LITTLE RED SEED (CHINESE TALE)

 I have been unable to find this story again so cannot credit it, but please, if you find it, let me know so I can.

A mother and a daughter, very poor, are tilling a small field. An evil dragon appears in the sky and sweeps the child away, but she shouts out "Don´t worry, mother, my brother will save me!"

The mother cries all the way home as she only has one child. But on the way there she is crying so much she stumbles into a tree and swallows a red seed. By the time she gets to her cottage she has a huge belly and as soon as she walks in she gives birth to a boy. She is so exhausted she falls asleep and when she wakes the baby is a boy already.

"I am Little Red", he informs her. "I will bring back my sister".

And he travels all the way to the dragon´s mountain. When he is climbing to the top, where the dragon is, he finds a huge rock in the path. He can easily climb over it, but being a considerate boy, he thinks "what if someone were to come not as young or nimble as I?". So with great effort he pushes the huge boulder off the path, and under it lies a flute.

Little Red discovers that by playing the flute he can make any animal dance, none can resist the music. So he faces the dragon and plays the flute. The dragon, furious, dances until he is exhausted. 

Depending on the audience, I make Little Red drown the dragon in a lake or threaten to do so , so the dragon leaves forever.

The puppets are simply cardboard (the type used in delivery boxes) cutouts on which I have pasted the paper, washi tape and drawn the faces. I have also added some sequins.  I keep an assortment of washi tape and patterned paper on hand. They are then simply glued onto popsicle sticks.

Oh, the dragon´s head is a little damaged but I made it by adding some cardboard strips to a clothespin and then wrapping it up with washi tape (green) and customising it a bit. Great advantage is the clothespin dragon can actually pick up the girl and carry her off.