Once upon a time, five Buddhist monks lived in a great temple that stood in a beautiful garden full of flowers and rare plants. The monks spent their days praying and meditating. The beauty of their home was all they needed to make them forget the world. Then one day, a young monk arrived, upsetting their lives by telling them all about the outside world beyond the garden wall. He told them about cities, the bright lights, everyday life full of entertainments and pleasure. And when the monks heard about this different world, their paradise started to seem like a lonely life. The monks decided they would leave the temple to go and see the world. But just as they were about to go, a golden bird fluttered over their heads, dangling five white strings. Each monk grasped a string, and suddenly the little group found itself carried away to the land of their dreams. And there, they saw the outside world as it really was, full of hate, misery and violence, where there was no peace. It was a long journey, and when the golden bird brought them back to the temple garden, they decided never to leave it again.
Passage 2
The Wizard of Oz
In the famous story of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wishes she could travel "over the rainbow." Then she dreams she is in the Land of Oz where animals can walk and talk like people, and everything is very colorful. But after she is there for a while, she begins to miss her home on the farm in Kansas and all the people she knew there. When she finally wakes up from her dream, she is so happy to see her family around her. She decides to never wander so far from home again.
4.
How are the themes of the two stories different?
In the first story, the characters decide to leave home for good; in the second, Dorothy only travels to Oz for a short while and then returns home.
The theme of the first story is almost exactly the same as the theme of the second story, with no real differences.
In the first story, the monks discover that peace is found at home; in the second, Dorothy learns that love and family are found at home.
In the first story, there is hate and misery in the world and peace in the temple; in the second, there are animals that talk.
