Chapters One and Two



The first two chapters of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress introduce the two main characters and give a brief description of each. It also gives the setting, mood, and establishes a preliminary theme for the story. These two chapters also tell the reader about the hard work the two characters must endure. The story began to get interesting when the village headman begins sending them out of the fields to go watch a movie, then return to give a report about it. This seems to be a well written story, though I am still skeptical about it's entertainment value.



Chapters Three and Four

In Chapter three the two boys met a famous tailor whose daughter ran his shop while he was away on trips. She was referred to as "the Little Seamstress." They stopped by the shop later on and befriended her in very little time. In chapter four the boys returned to their village to work in the mine. They both expressed fear of dying in the coal mine. At the end of the chapter, Luo received a letter from the little seamstress inviting them to stay at her village for two days to tell stories about movies they have seen.


Chapters Five and Six

In chapters five and six, the boys left to visit the little seamstress. Luo came down with malaria once again so the little seamstress gathered a few sorceresses to help cure him. The narrator had to tell them stories throughout the night to keep them all awake, otherwise they feared the demons would return to make Luo sick again. The next day they returned to their other friend's village where they discovered a mysterious suitcase hidden away. When they questioned their friend, Four Eyes, about it he refused to give a straight answer. This caused the boys to guess that he was hiding forbidden books. At this point in the book the characters are starting to reveal more of their personalities and the storyline is becoming increasingly interesting.


Chapters Seven and Eight

In chapter seven and eight the boys both read a book that Four Eyes let them borrow. They each took a turn and each spent half a day reading it. They immediately loved the book and were excited to borrow more from Four Eyes. They later met up with Four Eyes to give him the book back. Luo thought of a way to persuade Four Eyes into letting them borrow another book. Luo explained the deal to Four Eyes who immediately entertained the idea when chapter eight ended.


Chapters Nine and Ten

In order to borrow more books from Four Eyes, the boys agreed to visit an old miller to take notes on some old mountain songs. The two boys went through a great deal of trouble to obtain these songs for Four Eyes but they were successful in doing so. When they returned to Four Eyes house they gave him the notes and were instantly ridiculed for choosing "forbidden songs." Four Eyes was very upset that he would not be able to use the songs and in turn, didn't offer any books to the boys. The narrator lost his temper, which I felt was warranted, and attacked Four Eyes.


Chapters Eleven and Twelve

In chapters eleven and twelve the boys went to another movie with the little seamstress. Afterward they visited the cemetery where her grandfather was buried. While Luo and the little seamstress were looking for the grave the narrator met Four Eyes mother. They learned that Four Eyes would be leaving the mountain and the night before he was to have a going away party. The boys decided to break into Four Eye's house during the party to steal his books. While executing this plan Four Eyes and his mother returned early and nearly caught the boys. Luckily for them they weren't caught and they got away with the perfect crime.