Yeong Ai

Yuan Fen - Background

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

~ Maya Angelou ~

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I agree, fully do agree, with the above quote, even if the story is not an original idea. In fact calling it "inspired" would also be stretching the truth, so I am simply going to state that it has been adapted from a short story written by one of my favourite authors - O'Henry. O. Henry (1862 - 1910) was born under the name William Sydney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1862. This American Short Story writer has a rich canon and his short stories are well known throughout the world; noted for their witticism, clever wordplay, and unexpected twist endings.

And when a couple of weeks ago, I remembered a short story by one of my favourite authors, O'Henry, I was struck by the possibility of adapting that tale for our very own SwaSan. I was hesitant, but could not resist that idea, hence this tale.

Now about the title - This word finds a place in my list of beautiful words from other languages which cannot be translated into English. I had been dying to use it ever since I chanced on it.

A yuan-fen that this yuan-fen got penned, as a birthday gift for one of the most fantastic persons I had the yuan-fen to meet.

But what does this word mean, exactly? It describes a Chinese concept and is a combination of two words: Yuan meaning chance / luck / opportunity and Fen could be roughly translated to mean casualty / design / resolution. Hence Yuan-fen could be defined as the "force that ensures two people meet and the actions / decisions they take to ensure that they stay together. In certain cases, it is described as "fateful coincidence"

Yuan is a destiny over which we have no control: it was inevitable - from our knowledge - to meet with that special person; while Fen is a destiny forged from that moment on which we are already participants. One is destiny written by an alien past, probably the whole history of the universe; the other is a destiny projected towards the future, the one that is being written right now. Yuan is the destiny that came, it is predestination; Fen, the destiny that will come, determination.

It is a very common term and is used to denote both personal (friends and lovers) and business relationships.

So this tale of mine is about a couple who are fated to meet, but are convinced that destiny would not allow them to stay together. They give up the one they were fated to fall in love with for the one they were destined to be wedded to.

But since this is an adaption of an O'Henry story, be prepared for the unexpected twist in the end. The original story by O'Henry is titled "The Unknown Romance" which is short even by O'Henry's standards and in my personal opinion, reflects the cynicism of the couple fated to marry on account of social status and money. I have tried to change the tenor of in my story to one of hope.

Interested? Do turn the page to read and it would be great if you left your feedback.

Nyna