【賣身葬父】

A man knelt before a tombstone in the rain, looking sad and depressed. In Heaven, a fairy looked down below, and descended into Earth. There, she transformed into a human woman, and blocked the sad man’s path as he walked towards her direction.
“Miss, is there a reason for you to block my path?” he asked.” Could you please let me go on my way?”
Ignoring his question, the fairy tilted her head and said,” What’s your name and where do you live? Tell me, and I’ll let you go on your way.”
” My name is Dong You. I live in Dan Yang. My parents are gone already. When my Father passed away, there was no money to buy a coffin, so he was buried in another person’s place. I am on my way to go there to do labor in return.” the man replied.
“I too, have a sad life story,” the fairy said wiping away tears.” We both have terrible lives.”
“Miss, where do you live and where are you going?” asked the man, curious.
“My name is Xiao Qi. I was looking for my home, but it was removed, and now I have nowhere to go.”
“We do have terrible lives,” the man sighed.
“If you would please, I would like to marry you and our problems might be solved.”
Alarmed, the man threw his hands in the air. “Oh we couldn’t! We do not even know each other how can we marry? And besides, my Father is buried in someone else’s property, how can I drag you into doing menial labor with me?!”
“I am not afraid of hard labor.” the fairy said stubbornly.
“But who will marry us?”
“The tree. Ask it to marry us three times, and it will speak. If is does, you have to marry me, and if it doesn’t be on your way.”
And so the man did, and indeed the tree spoke. Soon they arrived at the owners property.
“Who is that woman?” the owner demanded.
“My wife.”
“Your wife?! This contract says you are alone! I cannot just house her freely!”
“I can weave fabric!.” the fairy said.
“You can? Then weave 300 rolls of fabric. You you complete it, then you can go home!”
“Fine! But you have to write a contract!”
The owner agreed, but the man was shocked. 300 rolls of fabric would take years to finish. But the fairy was confident, and so she started to weave.
The next day, she finished, and both the owner and the man was shocked, so the owner agreed to let them go home. When the passed the road where they first met, the fairy told the man the truth and returned to heaven.
The End
A Hasty Translation by Ireen Chau 😀 😀 😀