Maurie Sween

About ...                                                                       

          This book is about happiness.  I tell you this right up front so that those of you who are bored by happiness can stop right here, put this back on the shelf, and look for another book.  Stories are always about what interests the storyteller.  I happen to know that Maurie Sween, the man who wrote this book, likes to be happy and wants others to be happy too.  So that is what you will read about here.  If a writer is fascinated by birds, his tales will probably talk a lot about feathers, flying, and nests.  If such subjects make you yawn, you should probably not spend much time reading what that fellow writes, unless it’s late at night and you need help falling asleep.  If an author likes flowers, you may well find yourself reading about petals, stems, and soil.  If green leafy things weary you, put that book down.  There are so many writings, by so many writers, that you should always be able to find something to read that is interesting to you, that makes you happy.  Of course, if you do not like being happy, you can always read a book that makes you sad or angry.  If sad and angry books make you happy, then you should read them.  But don’t read this book if happy books make you sad.  This book is a happy book about being happy.  That is what the author is interested in; being happy and not sad.  Wait.  What am I saying?  I’m getting confused.  Let me start again.  This book is about being happy.  If you don’t want to be happy, don’t read this book.  If you want to be happy, read this book.

          You don’t have to read every part of this book though.  There is one part you can skip.  You can skip the part about where the water buffalo pees on my head.  It’s not funny.  I told Maurie not to put it in, but he did.  Indeed he mentions it too many times.  He must have his reasons.  But you could skip that part and still enjoy the stories.  There are also some hard parts in this book.  I am talking about everything that Farramond Snail says.  Everything Farramond says is complicated. If you find the snail’s words hard, just skim over them.  But be careful not to skip or skim over Grandmother’s stories.  Her stories are the best part of this book.  They are stories told by the aborigines who live near Pingtung, in south Taiwan.  Those stories have been handed down among the Rukai people, mostly from grandmothers to their grandchildren, mostly at bedtime, for as long as anyone can remember.  Like the other stories in this book, they were told to help people be happy.  So if you want to be happy I think you should listen carefully to Grandmother’s stories, and the other stories too, except for the one about the buffalo pee.  You should skip that story.  Read the other stories though.  They will make you happy.

                                                    C.H. Mouse

      Support Team