Greediness (Metaphor)
“Now that his son has married the king’s daughter,” Magistrate Tiger behaves as if he is the emperor, what is more he imposes even higher taxes on the poor village. To save people from terrible poverty, the famous painter decides to draw a picture of a dragon which is a symbol that only kings and emperors are allowed to wear. However, the artist paints this dragon “on the ground, not flying in the sky like all other dragons.” He wants the magistrate see how his “wealth weighs him down.” His greediness and cruelty don’t let him see that he is an unfair ruler.
Anxiety (Metaphor)
The goldfish man’s grandmother, Lao Lao, was “a famous fortune teller.” People “would line up” at her home, “asking for lucky dates for weddings and predictions for their children.” A week before the goldfish man’s nineteenth birthday, the family heard her moaning. The old woman said that she checked his fortune and it turned out to be that the goldfish man was going to die in a week. He just stood staring as his family “created a storm” around him. He couldn’t believe it, yet he knew that his grandmother had never made a mistake.
Shocked (Simile)
The goldfish man was staring at his grandmother. Finally he said “with a mouth as dry as sand”, “Lao Lao, isn’t there anything I could do?” He was scared, for his life could end in a week! Luckily for him, there was a way out; the problem was that it was “doubtful” it would work. However, he was willing to try anything she would suggest. Everyone – his grandmother, his mother, and numerous aunts – hurried to the kitchen to prepare the most delicious cakes for the keeper of the Book of Fortune.
Transparent (Simile)
“Help!” someone cried at a distance. “Can you help?” a voice “whimpered.” Minli couldn’t ignore it, so she hurried up to save a stranger. To reach a poor thing, she “waded in” water that was warm, “like bathwater, and clear as glass.” Minli could even see “her feet and all the stones and leaves at the bottom.” As moved toward the voice “the water rose higher and higher, to her knees and then almost to her neck.” The salt water was irritating her eyes, but she refused to stop; she had to find the owner of the voice and save him.
