Episode for Families: Peach Blossom Spring
Discover the peaceful tranquility of Peach Blossom Spring in this story originally told seventeen hundred years ago by the poet Tao Qian.
Episode Date: March 31, 2008
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Episode Transcript
Narrator: How about a story? Just sit back, relax, and get ready to listen, because it's Story Time at the Met.
This story takes place in China, long, long ago. In the ancient city of Wu-ling lived a fisherman. One day this fisherman set sail along a river, looking for fish to catch.
As he followed the stream, the fisherman lost track of where he was. Without realizing it, he sailed farther than he'd ever gone before. All at once, he found himself floating through a beautiful forest of blossoming peach trees.
The flowers on the peach trees filled the air with fluttering petals and a delicate fragrance. The fisherman sailed on to where the peach grove ended. And there he found a spring of fresh water flowing out of the ground beside a hill. The fisherman thought, "I will call this place Peach Blossom Spring."
Then he saw an opening in the hillside, like the mouth of a cave. Light glimmered inside the cavern. So the fisherman left his boat to investigate.
Inside the hill was a passageway so narrow that he had to turn sideways and inch his way through. After a few dozen steps, the fisherman came out into the light of day again. He found himself in a strange new land filled with fields, orchards, and gardens. Footpaths flowed through the countryside, from one beautiful, old house to another. People bustled everywhere, hard at work. But everyone wore a smile.
