rainbows and daffodils: snow.wolf.lake synopsis

This is the most detailed synopsis I found from someone else’s blog comments hehe..

It's a wonderful musical. actually the story is basically like what you wrote with a few differences. if you listen to the dialogue and lyrics, the story is much clearer. hope this helps to clarify.

The first scene, when the girl asked her dad to tell her about the Snow Wolf Lake myth, while he sings ''不老的传说"

The rich guest, Liang-zhi and Snow's mother

For example, in the first scene, Wolf's hand is actually wounded in the tussle with Liang zhi and his cronies. it is also in this scene that we discover that Wolf was given the job as gardener due to Snow’s urgings to her mother, bc she heard this fellow was very pitiful and poor with no one to turn to.

Wolf's hand wounded

Snow also tries, in vain, to appease her mother and keep her mother from kicking wolf out for “attacking” the honored (and rich) guest, Liang-zhi. Another thing is that the older sister,Phoenix actually falls for wolf in the beginning, at the same time as snow. The problem is that Snow is the more open, extroverted type while Phoenix is shyer, and introverted; so when Phoenix was still trying to gather the courage to approach Wolf, little sister Snow already ran over to talk to him, never suspecting that her older sister was even interested in wolf.

The first time Snow dresses Wolf's wound

This is the first time that Snow has ever fallen in love, despite Liang-zhi's repeated attempts at courtship over the years. Wolf, never having any friends besides his pet monkeys,Yiyi and his flowers, falls in love with snow at first sight and is struck by her beauty and kindness (which is apparent at Snow’s concern for Wolf and when snow bandages his wounded wrist with her red scarf.)

Wolf singing

Wolf keeps a pet monkey called Yiyi, and one day, Yiyi takes Snow’s violin. Snow follows the monkey but when she attempts to retrieve her violin it bites her hand. Wolf sees this, and takes off the red cloth wrapped around his wrist and gives it to Snow. But she tears it in half, and they each dress one another’s respective wounds with half the cloth. Wolf invites her back to his lodgings, and says that he wants to plant a flower of love to be named "Snow".

Wolf scolding Yiyi(the monkey) for taking Snow's voilin

When Snow volunteers to bind wolf's wound

Snow dressing Wolf's wound with her red silk scarf

Wolf and Snow at the balcony of Wolf's house

Making wishes

The dream to go to Vienna to study to become an accomplished violinist is Snow's, not her mother's. She divulges this dream to Wolf while they are rowing on a lake near her house, explaining how she one day wants to have a house by the lake at the school in Vienna, with a patio/balcony overlooking the lake so she can practice violin by the lake. Wolf assumes he is not a part of this dream, but Snow says that of course he would be there too, and they happily name the lake "Snow Wolf Lake."

Wolf and Snow

Wolf and Snow dancing

eanwhile Phoenix, never mentioning her feelings for wolf, has to bear hearing about Snow's blissful relationship with Wolf, and Snow, unknowing of her older sister's painful secret, keeps encouraging Phoenix to go out more and maybe she will also find her true love and they can all be happy in love.

Phoenix secretly in love with wolf

Liang-zhi

After the misunderstanding with Liang-zhi's passionate proposal and kiss, Snow and Wolf sing a duet and make up, and Snow takes wolf to a fair (hence the clowns in the background) where she is determined to show everyone that she loves him and they are together no matter that her mother and friends may think a relationship with a no-status or family background-type gardener like Wolf is inappropriate and beneath their level.

Snow and Wolf dancing

However, Liang-zhi (along with Snow's mother and some corrupt policemen) comes up with a scheme to separate snow and wolf. While snow is distracted by a friend, Liang-zhi convinces the un-educated Wolf that Snow will never go to vienna to live out her dream if wolf is with her, bc she will stay home so as to stay close to Wolf. He tells Wolf that if he really loves Snow and wishes her the best and the chance to fulfill her dreams, he should leave Snow, and suggests that wolf first tell Snow he no longer loves her, and then throw a torch into a building (unbeknownst to Wolf, it is a fireworks factory,) whereupon he will be put in jail. Liang-zhi also says that when wolf gets out of jail, snow will be back from Vienna, and their relationship can start anew, while allowing snow to achieve her dream of becoming a true violinist.

Wolf comtemplating of whether to throw the fire cracker(or torch?)

When the police tried to catch Wolf

While in jail, the guards tell wolf that Snow has been happily married to Liang-zhi, which Wolf doesn't believe at first but later feels that it must be true and becomes desolate. While he is in the depths of depression, a "wolf spirit" appears to give him encouragement. This wolf spirit has watched over the orphan wolf, and laughs and chides him for being so mopey. The wolf spirit tries to console him, saying that perhaps if snow is happy in her new life, then Wolf should be happy for her as well.So Wolf starts to try to let go of the memory of Snow.

In the jail

The wolf spirit and Wolf

When Wolf is released from prison, he returns to his old cottage, and finds Phoenix has been tending to his pets and flowers since his disappearance. He does not recognize Phoenix, although when he first sees her from behind, he almost thinks it's snow for a moment. Phoenixasks about the whereabouts of the person she reminded Wolf of; Wolf replies that that person is in a far away place, living a happy fortunate life, and he will probably never see her again.

Tt is at this point that he removes the red scarf from his hand, signifying that he is trying to move on and forget about snowPhoenix, seeing this gesture and hearing his words, begins to feel hope that she might be able to finally be closer to wolf and have a relationship. They become friends, as Phoenix has loved wolf this whole time, but she still never has the courage to admit that she is Snow's older sister.

On the occasion that wolf buys a present for Phoenix, she is glowingly happy, but when she opens the box, she is inwardly dismayed to discover that it is a red shawl, which hints to her that Wolf has not forgotten about Snow after all. (i forgot to mention that throughout the whole story, Snow always wears red, while Phoenix always wears purple, so red becomes a symbol for Snow.)

Phoenix and Wolf singing while selling flowers together

Phoenix's happy moments with wolf

The scene where Wolf and Phoenix dancing

Phoenix's happy moment with wolf

Phoenix 's happy moment with wolf

So one day they run into the girls’ mother by accident, where the mother tries to drag Phoenix away from Wolf, bc she blames all the family’s misfortunes on Wolf. (the family has become quite poor since Wolf was in jail and Snow was taken to Vienna.) It is here that bc he recognizes Snow’s mother, Wolf discovers that Phoenix is Snow’s sister, and also is distraught to find out that Snow has been living a cruel, unhappy, lonely life in Vienna this whole time.

Later Phoenix goes to apologize for keeping this from Wolf, and also admits that Liang-zhi and her mother (for the sake of money promised by liang-zhi) tricked snow into leaving for Vienna by telling her that Wolf was killed in prison, leaving Snow depressed and without hope.

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Phoenix apologises to Wolf

A mysterious red dressed girl keeps appearing in Wolf's dream

After hearing from the newspaper boys that snow has been killed by her husband, Wolf is utterly disconsolate; when a girl appears, a red-clad figure with her head and shoulders wrapped in a red shawl.

The girl clayed in red which is actually phoenix

Wolf rushes to her, thinking it is Snow, and crying he knew she just couldn’t be dead and now nothing would ever keep them apart again. The girl finally speaks, unwrapping the shawl to reveal Phoenix, who says that if Snow is what he wants, then she is willing to become like Snow in order to be with him. Wolf, realizing it’s not Snow, his hopes raised up and then dashed to the ground, is inconsolable, and apologizes to Phoenix, explaining that he thought he could forget about snow, but he just can’t, and that no one can take her place in his heart. Phoenix is heart-broken, but tells Wolf that she will always love him, even as he will always love snow, and says she will spend forever waiting for him, and runs off crying.

Wolf, in despair at the renewed loss of Snow, crouches there crying whereupon the wolf spirit appears, once again chiding wolf for his crying and moping, but then teaches him how to go back in time. He warns Wolf that no matter what, Wolf will be unable to change what has already happened, but Wolf insists he only wants to see Snow one last time, so the wolf spirit sends him off, reminding Wolf that he must be back by midnight, or he will never be able to come back (and thus die.)

The scene when he went back in time

Back in time, Snow has just fled home after seeing Wolf and discovering he is not dead after all. She is depressed, hurt, and angry, after being deceived into marrying Liang-zhi for the sake of helping her family (the unfulfilled promise of money for her mother) and bc thinking Wolf was dead, she felt she had nothing left to hope for anyways. Liang-zhi, unsatisfied by his wife’s continued depression over the loss of Wolf, and coldness towards him (as she has made it clear she will never love him, she will always love Wolf) over this period of time has become an abusive drunk. He starts to yell at her for always moping around the house with the same depressed expression, and demands her to just smile, just once, when Snow confronts him about wolf.

Liang-zhi at first denies any deception, insisting impatiently that wolf is dead, like he has told snow over and over before. Snow asks again for him to tell her the truth, and finally says that she knows he is lying to her, bc she saw Wolf just that day. She is overcome with feelings of sorrow, betrayal, and loss, and knowing that she has been tricked for so long, and also feeling that she has somehow wronged Wolf by marrying another man. Liang-zhi, unable to control his temper at the thought of Snow still being in love with Wolf (especially after he feels he has tried so hard to win Snow over, bribing policemen, fabricating the death of wolf, giving her so many material things that she has never appeared the least bit happy for wanting of wolf,) and seeing snow clutch the red scarf (that has never left her wrist since wolf tied it there during their 2nd meeting) to her heart, hits Snow, who falls to the ground, where he yells he wouldn’t let her leave him even if he was dead, and Snow, in tears says she would rather die than be with him.

Liang-zhi loses it, crying and screaming his love and mixed hatred, and overpowers Snow, starting to strangle her, claiming if he cannot have her, then no one else can either. At this time, Wolf appears out of the time portal, rushes over to stop Liang-zhi strangling snow, and hits Liang-zhi, who falls to the ground, dazed and crazed. He helps Snow up and tries to save her by taking her back towards the time portal (as the clock starts to strike midnight,) but Liang-zhi reveals a gun, shouting that he hates himself for not killing Wolf himself in the first place. Liang-zhi, crazed and crying, pulls the trigger just as snow runs in front of wolf to block the bullet. liang-zhi, realizing he has mortally wounded Snow, runs off, more or less gone mad at the thought that he has killed the person he loved the most.

Meanwhile, the clock is finishing chiming, and of course wolf stays with Snow throughout her last breaths. she asks him to hold her and look outside, as they are finally together at their dream-place, Snow Wolf Lake.

Snow died in wolf's arm

Wolf Hugging Snow

Wolf carrying Snow's body and slowly sink into the Snow Wolf Lake

The final scene shows Snow and Wolf, dressed in splendorous white (as bride and groom) on a white boat filled with white flowers (the flowers wolf named for snow symbolizing love) surrounded by ppl also wearing white. this alludes that they are finally together, but in heaven, snow dying to save Wolf’s life, and Wolf in turn giving up his life to be with Snow.