The God of Poverty
故事全文
There was once a poor young man by the name of A Mao. One day, he saw everyone burning incense to worship the God of Fortune, but the temple of the God of Poverty nearby was empty and deserted. A Mao felt that this was somewhat unfair, so, he also bought some incense, and prepared to worship the God of Poverty. Seeing this, others laughed at him and said, “A Mao, worshipping the God of Poverty will only make you poorer!”“Since the God of Poverty is the god of the poor, it is only natural that I should worship him.” After he started worshipping the God of Poverty, A Mao became even poorer. But he continued to burn incense at the temple regularly.
“Oh God of Poverty, it is I, A Mao. I have come again to burn incense for you.”After placing the incense, A Mao was just about to leave, when he heard a voice from behind, “A Mao, wait!”
A Mao turned around to see the statue of the God of Poverty come to life. The god jumped down the altar table and smiled at him. Seeing that A Mao was too stunned to speak, the God of Poverty told him, “A Mao, thank you for continuously burning incense for me. I am returning to the heavens now. Since I’m the God of Poverty, I have nothing fancy for you, but here is a cotton jacket and two carrots, which I am giving to you as presents. These will bring you good fortune!”With this, the God of Poverty vanished, leaving A Mao behind with the presents.
The next day, the weather felt cold, so, A Mao put on the cotton jacket that the God of Poverty gave him. He thought to himself, “If only I could enjoy a hot bowl of noodles right now, that would be so delightful!” No sooner had he thought this than he found himself sitting in the noodle shop. It was only then that A Mao realized that the cotton jacket from the God of Poverty was a magical treasure. However, all of this was observed by Miss Wang from the jewelry shop across the street. Miss Wang was renowned for her beauty in the area, but she had an impatient personality, and had to have whatever she wanted.
“Such a wonderful treasure! I have to have it!”, she exclaimed. Miss Wang hatched a plan and stole A Mao’s cotton jacket. After putting it on, she found that it could really bring her wherever she wanted to go. Having lost the cotton jacket, A Mao felt sad and asked one of the carrots, “Oh, carrot ~ Do you know where my cotton jacket is?” Strangely, something happened. The carrot started to turn red and gave off a rich fragrance. Miss Wang happened to pass by, and once she smelled the fragrance, she became desperately hungry for it. So, she put on the cotton jacket and appeared in front of A Mao. She grabbed the carrot from A Mao and disappeared back home into her own room.
“Wow! This carrot looks so delicious!” Miss Wang had just taken a bite of the carrot, when her body began to change. Long hair began to sprout from her body, and she was turned into a lioness. Miss Wang was so frightened that she screamed in fear. When her family rushed over to see what happened, they were also terrified. Just then, A Mao arrived at Wang’s house. He wanted to ask Miss Wang to return his carrot. To his amazement, he saw everyone in the Wang family running about in panic.
“Excuse me sir, what happened?” A Mao asked the family butler. The butler shook his head and replied, “I heard that Miss Wang turned into a lion after eating a carrot!” “Carrot? Lion?” A Mao was still deep in his thoughts when the other carrot in his pocket started to turn red and give off a rich fragrance. Upon smelling the fragrance, the lion that had been Miss Wang approached A Mao, and nodded desperately, as if she was asking him for the carrot. A Mao couldn’t bear to see her so distressed, and offered the other carrot to Miss Wang. After taking a bite from the other carrot, Miss Wang slowly returned to her human form, and looked even prettier than before.
The Wang family was overjoyed, especially Mr. Wang, who immediately asked A Mao to become his son-in-law. Blushing, Miss Wang also nodded her head in consent. From then on, A Mao learned how to do business from Mr. Wang, and made lots of money. This was truly the good fortune promised by the God of Poverty!
