contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

Stacy (xiulu) niSTACY (XIULU) NI Passing Down40The Story of the Signin my earliest memory, a sign hangs in my praying room in China. Later, I wascurious about it. I asked my grandmother, and she told me the story of the sign.The sign had four words, which were Xiao Guang Dong Tian. She told methat the sign was from my grandfather’s father. About a hundred years ago, ourvillage had a drought for about two months. Everyone had to find his or her ownway to survive. Rich people could move to another town temporarily, but poorpeople could only stay in the village. Many people died because they couldn’t findany food or water in such hot and dry weather.My great-grandfather’s mother didn’t eat or drink for about one week, andshe was getting weaker and weaker every day. My great-grandfather knew that ifshe still had nothing to eat, she would die. Because he was so poor, he knew that hecouldn’t find any food or water for his mom. So he made a cut on his arm and let herdrink his blood. He knew that was the only way he could save her life.After his mom drank his blood, the rain came immediately. It rained heavilyfor a whole day. A neighbor who saw this happen told another person, who toldanother person, and so on, until everyone in the village knew about it. The villageleader awarded him a sign that said, “Your Filial Piety Has Touched the Sky.” Thissign has hung in that house ever since.Stacy (Xiulu) Ni, of China, is 26 years old and has been living in New York for sixyears. She is a student of Heidi Fischer at the Adult and Continuing EducationProgram of CUNY’s Borough of Manhattan Community College. Currentlyresiding in Brooklyn, Stacy Ni has been studying English for about two years.She says, “Learning English has improved my life in many ways.”