Long long ago, in the age before television, there lived a widow and her daughter in a lonely valley in China. The daughters name was Lotus Blossom and she was not only very beautiful but a hard worker who helped her mother. One day while Lotus Blossom and her mother were working outside together, Lotus Blossoms mother suddenly raised her head and looked down the valley suspiciously.
“Go into the house my daughter” She said “keep yourself hidden no matter what happens.”
Lotus Blossom was a little confused by her mothers command but dutifully did so. Keeping herself hidden she peeked out a little spyhole to see what happened. No more then a minute later then three large powerful warrior on a black steeds rode up to the house. The largest dismounted and bowed himself before Lotus Blossoms mother.
“We have come to court your daughter. Untold is our wealth, countless are our yaks and horses, immeasurable is our corn. Were your daughter to honor our home as mistress we would share all that we own.”
Lotus Blossom was surprised to see her mother briefly hesitate then curtseyed low and said “I thank you for the honor, but I cannot give my daughter to an unknown clan. For surely you do not even know her name.”
“Then if we tell you her name will you let her marry one of us?”
Again Lotus Blossom heard that brief hesitation in her mothers voice before she replied “Yes”.
The three warriors made many guesses but were unable to guess her name and eventually left. As her mother came into the house Lotus Blossom began to question her mother but her mother quietly put her finger to her lips and they maintained silence for over an hour before her Mother breathed a sigh of relief.
“Mother why did you not accept their dowry?” Lotus Blossom asked “It is time for me to marry and they would seem to be able to provide well if one of them were my husband. If you didn’t approve, then why not simply say so and let them go their way?”
“Those were not humans, but demon brothers disguised as humans.” her mother replied. “I have some knowledge of magic and was able to sense what they really were. Were I to give you to them they would make your life miserable. Yet if I were to deny them outright then they would have killed us. We must be careful, this past hour they were hiding themselves outside trying to hear your name but I can feel when they are close and know they are gone now. They will probably be back to try again so we must be careful, but they will probably give up in a couple days.”
Over the next few days Lotus Blossoms mother would sense the demons spying on them and she would be careful during these times to never say her daughters name. The demons grew frustrated and eventually began their journey home. On the way they passed a hare scampering through the brush.
“Stop!” the demons shouted “In the next valley is a widow with a lovely daughter. Find out the daughters name and we will reward you with all the food you need for winter.”
The hare rushed as fast as it could to Lotus Blossoms home. Her mother, not detecting the evil of the demons thought they were safe and it wasn’t long before she called out “Lotus Blossom, Lotus Blossom, bring in the corn before it rains.”
“So the daughters name is Lotus Blossom” the hare thought to itself.
As the hare ran back to the demons he ran past an apple tree with a number of apples that had dropped down under it. The hare, being hungry, stopped to eat a few of them. Afterwards the hare realized he had forgotten part of the name.
“What was the name again? It was something blossom...” because of the apples he had just eaten his mind went to them. “Apple Blossom! That was it!”
With that he continued to the demon brothers.
“Apple Blossom” The hare panted from the long run “The maidens name is Apple Blossom!”
The demons hurried back to Lotus Blossoms cottage and declared “Your daughters name is Apple Blossom!”
Lotus Blossoms mother came out and said “You’re wrong! That’s not her name, be off with you!”
The demon brothers left the valley again and soon passed a fox.
“Mistress Fox” The demons said “If you will go to the next valley and find the name of the maiden that lives there we will reward you with meat.”
The fox felt this was fair and ran off to the cottage of Lotus Blossom. Like before it wasn’t long before Lotus Blossoms mother called out “Lotus Blossom, Lotus Blossom, don’t forget to bring in the wash!”
“Lotus Blossom is her name” the Fox said.
The fox hurried back but on the way passed a stream with a number of catfish swimming in the bottom. The fox caught one and ate it. Afterwards the fox realized she had forgotten the name.
“The second part was blossom, but what was the first?” the fox asked herself “I think it was... Catfish blossom? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was it.”
With that the fox ran back and told the demons. The demons went back but again were turned away because they had the wrong name. This time after leaving the valley they saw a magpie. They asked the magpie to learn the girls name in exchange for some trinkets. The magpie flew to the top of the house and listened.
“Lotus Blossom, Lotus Blossom, it’s time for bed” the magpie heard
“Ah” the magpie said “the girls name is Lotus Blossom, mauve flower of the lotus bush.”
The magpie flew straight back to the demon brothers and gave them the news.
“The hare told us Apple Blossom, the fox said Catfish Blossom, and they were both wrong.” The eldest brother said “I suppose we have nothing to lose in trying again.”
They came up to the house again and said “Your daughters name is Lotus Blossom?”
Lotus Blossoms mother knew it would do no good to lie to them and admitted they had guessed correctly. She led a white stallion from the stables and set her daughter upon it. As she did so she whispered some last instructions to Lotus Blossom “Look after this stallion, he will serve you well in times to come.”
Lotus Blossom left with her new husband and his brothers on the stallion. For a long time the old woman stood on the road gazing after her departing daughter. She knew she would never see Lotus Blossom again, and she never did.
Continued in Escape From the Demons