【Story of Taiwan】Daughter of a landloard: A Hakka legend
http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/culture/biweekly/467/images/d3.jpgA-Guei was a very kind landlord. He always said to his tenant-peasants that, “as long as you work hard, I will charge you less on the land!” And he kept his words. His good name had spread, and farmers always came to him, wanting to work on his land.
One time, the county magistrate was conducting his usual tour inspection. He bumped into A-Guei. A-Guei was collecting the rent. He said to A-Guei, “I heard that you raised your rent, and the poor farmers couldn’t afford to work on your land anymore. You shall receive some punishment! Well, I will remit the punishment under only one condition, that is, if you can find the following items in two days, “A male wolf that will give birth to a baby wolf, a long piece of cloth that is at exact length of our county road, and a lot of wine that is as much as the sea! If you cannot find those items, I will put you in jail.
The truth is, this county magistrate was a very greedy man. He learned that A-Guei was rich, so wanted to blackmail him by proposing plans that cannot be done.
A-Guei went home worried. His daughter Jade saw his worried face, asking, “Daddy, you are upset, are you all right? Is something bothering you?” A-Guei then told his daughter about the trouble. After listening to the story, Jade was very angry. She said, “This man is being really unreasonable and ridiculous! Don’t you worry about it, daddy, I will handle it.”
Jade then went to see the county magistrate by herself alone when the big day came. She said to him, “ I represent my father today.” The magistrate asked, “where is your dad?” She replied, “He is at home giving birth to a baby!” The magistrate then shouted at her, “how dare you! How can a man have baby? This is ridiculous!” Jade then asked him, “If a man cannot have baby, how can a male wolf have a baby?” The magistrate knew that she’s got him. So he dropped this question and asked for the other two things. Jade said, “My dad has already prepared the items that you wanted, but I need to take your wine bottle home to get the wine here. As for the cloth, you need to send your officials to measure the road again, otherwise I don’t know how to give you the exact length of clothe you want.” The county magistrate knew that she was outsmarted than he was. He couldn’t possibly win the argument. So he sent the girl home, and dropped all the charges against her dad.
http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/culture/biweekly/467/english5.htm
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