The Dishonest Merchant
故事全文
Once upon a time, there was a traveling merchant. One day, he wanted to cross a river to do business on the other side.
“But Sir, the weather is bad today, are you sure you want to cross the river?”asked the ferryman. The merchant said impatiently,“I have important business waiting for me. Hurry up and ferry me across the river!”
The ferryman had no choice but to ferry the merchant across the river. The weather was really bad that day. The wind howled and the waves roared. The boat had just set off and then a huge wave capsized it. The ferryman knew how to swim, and quickly swam to shore. But the merchant did not know how to swim. He could only cling onto a wooden plank and shout for help.“Help! I will give one hundred taels of gold to whoever saves me!”
A fisherman happened to be fishing nearby. He heard the merchant’s cry for help and quickly rowed over to rescue him. But after he had rescued the merchant, the merchant only gave him ten taels of gold, and bid him on his way.
The fisherman asked the merchant,“Didn’t you promise a hundred taels of gold not ten?” The merchant grew angry and replied,“How much money can you earn as a fisherman in your lifetime? You just earn ten taels of gold unexpectedly. You should be content with what you have!”The fisherman realized that the dishonest merchant did not want to keep his promise. So, he told the merchant angrily,“Hmph! Just my luck! I shouldn’t have trusted you.”
A few days later, the merchant finished his business and wanted to go home. However, the weather was also bad that day, and the merchant’s boat capsized at the very same spot.
The merchant clung onto a wooden plank, and yelled at the top of his voice,“Help! I will give one hundred taels of gold to whoever saves me!”
Someone wanted to rescue the merchant, but the fisherman who rescued him before said,“One hundred taels of gold? Don’t believe him. He tricked me before!”The merchant heard the fisherman, and felt sorry for breaking his promise. So, he yelled,“To the fisherman who rescued me before: I am sorry! I was wrong! Please forgive me!”
The fisherman heard the merchant, and braved the storm to save him. After the merchant climbed onto the boat, he took out two hundred taels of gold and handed it to the fisherman.“I am so sorry,”he kept telling the fisherman.“I shouldn’t have broken my promise just to save money.”
