The God of Fortune

故事全文


The God of Fortune loved to come down to Earth to bless good people with good fortune and punish bad people.

One night, he turned himself into a poor scholar and knocked on Widow Lin's home. Widow Lin saw the scholar and felt sorry for him. So, she invited him into her home and made him a bowl of noodles. After the scholar had eaten, Widow Lin allowed him to sleep in the same room as her son. Widow Lin saw that the poor scholar's robes were torn and tattered, so, she stayed up the whole night to make a new set of robes for him.

The next morning, the God of Fortune was so touched by Widow Lin's kindness that he told her, "I am the God of Fortune. You are such a kind woman. I must give you a reward. After I leave, the first thing you do will continue until the sun sets." After the God of Fortune left, Widow Lin took a ruler to measure the leftover cloth that was lying on her table. Strangely, as if by magic, the cloth grew longer and longer until the sun set, and Widow Lin's house was filled with enough cloth to feed her for a year.

When Madam Chen came to Widow Lin's house to buy cloth, she learned about the God of Fortune and said jealously, "If the God of Fortune comes to my house, I will not only make a new set of robes for him, I will also make him a pair of shoes." That night, The God of Fortune turned himself into a poor scholar again, and knocked on Madam Chen"s door. Madam Chen asked the maid to bring the poor scholar some rice, and asked another maid to make the scholar a set of new robes and a pair of slippers. Then she said happily to herself, "Wonderful! Tomorrow I shall have a house full of fine silk."

The next morning, The God of Fortune told Madam Chen, "After I leave, the first thing you do will continue until the sun sets." Once the God of Fortune left, Madam Chen rushed back to measure her finest bolt of silk. But she stopped along the way to pour water into her thirsty pigs' trough. Strangely, as if by magic, water flowed from the trough until the sun set. By then, Madam Chen's house was flooded and so was the village. All of the villagers came to scold Madam Chen for being too greedy and for causing the flood.