大年初二，心地善良的傻女婿阿財帶著一塊紅布、一籃麵線和兩隻鴨子，到岳父家拜年。他經過河邊時，鴨子一直叫，他就把鴨子放到河裡喝水，沒想到鴨子游走了，阿財急得大叫：「快回來呀！」這時他看到河裡有魚，就把麵線編成魚網放到河裡撈魚，麵線一遇到水就糊掉；接著刮起一陣風，路旁的竹子被風吹得唧唧叫，他以為竹子冷，就用紅布圍住竹子。
阿財提著空籃子繼續往岳父家走，看見一堆停滿蒼蠅的牛糞，牧童順口說：「綠蒼蠅，吃糞屁，看我來，就爬起。」他覺得有趣就背下來。接著又看到有人在修竹籬笆，他問：「你為什麼不做新的呢？」農夫說：「新竹籬，舊竹籬，將將就就用一時。」他也把話背下來。到了兩河交匯處，一條河水很清，另一條很濁，漁夫說：「東邊河，西邊河，流水相通，水色不同。」阿財又把話背下來。
到了岳父家，吃飯時老婆在阿財的腳上綁一條線，交待他說：「我拉一下你就吃一口菜，拉兩下時你就喝一口酒。」誰知道，小狗被線絆住一直亂拉，他忙著吃飯又喝酒，來不及吃菜就往身上放，大家笑到站起來，阿財開口說：「綠蒼蠅，吃糞屁，看我來，就爬起。」佣人重新擺筷子，大家都是象牙筷，只有他是竹筷子，他又說：「新竹籬，舊竹籬，將將就就用一時。」佣人趕緊換象牙筷給他。有人故意倒劣酒給他，他又說：「東邊河，西邊河，流水相通，水色不同。」大家慚愧地低著頭吃飯，也不再認為他是個傻子。
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, a silly but good-natured son-in-law called A-Tsai set off toward his father-in-law"s house to pay his respects. He took with him a bolt of red cloth, a basket of noodles, and two ducks. When he crossed the river, the ducks quacked and he thought they were thirsty. He put them in the river to drink some water. But the ducks swam away once they were in the river. A-Tsai panicked and shouted, "Come back! Come back!" But the ducks did not come back. Because he lost the ducks, A-Tsai decided to use the noodles to weave a net and catch some fish in the river. But the net broke when it touched the water and A-Tsai lost his noodles. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind made the bamboo trees rustle. A-Tsai thought the bamboo trees felt cold, so, he took the bolt of red cloth and wrapped the bamboo trees in it.
Then, A-Tsai picked up his empty basket and continued his journey. On the way, he saw a piece of cow dung with lots of flies on it. A cow herder nearby said, "Little green flies eat dung all day. But they stop eating and stand up when they see me." A-Tsai thought it interesting and memorized it. Then, he came across a farmer who was repairing a wooden fence. A-Tsai stopped and asked the farmer, "Why not make a new fence?" The farmer replied, "A new fence, an old fence, one can make do with either." A-Tsai memorized what the farmer said, and continued on his journey. He arrived at a place where two rivers joined. One of the rivers had clear water and the other river had murky water. A nearby fisherman said, "A river on the east, a river on the west, the rivers may join, but the color of the water looks different." A-Tsai memorized this too.
When he arrived at his father-in-law's house and sat down to dinner, his wife tied a string to A-Tsai's leg and said, "When I pull the string once you should eat some rice. When I pull the string twice, you should drink some wine. Then, no one will laugh at you." Alas, The father-in-law's dog got caught on the string and kept pulling it. A-Tsai became very confused. He spilled his wine and dropped rice on himself. Everyone laughed at A-Tsai. They laughed so hard they stood up. Suddenly, A-Tsai said, "Little green flies eat dung all day. But they stop eating and stand up when they see me." Everybody stopped laughing and sat down quickly. Everyone else had beautiful ivory chopsticks, but A-Tsai was given a plain pair of bamboo chopsticks. Suddenly, Ah-Tsai said, "A new fence, an old fence, one can make do with either." The servants quickly brought him a pair of ivory chopsticks. When the servants poured cheap wine in A-Tsai's cup, A-Tsai remembered the fisherman's words and said, "A river on the east, a river on the west, the rivers may join, but the color of the water looks different." Everyone felt embarrassed and ashamed, and stopped thinking A-Tsai was silly.
