THE SOUL OF THE GREAT BELL whisper to their little ones: "Listen!
whisper to their little ones: "Listen! that is Ko-Ngai crying for her shoe!
That is Ko-Ngai calling for her shoe!"
Plot
Conflict
Nearly five hundred years ago, the Celestial August and Yung- Lo
· the conflict of the story is when they failed to make the bell the
commanded the worthy official Kouan- Yu to make a bell that the
Celestial August ordered them to do.
sound thereof might be heard for one hundred Li. He therefore called
Climax
the master moulders and renowned bellsmiths and all men of great
· The climax of the story is when Ko- Ngai ngai jumped into the mixing
repute and cunning in foundry work to began the labor. But when the
of the marterials needed for making the bell and save her father's life.
metal had been cast, it was discovered that the result was void of
Denouement
worth; for the metals had rebelled one against the other therefore the
· When Ko- Ngai sacrificed herself to make the great bell and save
moulds had to be once more prepared, and the fires rekindled, and
her father's life.
the metal remelted, and all the work tediously and toilsomely
Characters
repeated. The Son of Heaven heard and was angry, but spake
Protagonist:
nothing. A second time the bell was cast, and the result was even
Ko- Ngai - Daughter of Kouan-Yu and the one who sacrificed herself.
worse. The Celestial August was angrier than before and send
Kouan- Yu - a worthy mandarin and father of Ko- Ngai.
Kouan- Yu letter telling him that another failure will cost his life. Ko-
Antagonist:
ngai, the daughter of Kouan- Yu learned about this and feared the life
Celestial August- The son of heaven.
of his father so she consulted an astrologer and gave her an answer
Settings
"Gold and brass will never meet in wedlock, silver and iron never will
Time- Nearly 500 years ago
embrace, until the flesh of a maiden be melted in the crucible; until the
Place - Pe King Currently Beijing, China
blood of a virgin be mixed with the metals in their fusion." So Ko-Ngai
Theme
returned home sorrowful at heart; but she kept secret all that she had
The theme of the story is Life process because it is showed in the
heard, and told no one what she had done. At last came the awful day
story the experiences of Kouan- Yu and Ko- Ngai and what a child
when the third and last effort to cast the great bell was to be made;
can do in order to save his/her parents.
and Ko-Ngai, together with her waiting-woman, accompanied her
Point of view
father to the foundry, and they took their places upon a platform
Third person because the narrator is not a participant in the story
overlooking the toiling of the moulders and the lava of liquefied metal.
thus, the focus is in the character of Ko- Ngai.
Then Ko- Ngai leaped into the white flood of metal and the lava of the
Conflict
furnace roared to receive her. All was shocked including his father
For me, the conflict is man vs. supernatural because Kouan- Yu and
and her waiting-woman holding her shoe. But in spite of all these
Ko- Ngai are against the elements outside of the natural realm like a
things, the command of the Celestial and August had to be obeyed. It
celestial being in the place of Celestial Augus
was found that the bell was beautiful to look upon and perfect in form,
and wonderful in colour above all other bells. And when they sounded
the bell, its tones were found to be deeper and mellower and mightier
than the tones of any other bell, reaching even beyond the distance of
one hundred li, like a pealing of summer thunder; and yet also like
some vast voice uttering a name of Ko-Ngai. And still, between each
mighty stroke there is a long low moaning heard and when the people
hear that great golden moan they keep silence, but when the sharp
and the sobbing of "Hiai!" then, indeed, do all the Chinese mothers
