Form: in music is the organization of musical elements in time.

In a musical composition,
pitch, tone color, dynamics, rhythm, melody, and texture interact to produce a sense of shape and structure.

Harmony: refers to the way chords are constructed and how they follow each other. Melody: After hearing a piece of music, we usually remember its melody best. melody is a
series of single tones which add up to a recognizable whole. A melody begins, moves, and ends; it has direction, shape, and continuity. The up-and-down movement of its pitches conveys tension and release, expectation and arrival. This is the melodic curve, or line. -A melody moves by small intervals called steps or by larger ones called leaps. A step is the interval between two adjacent tones in the do-re-mi scale (from do to re, re to mi, etc.). Any interval larger than a step is a leap (do to mi, for example). Besides moving up or down by step or leap, a melody may simply repeat the same note. -A melodys range is the distance between its lowest and highest tones. Range may be wide or narrow.

ELEMENTS OF MUSIC: Rhythm,Melody,Harmony,Key,Texture,Form. Rhythm is the flow of music through time.

Rhythm has several interrelated aspects: beat, meter, accent and syncopation, and tempo.

Tempo: is the speed of the beat, the basic pace of the music.
A fast tempo is associated with a feeling of energy, drive, and excitement. A slow tempo often contributes to a solemn, lyrical, or calm mood. A tempo indication is usually given at the beginning of a piece. As with dynamics, the terms that show tempo (at the left) are in Italian. largo grave adagio andante moderato very slow, broad very slow, solemn slow moderately slow, a walking pace moderate allegretto moderately fast allegro fast vivace lively presto very fast prestissimo as fast as possible

Heres a short story written by Amador Daguio, a writer who grew up in Lubuagan, Kalinga (he was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte) before World War II. You can read more about the writer here. The story is about a young couple who. well, on second thoughts its better if I dont give any info so as not to destroy your reading experience. It is a good read although it can be quite long (for internet readers anyway), so you might want to get a cup of coffee before you settle down to read. Wedding Dance By Amador Daguio Awiyao reached for the upper horizontal log which served as the edge of the headhigh threshold. Clinging to the log, he lifted himself with one bound that carried him across to the narrow door. He slid back the cover, stepped inside, then pushed the cover back in place. After some moments during which he seemed to wait, he talked to the listening darkness. Im sorry this had to be done. I am really sorry. But neither of us can help it. The sound of the gangsas beat through the walls of the dark house like muffled roars of falling waters. The woman who had moved with a start when the sliding door opened had been hearing the gangsas for she did not know how long. There was a sudden rush of fire in her. She gave no sign that she heard Awiyao, but continued to sit unmoving in the darkness.

But Awiyao knew that she heard him and his heart pitied her. He crawled on all fours to the middle of the room; he knew exactly where the stove was. With bare fingers he stirred the covered smoldering embers, and blew into the stove. When the coals began to glow, Awiyao put pieces of pine on them, then full round logs as his arms. The room brightened. Why dont you go out, he said, and join the dancing women? He felt a pang inside him, because what he said was really not the right thing to say and because the woman did not stir. You should join the dancers, he said, as ifas if nothing had happened. He looked at the woman huddled in a corner of the room, leaning against the wall. The stove fire played with strange moving shadows and lights upon her face. She was partly sullen, but her sullenness was not because of anger or hate. Go outgo out and dance. If you really dont hate me for this separation, go out and dance. One of the men will see you dance well; he will like your dancing, he will marry you. Who knows but that, with him, you will be luckier than you were with me.

I dont want any man, she said sharply. I dont want any other man. He felt relieved that at least she talked: You know very well that I wont want any other woman either. You know that, dont you? Lumnay, you know it, dont you? She did not answer him. You know it Lumnay, dont you? he repeated. Yes, I know, she said weakly. It is not my fault, he said, feeling relieved. You cannot blame me; I have been a good husband to you. Neither can you blame me, she said. She seemed about to cry. No, you have been very good to me. You have been a good wife. I have nothing to say against you. He set some of the burning wood in place. Its only that a man must have a child. Seven harvests is just too long to wait. Yes, we have waited too long. We should have another chance before it is too late for both of us. This time the woman stirred, stretched her right leg out and bent her left leg in. She wound the blanket more snugly around herself. You know that I have done my best, she said. I have prayed to Kabunyan much. I have sacrificed many chickens in my prayers. Yes, I know.

You remember how angry you were once when you came home from your work in the terrace because I butchered one of our pigs without your permission? I did it to appease Kabunyan, because, like you, I wanted to have a child. But what could I do? Kabunyan does not see fit for us to have a child, he said. He stirred the fire. The spark rose through the crackles of the flames. The smoke and soot went up the ceiling. Lumnay looked down and unconsciously started to pull at the rattan that kept the split bamboo flooring in place. She tugged at the rattan flooring. Each time she did this the split bamboo went up and came down with a slight rattle. The gong of the dancers clamorously called in her care through the walls. Awiyao went to the corner where Lumnay sat, paused before her, looked at her bronzed and sturdy face, then turned to where the jars of water stood piled one over the other. Awiyao took a coconut cup and dipped it in the top jar and drank. Lumnay had filled the jars from the mountain creek early that evening. I came home, he said. Because I did not find you among the dancers. Of course, I am not forcing you to come, if you dont want to join my wedding ceremony. I came to tell you that Madulimay, although I am marrying her, can never become as good as you are. She is not as strong in planting beans, not as fast in cleaning water jars, not as good keeping a house clean. You are one of the best wives in the whole village.

That has not done me any good, has it? She said. She looked at him lovingly. She almost seemed to smile.

He put the coconut cup aside on the floor and came closer to her. He held her face between his hands and looked longingly at her beauty. But her eyes looked away. Never again would he hold her face. The next day she would not be his any more. She would go back to her parents. He let go of her face, and she bent to the floor again and looked at her fingers as they tugged softly at the split bamboo floor. This house is yours, he said. I built it for you. Make it your own, live in it as long as you wish. I will build another house for Madulimay. I have no need for a house, she said slowly. Ill go to my own house. My parents are old. They will need help in the planting of the beans, in the pounding of the rice. I will give you the field that I dug out of the mountains during the first year of our marriage, he said. You know I did it for you. You helped me to make it for the two of us. I have no use for any field, she said. He looked at her, then turned away, and became silent. They were silent for a time. Go back to the dance, she said finally. It is not right for you to be here. They will wonder where you are, and Madulimay will not feel good. Go back to the dance. I would feel better if you could come, and dancefor the last time. The gangsas are playing. You know that I cannot. Lumnay, he said tenderly. Lumnay, if I did this it is because of my need for a child. You know that life is not worth living without a child. The man have mocked me behind my back. You know that. I know it, he said. I will pray that Kabunyan will bless you and Madulimay. She bit her lips now, then shook her head wildly, and sobbed. She thought of the seven harvests that had passed, the high hopes they had in the beginning of their new life, the day he took her away from her parents across the roaring river, on the other side of the mountain, the trip up the trail which they had to climb, the steep canyon which they had to cross. The waters boiled in her mind in forms of white and jade and roaring silver; the waters tolled and growled, resounded in thunderous echoes through the walls of the stiff cliffs; they were far away now from somewhere on the tops of the other ranges, and they had looked carefully at the buttresses of rocks they had to step ona slip would have meant death. They both drank of the water then rested on the other bank before they made the final climb to the other side of the mountain.

She looked at his face with the fire playing upon his featureshard and strong, and kind. He had a sense of lightness in his way of saying things which often made her and the village people laugh. How proud she had been of his humor. The muscles where taut and firm, bronze and compact in their hold upon his skullhow frank his bright eyes were. She looked at his body that carved out of the mountains five fields for her; his wide and supple torso heaved as if a slab of shining lumber were heaving; his arms and legs flowed down in fluent muscleshe was strong and for that she had lost him. She flung herself upon his knees and clung to them. Awiyao, Awiyao, my husband, she cried. I did everything to have a child, she said passionately in a hoarse whisper. Look at me, she cried. Look at my body. Then it was full of promise. It could dance; it could work fast in the fields; it could climb the mountains fast. Even now it is firm, full. But, Awiyao, I am useless. I must die. It will not be right to die, he said, gathering her in his arms. Her whole warm naked naked breast quivered against his own; she clung now to his neck, and her hand lay upon his right shoulder; her hair flowed down in cascades of gleaming darkness. I dont care about the fields, she said. I dont care about the house. I dont care for anything but you. Ill have no other man. Then youll always be fruitless. Ill go back to my father, Ill die. Then you hate me, he said. If you die it means you hate me. You do not want me to have a child. You do not want my name to live on in our tribe. She was silent. If I do not try a second time, he explained, it means Ill die. Nobody will get the fields I have carved out of the mountains; nobody will come after me. If you failif you fail this second time she said thoughtfully. The voice was a shudder. Nono, I dont want you to fail. If I fail, he said, Ill come back to you. Then both of us will die together. Both of us will vanish from the life of our tribe. The gongs thundered through the walls of their house, sonorous and faraway. Ill keep my beads, she said. Awiyao, let me keep my beads, she half-whispered. You will keep the beads. They come from far-off times. My grandmother said they come from up North, from the slant-eyed people across the sea. You keep them, Lumnay. They are worth twenty fields. Ill keep them because they stand for the love you have for me, she said. I love you. I love you and have nothing to give. She took herself away from him, for a voice was calling out to him from outside. Awiyao! Awiyao! O Awiyao! They are looking for you at the dance! I am not in hurry.

The elders will scold you. You had better go. Not until you tell me that it is all right with you. It is all right with me. He clasped her hands. I do this for the sake of the tribe, he said. I know, she said. He went to the door. Awiyao! He stopped as if suddenly hit by a spear. In pain he turned to her. Her face was in agony. It pained him to leave. She had been wonderful to him. What was it that made a man wish for a child? What was it in life, in the work in the field, in the planting and harvest, in the silence of the night, in the communing with husband and wife, in the whole life of the tribe itself that made man wish for the laughter and speech of a child? Suppose he changed his mind? Why did the unwritten law demand, anyway, that a man, to be a man, must have a child to come after him? And if he was fruitlessbut he loved Lumnay. It was like taking away of his life to leave her like this. Awiyao, she said, and her eyes seemed to smile in the light. The beads! He turned back and walked to the farthest corner of their room, to the trunk where they kept their worldly possessionhis battle-ax and his spear points, her betel nut box and her beads. He dug out from the darkness the beads which had been given to him by his grandmother to give to Lumnay on the beads on, and tied them in place. The white and jade and deep orange obsidians shone in the firelight. She suddenly clung to him, clung to his neck as if she would never let him go. Awiyao! Awiyao, it is hard! She gasped, and she closed her eyes and huried her face in his neck. The call for him from the outside repeated; her grip loosened, and he buried out into the night. Lumnay sat for some time in the darkness. Then she went to the door and opened it. The moonlight struck her face; the moonlight spilled itself on the whole village. She could hear the throbbing of the gangsas coming to her through the caverns of the other houses. She knew that all the houses were empty that the whole tribe was at the dance. Only she was absent. And yet was she not the best dancer of the village? Did she not have the most lightness and grace? Could she not, alone among all women, dance like a bird tripping for grains on the ground, beautifully timed to the beat of the gangsas? Did not the men praise her supple body, and the women envy the way she stretched her hands like the wings of the mountain eagle now and then as she danced? How long ago did she dance at her own wedding? Tonight, all the women who counted, who once danced in her honor, were dancing now in honor of another whose only claim was that perhaps she could give her husband a child.

It is not right. It is not right! she cried. How does she know? How can anybody know? It is not right, she said.

Suddenly she found courage. She would go to the dance. She would go to the chief of the village, to the elders, to tell them it was not right. Awiyao was hers; nobody could take him away from her. Let her be the first woman to complain, to denounce the unwritten rule that a man may take another woman. She would tell Awiyao to come back to her. He surely would relent. Was not their love as strong as the river? She made for the other side of the village where the dancing was. There was a flaming glow over the whole place; a great bonfire was burning. The gangsas clamored more loudly now, and it seemed they were calling to her. She was near at last. She could see the dancers clearly now. The man leaped lightly with their gangsas as they circled the dancing women decked in feast garments and beads, tripping on the ground like graceful birds, following their men. Her heart warmed to the flaming call of the dance; strange heat in her blood welled up, and she started to run. But the gleaming brightness of the bonfire commanded her to stop. Did anybody see her approach? She stopped. What if somebody had seen her coming? The flames of the bonfire leaped in countless sparks which spread and rose like yellow points and died out in the night. The blaze reached out to her like a spreading radiance. She did not have the courage to break into the wedding feast. Lumnay walked away from the dancing ground, away from the village. She thought of the new clearing of beans which Awiyao and she had started to make only four moons before. She followed the trail above the village. When she came to the mountain stream she crossed it carefully. Nobody held her hand, and the stream water was very cold. The trail went up again, and she was in the moonlight shadows among the trees and shrubs. Slowly she climbed the mountain. When Lumnay reached the clearing, she cold see from where she stood the blazing bonfire at the edge of the village, where the wedding was. She could hear the far-off clamor of the gongs, still rich in their sonorousness, echoing from mountain to mountain. The sound did not mock her; they seemed to call far to her, to speak to her in the language of unspeaking love. She felt the pull of their gratitude for her sacrifice. Her heartbeat began to sound to her like many gangsas.

Lumnay thought of Awiyao as the Awiyao she had known long ago a strong, muscular boy carrying his heavy loads of fuel logs down the mountains to his home. She had met him one day as she was on her way to fill her clay jars with water. He had stopped at the spring to drink and rest; and she had made him drink the cool mountain water from her coconut shell. After that it did not take him long to decide to throw his spear on the stairs of her fathers house in token on his desire to marry her. The mountain clearing was cold in the freezing moonlight. The wind began to stir the leaves of the bean plants. Lumnay looked for a big rock on which to sit down. The bean plants now surrounded her, and she was lost among them. A few more weeks, a few more months, a few more harvestswhat did it matter? She would be holding the bean flowers, soft in the texture, silken almost, but moist where the dew got into them, silver to look at, silver on the light blue, blooming whiteness, when the morning comes. The stretching of the bean pods full length from the hearts of the wilting petals would go on.

 MALAKAS AND MAGANDA When the world first began there was no land; there was only the Sea and the Sky, and between them flew a huge, beautiful Kite (a bird similar to a hawk). One day, the bird, which had nowhere to land and rest, grew tired of flying about, and in frustration stirred up the Sky in a quarrel against the Sea. The Sky threw rain, thunder, and lightning that reached the Sea, who in turn rose up and hurled waves and hurricanes that reached the Sky. In order to restrain its fury, the Sky showered a multitude of massive boulders down upon the Sea, which became the islands that formed the Philippines. These islands prevented the waters from rising any more instead causing them to flow back and forth, and thereby creating the tides. Afterwards, the Sky then ordered the Kite to light on one of the newly-formed islands to build her nest, and to leave the Sea and the Sky in peace. Now at this same time the Land Breeze and the Sea Breeze were married, and they had a child which they named Bamboo. One day, when Bamboo was floating against the sea, it struck the feet of the Kite. Shocked, hurt, and angered that anything should strike it, the bird furiously pecked at the bamboo until it split in half. Out of one section came a golden-bronze colored man, named Malakas (Strong One) and from the other half came a similarly hued woman, named Maganda (Beautiful One). The earthquake then called on all the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea to see what should be done with these two, and the animals decided that they should marry each other. Together, Malakas and Maganda had many children, and from them eventually came all the different races of people. After a while the parents grew very tired of having so many idle and useless children around. They wished to be rid of them, but they knew of no other place to send them off to. Time went on and the children became even more numerous that the parents could no longer enjoy any peace. One day, in an act of pure irritation and desperation, Malakas seized a stick and began beating them on all sides. This so frightened the children that they all fled in different directions; seeking some place to hide both within and outside the house. Some of the children ran into hidden rooms in the house, several concealed themselves within the actual walls, while others hid in the fireplace. Some ran outside and the rest fled out to the sea. Now it happened that those who went into the hidden rooms of the house later became the chiefs of the islands (Maharlikas); and those who concealed themselves in the walls became slaves (Alipins). Those who hid in the fireplace became the Negritos and the Aetas; and those who ran outside turned into free men (Timawas). As for those who fled to the Sea; they were gone many years, and when their children eventually came back, they had become the white foreigners. Notes Because the Philippines has so many islands and is inhabited by different ethnic groups, Philippine mythology and superstitions are very diverse. Even the story of Malakas and Maganda vary from region to region, but specific elements of the story remain the same: there is a huge bird that splits a giant bamboo, and Malakas and Maganda emerge from the halves. The names Malakas and Maganda also denote a deeper meaning and truth about Pilipino culture. Pilipinos consider women to be maganda - beautiful, sweet, and soft; while men as malakas - a strong and sturdy being to whom the family can depend on at all times. The final part about the children who fled out to the sea and eventually came back as white foreigners seems to have been added to the original version that had been handed down orally over the years from generation to generation.

The Monkey and the Turtle A monkey, looking very sad and dejected, was walking along the bank of the river one day when he met a turtle. "How are you?" asked the turtle, noticing that he looked sad. The monkey replied, "Oh, my friend, I am very hungry. The squash of Mr. Farmer were all taken by the other monkeys, and now I am about to die from want of food." "Do not be discouraged," said the turtle; "take a bolo and follow me and we will steal some banana plants." So they walked along together until they found some nice plants which they dug up, and then they looked for a place to set them. Finally the monkey climbed a tree and planted his in it, but as the turtle could not climb he dug a hole in the ground and set his there. When their work was finished they went away, planning what they should do with their crop. The monkey said : "When my tree bears fruit, I shall sell it and have a great deal of money." And the turtle said: "When my tree bears fruit, I shall sell it and buy three varas of cloth to wear in place of this cracked shell." A few weeks later they went back to the place to see their plants and found that that of the monkey was dead, for its roots had had no soil in the tree, but that of the turtle was tall and bearing fruit. "I will climb to the top so that we can get the fruit," said the monkey. And he sprang up the tree, leaving the poor turtle on the ground alone. "Please give me some to eat," called the turtle, but the monkey threw him only a green one and ate all the ripe ones himself. When he had eaten all the good bananas, the monkey stretched his arms around the tree and went to sleep. The turtle, seeing this, was very angry and considered how he might punish the thief. Having decided on a scheme, he gathered some sharp bamboo which he stuck all around under the tree, and then he exclaimed: "Crocodile is coming! Crocodile is coming!" The monkey was so startled at the cry that he fell upon the sharp bamboo and was killed. Then the turtle cut the dead monkey into pieces, put salt on it, and dried it in the sun. The next day, he went to the mountains and sold his meat to other monkeys who gladly gave him squash in return. As he was leaving them he called back: "Lazy fellows, you are now eating your own body; you are now eating your own body." Then the monkeys ran and caught him and carried him to their own home. "Let us take a hatchet," said one old monkey, "and cut him into very small pieces." But the turtle laughed and said: "That is just what I like. I have been struck with a hatchet many times. Do you not see the black scars on my shell ?" Then one of the other monkeys said: "Let us throw him into the water." At this the turtle cried and begged them to spare his life, but they paid no heed to his pleadings and threw him into the water. He sank to the bottom, but very soon came up with a lobster. The monkeys were greatly surprised at this and begged him to tell them how to eatch lobsters. "I tied one end of a string around my waist," said the turtle. "To the other end of the string I tied a stone so that I would sink." The monkeys immediately tied strings around themselves as the turtle said, and when all was ready they plunged into the water never to tome up again. And to this day monkeys do not like to eat meat, because they remember the ancient story.

Short Story
The short story is a literary genre of fictional prose narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such as novellas (in the modern sense of the term) and novels Short stories have their origins in oral story-telling traditions and the prose anecdote, a swiftly-sketched situation that quickly comes to its point. With the rise of the comparatively realistic novel, the short story evolved as a miniature version, with some of its first perfectly independent examples in the tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Other nineteenth-century writers well-known for their short stories are Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Nikolai Gogol, Guy de Maupassant, Boles aw Prus and Anton Chekhov. Short stories were a staple of early-19th-century magazines and often led to fame and novel-length projects for their authors. More recently, short stories have been.

Porque (Tagalog Version) Maldita Song and Lyrics Code Tulala lang saking kwarto At nagmu-muni-muni Ang tanong saking sarili San ako nagkamali Bakit sayo pa nagkagusto Parang bula ikay naglaho Chorus: Porque contigo yo ya iskuji Aura mi corazon ta supri Bien simple lang iyo ta pidi Era cinti tu el cosa yo ya cinti Ta pidi milagro, viral tiempo El mali hace derecho Na dimio reso ta pidi yo Era olvidas yo contigo Ang lahat ay binigay ko Ngayon ay sising-sisi Sobra sobra ang parusa Di alam kung kaya pa Wag nang lumapit At tumawag pa at baka masampal lang kita Di babalikan Magsisi ka man Ako ay lisanin Porque contigo yo ya iskuji Aura mi corazon ta supri Bien simple lang iyo ta pidi Era cinti tu el cosa yo ya cinti Bakit ikaw pa ang napili Ngayon ang puso ko ay sawi Kay simple lang ng aking hiling Na madama mo rin ang pait at pighati Sanay magmilagro Mabalik ko Mali ay maiderecho Pinagdarasal ko saking puso Na mabura na sa isip ko

The Spider's Thread by Akutagawa Rynosuke 2I

It so happens that one day the Lord Buddha is strolling alone on the shore of the lotus pond in Paradise. All the lotus blossoms blooming in the pond are globes of the whitest white and from the golden stamen in the center of each an indescribably pleasant fragrance issues forth abidingly over the adjacent area. Day is just dawning in Paradise. In due course, the Lord Buddha pauses at the edge of the pond and beholds an unexpected sight between the lotus petals veiling the water's surface. Since the depths of Hell lay directly below the lotus pond on Paradise, the scenery of Sanzu-no-kawa3 and Harino-yama4 can be clearly seen through the crystalclear water just as if looking through a stereopticon. Then, the single figure of a man, Kandata by name, squirming there in the depths of Hell along with other sinners, comes into the Lord Buddha's gaze. This man Kandata is a murderer, an arsonist, and a master thief with numerous robberies to his credit. Yet, the Lord Buddha recalls that he had performed a single good deed. That is to say, once when Kandata was traveling through the middle of a dense forest he came upon a spider crawling along the roadside. Thereupon, he immediately raised his foot and was about to trample it to death. But, he suddenly reconsidered, saying, "Nay, nay, small though this spider be, there is no doubt that it too is a living being. Somehow or other it seems a shame to take its life for no reason." In the end he spared the spider rather than killing it. While observing the situation in Hell, the Lord Buddha remembers that this Kandata had spared the spider. And he decides that in return for having done just that one good deed he would, if he could, try to rescue this man from Hell. Luckily, he sees nearby a spider of Paradise spinning a beautiful silver web on a jade colored lotus petal. The Lord Buddha takes the spider's thread gently into his hand and lowers it between the pure white lotus blossoms straight into the distant depths of Hell. II This is Chi-no-ike5 in the depths of Hell and along with other sinners Kandata is floating up to the surface and sinking back down over and over. No matter what direction one looks it is completely dark. And when one notices out there in that darkness the glow from the needles of the dreaded Hari-no-yama floating up vaguely into view, the feeling of helplessness is beyond description. Moreover, the surroundings are perfectly still, like the inside of a tomb. If a sound is to be heard, it is merely the faint sigh of some sinner. The sighs are faint because anyone who has fallen to this level of Hell is already so exhausted by the tortures of the other Hells that he or she no longer has even enough strength to cry out. Therefore, as one might expect, the master thief Kandata himself is unable to do anything but writhe, exactly like a frog caught in the throes of death, as he chokes on the blood of Chi-no-ike. One day, however, something happens. Kandata happens to raise his head and spies in the sky above Chi-no-ike a silvery spider's thread, a thin line shimmering in the silent darkness, gently descending toward him from the distant, distant firmament as though it were afraid to be seen by the eyes of men. Upon seeing it Kandata involuntarily claps his hands for joy. If he were to cling to this thread and climb it to its end, he would surely be able to escape from Hell. No, if all went well, he would even be able to enter Paradise. And were this to come to pass, he would never ever be driven up Hari-no-yama again, nor would he ever have to sink again in Chi-no-ike. Having thought thusly, Kandata quickly takes firm hold of that spider's thread with both hands and using all his might begins climbing up and up hand-overhand. From long ago Kandata has been completely used to doing this sort of thing since he is a former master thief. But because the distance between Hell and Paradise is some tens of thousands of ri,6 try though he might, he is not able to ascend to the top easily. After climbing for a while, even Kandata finally tires; he is unable to continue for even one more pull on the thread. Having no other choice, he intends first to take a short rest. While hanging onto the thread he looks down on the distance below. He sees that thanks to the efforts he spent climbing, Chi-no-ike, where he had just recently been, is now already hidden at the bottom of the darkness. He also sees that the faint glow of the terrifying Hari-noyama is below him. If he were to continue at this pace, the escape from Hell just might not be as difficult as he had expected. Wrapping his hand

around the spider's thread, Kandata laughs in a voice unused during his years in Hell, "I'm saved! I'm saved at last!" Then he suddenly notices that below him on the spider's thread, just like a line of ants, a countless number of sinners are following him, climbing up and up for all they are worth. When Kandata sees this, he momentarily freezes from shock and fear, his mouth agape and his eyes rolling in his head like an idiot. How could it be that this slender spider's thread, seemingly strained even under the weight of just him alone, is able to support the weight of that many? By some chance were the thread to break, he, the egotistical Kandata who at great pains had climbed this far, and everyone else would plummet headlong back into Hell. For that to happen would be a disaster. But, even as he says this, sinners, not by the hundreds, nor even by the thousands, but in swarms, continue to crawl up from the bottom of the pitch dark Chi-no-ike and climb up the thin luminous spider's thread in single file. If he doesn't do something right away, the thread will break in two at the center and he will surely fall. At this point, Kandata yells in a loud voice, "Hey you sinners. This spider's thread is mine. Who the hell asked you to climb it? Get down! Get off it!" Just as he screams at the other sinners the spider's thread, which till then had had nothing wrong with it, suddenly breaks with a snap right where Kandata is hanging. So, Kandata, too, is doomed. Without even time to cry out he goes flying through the air spinning like a top and in the wink of an eye plunges headfirst into the dark depths of Hell. Afterwards, only the shortened spider's thread from Paradise dangles there, glittering dimly in a sky void of both moon and stars. III The Lord Buddha stands on the shore of the lotus pond in Paradise having taken in everything from start to finish. When Kandata finally sinks like a rock to the bottom of Chi-no-ike he resumes strolling, his countenance seemingly creased with sadness. Seen through divine eyes, the Lord Buddha thought it wretched that Kandata's compassionless heart led him to attempt to escape by himself and for such a heart falling back into Hell was just punishment. The lotus blossoms in the lotus pond of Paradise, however, are not concerned in the least about what has happened. Those blossoms of the whitest white wave their cups around the divine feet of the Lord Buddha and from the golden stamen in the center of

each an indescribably pleasant fragrance issues forth abidingly over the adjacent area. Noon draws near in Paradise. The End

wanting desperately to go asked the bones for clothes to wear to the festival. Suddenly she was wearing a beautiful gown of azure blue with a cloak of kingfisher feathers draped around her shoulders. On her feet were beautiful slippers. They were woven of golden threads in a pattern of a scaled fish and the soles were made of solid gold. When she walked she felt lighter than air. She was warned not to lose the slippers. Yeh-Shen arrived at the festival and soon all were looking her way. The daughter and step-mother moved closer to her for they seemed to recognize this beautiful person. Seeing that she would be found out, Yeh-Shen dashed out of the village leaving behind one of the golden slippers. When she arrived home she was dressed again in her rags. She spoke again to the bones, but they were now silent. Saddened she put the one golden slipper in her bedstraw. After a time a merchant found the lost slipper, and seeing the value in the golden slipper sold it to a merchant who gave it to the king of the island kingdom of To Han. Now the king wanted to find the owner of this tiny beautiful slipper. He sent his people to search the kingdom but no ones foot would fit in the tiny golden slipper. He had the slipper placed on display in a pavilion on the side of the road where the slipper had been found with an announcement that the shoe was to be returned to the owner. The kings men waited out of site. All the women came to try on the shoe. One dark night Yeh-Shen slipped quietly across the pavilion, took the tiny golden slipper and turned to leave, but the kings men rushed out and arrested her. She was taken to the king who was furious for he couldnt believe that any one in rags could possibly own a golden slipper. As he looked closer at her face he was struck by her beauty and he noticed she had the tiniest feet. The king and his men returned home with her where she produced the other slipper. As she slipped on the two slippers her rags turned into the beautiful gown and cloak she had worn to the festival. The king realized that she was the one for him. They married and lived happily ever after. However, the stepmother and daughter were never allowed to visit Yeh-Shen and were forced to continue to live in their cave until the day they were crushed to death in a shower of flying stones.

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story

During the time of the Chin and Han dynasties, a cave chief named Wu married two wives and each gave birth to baby girls. Before long Chief Wu and one wife died leaving one baby, Yeh-Shen, to be reared by her stepmother. The stepmother didnt like Yeh-Shen for she was more beautiful and kinder than her own daughter so she treated her poorly. Yeh-Shen was given the worst jobs and the only friend she had was a beautiful fish with big golden eyes . Each day the fish came out of the water onto the bank to be fed by Yeh-Shen. Now Yen-Shen had little food for herself but she was willing to share with the fish. Her stepmother hearing about the fish disguised herself as Yen-Shen and enticed the fish from the water. She stabbed it with a dagger, and cooked the fish for dinner. Yeh-Shen was distraught when she learned of the fishs death. As she sat crying she heard a voice and looked up to see a wise old man wearing the coarsest of clothes and with hair hanging down over his shoulders. He told her that the bones of the fish were filled with a powerful spirit, and that when she was in serious need she was to kneel before the bones and tell them of her hearts desires. She was warned not to waste their gifts. Yeh-Shen retrieved the bones from the trash heap and hid them in a safe place. Time passed and the spring festival was nearing. This was a time when the young people gathered in the village to meet one another and to find husbands and wives. YenShen longed to go to the festival but her stepmother wouldnt allow it because she feared that someone would pick Yeh-Shen rather than her own daughter. The stepmother and the daughter left for the festival leaving Yeh-Shen behind. Yeh-Shen

Ecology is the study of environmental systems, or as it is sometimes called, the economy of nature. "Environmental" usually means relating to the natural, versus human-made world; the "systems" means that ecology is, by its very nature, not interested in just the components of nature individually but especially in how the parts interact. Ecology is technically an academic discipline, such as mathematics or physics, although in public or media use, it is often used to connote some sort of normative or evaluative issue as in something is ecologically bad or is or is not good for the ecology. More properly ecology is used only in the sense that it is an academic discipline, no more evaluative than mathematics or physics. When a normative or evaluative term is needed then it is more proper to use the term environmental, i.e., environmental quality or environmentally degrading. Most professional ecologists are not terribly unhappy when ecology is used in the normative sense, preferring the wider public awareness of environmental issues today compared to the widespread ignorance of three decades ago. The subject matter of ecology is normally divided onto four broad categories: physiological ecology, having to do with the response of single species to environmental conditions such as temperature or light; population ecology, usually focusing on the abundance and distribution of individual species and the factors that cause such distribution; community ecology, having to do with the number of species found at given location and their interactions; and ecosystems ecology, having to do with the structure and function of the entire suite of microbes, plants, and animals, and their abiotic environment, and how the parts interact to generate the whole. This branch of ecology often focuses on the energy and nutrient flows of ecosystems, and when this approach is combined with computer analysis and simulation we often call it systems ecology. Evolutionary ecology, which may operate at any of these levels but most commonly at the physiological or population level, is a rich and dynamic area of ecology focusing on attempting to understand how natural selection developed the structure and function of the organisms and ecosystems at any of these levels.

Ecology is usually considered from the perspective of the specific geographic environment that is being studied a the moment: tropical rain forest, temperate grassland, arctic tundra, benthic marine, the entire biosphere, and so on. Thus you might study the population ecology of lions in an African savanna, an ecosystems study of a marine benthic environment, global nutrient budgets, and so on. The subject matter of ecology is the entire natural world, including both the living and the non living parts. Biogeography focuses on the observed distribution of plants and animals and the reasons behind it. More recently ecology has included increasingly the human-dominated world of agriculture, grazing lands for domestic animals, cities, and even industrial parks. Industrial ecology is a discipline that has recently been developed, especially in Europe, where the objective is to follow the energy and material use throughout the process of, e.g., making an automobile with the objective of attempting to improve the material and energy efficiency of manufacturing. For any of these levels or approaches there are some scientists that focus on theoretical ecology, which attempts to derive or apply theoretical or sometimes mathematical reasons and generalities for what is observed in nature, and empirical ecology, which is concerned principally with measurement. Applied ecology takes what is found from one or both of these approaches and uses it to protect or manage nature in some way. Related to this discipline is conservation biology. Plant ecology, animal ecology, and microbial ecology have obvious foci. There are usually four basic reasons given to study and as to why we might want to understand ecology: first, since all of us live to some degree in a natural or at least partly natural ecosystem, then considerable pleasure can be derived by studying the environment around us. Just as one might learn to appreciate art better through an art history course so too might one appreciate more the nature around us with a better understanding of ecology. Second, human economies are in large part based on the exploitation and management of nature. Applied ecology is used every day in forestry, fisheries, range management, agriculture, and so on to provide us with the food and fiber we need. For example, in Argentina in many circles there is no difference between ecology and agriculture, which is essentially the ecology of crops and pastures. Third, human societies can often be understood very clearly from an ecological perspectives as we study, for example, the population dynamics (demography)

of our own species, the food and fossil energy flowing through our society. Fourth, humans appear to be changing aspects of the global environment in many ways. Ecology can be very useful to help us understand what these changes are, what the implications might be for various ecosystems, and how we might intervene in either human economies or in nature to try to mitigate or otherwise alter these changes. There are many professional ecologists, who believe that these apparent changes from human activities have the potential to generate enormous harm to both natural ecosystems and human economies. Understanding, predicting and adapting to these issues could be the most important of all possible issue for humans to deal with. In this case ecology and environmentalism can be the same. Since ecology by its very nature is an integrative discipline, science students preparing themselves professionally in the field are encouraged to take a broad suite of courses, mostly in the natural sciences and including physics, chemistry, and biology of many sorts but certainly including evolution, meteorology, hydrology, geography, and so on. Ecologists interested in human ecology are encouraged to take courses and undertake readings in agronomy, demography, human geography, sociology, economics, and so on. Since ecology is so broad there are many things that an ecologist might wish to do and to train for. Today many ecology courses are taught in biology departments, where the focus is often on population or community ecology and also individual species. There are a number of classical areas of interest in ecology, and they revolve around questions similar to the following: how much is the photosynthesis of a hectare of land? How many animals of what types might that photosynthesis be able to support as a base for their food resources? How many species might divide up the land or food resources available? How do the species present change as the physical conditions change, for example as one ascends a mountain? What is the proportion of food that is passed on from each food or trophic level to the next? What are the mechanisms that control the populations, communities and ecosystems in some area? How are human activities impacting these natural systems? Ecology should be more than just a set of ideas and principles that one might learn in a classroom

or book but rather more a way of looking at the world which emphasizes the assessment and understanding of how the pieces fit together, how each influences and is influenced by the other pieces and how the whole operates in ways not really predictable from the pieces. When we are lucky we are able to capture these relations in conceptual, mathematical or, increasingly, computer models that allow us some sense of truly understanding the great complexity of nature, including as it is impacted by human activity. This is the goal of most ecologists.

What is Environmental Science?

Some thoughts for prospective students to consider
Environmental Science is the study of the myriad interactions between humans and the world around them, living and non-living. As Earths human population continues to grow, as technology advances and human needs and wants increase, our impacts on the world become more widespread and severe, despite improvement in some areas. Environmental impacts, in turn, affect human health and well being. A few of the major challenges that are topics for environmental science include: y y y y y y y y y y y y Global Climate Change (global warming, its causes and all of its consequences) Management of Earth's water resources Energy and mineral resource depletion Meeting the food, fiber and clothing needs of a growing World population Air pollution and acid deposition (rain) Stratospheric ozone depletion Water pollution Soil erosion, fertility depletion and contamination Deforestation The loss of fisheries Accelerated damage to coral reefs Habitat destruction on land and in the oceans

y y y

y y y

The spread of infectious diseases, including those caused by organisms that have developed antibiotic resistance Long term sustainability of the Global and national economies The evolution and spread of pests that are resistant to pesticides Waste generation and disposal in a world increasing in population and per capita consumption The fate of hazardous chemicals in the environment Potential environmental effects of genetic engineering Protection of the Ocean and its resources

Encyclopedia of Earth: Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variation in living organisms, viewed within a given habitat, ecosystem or in the world as a whole. The concept is usually applied to the species diversity, although the notion of genetic biodiversity is applied to the variation in genes within an individual species. While most people think of rainforests as loci of great biodiversity, biomes such as oceans and grasslands are the likely repositories for even greater variation. Retention of diverse biota is important, since intact ecosystems are thought to be essential for provision of ecosystem services to humans, including maintenance of a diverse foodbank, pollination, clean water, flood control, pest control, waste decomposition, biomass energy resources and climate stability. Biodiversity is presently critical since we live in the era of the Mass Holocene Extinction, a period of species loss caused by man, and unrivaled in rate of species loss. Although the number of total species numbers in the tens of millions, most have not yet even been described. The extinction of a species is almost always related to destruction of habitat or man-made pollution.

All of the above and other environmental challenges are multidisciplinary in nature. That is, in order to understand each environmental challenge sufficiently well to develop viable solutions, scientists must assemble expertise in several disciplines. It is true that no single scientist will be an expert in all of the facets of the several disciplines needed to address any one problem in detail, but it is also important that environmental scientists, decision makers and other workers in the field understand the different sciences sufficiently well to communicate with those of other specialties and to appreciate the importance of other disciplines in addressing challenges. At a minimum, the well trained environmental scientist will be conversant in physics, chemistry, biology, ecology and geology (Earth Science). The environmental scientist will also be familiar with the relevant economic, social and political science, because all three are essential to understanding not only how humans come to affect the environment, but also what options are available for action, because technical fixes will rarely, if ever, solve an environmental problem once and for all. Politics, economics and cultural adjustment will each contribute its share to any viable solution.