A British man has learned the skills which are needed to perform Beijing Opera, making the audience enjoy his lively performance of the Monkey King.

Ghaffar Pourazar, born in Iran, said he had been a big fan of Bruce Lee since he was a child and was full of interest in China. In 1993, he happened to watch Beijing Opera in London. It was performed by professionals from Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. Ghaffar said he fell in love with the beautiful voices, colorful costumes, excellent shows and so on. So after one year, he arrived in China alone and became a student of Beijing Opera at a Beijing school.

At the age of 32, Ghaffar had to learn with teenage students every day, starting from the most basic training of the legs and waist (腰). At the time, he was mostly troubled by the dialogue in Beijing Opera. For him, it was the biggest problem. But he never gave up.

Four years later, he began to learn to perform the Monkey King, a traditional character from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. He said he arrived at the workroom an hour earlier than other performers and also bought books and CDs to better understand the character.

Now Ghaffar is not only good at speaking Beijing dialect (方言), but also becomes famous for Beijing opera. He once got a top international prize for performing the Monkey King.

To help more people enjoy Beijing Opera, Ghaffar often teaches the traditional art form in schools in the United States, Britain and other countries. When he found that the language was difficult to understand, he started to translate Beijing Opera song lyrics. Ghaffar took a group of actors to perform 66 times a month and a half in the United States. He also took a 48-member team to perform in Malaysia. In the past 10 years, he has performed in more than 400 shows.

Farmer John and Farmer Bob were neighbours. For more than 30 years, they had been getting along very well.

Then their good relationship(关系) broke. It began with a small thing, then bitter(仇恨的) words, and then weeks of silence (沉默). One morning John woke up to find a stream between the two farms. “It must be Bob,” John thought.

Then one day there was a knock on John’s door. He opened it to find a carpenter(木匠) standing at the doorway.

“I’m looking for a few days’ work,” the carpenter said.

“I do have a job for you,” John said. “Look across the stream at that farm. That’s my neighbour Bob. He dug(挖) a stream between the two farms. I want you to build a fence(栅栏) —an 8-foot fence. I don’t want to see his place or his face any more. I don’t have such a neighbour!”

The carpenter said,“I think I know what to do, sir, and I’ll be able to do a job that makes you happy.”

About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide. There was no fence there at all!

It was a bridge! And the neighbour. Bob, was coming across, with his hand outstretched(伸出). “Hi, John! You’re quite a guy to build this bridge!”

Then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hands. “I’m terribly sorry for what I have said and done. We should be good to each other,” said Bob.

Then they turned to see the carpenter, who was ready to go. “No, wait! Stay a few days. I have a lot of other jobs for you,” said John. “I’d love to stay,” the carpenter said, “but I have more bridges to build.”

It’s Sunday. There are many people in the bus. And an old man is looking here and there. He wants to find an empty seat(空座位). Then he finds one. He goes to it. But a small bag is on the seat, and young man is sitting by it.