The Landlord's Daughter
故事全文
A-Guei was a kind landlord. He told his tenant farmers, “As long as you work hard, I will lower your rent.” As he was known to be a kindhearted person, and many farmers wanted to work on his land. One day, the county magistrate bumped into A-Guei during his routine inspection of the land. He told A-Guei sternly, “A-Guei! Someone has accused you of increasing the rent without good reason! How dare you oppress the farmers! I must punish you! However, if in two days, you can give me a male wolf that can bear a baby, a bale of cloth as long as this road, and as much wine as the sea, I will drop the charges against you. If you fail, be prepared to be sentenced to jail!” It turned out that the greedy county magistrate knew about A-Guei's wealth and wished to take it for his own. Therefore, he made an unreasonable request, knowing that A-Guei wouldn't be able to come up with those items.
When A-Guei came home wearing a worried look on his face, his daughter Jade asked him, “Father, you look upset. Are you all right? What troubles you?” So, A-Guei told Jade about his encounter with the county magistrate. After hearing the whole story, Jade said angrily, “The county magistrate is giving us a hard time on purpose! Let me handle this, don't worry.”
Two days later, Jade went to see the county magistrate by herself. She told the magistrate, “I have come on behalf of my father.” The magistrate asked, “Where is your father?” Jade replied, “He went to give birth to a baby. Therefore, he couldn't come.” Upon hearing this, the magistrate said angrily, “Nonsense! How can a man give birth to children?” Jade quickly replied, “That is correct! If men cannot give birth to babies, how can a male wolf give birth to a baby?” The county magistrate had nothing to say to that, so he asked, “What about the other two items?” Jade said, “They are ready. But first, you must give me a bottle big enough to contain all of the wine, and ask provincial officials to be our witness as we measure the length of the road.” The county magistrate knew that Jade was an intelligent girl, and that he couldn't outsmart her. So, he sent her on her way quickly, and dropped all the charges against her father.
