Fourth Post

Not really sure what to blog about now that I’ve finished my outside reading book. So I guess I will just comment on another book I’ve started reading. It is called Dragon Keeper (yes I know it’s a lame title). It is set in Imperial China, during the Han dynasty. I just started it a couple days ago and so far, it is from the point of view of a slave. This young girl, Ping, is eleven was sold to the dragon keeper by her parents as a child so that they could repay a debt. She progresses into doing all her Master’s duties for him. This dragon keeper thing was established by the current emperor when he was bitten by a dragon when he was young. He had all twelve of them sent away to a magnificent, secluded palace that he was supposed to visit often. The dragon’s behavior supposedly predicted the well-being of the emperor. At the time when Ping is at the palace, there are only two dragons left, and one day one dies from grief and the Dragon Keeper, Master Lan has her pickled. The next day, she begins to befriend the other dragon and he becomes more and more healthy. In a while, the girl is ordered to go and steal booze from the emperor’s stash, but when she is looking for the kitchen, the emperor arrives for the first time in years. When he discovers that Master Lan has been neglecting his duties and pickled a dead dragon, he is furious. He has been planning to sell the remaining dragons to a poacher who will kill them for their “usefulness”. Ping decides to flee with the dragon and his mysterious stone and that’s pretty much where I am right now. So once again, there is a theme of morals. The girl is super patriotic and stealing from the emperor (wine) and pickling the dragon both pose a huge problem to her moral code. The only reason she agrees is because her master makes her and threatens her with violence and even death.