of 105 0/8". All this combined with expert craftsmanship earns this item our Excellent Plus™ overall quality rating. All applicable dimensions are included to help ensure this item will fit within your intended display space.


PhillyMag's Citfied blog interviews 5th Square co-founder and Point Breeze resident Jake Liefer about Washington Avenue.
Fifth Square PAC is a non-partisan political action committee organized within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Home	Companies	DelivHer Takes Home $105K E-Fest Prize for This Patented Feminine Hygiene Product
DelivHer Takes Home $105K E-Fest Prize for This Patented Feminine Hygiene Product
Some of the toughest industries to bring innovation to are those that are "taboo" — a condition or phenomenon where everyone knows it happens, many deal with it regularly, but nobody talks about it.
We're talking hair loss (and removal!), acne, and men's and women's health issues. Never easy to talk about, even sometimes with your doctor.
But if you've been paying attention to the venture deals term sheets lately, it's evident that the tide is beginning to turn. Nowhere is that more evident than menstrual care.
The feminine hygiene market is naturally broad — 50 percent of the population requires sanitary products for a good portion of their life. Women in the U.S. spend over $3 billion annually on feminine hygiene, with $16 billion spent globally.
Despite the numbers, the industry has remained dominated by the same legacy players for decades — and 50 percent of women say they are dissatisfied with the products available to them on the market.
Moreover, the traditional disposable products are expensive — a Reuters survey of low-income U.S. women found that nearly two-thirds couldn't afford menstrual hygiene products at some point in the past year.
That's the space Chante' Knox and Dia Davis, both current Georgia State students, are stepping into. This past weekend, the two won top prizes for a total of $105,000 in a national entrepreneurship challenge for their patented menstrual cup product and feminine sanitary subscription service.
Menstrual cups have been around since the 1930's, but have recently grown in popularity due to the lower cost, health and safety benefits (they eliminate the small chance of contracting a dangerous infection from a tampon), and convenience of being able to leave them in all day.
However, they tend to be difficult to remove and clean.
Knox began experimenting with different absorbent materials for menstrual cups over four years ago, when she determined she wanted such a product for herself. She found what she needed in medical-grade sponge material used for deep-wound surgeries.
She developed a long-lasting, disposable menstrual cup which has the same absorbent properties as traditional tampons and sanitary napkins. The product received a patent in 2018.
Knox teamed up on the business with COO Davis, who has a background in the payments industry and currently works at NCR, to build DelivHer, their startup that will manufacture and sell the cups.
The DelivHer solution, however, goes way beyond the cup. Knox and Davis intend to provide a full-service subscription model to help women mitigate the chore of being on her period.
A user will first take a short quiz to share more details on her cycle and symptoms. Then, for $24.99 a month, she will be shipped a personalized box with both DelivHer and other feminine hygiene products, along with supplements, pain medicine, and even personal care products.
Knox says that the subscription service is both a way to make life easier for users and a way to remove the barrier of entry to getting their product on the shelves in stores, which tend to be dominated by legacy players in the feminine care industry.
"Millennials are more apt to buy online — we like ease and we like subscription," says Knox. For women who don't want the full subscription, they can purchase the product online as well — $6 for a box of seven and $10 for 14.
The team captured the judges and audience when they pitched the business at the E-Fest National Entrepreneurship Challenge, a competition supported by Best Buy founder Richard M. Schulze's Family Foundation.
DelivHer was up against 24 other startups founded by students or recent graduates. Startups ranged from a digital invoicing solution for the construction industry (from Auburn), to an automatic intravenous injection device to replace manual injections (Princeton), to a personal carbon emission tracker app (University of Florida).
Knox and Davis earned top awards in the pitch slam and Innovation Challenge, garnering them about $30,000 in prize money. They then turned their eyes to the final competition, the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge.
On Sunday, April 14, DelivHer won $75,000 in the Championship Round.
The money, says Knox, will go towards expanding manufacturing, growing their marketing efforts, and finalizing a soft launch to get the product in the hands of real women. The product is currently in its final manufacturing stages, with a soft launch planned for this summer and full production in the fall.
Though clearly at an earlier stage, DelivHer joins the ranks of startups like LOLA, a feminine care and sex products subscription service that recently raised a $24 million Series B, and Hims/Hers, a direct-to-consumer brand with sexual wellness products, skin care and hair loss treatments that has reached unicorn status.
Destigmatization, it turns out, can be quite an effective business model. But Knox also points out the social benefits of such a market approach.
For example, she is looking at the potential of the product for a customer like the U.S. military.
"If you think about women that need to be focused on the job and not focused on frequent trips to the restroom, who best other than our servicewomen?" Knox asked in her E-Fest pitch video.
She also brings up the challenges of the developing world, where it is common for women to have no access to any kind of feminine care, and for girls to miss school when they are on their cycle.
Lastly, she tells Hypepotamus that even many women in the U.S., such as women in shelters, may have very little access or ability to purchase feminine hygiene products.
"We plan to start at home and work our way out," says Knox.
Chante KnoxDelivHerDia Davisfeminine hygieneperiodwomens health
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Sunday outfit - What I Wore on a Casual Sunday Brunch.
I hope everyone of you had a beautiful weekend.
I am feeling pretty good about myself because I am finally consistent with my blogging and thinking about new ideas very often. This weekend I attended my Spanish class as well. I am glad I am getting back to life. On Sunday I went out for brunch with my sister.
This is what I wore on my casual Sunday brunch.
I had a great time. We had burgers and doughnuts. It was an afternoon full of laughter and gossips. We talked about life and everything. I realized that I am such a doughnut freak that I ate three doughnuts alone. Had not my sister stopped me, I would have eaten more. We then had a walk together.
Usually I am very lazy at weekends but I am glad I did something this weekend that I can call productive.
Hey! I have also started maintaining a journal. I usually have my emotional break downs at night, when I am free and vulnerable. At that moment I don't feel like talking to anyone because from 19 years of life experience I have realized that people are not constant and so are the feelings. I am glad I am writing my feels to let everything stay out of mind instead of bothering people with rants. For this too shall pass.


While the season 5 of "Nina" is expected in the fall, the series medical France 2, led by Annelise Hesme will stop in 2020 after a sixth and final season which should be shortened to six episodes. REMY GRANDROQUES / BARJAC / FTV Bad news for fans of Nina. According to Tv Entertainment , the series medical France 2, launched in 2015, will stop next year at the end of its sixth season, which will be shorter than the previous one, and will only contain 6 episodes. Interviewed by our colleagues, Annelise Hesme, the performer of the heroine Nina Auber, has confirmed the news and said that the series did the costs, as well as other series before it (one thinks in particular We are going to love a little much or Lebowitz against Lebowitz), reorganization, operated by Takis Candilis, appointed director general delegate to the antenna and programs of France Télévisions in January 2018. "This is not against Nina, there are a lot of series that [Takis Candilis] stops or to which he removes episodes," says the actress. "It controls less. I think there's a little bit of a redesign, as every time there is someone that moves… After I'm intermittent, I'm not a nurse. There was a time, it takes a while it stops". But the fans can rest assured that Nina has not yet completely put away his coat in the closet, as this final season, scheduled to be filmed this autumn, will be broadcast in 2020. And before that, viewers of France 2 will be able to discover at the start the season, 5 new, made up of 12 episodes, including the shooting has just been completed and will show the consequences of the terrible attack that occurred during the last seconds of the season 4.


When we created the team, the next logical step was look for the idea. What kind of videogame we will do? What theme? What art, mechanics, goals, story…?
Is one of the most difficult parts of making a videogame, the idea, a good idea that must be fun, beautiful, different. And also, an idea we can achieve, not so complicated to do or without a lot of loose end.
In youtube you can see videos about how we are making the game, for example, the first we made as a test, some time ago. Not a big deal, but shows our first steps in the game Drop, some concepts arts, some mechanics we already implemented, the level we are working now and a little more.
If you follow us in any of our social networks probably you seen us in some picture or video.
Finally! We have the blog ready (almost) and we can start with our story here in the blog.
Follow us on twitter, facebook, youtube and instagram! what you prefer to be in touch!
We hope that you will enjoy it!!


text:
News Federal Court finds Trivago misled consumers about hotel room rates: ACCC
Federal Court finds Trivago misled consumers about hotel room rates: ACCC
| Jan 20,2020
The Federal Court has found Trivago breached Australian Consumer Law when it made misleading representations about hotel room rates both on its website and television advertising.
The Court ruled that from at least December 2016, Trivago misled consumers by representing its website would quickly and easily help users identify the cheapest rates available for a given hotel.
They found that in fact, Trivago used an algorithm which placed significant weight on which online hotel booking site paid Trivago the highest cost-per-click fee in determining its website rankings and often did not highlight the cheapest rates for consumers.
ACCC Chair Rod Sims said, "Trivago's hotel room rate rankings were based primarily on which online hotel booking sites were willing to pay Trivago the most."
"By prominently displaying a hotel offer in 'top position' on its website, Trivago represented that the offer was either the cheapest available offer or had some other extra feature that made it the best offer when this was often not the case," Mr Sims said.
The Court also found Trivago's hotel room rate comparisons that used strike-through prices or text in different colours gave consumers a false impression of savings because they often compared an offer for a standard room with an offer for a luxury room at the same hotel.
The Court also found that, until at least 2 July 2018, Trivago misled consumers to believe that the Trivago website provided an impartial, objective and transparent price comparison for hotel room rates.
"This decision sends a strong message to comparison websites and search engines that if ranking or ordering of results is based or influenced by advertising, they should be upfront and clear with consumers about this so that consumers are not misled," Mr Sims said.
A hearing on relief, including penalties, will be held at a later date.
Trivago's website aggregates deals offered by online hotel booking sites (like Expedia, Hotels.com and Booking.com) and hotel proprietors' own websites for available rooms at a hotel and highlights one offer out of all online hotel booking sites (referred to as the 'Top Position Offer'). However, Trivago's own data showed that higher-priced room rates were selected as the Top Position Offer over alternative lower-priced offers in 66.8% of listings.
Trivago Scandal


text:
The Ostromir Gospels (Russian: Остромирово Евангелие) is the oldest dated East Slavic book.  (Archeologists have dated the Novgorod Codex, a wax writing tablet with excerpts from the Psalms, discovered in 2000, to an earlier time range, but unlike the Ostromir Gospels it does not contain an explicit date.).  The Ostromir Gospels was created by deacon Gregory for his patron, Posadnik Ostromir of Novgorod, in 1056 or 1057 (the year 6564, in his dating system), probably as a gift for a monastery.

The book

The book is an illuminated manuscript Gospel Book lectionary containing only feast-day and Sunday readings. It is written in a large uncial hand in two columns on 294 parchment sheets of the size 20 x 24 cm.  Each page contains eighteen lines.  The book is concluded by the scribe's notice about the circumstances of its creation.

Three full page evangelist portraits survive, by two different artists, and many pages have decorative elements.  The close resemblance between this and the equivalent pages in the Mstislav Lectionary suggests they are both based on a common prototype, now lost. The two artists who produced the evangelist portraits were both heavily influenced by Byzantine models, but the style of the portraits of Saints Mark and Luke seems to derive from Byzantine enamelled plaques rather than manuscripts.

More early Russian manuscripts have survived from Novgorod, which was never occupied by the Mongols, than any other centre.

Later history
It is thought that the book was taken from one of Novgorod's monasteries to the personal collection of the Russian tsars in the Moscow Kremlin, where it was first registered in 1701. Peter the Great ordered it to be taken to St. Petersburg, where there was no mention of it until 1805, when it was discovered in the dressing room of the late Catherine the Great.

The Gospels were deposited in the Imperial Public Library in St Petersburg, where it remains. Alexander Vostokov was the first to study it in depth, demonstrating that the Church Slavonic of the manuscript reflects the Old East Slavic linguistic background of the scribe. The first facsimile edition was published under Vostokov's supervision in 1843.

In 1932, the gem-studded book-cover induced a plumber to break into a case, remove and steal the binding, and hide the parchments behind a bookcase. Although the book was quickly recovered, no replacement binding has been provided to date.

See also
Codex Zographensis (late 10th century or early 11th century)
Novgorod Codex (first quarter of the 11th century)
Svyatoslav's Miscellanies (1073, 1076)
Archangel Gospel (1092)
Mariinsky Gospel (11th century)
Mstislav Gospel (1117)
Yuriev Gospel (1119)
Halych Gospel (1144)
Dobrila Gospel (1164)
Pantaleon Gospel (12th century)
Eusebius Gospel (1282)
Chelm Gospel (13th century)

References

Further reading
Evans, Helen C. & Wixom, William D., The glory of Byzantium: art and culture of the Middle Byzantine era, A.D. 843-1261, no. 198, 1997, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries

External links

 Images from the Ostromir gospels
 Pages & description from the Russian National Library
 Ostromir Gospel at the National Library of Russia (2007)

1050s books
East Slavic manuscripts
History of Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia
Gospel Books
Memory of the World Register
Novgorod Republic
Cultural history of Russia
Ukrainian culture
National Library of Russia collection
11th-century biblical manuscripts
11th-century illuminated manuscripts
Church Slavonic manuscripts
Cyrillic manuscripts
Cyrillo-Methodian studies
Church Slavonic literature


Location: the Haute Garonne and Aude départements. From Toulouse to the Seuil de Naurouze (53 km northwest of Carcassonne). This route continues in one direction to Sète / Thau Basin (in the Languedoc-Roussillon region) and in the other direction, via the Canal des Deux Mers Greenway, as far as Bordeaux (Aquitaine region).
Length: 48km (length of the section in Midi-Pyrénées).
Linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea: Charlemagne had fantasised about it and Pierre-Paul Riquet actually went ahead and created it! With assistance from 12,000 workers for 14 years, Louis XIV's engineer dug a 240km canal between Toulouse and the Mediterranean shores: the Canal du Midi. This is extended by the Canal de Garonne between Toulouse and the Atlantic Ocean and his construction is now listed on the Unesco world heritage register.
The green route borders the Canal du Midi and is designed for cycling and roller-blading. The path is 3m wide with an asphalt surface almost all the way along. Only the last kilometre, in the Aude, is on sandy ground.
Starting in the centre of Toulouse, the route will lead you through the green valleys of the Lauragais district. You will be able to enjoy a pastoral setting of wheat and sunflower fields from atop your bicycle. Your route will also be interspersed with locks and beautiful rural villages, starting with Montgiscard, Baziège and Ayguevives. These villages are marked by Southern Gothic architectural style and feature particularly interesting bell walls.


text:
Midis Page Nine
5. A Planet Favored by Heaven
6. The Cat's Debt Repaid
7. The Gluttonous Wife
 Chinese Stories in English
1. Seating Arrangements
2. My Henan Neighbor
3. My Cousin
4. It's a Women's World
Short Stories Index
Flash Fiction Index
Jokes Index
1. Seating Arrangements (上座)
Jiang Xianping (蒋先平)
Little Zhang, one of my co-workers at the company, arranged a party at a local restaurant. His son was one month old that day, and Little Zhang invited everyone to celebrate his Full Month Day.
When we got off work in the evening, we all went as a group to a private room in the restaurant. After we were seated, Little Zhang said that the bosses would not be able to come because they were having a meeting. He insisted that I take the seat of honor at the table, the one facing the door.
When my uncle was alive, he often said that we people in the Northeast lack manners because our area is one that the Sage Confucius never visited. But my co-workers and I work together, and there are certain basic courtesies that we follow.
Everyone insisted strongly that I take the seat of honor, and after I had politely declined for a while, I was able to sit there with a clear conscience. I'm the chairman of our union and was the only person there with any technical training. Since the bosses weren't there, I should be the one to take that seat.
Before we'd picked up our chopsticks, though, the door buzzer sounded and Old Li, the Assistant Bureau Chief, came in.
After their meeting had ended, the Bureau Chief and the Assistant Chief for Routine Matters had stayed behind for another smaller meeting. It seemed that the two of them would not be able to attend this party. Old Li was looking at me as he said this, and started walking in my direction.
I understood immediately and stood right up. Without another word, Assistant Bureau Chief Li plopped his butt down in the seat of honor.
The party got into full swing and we were enjoying the drinks. Before much time had passed, each of us had two glasses of baijiu under his belt.
Then Old Ma, the Assistant Chief for Routine Matters and the second in command at our office, came into the room. "How much have you drunk?" he said in a loud voice. You couldn't wait a bit for me!" Little Liu, a secretary who had just started work at our company, got an extra chair from beside the door and invited Assistant Chief Ma to sit down. Without even looking at it, he fixed his eyes on Old Li and said, "I'll catch up with whatever you guys have already had, and then we'll do one for one and see who can put away the most on this day."
Old Li, who'd had a little too much already, suddenly wised up. He stood and offered the seat of honor to Old Ma.
Old Ma glanced at the now empty chair and blinked his eyes, but he wouldn't sit in it no matter what we said. Instead, he had Little Liu move the chair he'd just brought in up beside the seat of honor, and he sat down there.
So everyone continued drinking, and the seat of honor remained vacant.
A half hour later, the attendant came in and told us there was a guest outside the door.
"The Bureau Chief must have come. Hurry, show him right in." As we said that, Old Ma looked at the seat of honor, which had remained vacant all this time, and smiled happily. Then everyone understood why that seat had remained empty. We all said to ourselves that older cheese is the sharpest.
The door opened and a man dressed as a peasant came in. We were all stunned. Little Zhang stood up and introduced the fellow, "This is my older brother. He's from the country."
We all said, "If he's part of your family, he's part of ours, too, so sit down and have a drink." Little Liu said, "I'll find you a chair." But Little Zhang's brother, with a straightforward and honest smile, said, "Don't bother, this empty chair here will be OK for me." With that, he plopped his butt down in the vacant seat of honor and began to eat with relish.
Translated from this site, also available at http://www.xzbu.com/5/view-4572891.htm
2. My Henan Neighbor (我的河南邻居)
Yuan Jun (元军)
Here in Beijing, I have a neighbor whose official residence is in Henan Province. He's about 30 years old, tall and slim, with a pointy head shaped like a cornbread cone. He has bushy hair and eyebrows, and his fat eyelids and skinny nose look like they don't belong on the same face. His black lips against his whitish skin are painful to look at. But he married a voluptuous, light-skinned woman, which makes people sigh and say that life isn't fair.
He opened a bicycle repair stall next door to where I work, and he squats there all day long doing is thing. People rarely chat with him because of his thick country accent, but his eyes light up if ever anyone mentions his son. He really loves the boy. He's vowed to cultivate the youngster's talents so he can make something of himself rather than following in his father's footsteps.
He was too busy with his business to concentrate on helping the child with his schoolwork, and at the end of the first semester of first grade in Beijing, the boy was sent back to the family home in Henan to attend a school there. A short while ago, though, his grandfather abruptly sent the boy back to Beijing. They tried to get him back into the same school, even though he'd missed a bit, but the school rejected him again. The only thing left was to wait until September to repeat first grade. My neighbor was afraid the boy would forget what little he'd learned while they were waiting, so he made time to review the boy's lessons with him. But no matter what he did, they seemed to disagree about everything. You could say that this is when the life and death contest of wills between father and son got started.
In math, the answers are definite and there's nothing to argue about, so teacher and student were relatively restrained; in Chinese, because the pinyin spellings and pronunciations are iron-clad, it required no effort for Mandarin to overcome the Henan accent; but when they came to English, the domineering father with book in hand asked his son, "How do you say 'tiger' in English?"
"Tiger," the boy said timidly.
"Louder! Foreign vehicle?"
"If you mean 'bicycle,' it's bike!"
"And what about 'orange'?"
"Orange!"
"Can you say the last half of the word loud and clear for me? How do you say 'table'?"
"A desk or a dinner table?"
"Where do you come up with such nonsense? Whatever 'table' you've learned, that's the one I mean!"
"I've learned two words, one is desk and the other is dinner table."
As before, my neighbor only heard the first half of each word. He was ashamed, which made him mad. "You said them all wrong. Listen carefully! 'Tiger' is tai-yi-ge. 'Foreign vehicle' is bai-yi-ke. 'Orange' is ao-yun-ji. For 'table', I learned dai-si-ke."
The son listened with disdain apparent on his face.
"Don't be obstinate. I'm your father and I'm not talking nonsense. I've studied all these before. You get the first half of the word right, but you swallow the second half and there's no sound." My neighbor got right to the heart of his son's "mistake."
"My teacher doesn't say them like that." Stubbornness showed on the boy's face.
Never one to accept defeat, my neighbor refused to give in. He abruptly put on his sternest face to play the part of father. "You pigheaded little boy! Who's the father, you or me? Squat down! You hear me? I'm telling you to squat down!"
Feeling wronged, the son did as he was told. His father, who had been squatting there all along, gave him a couple of loud swats on the back of his head.
"Say them like I did! If you cut off the ends of the words again, you think you'll be eating dinner? No way!"
Between sobs, the son recited resignedly, "Tiger, tai-yi-ge; bike, bai-yi-ke; orange, ao-yun-ji; desk, dai-si-ke...."
My Henan neighbor finally smiled in satisfaction as he squatted there beside his son. While I'd been listening, I'd felt it was rather ridiculous and comical, and finally I couldn't keep still.
"Hey, brother, I'm from Anhui. Let me recite the English letters for you the way they were taught in my home town. ai, bee, she, dee, ee, eh-fu, jee. What do you think? Does that sound awkward, or what? I'm just like you. The English teachers back then were all at that level. They could teach other people's kids wrong [and not worry about it], but we shouldn't do wrong by our own kids. Your son said the words very well. This chirping that the foreigners use, we really can't coach it."
My neighbor knitted his brow. "To tell you the truth, I'm really worried. Competition is so intense in society, and I don't want my boy to lose at the starting line. If he can just do well at his studies, I'm ready to go through Hell and work 'til I drop [to help him]. It's just that I don't have the ability to coach him! I want to be a good father to him, but I'm so ashamed!"
Love like my neighbor's for his son may be as rough as a pair of calloused hands, but it's very moving. Besides, as long as you're going in the right direction, and doing whatever you can to meet your responsibilities, why worry about it being hopeless?
2011 中国年度小小说,桂林:漓江出版社,2011.12
China Annual Short Fiction, 2011, p. 118 – Guilin: Li River Publishers, December 2011
Translated from the version at http://www.hao1111.cn/a/qnbl/7064.html
3. My Cousin (堂哥)
Chen Yonglin (陈永林)
Cousin was about to turn thirty, but no woman had as yet been willing to move in with him. Second Auntie, his mother, had been so worried about this that she couldn't get any sleep. He was her only son, and if she let the line end with him, how would she be able to face the spirits in the next world? She'd tried to hire matchmakers but they'd all turned her down flat. She wondered if it was because they thought her family was too poor.
One matchmaker said she wasn't worried that young girlies would think the family was too poor. "It's because your son is a fool."
Auntie got an ugly expression on her face. "Who says my son's a fool?" The matchmaker told her that that was what all the "girlies" were saying.
Cousin is a bit foolish. Like, last year when he led a pig weighing over two hundred pounds to town to sell. He sold it for five hundred Yuan, tucked the money in his clothes and started home. When he passed by the bus depot he saw a man who looked utterly miserable, sitting on the concrete, shivering.
"What's wrong?" Cousin asked him.
"Oh, God," the man said. "I lost my wallet. I don't even have the money to get home."
"How much do you need?" Cousin asked him.
"At least four hundred Yuan," the man said. "I'm from Guangzhou and came here on business. Can you loan me some? I'll send you money to repay you as soon as I get back to Guangzhou."
Cousin pulled out four hundred Yuan and gave it to the guy without saying a word, then told the man his address. The man thanked him profusely and walked off.
After more than a month, the postman still had not stepped up to Cousin's door. Auntie yelled at Cousin for a whole day. Cousin said maybe the guy was a little short of cash, or maybe he'd lost the address he'd given him. Auntie got so mad she was trembling.
"You blockhead, why can't you use your brains?"
Cousin said that he'd be more careful in the future, but Auntie kept after him. "That pig, I busted my butt a whole year raising it, just to get scammed...."
Eventually one of the matchmakers couldn't resist Auntie's tearful entreaties and worked hard to find a woman for Cousin. On the day they agreed to the marriage, Cousin took a thousand Yuan and went to town with the girl to buy clothes. When they got to the entrance to County Hospital, Cousin saw a young woman crying her eyes out.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"My dad has a serious illness and needs an operation," the young woman said, choking back her tears, "but I can't come up with the money."
"How much does it cost?" Cousin asked.
"The doctor says he won't do the operation for less than a thousand Yuan," she replied.
Cousin fished the thousand Yuan out of his pocket, and the woman fell ker-plop to her knees in front of him. Cousin got flustered and quickly helped her to her feet. "C'mon, hurry, go save your dad."
The young woman went off toward the hospital, and Cousin noticed that the girl he'd come with had disappeared. He looked all around but couldn't find her and returned home crestfallen. When Auntie heard him explain what had happened, her legs gave out and she slumped to the floor, weeping.
The next morning, Auntie went to County Hospital with Cousin. They asked around and learned that the woman's father had died and she'd gone home. Auntie asked the doctor where she lived but he didn't know. With more than thirty villages in the county, there was no way to find her.
Needless to say, Cousin's marriage to that girl was called off.
Auntie stayed at home a whole day after that, crying and cussing a blue streak. Cousin couldn't stay there, so he went off to Guangzhou to look for work. He walked around the city until his feet were covered with callouses, but still couldn't find anything. Eventually he heard a fellow from our area say that the Milky Way Toy Factory was looking for porters, so he went there. When he met the Factory Director he thought the man looked familiar. "I seem to have seen you somewhere," he said.
The Director said, "I've seen you, too." The man thought hard to remember, then slapped his forehead and said, "I've got it! I still owe you four hundred Yuan. Now you're here and I can finally pay you back. You must have thought I skipped out on the debt, but, really, I didn't. I wanted to send you the money as soon as I got back to Guangzhou, but I couldn't find the paper you'd given me with your address on it."
And so Cousin became a foreman with a monthly salary of one thousand Yuan.
Two months later Cousin sent Auntie a letter along with fifteen hundred Yuan. "Even a fool can be blessed," she exclaimed happily.
Afterwards the factory prospered and hired a bunch of female employees. One day Cousin saw a familiar face when he got to work, and the young woman also did a double-take when she saw Cousin. They each recognized the other in a flash and exclaimed in surprise, "It's you!"
"I still owe you a thousand Yuan," the girl said.
At New Year's, Cousin brought the girl home with him.
They got married on the sixth day of the New Year. Auntie couldn't help saying to herself, "Heaven has eyes, and it let my foolish son find such a good woman. Even fools can be blessed." Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke.
Translated from here, also available at http://www.huran.net/Article/2007/200705/894.html
4. It's a Women's World (世界是女人的)
Yi Zhongtian (易中天)
[Fannyi can't say why this piece was published in a comedy magazine and reprinted in a collection of humorous stories.]
It seems that 2012 is destined to be one tangled year. Although the doomsday prediction may not be reliable, it's an indisputable fact that issues are piling up around the globe: war, pollution, nuclear leaks, the energy crisis, etc., etc., more than one can count.
Who did this? In all likelihood, it was men.
Human males are unruly creatures, and they're also possessive. In The Origin of Family, Private Property and the State, Engels spoke of how destructive "male jealousy" is for "social animals". But in the animal kingdom, males are only jealous during the "mating season", and further, it's the females who have the right to choose a mate. There is thus a "balance of power". Animals "living together in groups" eventually evolved into "human society."
Human society was harmonious during the early period because the women were in charge. It was characterized by "management" rather than "control." Women leaders were faced with a true "familial populace," namely, her brothers, children and grandchildren. The only "dominancy" was "selection based on merit" in the choice of a sexual partner. But this was for the continuation of the race, and the losers would not be exterminated. In any event, the selection was mutual and free, and there was no rape and no prostitution.
It couldn't be called a "feminist society" because women weren't asking for political rights. There were no political rights at the time, only making arrangements and putting things in order. I propose calling this the "motherly love society." Motherly love is a kind of conscience and makes it easy to do [as the sages bid us], to "treat our parents as well as other's parents as elders should be treated; and treat our children as well as other's children as youngsters should be treated." A mother, she has the greatest spirit of sacrifice and dedication. It's not in women's nature to treat children as the enemy or take food from their mouths.
On the other hand, though, the development of productive forces relied on men. Woman didn't have the physical strength and had also to bear the children, so they could only stay home and watch over the household while they let the men go out to do the arduous work.
Be that as it may, men took advantage of this social division of labor to invent the monsters called "political rights" and grasp them firmly in their own hands. Management thereby became control, possession became ownership, making arrangements changed to giving directions, and putting things in order became slavery. The society of motherly love became the "society of male rights".
What's the difference between the motherly love society and the society of male rights? Motherly love is directed toward reliance on the "heart" or "love." The benchmark of male rights is ownership, relying on "rights", namely "political rights". Ownership has no boundaries and political rights inevitably lead to power struggles. But the thing is, it relies at the start on armed force and is "extortion"; later it relies on scheming and is a "racket". But no matter what, greed is behind it all. Look at the financial crisis, at Wall Street in the United States, and you'll know.
Even modern democratic systems and parliamentary politics are like that. A democratic republic is of course the "least bad system" nowadays. But the invention of such a system is not because of "high moral character." On the contrary, it's because we've found that cut-throat struggles, with knives and swords flashing, require too high an investment for too low a return. Since no one can completely devour the others, peaceful coexistence is better, with free competition and each side taking a turn at governing. If you don't win this time, there's always next time, so why insist on a life-or-death struggle?
However, overly ambitious men will want to "devour the whole world" whenever they can. It's better for one's own wife to be a martyr while the other guy's wife is an adulteress. You say some people don't think that? Ha ha, they're the ones who don't dare! Why does the Game of Thrones never fade to black? There's something addictive in fantasies. In fact, in social animals, many males have this instinct. To go from monopolizing to sharing is to go from barbarism to civilization. But there's still a very long way to go.
In short, as long as it's a "society of male rights", it will be downright hypocritical, unconscionable greed with no brakes. The only solution is to return to what nature intended, back to the "motherly love society", where men do the work and women run the households. Don't make the mistake of thinking that women are fragile. In fact, women are the most able to run things. [Remember the legendary female warriors,] Dowager She who took command, and Mu Guiying who led the expedition. When the rise and fall of nations rests on the shoulders of women, what more needs be said?
Moreover, these days economic development and wealth creation no longer rely primarily on physical strength, but on intelligence. To be a manager it is necessary to have both an IQ and an EQ [emotional intelligence quotient]. Isn't it a perfect match, each bringing out the best in the other, when we have women making decisions based on intuition and men based on logic? What's more, being number one might be attractive, but it's also a hassle, so why cling to power? And even more, women actually feel sorry for men. If you turn power over to them, they certainly won't maltreat you. So why not do it?
Ha, ha, yes, it's better when women run things!
Therefore, I suggest that men, in times like today, make use of a great man's words, and say to women: The world is ours, and it's yours, too. But in the final analysis it's yours. We place our hopes in you.
2012中国年度幽默作品,《喜剧世界》杂志社选片,丁斯主编
2012 Annual Humorous Writings of China, from Comedy World Magazine, Ding Si, Ed., p. 227
Translated Version from http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_476e068a0102e04y.html
5. A Planet Favored by Heaven (得天独厚的星球)
Zheng Yunqin (郑允钦)
[There are two stories with this same name, both by the same author and both published on the same website. Your translator does not understand the significance of these facts any more than he understands the significance of the stories themselves, and has added "Story # 1" or "2" to the titles for convenience in indexing. – Fannyi]
[Story #1]
There was this group of small beings. They took great pleasure in talking about the environment in which they lived.
"The universe is composed of 28 planets with sharp, clear-cut shapes," the astronomer Mr. M said. "These planets are divided into two rows, an upper and a lower.... This planet of ours in blessed with abundant natural gifts and is the only place suitable for our existence!"
"That's absolutely correct!" B, the explorer, chimed in. "I've examined all the planets and found that nary a one is comparable to ours. They're too hard, lack organic matter...."
"And," geologist D continued the thought, "Because of our growth and reproduction, our planet is increasingly becoming softer and more moist, more suitable as a place for us to live...."
Chemist C said: "The most amazing thing is that all of the inorganic matter on our planet can be converted into organic matter for our use and enjoyment...."
X, who was a prophet, made an optimistic prediction: "We will be able to continue reproducing on this planet for at least several thousands of years...."
At that moment the group of small beings began to grow and reproduce.
Before much time had passed, however, they felt their planet suddenly begin to shake violently. Then a loud noise resounded, "bang", and their world was destroyed!
It turns out that the "planet" on which these small beings depended for their existence was nothing but a tooth. Because of their rapid reproduction, the tooth had become corrupt and infected, so the doctor pulled it out.
I lay angrily in my mother's bosom. She hugged me tightly, sobbing, and her tears dripped down onto my neck. I just lay there angrily.
"Wouldn't it have been good if you'd never given birth to me, mother?" I asked, feeling resentful.
She didn't answer. Her face was extremely pale.
I angrily stuck out my right hand and tried to tear the shirt off my chest.
"For my sake, son...." she said with a sob, holding down my hand.
I started to cry, "Ge, ge...."
The loquat tree swayed in the cold wind outside the window, and raindrops plopped down on my heart. Mother's face was so pale. I hung onto her neck in misery. It was skinny as a stick of firewood.
"Let me die, mother...." I said through my tears as I held tightly to her neck.
"No, my child, I can't do that...." Her tears were dripping on my face.
The lamplight shone dimly on her hair. Her hair was a tangle of silken threads, white as frost.
A lonely calm, lonely calm, no one in the world but my mother and I, not the slightest sound but the sobs of the wind and the rain.
"It's over, mother, it's over. I'm giving my heart back to you! I'm giving it back! You shouldn't have given it to me when you gave birth! It's useless in this world!" Then, in resentment and sorrow, I tried with both hands to tear off my shirt.
"Oh, my child!".... Mother burst into tears. She pressed down tightly on my hands as I struggled with all my might.
The loquat tree swayed in the cold wind outside the window, and raindrops plopped down on my heart. The lamplight shone dimly on my mother's hair. Her hair was a tangle of silken threads, white as frost, and her tears flowed in waves. I hugged her thin neck. I was sobbing, too.
One tear dropped from my mother's eye into mine. It mixed with my tears, and gradually they flowed as one stream.
I traced the flow back up and into the orbs of my mother's eyes. From there I went down to the bottom of her heart.
And there, I saw her heart had withered.
"You've dried up your own heart for my sake, Mother. But this heart you gave me has only suffered the curses of others and has never been blessed with their good wishes. This can only add to my sadness and cannot increase my joy. So now I'll take out my heart and give it back to you, Mother, and be done with it!"
I cried as I said that, and fell to my knees beside my mother's heart. I undid the front of my shirt, sliced open the skin of my chest with my fingernails, reached inside the cavity and dug out my heart. I placed it, dripping with blood, alongside my mother's heart. Her heart and mine melded into one, and the hot blood seethed.
I closed up my chest right away, buttoned my shirt and rushed to leave my mother's heart. I went back to her lap the same way I'd come, through the orbs of her eyes.
She didn't know.
I wiped away my tears and said to her, "Mother, I'm not discouraged any more. I'm willing to be a 'human' now."
She smiled, her heart filled with infinite joy, and her eyes revealed infinite hope.
There was only a lamp, only a lamp standing on top of the wall. He knew what I'd done in my mother's heart and could not bear to see that smile, and gradually grew dim....
小小说名作、佳作阅读与欣赏 Famous Mini-Story Masterpieces to Read and Appreciate
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6ceb4af10101f1qd.html, Stories #4 and #10
6. The Cat's Debt Repaid (猫的报恩)
by Warm Fish (暖鱼)
I'm one of the legendary Lucky Cats, a tabby wildcat with golden eyes.
In the spring, in March, I slept lazily until I woke up naturally. If I had nothing else to do, I'd go to the riverside and catch a mouse to play with. When the midday sun warmed me like a hypnotic hand, I'd fall into a beautiful sleep under a tree covered with cherry blossoms.
What's pestering me? "Meow…." I don't want to open my eyes, I want to sleep. Leave me alone…. I hate it when someone disturbs my sleep. I'll scratch, I'll scratch. Meow, this cat will not open his eyes. You take me for a sick cat! When I do open my eyes the sunlight stabs them for an instant. Meow, I can't see a thing, no, wait, I seem to see an angel, a brilliant smile, bringing with it the warmth of the sun.
That was the first time I saw her, She Who is Like an Angel.
After that, she'd come every day in the afternoon to be with me, bringing her angelic smile with her, of course. I slowly came to realize that she couldn't speak. What a shame. I'd often wonder what her voice would be like if she could speak.
I started waking up earlier and earlier every day, and didn't want to go to the river to play with mice. Auntie from the next street over laughed at me. She said I was so melancholy, it was like I was falling in love. When she wasn't around I'd think of her; when I was lying on her breast, I'd wish that time could stop right there.
Then the rainy season came and cut off the warm sunshine. I didn't see her for a few days and got a little worried, so I decided to go to the bookstore where she worked. I ran to the intersection and saw her in the bookstore handing a book to a customer. For the moment I stopped worrying. All of a sudden a young girl wearing stylish clothes grabbed the book from her hand. She turned to look and the young girl slapped her face.
So out of control, she dared to hit my angel. I was completely flustered with anger and ran out from the street corner.
Meow…. It hurts so much, like my whole body is broken, it hurts. Who's rocking me, don't they know I'm in pain! I struggle to open my eyes. That teary-eyed person in front of me, is it her? It can't be, the one in my memory is always smiling like an angel. But the teary-eyed person in front of me, her eyes, her nose, her mouth, they're all the same as hers. It feels so terrible to see her cry. Don't cry, OK?
"Little Tabby…." Who's that?
"Little Tabby, do remember the Legend of the Tabbies? When the Tabby with the Golden Eyes dies for love, still having a wish unfulfilled, the Clan of the Tabbies will help it to come true." Die for love? My love isn't the same as hers.
"Little Tabby, what's your wish?" Wish? I want to hear her voice.
The pain, why is she rocking me in the rain? Doesn't she know you can catch a fever from the rain?
"Cough, cough…. Sister…. I'll take you to the hospital…. OK?" Whose voice is that? Is it hers?
That voice…. Oh, it sounds awful…. Meow….
Translated from here, also available at http://www.ywxyh.com/html/176jbbb/79.html
7. The Gluttonous Wife (馋嘴媳妇)
Lu Haijuan (卢海娟)
They say that the 1960s was an extremely poor period, with people living in abject poverty. In our rural area there was a man named Zhang Sheng. He was an old bachelor who traded a sack of corn for a wife. She wasn't bad looking, and Zhang thought she was a treasure. When he went to work in the fields, she stayed home doing laundry and cooking.
It wasn't more than a few days after [they got married] that she reported to him their old hen had come down with some kind of sickness and died. It would've been a shame to throw it away, so she'd made a stew out of it.
Not having a hen to lay eggs was an annoyance, but a chicken dying isn't big deal, after all, so the couple enjoyed their chicken dinner.
A few days later, Zhang's wife said their old mother duck had come down with some kind of sickness and died. It would've been a shame to throw it away, so she'd made a stew out of it.
Not having a mother duck to lay eggs was an annoyance, but a duck dying isn't big deal, after all, so the couple enjoyed their duck dinner.
The chicken was gone and the duck was gone, but fortunately they still had an old sow that'd just given birth to eight tiny piglets. It was the wife's job to take care of the pigs.
But it wasn't too many days later when Zhang's wife met him as he was coming back from the fields, her face covered with tears of sorrow. One of the piglets had gotten lost, she said, and she'd looked all over but hadn't found it.
A little piglet could be sold for a lot of money once it grew up, so Zhang was distressed. He went to the neighbors, and to the nearby fields and empty lots, but he couldn't find it even though he looked as hard as he could.
That day Zhang's wife made had made big Manchurian dumplings and rice for dinner. She couldn't eat, though, probably because she was so upset about losing the piglet. She took a few mouthfuls without much interest, but then pushed the bowl away.
Zhang moped around for several days, sighing, but eventually he forgot about the lost piglet. Then one day his wife again met him with a face full of tears when he came home from the fields. Another piglet was missing!
Zhang felt such anger that he had a mind to give his wife a good tongue-lashing. When he thought about the odd things that had been happening, though, he decided it was more important to find out the whys and wherefores.
After two or three days, Zhang felt there was again a risk that a piglet would get "lost". He left home early in the morning to go work in the fields, just as he always did, but when he was halfway there he turned around and headed for home again. He snuck up and squatted behind the garden wall, and carefully observed what his wife was doing.
He did this the next day as well, and saw nothing but his wife doing routine housework. She treated the old sow and the piglets quite well, not only giving them a continuous supply of food, but also squatting beside them to scratch their itches. She hummed and purred at some of them, making them extremely comfortable.
It was on the third day, when Zhang was feeling ashamed of himself for misunderstanding his wife and sneaking around behind the wall, that he noticed his wife had lit the fire and started cooking early. She was making big Manchurian dumplings and rice, and was burning a big piece of firewood. At her side were two piles of yellow clay that she had collected from the roadway beside the village. She put them in a wash pan with water and worked them into a thin mud. Then she went to feed the pigs.
At the gentle, intimate sound of her call, the pigs rushed out in force and crowded up to the feeding trough to scarf up the food. Zhang's wife slapped at one of the piglets running up to the trough and pushed away the others trying to get at the food. The picturesque scene of a farm woman feeding the pigs brought a smile to Zhang's face.
All of a sudden his wife picked the piglet up by its hind legs and swung it down on a boulder by the side of the trough. There was a "crack" sound and the piglet stopped breathing. The other piglets kept on happily scarfing up the food. Not one of them noticed that their brother had departed for piggy heaven.
Zhang's wife put the dead piglet down in front of the wash pan. Then, like she was painting a wall, she took the yellow clay mixture and spread it onto the piglet until the little body was covered in a thick layer of mud, and then she threw it in the oven. The fire was burning brightly by then, and Zhang could see that his wife's face was covered by a broad, expectant smile.
When she was finished preparing the piglet, Zhang's wife washed her hands and brushed the pots so as not to leave any traces. She completed all these actions in only a few minutes. It was apparent that she was experienced in such matters.
Zhang was well aware of that. He rushed into the house in a towering rage and began to slap his wife hard. While he beat her, he cursed this gluttonous woman for destroying the family.
At first she argued with him, but seeing there was no way to deny what she'd done, she began to whimper. The hen, the mother duck, the two previous piglets, all had been done in by her own hand. Zhang settled all these old scores and the new one together and gave his wife a fierce lesson for them all.
At that moment a savory aroma assailed his nostrils. Zhang jerked the piglet out of the oven. The yellow clay had dried out and hardened by then, and a crack had opened. He lifted it into the air and threw it down on the floor to shatter the clay. The piglet's hair had stick in the clay, leaving a white, tender, aromatic, fresh-from-the-oven roast suckling pig. Zhang felt a brief moment of loss, but then couldn't resist such a delicacy. He tore off a piece, stuck it in his mouth and chewed.
The fragrant and tender pork intoxicated him. While he was eating he said to himself: "No wonder these little things get 'lost' so easily. This is really delicious!"
His wife, still whimpering, picked up the thought: "(Sniff — sniff —) It's even better dipped in garlic sauce."
Translated from this version, also available at http://www.5aigushi.com/youmo/9516.html
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