ONE DAY long ago a girl named Choon-yi was born to poor peasants in South China Alas she arrived with only one arm which greatly horrified her mother But Choon-yi’s father loved his daughter dearly He made sure that her childhood days were happy ones even though the family owned no land and had only a few scrawny pigs to tend The villagers soon discovered that Choon-yi’s one arm was no ordinary limb When she held an ink brush the pictures she painted looked as real as life The flowers she colored seemed to give off fragrance The animals she sketched seemed to breathe and move On market days in town she sat outside with ink and paper offering to draw people’s faces for a fee
