Favorite Legend

My favorite legend is Journey to the West, the traditional Chinese story, written by Wu Cheng’en in the Ming Dynasty. The story is about a monkey, a monk, a pig, and an ogre traveling to India to get a Buddhist scripture, as well as enlightenment. They encounter various monsters along the way and defeat them, sometimes with the help of gods. I like this legend because I was introduced to it since I was little. The story had become a culture among Chinese people. When I was in kindergarten I used to listen to the audio-book/children version of the book in my mother’s car. It has a very original and interesting plot that can be funny in some ways. The characters are very different from each other and are depicted vividly. The story is an extended allegory, too. The journey to India symbolizes the journey to one’s enlightenment. Each character represents a kind of weakness in us that we must overcome. I was going to read the original version of the book, but it hasn’t happened yet.