4.
Honorable Father and Mother,
You are always in my thoughts. I miss you all so much already. I only hope it
won't be long before I see you and Grandma Fa and Little Brother again.
Tonight marks the end of the third week of the recruits' basic training here
at Wu Zhong. It seems that it will not be long before we receive orders from
my commander Li Shang to advance against the enemy. All are in good spirits.
Khan is fine, except that he mistook Yao's hair for some hay and ate some of
it. Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po have been especially cruel to me the last few days.
They filled my lamp with water, so I have been unable to light it. I am no longer
angry with them. I filled their lamp with gunpowder.
Please say a special prayer to the Ancestors for Grandma, as I will always say
a special prayer for all of you.
Your loving and respectful daughter,
Mulan
Mulan didn't have to endure the harsh treatment from the Gang
that she did the first time she trained at Wu Zhong. Still, practical jokes
were a regular occurrence--such as her discovering goldfish in her shoes after
she had put them on, or finding out the hard way there were logs under her mattress.
Mulan was not shy about seeking revenge on her tormentors, however.
She waited for just the right moment.
The four sat alone together in the mess tent. Mulan waited until
the others began their midday meal. Hiding her chopsticks on her lap, Mulan
placed a lump of rice on them, then quickly picked them up and, using the chopsticks
as a catapult, flung the stuff at Ling The wad of rice struck Ling square in
the eye with a splat. Mulan giggled at his shocked expression.
Ling quietly stood up and, carrying his bowl, walked nonchalantly
towards Mulan. Mulan had an uneasy feeling that Ling was about to retaliate.
Ling paused for a moment, nodding to the others. He then suddenly tossed the
contents of his bowl at Mulan's face, and she ducked, thereby causing the rice
from Ling's bowl to instead hit Yao in the face. Yao growled loudly as he wiped
the goo off himself. As Yao's face turned red, an edgy Chien-Po looked over
to him.
Then Yao relaxed, smiled, and began to laugh. The others laughed
nervously along with him. The others refilled their bowls and were about to
resume eating.
Yao whipped around and dumped his dish onto Ling and Chien-Po,
covering them both with rice.
Ling sat looking flabbergasted, but Chien-Po merely sat still.
Then Chien-Po abruptly jumped up and landed on his seat with a huge thud. This
caused the entire table to leap skyward. Dishes flew everywhere--most of their
contents spilling on Ling, Yao, and Mulan. Mulan ducked as she picked up a ball
of rice from the pot and hurled it at Yao. The others joined in the melee, grabbing
handfuls of food and throwing it as quickly as possible at whoever was within
range.
One wad of rice hit Chien-Po right in the face, and he stumbled
backwards and fell into the side of the tent. The support poles snapped, the
lines pulled out of the ground, and the entire tent collapsed on top of the
four of them.
Shang, alarmed, rushed over to the tent, and stood aghast at the
sight of four large lumps struggling under the canvas. Shang yanked away the
tarp to reveal the quartet, doubled up on the ground with laughter. They all
looked as though they had been swimming in a soup kettle.
As expected, Shang ordered them to spend the rest of the afternoon
picking up every single grain of rice. But unlike the last time Shang issued
this order, the Gang of Three didn't resent Mulan. The four of them laughed
among themselves while they cleaned up their mess. Shang just rolled his eyes
skyward, wondering when his new officers would behave themselves.
While she knelt to clean up, Mulan looked up to Shang, grinning,
hoping to catch his eyes.
The four managed to clean up their mess and change their clothes
in time for dinner. That night, after they washed up and finished their reading
lessons for the evening, the Gang of Three and Mulan spent a few extra minutes
sitting around the campfire. Mulan apologized to the three men for what happened
that afternoon.
"Aww, that's all right," Yao said.
"We had fun around here for a change," Ling said, smiling.
The campfire light reflected off their faces.
"It gets kind of lonely in the army at times," Chien-Po said.
Ling sighed. "Yeah. No women."
Mulan cleared her throat.
"You don't count, Mulan," Yao said. "You aren't a woman."
Yao ducked as several objects were hurled at him from Mulan's
direction.
"You know what we mean. You're family."
"It really would be nice to have a girl to love," Ling said.
"You chase all the girls, Ling," Mulan said. "I can't imagine
you being in love."
"Oh, yeah? There's a special girl out there for me. You'll see."
"Yeah, right. Like you'll find her under a rock or something,"
Yao said. "You're such a clumsy fool, Ling. You'll never be romantic."
"I can too be romantic," Ling protested. "Listen. Here's
a poem I wrote."
Ling cleared his throat and recited.
The woman I dream of
I say to you now
Her face pale as the moon
The wind blowing her dress every which way
Her eyes that shine like stars
Her hair black as the night
Her heart warm as the sun--
She'd love this clumsy Ling
Whose special turn of phrase
Will melt her heart!
Ling finished with a gallant pose, and searched his comrade's
faces for approving eyes.
The others burst out laughing.
"What?" Ling demanded.
I wish there were women here too! Mulan thought. If only
there was a woman, any woman, she could befriend and share her innermost thoughts.
Mulan had unfortunately gotten used to loneliness. It was tough
growing up an only child, without someone in the household to confide in.
Grandma Fa filled this void. Steadfastly loving and supportive,
Mulan's grandmother was her childhood best friend. Grandmother taught the Fa
girl what she needed to know as Mulan approached adulthood, including Taoist
philosophy, the secrets of human reproduction, and how to prepare for marriage.
Mulan grasped the first two subjects easily, but not the third.
Mulan just didn't seem interested--she would appear to be daydreaming. Even
a simple saying like the Final Admonition--only a few words long--would trip
Mulan up. Grandmother wished it were a subject that interested Mulan, for by
now she was memorizing entire scrolls!
One important lesson Grandma Fa made sure Mulan remembered, though,
was to never take anyone for granted. "Remember, always treat others as though
you will never see them again. For one day you may just wake up to find out
they are gone from you forever." This lesson was illustrated most vividly when
Mulan saw what happened to Shang's father. She would never forget Shang's face
at that horrible moment.
Grandma Fa could tell that, although her granddaughter was a strikingly
beautiful young lady, Mulan never saw herself that way. She always thought of
herself as clumsy and inept. Grandmother frequently overheard Mulan mumbling
something about never being able to do things right. At first, Grandma could
not believe Mulan could think so lowly of herself, for Fa Zhou and Fa Li had
always been caring parents. Grandma Fa found the answer to this mystery when
Mulan reached her teen years.
She discovered that although Mulan was likable, her behavior was
strikingly different from the other village girls. Though she was interested
in dolls, she preferred to spend time racing with boys, delving into scrolls,
trying out some scientific experiment, or exploring her natural world. Mulan
had read so many scrolls, and acquired so much information, that she began asking
questions about subjects no one else cared about. Grandma Fa found out that
Mulan spent afternoons in heated philosophical discussions with elderly monks,
rather than practicing maidenly etiquette. The townsfolk could not relate to
a girl with an opinion on philosophy. As a result, Mulan spent much of her time
alone. She often wondered if anyone outside her family truly cared for her.
Her parents understood Mulan's loneliness, and that she needed
some other friend besides Grandma to be her buddy. It was that summer, when
Mulan turned fourteen, that they all surprised her with a special gift: a puppy.
Mulan loved her new friend and laughed at the way Little Brother chased the
chickens in the garden.
Around that time Mulan's parents also allowed her to ride the
young family horse, and it turned out that Mulan was a natural rider. It wasn't
long before Mulan and Khan grew attached, and she soon rode him far more than
anyone else in the family.
Mulan loved her two new companions, but of course it was not the
same as having a real person--a girl friend--to talk to.
Mulan was lonely when she first joined the army, too. No one liked
her. She failed miserably at everything, alienated her comrades, and constantly
drew the ire of Shang. Night after night she was forced to sleep in a tent far
away from the other recruits. It wasn't until her famous climb to retrieve Shang's
arrow that she finally began to win some respect.
One would think that upon receiving the Crest of the Emperor,
Mulan would then have the respect of her townsfolk. Unfortunately, it was not
to be.
Mulan tried to talk with her fellow villagers since her homecoming.
Although she had a handful of admirers, most were at the opposite extreme, ostracizing
her because she had the audacity to assume a man's role.
"It was a fluke," many of them said of Mulan's success.
After all Mulan had done for her family and her country, and most
people in her own town still did not think she was a capable person! Mulan often
returned home in tears and threw herself onto her bed, frustrated that nobody
seemed to understand her. She would pound her pillow out of frustration, for
she felt as though she had spent her entire life as an outcast. There had been
one fleeting moment when she felt accepted by the outside world--that moment
when the Emperor, and the crowd at the Imperial City, bowed to her. But it was
so short-lived. It was quite understandable that Mulan couldn't wait to rejoin
her comrades.
But now, during her second stay at Wu Zhong, she felt admired
for perhaps the first time in her life. It took a while for the men to get used
to her. But soon everyone marveled at her talent as Mulan improved on her already
remarkable martial arts skills. Though still slender and feminine, the woman
in the camp was quick and focused. She fought with great finesse, and could
deck any man in the unit. Yet she was loved by everyone, was universally respected,
and became a source of inspiration for all. The story of how she retrieved Shang's
arrow from on top of the pole was now a legend among the troops.
Mulan and the Gang of Three practiced their exercises together
every day. Tasks that seemed nearly impossible when they were fresh recruits
months before, such as bare-handed fishing, or hiking up mountainsides while
carrying weights upon their shoulders, were now second nature to them. They
were getting bored with some of the exercises, and they sought new challenges.
The next afternoon, after they each shot the center of their targets
for the fifteenth time in a row during archery practice, Mulan decided to try
something a little different. "This time, let's try this from a hundred paces
instead of fifty," she suggested.
Ling chimed in. "One hundred paces? How about two hundred?"
"Two hundred?" Chien-Po asked. "Why not three hundred paces?"
Yao laughed. "Then forget the targets, I bet you can't hit a tree
at three hundred paces!"
"Oh, yeah?" Ling snapped. "I can hit a tree at four hundred
paces. Your arrow wouldn't even reach it!"
"I can shoot a lot farther than you, if that's what you're saying!"
Yao retorted.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
Yao and Ling began to brawl, with Mulan and Chien-Po caught in
the middle. Chien-Po picked up Yao and recited a chant to him to calm him, while
Mulan managed to restrain Ling by the hair. Shang came over to see what caused
the commotion. He stood with his arms folded and looked at the four sternly.
The brawlers immediately dropped their aggressive stances.
"I say, let's all see who can shoot the farthest!" Ling said.
"Let's have a tournament, right here, right now!" he added. "And that means
all four of us!"
Yao scowled. "All right," he growled, "here's the rules, youse
turkeys: each person gets just one shot. One. You can use whatever you want
to shoot with, as long as you can hold it yourself. And I say, let the loser
do everyone else's mess duty for a week! Agreed?"
They all agreed.
Yao was elected to take his turn first, and he grabbed his favorite
bow. Muttering, he rubbed his hands with soil, drew back his bowstring as far
as he could, aimed his arrow at a forty-five-degree angle, and launched his
shot. The arrow jumped upward, past the training camp, and out over the forest.
Yao's arrow drifted downward and fell among the trees. It was a very respectable
shot.
Mulan watched glumly. Yao's shot flew dozens of yards farther
than any she had shot in her life.
Chien-Po was next.
Using an extra strong bow, the large man let loose a shot that
sailed effortlessly past the evergreens into the next valley. Everyone watched
in admiration. Chien-Po outdid Yao's effort by more than a hundred yards.
"Where's Ling?" Yao asked.
Ling was supposed to have been next, but he was nowhere to be
seen. The three remaining soldiers and their commander looked around for a minute,
until they spied Ling coming up the hill with an incredibly long bow and a five-foot
long arrow. The others laughed at him.
"You can't shoot that! That arrow is too long for your arms,"
Yao said.
With an expression of confidence, Ling waved everyone back, then
sat on the ground with his bow and arrow. Yao, Chien-Po, and Mulan looked at
each other, confused.
Lying on the ground, Ling held the bow with his feet, drew back
the bowstring and nock of the arrow all the way up to his chin, literally turning
himself into a human crossbow. Aiming with his feet, he pointed the arrow skyward,
and let it go.
The arrow zoomed upward, past the camp, past the trees, past the
valley, and across the lake. Ling's arrow fell, barely visible, among the mountain
rocks. His shot traveled twice the distance as either Yao's or Chien-Po's. Everyone
stared, amazed. Yao growled.
It was now Ling in first position, Chien-Po second, and Yao last,
with Mulan yet to go.
It was now Mulan's turn. There was no way she could match any
of the previous shots. Mulan sighed in resignation and pulled an arrow from
her quiver. As she was about to draw her bow, she heard a voice from below.
"Don't worry, mess duty ain't all that bad."
"Mushu, stop it!"
Mulan shooed him away with her hand.
"What a fine mess you've gotten yourself into! He, he, he," Mushu
said, giggling.
Mulan was about to stomp on the little red dragon, when she stopped
herself. With a look of enlightenment on her face, Mulan fumbled through her
pouch until she found the little rocket Mushu had stashed there. She studied
it for a moment, then hurriedly pulled a length of twine from her pouch.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mushu protested. "That's my
firework you're stealing, sister! Next, you're going to steal my house, my horse,
the food right out of my mouth . . ."
Mulan ignored him. She was busy tying the rocket onto the shaft
of her arrow, just behind the arrowhead. Then she picked Mushu up. "Give me
a light!"
Scowling at her, Mushu did as asked. A fiery puff from Mushu's
lungs lit the rocket's fuse. Mulan drew her bow and loosed the arrow. It drifted
lazily upward for a few seconds, then crested a short distance away. Just as
the arrow was about to begin its descent, the rocket ignited, and the arrow
promptly soared out of sight.
Everyone watched in awe as Mulan's arrow vanished.
"No fair! She cheated!" Yao cried. "She cheated again! First she
was sticking the targets onto her arrows. Now she's sticking rockets on them!"
Shang was amused. "You did say, you can use whatever you want,'"
Shang reminded him.
Yao, resigned, muttered under his breath. He stomped back to his
tent, with Ling and Chien-Po following. With a proud smile Mulan looked after
them, unstrung her bow, and threw her quiver over her shoulder.
"Hey," Shang said, smiling at Mulan, "that was really clever."
He picked up Mulan's hand and squeezed it for a moment.
Mulan felt a jolt shoot through her body. He had never touched
her--like that--before. She shuddered for a moment.
Mushu chuckled to himself when he saw Mulan's familiar dreamy
expression.
Shang grinned to Mulan. "I'll leave it to you to train the recruits
in archery, Mulan," he said before turning around. "No one could do a better
job."
Mulan smiled and sighed as she watched him walk back to camp.