Music from the Forest

Music from the Forest is a bedtime story for kids that you will only find here on storiesntales.com. The story revolves around a Chinese boy who loved music but was forbidden to learn it because of his culture. The story is 100% fictional and written by our main author. If you are looking for bedtime stories for kids of more than 4 years of age, try this and leave a comment below. We encourage you to tell the story to your kids, making their storytime a little better, just like the storytime we had as 90s kids. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, in China, a boy was born into a poor farming family. The boy was named Chen Xiao. In those times, no one could go against the caste system. Children got their parents’ caste and their job. So, this little boy was born to be a farmer.

Chen Xiao did not have any siblings. He was the only child. Before he was grown enough to help his parents with farming, Chen used to go to the musician’s house in the village. Actually, he did not go inside the house. He stayed at the front gate and sat there on the ground. He was so curious and excited about music. Though the other kids of his age in the village loved to play, Chen always loved to sit there and listen to the different sounds of instruments. He loved music.

The master musician in this village saw little Chen sitting at the front gate all the time. But this poor boy was not allowed to learn or practice music. Because he was meant to be a farmer. So, the master was not allowed to teach him either.

Time flew by like this. The little Chen grew up to be six years old. Chen had to help his parents with their work. But, whenever he was free, he ran to the musician’s house and stayed at the gates, listening to the music and watching how children from noble families learned to play instruments. Chen got older and older but he did not give up his habit of staying at the gates of the musician’s house and spending his time there.

One day, when Chen was ten years old, the master came to him and asked if he liked music. Young Chen shook his head, saying yes. Master asked if Chen would like to learn music. Chen said yes with a surprise in his face. The master saw something in this poor peasant boy’s eyes.

“Come here tomorrow before dawn, Chen,” the master said to Chen and went back.

Chen could not believe what just happened. His parents had told him that he could never learn music and that he could only be a farmer. Chen walked back home.

The next morning, before dawn, Chen went in front of the master’s house. The master was expecting him.

“Follow me,” the master said, starting to walk.

Chen followed the master behind. The master and Chen reached a stream. This stream was in the jungle, a little far from the village. Since it was dawn, Chen could see how beautifully the crystal-clear water flew in the stream. He was so excited and looked around.

“Chen, I will teach you music if you promise me to keep it a secret,” the master said.

Chen said, “Yes, Master.”

The master started his first lesson right away. He sat on a rock boulder and put his legs in the water. Then he asked Chen to do the same. Chen put his feet in cold water. Then the master asked Chen what he was feeling. Chen replied that he was feeling cold. Then the master asked Chen to close his eyes and feel how the water flowed around his legs. Then the master asked him to see, with closed eyes, how water flew around his legs. Chen did exactly as the master said. Then, when the sun rose, both went back to their houses.

From that day forward, every day Chen went to the stream and practiced the same activity with the master. After a week, the master put his hands into the water and asked Chen to follow him. Then he asked Chen to close his eyes and feel the water flowing around his hands and fingers.

Two weeks passed by. But the master only taught him to feel the water. Chen was impatient to learn music. But he was afraid to confront the Master and ask about it. The master knew there was growing impatience inside Chen. But he pretended like he did not know. He asked Chen to practice the same activity again and again. Whenever Chen had time to spare from farming and helping his parents, he ran to the stream and practiced feeling the water on his hands and legs.

In another few weeks, when Master was there at the stream, Chen bowed to the master and asked why he had not taught him any music yet. The master did not reply back. He silently walked to the banks of the stream and took a small, long bamboo stick. Then he told Chen to put his legs in the water and close his eyes. Chen obediently did as he was told.

“What do you see?” Master asked.

“I see nothing, Master,” Chen replied.

“Don’t look with your eyes. Look with your mind. Now what do you see?” The master advised and asked again.

Chen was silent for a moment and said, “I see water flowing around my legs, Master.”

Then the master asked Chen to sit on a rock boulder, put his right hand into the water and close his eyes. Then he asked Chen what he felt. Chen replied that he feels water flowing through his fingers, touching his finger tips.

Then the master put the stick in front of Cheng’s hand, a few inches upstream. Then he started to move the stick slowly and asked what Chen was feeling. Chen replied that he feels the water is flowing differently. Then the Master asked Chen to dip his left hand into the water. With weeks of practice, Chen could say if a fish swam nearby just by feeling the waterflow with closed eyes. The master asked Chen to open his eyes.

“Now, you are ready. Your training in music began the first day you came to this stream. The first lesson was practicing patience. The second lesson was about heightening your senses. Do you understand, Chen?” master asked.

“Yes, Master,” Chen replied.

“To control the air, you must learn to feel the air. To feel the air, you must first feel the water,” the master said. Then he took a flute from his waist belt and gave it to Chen. That was when Chen understood that the master had begun his training on the first day.

The next day onwards, the master taught Chen everything about playing the flute. Chen was a fast learner. He practiced everything the master asked him to do. Every day before dawn, Chen went to the stream and played the flute. He chose the stream because, with the sound of the flowing water, his flute notes did not reach the village. So, soon, Chen mastered playing the flute.

The master taught him lessons in music near the stream. And he brought the smaller instruments he could carry with him. Chen had learned almost everything he could from the master when he was fifteen years old.

Chen wanted to be a musician, just like his master. But he was born to be a farmer. Chen was disappointed about that.

“Master, can I ever be a musician? Is there any place in this world where I can be a musician?” Chen asked his master.

“There may be a place in this world where you can be a musician among the public. Maybe not. But I am sure that there will be a time when your music will be heard by everyone in this world,” Master replied to Chen.

One night, the villagers got to know that Master had been teaching a peasant boy music secretly. The villagers blamed the master for it and complained about it to the village authorities. They asked the master to reveal the peasant boy to whom he taught music. But the master never told. Therefore, they decided to banish the master from the village. The master was told to leave the village before sunset the next day.

The next morning, the master met Chen near the stream.

“I am sorry, Master,” Chen cried.

“It is not your fault, Chen. Son, I saw something in you. That is why I chose to teach you music. I chose to pass my knowledge on to you. It was my choice. I have taught you everything I could teach here at this stream.” Master said.

Then he took his flute and kept it in Chen’s hand. “Promise me you will protect this with your life and never stop playing this.” Master asked.

“I promise, Master,” Chen replied, bowing to the master.

“I must go now,” the master said. Chen couldn’t help hugging his master. Chen was so sad and he was full of tears. The master also hugged him back.

“You must remember that your master always believed that your music would be heard by everyone in the world one day.” Master said to Chen.

“Goodbye student” The master turned away and walked back.

“Goodbye, Master,” Chen whispered, standing alone on the sandy bank of the stream.

After the master was banished from the village, Chen could not play his flute. The villagers were keeping an eye on Chen all the time. They suspected Chen could be the peasant boy. Therefore, Chen hid the flute in a safe place. Then he started to work with his parents on the paddy fields and stayed home. Time flew by like that, and Chen turned eighteen. By then, the attention people had paid to Chen was no more. Chen took the flute from where he hid it and went to the river.

It was the first time since his master left that he visited the place where he learned music. He felt the happiness he had in his childhood learning music. And he felt sad about what happened later. However, he took his flute and started playing.

But Chen Xiao could not play the flute. He kept making mistakes so many times. He tried so many times. But he couldn’t play. So he gave up trying. And he sat on the rock boulder where he was sitting as a kid.

Chen had been working in paddy fields for so many days, weeks, months, and years. So his fingers have lost the sense of soft, smooth air flowing around them. That is because his hands were used to hold heavy tools and equipment. Chen moved his feet in the water while sitting there. He felt cold, crystal-clear water flowing around his legs. That reminded him of something.

Chen remembered how his training began. So, he concentrated on feeling the water. He gained back his senses to his feet. Then he dipped his hands in the water and closed his eyes.

After a while, he again gained the ability to feel the water flow. He kept going. Then he started feeling the changes in waterflow that happened due to the swimming fish. Then he opened his eyes. He dried his hands and took the flute in his hands. He started playing. And he mimicked the flow of water he felt on his feet. He played the notes that he was taught by the master. Chen got his talent back. Chen felt so nice that day after three long years.

Again, Chen started to play his flute when he could. So, again, his dream of becoming a musician kept him awake at night. He was thinking of what he could do. And he decided to go and find somewhere people would accept him as a musician.

Chen went to his parents and told them that he was going to leave the village for some time and find a place where he could be a musician. His parents knew how much Chen loved music. So, they prepared the necessary baggage for him. And they wished him good luck and sent him on his journey.

For another two years, Chen went town to town, village to village, looking for a place to be a musician. Everywhere he went, when he played his flute, people loved him. But when they got to know his caste, people rejected him. Some people secretly supported him but in public, they rejected him.

Chen moved all around the regions of China, and he never could find a village or a town where he was accepted as a musician. Chen felt tired of looking for a better place. He thought everywhere was the same. So, he decided to go back to his village to see his parents.

After three years, Chen came back home. Looking at his old parents, Chen decided to take over the farming and give his parents a rest. So he worked in the paddy fields. Meanwhile, he kept playing his flute secretly. Years passed, and both of his parents passed away. Now, Chen was the only one he had in this world. He lost his master and his parents. He had nothing else.

Since there is no one else for him to nurture, Chen decided to leave the village forever.

Chen took his flute and essentials and moved into the jungle. He built a cabin in the jungle on top of a little mound. He then built a fence around it and started farming in the garden beds. Occasionally, he took his harvest to the nearby villages and bought essentials for him. Other than that, he did not contact anyone else. Every day in the morning, Chen went to the stream where he learned music and stared at infinity for a few moments. Then he worked all day long on his farm. But he never forgot the promise he made to his master.

Every evening after a tiring day, he sat on a log at the end of his farm at the forest line. Then he played his flute.

Years passed by. But not a single day did he miss playing his flute. On rainy days, he stayed inside his cabin, sat on his chair and played the flute until he fell asleep. He tried different notes; he tried mimicking the sounds and rhythms of wind, rain, and everything he found out there. His soothing music waved through the forest.

One day, his flute stopped forever. The closed door of his cabin was never opened again. but his music never stopped playing.

Because the birds who came to his farm to eat flies and fruits had gotten used to his flute notes, they began to mimic them. Those birds passed the sounds from generations to generations and flew around the world.

Even today, when we open our windows and doors, sit on mountaintops, or even in our own backyards, where birds are, we still hear Chen Xiao’s flute notes. As his master said, his music is still being listened to by everyone!