This article is the 965th chapter of "Folk Tales", if you like to read folk tales, remember to come often!
The story takes place in the Song Dynasty, and a butcher surnamed Sun lives in a village outside the city of Bieliang. Although he was a butcher and slaughtered countless pigs and sheep on weekdays, in addition to slaughtering livestock for the villagers, Sun Butcher never mutilated other animals, and he was loyal and kind, doing business and trading without deception, and his reputation in the nearby ten miles and eight villages has always been very good.
One day, Sun Butcher went to the town with a burden to sell fresh meat, and soon after arriving in town, two quintals of fresh meat were robbed by the townspeople. Sun Butcher was very happy, and he carried the burden to the house, and when he passed a tavern, he bought a pot of good wine and prepared to go home and drink a pot.
There is a mountain road between the town and the village, which is halfway up the mountainside, surrounded by woods, and often haunted by wild boars and hares.
Because the mountain is steep and there are often rocks falling, the villagers are very careful when passing through this mountain road.
Sun Butcher quickly walked up this mountain road, humming the song as he walked forward.
When we came to a dense forest, there was a sudden chirping of birds, which sounded very urgent, as if the birds were frightened.
Sun Butcher stopped and looked into the woods, but found nothing. He was carrying a burden to go forward, at this time, a pile of grass not far from him began to shake non-stop, and Sun Butcher muttered in his heart: "I'm afraid that there are some beasts there, I still don't want to go over, so as not to cause trouble!" ”
Sun Butcher continued to take a few steps forward, at this time there were several cries from the grass, and the sound was sharp, not like the sound of a large beast such as a lion and a tiger.
Sun Butcher pondered, "Could it be that the small animal is injured?" Now that you've caught up, let's go check it out! ”
If not, Sun Butcher's heart is good! He managed to convince himself and decided to go there and have a look. If it was really a small animal that was injured, he would definitely rescue it.
Sun Butcher tentatively walked in the direction of the grass, and when he looked closer, he found a fox struggling behind the grass. The fox saw him and struggled even more intensely.
Sun Butcher couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the fox: he saw that the fox had white hair all over his body, his eyes were black and shiny, and his limbs were strong.
"What a beautiful fox! If you sell it at the market, you can sell it for a good price! "Sun Butcher is in the slaughtering business, and he can see at a glance whether the hair is worth anything."
At this time, the fox was a little panicked, and kept dragging his right leg, and Sun Butcher bent down to see that the fox's right leg was caught by a beast clip, and the wound was bleeding, and the surrounding hair was also dyed red.
Looking at this rare fox in front of him, how could Sun Butcher not be moved? He stood there and hesitated: "Such a fox is a treasure, it is rare to see!" However, I often slaughter livestock on weekdays, and there are too many karmic obstacles on my body, so it is better to save the fox today, and to accumulate virtue and good deeds to eliminate some karmic obstacles for myself. Never mind! I still don't have to think about it, let it go! Sun Butcher thought about it for a long time and decided to release the fox.
Sun Butcher did not covet money, bent down and said to the fox, "Brother Fox, you must not be afraid, I will not hurt you, this will let you go!" ”
The fox looked at him with trepidation, and Sun Butcher grabbed the beast clip and began to pull hard, but the beast clip was too tight, and Sun Butcher pulled it for half a moment, which broke the beast clip.
The fox's right leg broke free and dragged the injured leg to leave. Sun Butcher said, "Your leg is injured, don't be in a hurry to go first, I will bandage you!" ”
The fox saw that he was not an evil man, and stopped. Sun Butcher took a piece of cloth from his pocket, found two herbs nearby to stop the bleeding, chewed them and applied them to the wound, and then used the cloth to bandage the wound.
"Brother Fox, I've bandaged you, and in a few days your legs will be fine!" Now you can go. After Sun Butcher finished speaking, the fox turned and left.
Not far away, the fox turned and stood there, looking at Sun Butcher unceasingly. Sun Butcher raised his hand, turned and left.
Back on the main road, Sun Butcher hummed a small song again and walked toward the village.
About two months later, one day, Sun Butcher carried two quintals of fresh meat to the town to sell, and it was close to dusk that the fresh meat was sold out.
Sun Butcher began to walk towards the village with his burden, and soon came to the mountain road. It was getting dark, and he raised his head, looked at the mountain road in front of him, and said, "It's dark, I have to get home quickly, the mountain road at night is not easy!" Subsequently, Sun Butcher's steps accelerated a lot.
Just as he was hurrying forward, suddenly a shout came from behind him: "The strong man stays!" Sun Butcher hurriedly turned around, and an old beggar came up behind him at some point.
The old beggar was ragged, disheveled, and with a cane in his hand. Sun Butcher hesitated, but the steps under his feet were still moving forward.
"Strong man, come back quickly, don't hesitate!" The old beggar shouted anxiously. Sun Butcher stopped at this point. The old beggar quickly came to his eyes, only to see that the old beggar's face was rosy, his eyes were clear as water, and his hair and beard were gray.
"Old man, my family lives in the front, this road is the only way for me to return to the village, why are you shouting at me?" Sun Butcher asked puzzled.
"Strong man, the mountains here are steep, there are often boulders rolling down, the old decay got the news today, there will be boulders rolling down in front of you, strong men must not go forward!" The old beggar said solemnly.
Sun Butcher often walked this mountain road, naturally knew that there were often boulders rolling down, but no one knew when the falling stones would occur, how did this old man know?
Sun Butcher thought for a moment and said, "Thank you old uncle for reminding me, and I would like to ask you in the next step, how did you get this news?" ”
"Strong man, don't hesitate, listen to the old decay, don't go over!" The old beggar did not explain, but kept telling him. Sun Butcher looked at the old beggar with kind eyebrows and good eyes, not like an evil man, so reminding him that there must be a reason.
"Thank you old man, then I'll wait here for a while!" Sun Butcher arched his hand and said.
"Wait a moment, wait for the falling rocks to pass and then you can go!" The old beggar brushed his beard and said.
After the two of them finished talking, they only heard a rumbling sound from the mountain, and before Sun Butcher could react, several huge stones rolled down, impartially, and smashed on the road that Sun Butcher had to pass.
Sun Butcher was astonished, and he carefully calculated that if he hadn't stopped just now, he would have just walked to the place where the rock had just fallen. Sun Butcher hurriedly turned to thank the old beggar, but the old beggar had disappeared.
Sun Butcher began to look around, but he saw a fox with white hair next to the woods. The fox's eyes were as clear as water, and it was staring at him!
Sun Butcher thought about the white fox he had saved two months ago, and he suddenly realized!
So he hurried to his knees and prostrated himself to the white fox as a sign of gratitude. The white fox looked at him, barked at him, turned and ran deep into the woods.
Sun Butcher got up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, carried the burden through the crevices of the boulder, and he arrived home safely.
Since then, Sun Butcher has been more afraid to hurt small animals, and he has become more honest and trustworthy in business. After another three years, Sun Butcher closed the family's slaughterhouse, opened a few fields at the foot of the mountain, and became a farmer. He said that although such a day is small, it is a solid life.
And that white fox, Sun Butcher never saw it again.
The author has this to say:
The Sun butcher in the story on the way home, accidentally found a wounded white fox, he thought about it for a long time and decided not to covet money to rescue the white fox, did not expect that two months later, when he was facing danger, the fox turned into an old beggar to repay the favor, stopped him in time, he only escaped the falling stone, it seems that the old saying "good has good retribution" is not just casual talk.
Therefore, when we communicate, we should have a compassionate and kind heart, try our best to tolerate and help others, and sincerely touch others, so that we can make close friends.
"The forces are all mutual", when we encounter difficulties, naturally there will be people to help, and even the biggest difficulties will be solved!
Disclaimer: Folk tales are intended to explain the truth to the world, do not sit in line with feudal superstitions, thank you!