Fang Lingsheng
Compiled from the work of the American writer David Hurt
A long time ago, there lived an old blacksmith named Ron in the mountains of Georgia, and an old witch lived in the mountains.
One day, the old witch went to the blacksmith's shop to repair the pot, and Ron was an alcoholic and gambler, but he had great respect for the old witch, and he knew that she could do witchcraft, but he did not dare to offend her.
The pot was quickly repaired, and Ron refused to accept the old witch's money, but the old witch did not want to be favored in vain, so he said that he would fulfill his three wishes.
Ron knew that the old witch would not go if he did not say his wish, so he thought for a long time and said his first wish: If someone moved his tool, the man's hand would be stuck to the tool, as if glued, so that he could know who was moving things. The old witch said, "Okay, your first wish can be fulfilled, so what is your second wish?" ”
Ron often liked to sit in front of the door with a wine jug and drink until the sun went down, but there were always people who liked to move his chair around, and he always had to move the chair back, so his second wish was: If someone sat on that chair, he would be "stuck" and unable to move until he could see who it was.
The witch nodded and told Ron that the second wish could also be fulfilled.
The third wish, Ron thought for a while. Like many of us, he wanted to spend a dime for every penny he earned, so he always had no money to spend, and he asked the old witch to cast spells so that his money bag could not easily take out the money, until he actually said he wanted it, and the money would be taken out, so that he would think twice about spending it.
Of course, the old witch also fulfilled Ron's third wish. After sending the old witch away, life was still uneventful, and gradually, Ron forgot the three wishes he had made.
One day, it was very hot, and at noon, a man dressed in black came, and when the man gradually approached, Ron was suddenly surprised: standing in front of him was no one else, but the king of hell, the demon king BiezBaber, whose magic was second only to Satan!
The Demon King spoke, and his voice was like a burst of thunder that rolled over: "Ron, do you know why I came here?" Tell you that the time has come for you to leave this world, and I am now going to take your soul away! ”
Ron was shocked, he didn't want to go to hell with the demon king, so he said to the demon king, "Can I finish the work in my hand and then leave, the plough is not sharpened yet." ”
The Demon King agreed, so Ron asked the Demon King to hand him the sledgehammer he had put aside, and he was good at work. As soon as the Demon King grabbed the hammer, his hand was firmly glued, and no matter how he cursed, how he spit, how he stomped his feet, he could not shake it off, in short, the Demon King was glued.
Ron slyly said that he wanted to make a deal with the Demon King, he said, "Mr. Demon King, I can make the hammer stop sticking to your hand, but you want me to live another ten years on earth." ”
The Demon King had to agree to this condition, so Ron took back the hammer, and the Demon King did not expect that he would lose at the hands of a mortal, ashamed and embarrassed, and immediately disappeared into a puff of green smoke.
Ten years later, on the same day, the Demon King came to Ron's blacksmith shop again, and he sneered and said, "Boy, the hour has come, stop playing those stupid tricks, put down your work, and follow me." ”
Ron knew that he had no choice, so he silently put down the tools in his hand, followed the Demon King out of the blacksmith shop, and when he reached the door, he stood still and said, "Mr. Demon King, this road is a long way, I will meet many acquaintances, can you let me freshen up, change clothes and go again?" The demon king thought about it and agreed.
So Ron walked back to the shop and began to freshen up, the demon king sat down in the chair in front of the door, wanted to rest for a while, the road was still far away, who knew that just sat down, he was tightly stuck in the chair and could not move, let him curse, spit, stomp his feet, to no avail, he knew, this time was calculated by Ron, so he had to make a second deal with Ron: Ron let the demon king get out of the chair, and the demon king let Ron live for another ten years.
The days passed so fast, and in the blink of an eye, another ten years passed, and on that day, the Demon King appeared in the blacksmith shop again, and let Ron go with his teeth and claws: "Don't play any more tricks, Ron, don't try to make excuses, what to finish the work, what to freshen up, this time no, immediately follow me on the road!" ”
With that, the Demon King grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him toward the door...
Ron had no choice but to follow the Demon King on the road, and on the way, Ron said that he was thirsty now, and the Demon King felt thirsty. Ron said that he knew there was a place where there was a "cool drink", he flipped his wallet over to show the Demon King, he was now penniless, but Ron had a good idea, he said: "Mr. Demon King, I know that your mana is boundless, if you can turn into two dime coins, I can use this money to go there and buy two 'cool drinks', I bought the drink and waited outside, and then you turned into a butterfly and flew out, so that we could continue on the road after drinking." ”
The Demon King thought this was a good idea, so with a blink of an eye, he turned into two dime coins and went into Ron's wallet, and as soon as the Demon King entered, he knew that he had won Ron's plan for the third time, but no matter how he cursed, spit, and stomped his feet, he could not get out of Ron's money bag, and it seemed that the Demon King would stay in this money bag forever.
Sooner or later, though, Ron would die, and that day had finally arrived, and many locals said he had died of drinking. On that day, Ron arrived at the gate of heaven, but the gods who were waiting at the gate of heaven did not dare to let him in, because the demon king was in his pocket, how could heaven allow the demon king to come in? So Ron went to the gates of hell again, and the little devil who guarded the door would not let him in, because this was a man who had defeated the demon king, and they needed the permission of the demon king to let him in, but their demon king did not know where to go, and they could not find it.
On summer nights, sometimes the sky will see only lightning and not hear thunder, people call this hot lightning, legend has it, it is Ron wandering between heaven and hell, and the devil trapped in his money bag is constantly cursing, spitting, stomping his feet, but never to get out...