A butterfly's love

There was once a placid and beautiful town in which there were a couple of lovers who would often stay together on the top of the mountain enjoying the sunrise and by the sea appreciating the sunset. Everyone who knew them could not help envying them and praying for their happy love.

But one day, the man was severely injured and lying in bed in hospital for several days without any consciousness. The woman guarded him by the bed in daytime, calling his name relentlessly while at night, she would go to the church and pray to God until her tears ran up.

A week passed by and the man was still sleeping. The woman pined away drastically, but she still persisted. One day, the God was finally moved by her love and persistence and would like to do her a special favor.

The God asked her, "Do you really want to exchange your beloved's life with yours? The woman answered without the least hesitation, "Yes." The God said, "Alright. I can help your lover recover quickly on the condition that you should promise to be a butterfly for three years. Do you agree with the deal? She said excitedly and firmly, "Yes, I do!"

The next day, the woman became a beautiful butterfly and said goodbye to God, flying hurriedly to the hospital. It turned out that the man came to his consciousness and waked up, talking with a doctor. She could not hear what they were talking about because she could not fly into the house. What she could do was watch her beloved through the windows helplessly.

Another spring came at the blinks of eyes and the butterfly was in a hurry to fly back to see the man, only to realize that there was a pretty lady standing by him. At that moment, she was so shocked that she almost fell down from the sky. She could barely believe what she saw and other people's discussion about it.

People were talking about that the man was seriously ill during Christmas and that the pretty and cute female doctor took good care of him and that finally they fell in sweet love. The man seemed to be as happy as before...

The butterfly felt heart-stricken. In the following days, she often saw the man take the woman to the top of the mountain and enjoy the sunrise with her. Also the man would take to the woman to the seaside and enjoyed the sunset together. The butterfly knew that all these should have belonged to her, but now they belonged to another woman. She could do nothing but rest on the man's shoulder off and on.

On the last day of the third year when the deal between the God and the butterfly was almost over, the man held a wedding with his girlfriend. The church was crowded with people. The butterfly flew into the church quietly and rested on the shoulder of God, listening to the man's oath to the bride and seeing him put a ring on her finger and kiss her sweetly. The butterfly could not help shedding her tears sadly.

God also felt sad and sighed to the butterfly, "Do you regret for what you have done?" The butterfly cleaned her tears on the face and said, "No." God felt a bit relieved and said, "Tomorrow you can become human again." But she shook her head and said, "No, I want to be a butterfly for the rest of my life……"



Dionysus legend

The Greek myth of Ariadne offers hope to all who have felt the sting of love rejected. It tells of triumph after defeat, of sweetest success after the harshest sorrow.

Princess Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, helped Theseus slay her monstrous half-brother, known as the Minotaur, by teaching him to use a golden thread as a path within the labyrinth where the Minotaur lived. Deep within that dark maze where no man or woman had ever survived the Minotaur’s savagery, Theseus killed the monster, then followed the gold thread to freedom. When he emerged triumphant from the labyrinth, Theseus claimed Ariadne for his own. They escaped from Crete upon a waiting ship, running from crowds of citizens angered by Theseus’s murder of their half-bull,half-human prince.

As they sailed the world, Ariadne was certain she had won the heart of the hero in return for her brilliance, her loyalty, and her love. After all, she had betrayed those closest to her to save Theseus. When Theseus finally brought their ship to the faraway island of Naxos, Ariadne thought they would live there forever in bliss. Instead, he abandoned her upon the island, sailing off without an apology. Such was her thanks for saving him.

Alone, Ariadne forgot her triumph as the untangler of the labyrinth. She was Ariadne the forsaken, Ariadne the foolish, rather than Ariadne the beloved of Theseus. At first, the heartbroken princess wept. Then she thought of killing herself out of shame and sorrow. But the Muses took pity upon Ariadne. They hovered around the poor girl as soft as winds, and whispered into her ear of a worthier love and a loftier fate. This made no sense to the girl, for she could not see beyond her abandonment by Theseus.

But soon Ariadne saw a bronze chariot appear on the horizon. The Muses whispered it held a new bridegroom for Ariadne, the man she was fated to love. As the chariot drew closer, Ariadne saw it was draped in vines and clusters of ripe grapes--for this chariot was driven by Dionysus, god of divine intoxication, who loved Ariadne for her passionate bravery and loyalty.

Ariadne’s heart was immediately healed by Dionysus’s admiration and loving embrace. She soon forgot about Theseus and accepted her happy fate. Dionysus and Ariadne were wed. Made a goddess by love, Ariadne lived forever with her immortal husband in ecstatic triumph.

1℃ love

In a cold winter, a couple had to move out from the luxury villa because of bankruptcy. The husband worked day and night to support the family but with no care of his wife. So she thought, “he doesn't love me any more, he just cares his business…not me”。

One day, she began to take a bath, he stopped her at the door, “Let me take it first, okay?”

“Why not let me shower first,” she asked. “I was tired, sweetie, you take it later, okay?” She was totally depressed.

On a morose day, she found nothing to do and turned on his computer, a few words blurred her eyes…it was his diary:

Today, I was quite sad, she asked me why I was always taking the bath first, and I said to her, I was exhausted. She was unhappy, in her mind, I treated her not as well as usual, but how can I do? I was not as rich as before! We moved to the small apartment, there was only a shower in the bathroom, it was so cold to take a shower in such a freezing winter. But I found that if one person took the shower first, the room could get a little warm, so every time I rushed to the bathroom first. I was thinking that, when she took the shower, the room would get warmer, at least 1℃， 2℃ or 3℃。

Now I can't give her comfortable life, bring her the luxury restaurant, buy expensive dresses for her, but at least, I can give her 1℃ love.