Hello, welcome to Chinese Folk Tales.
I'm Man Ling.
Do you still remember Afan Ti and his legendary tales from Xinjiang in northwestern China?
The man dressed in a long traditional robe and rides his donkey backwards with a brain full of clever ideas.
He shows up from nowhere where rounds need to be put right and where evil and greedy people need to be put in their place.
His journey continues today, always with a new challenge, a new trick and maybe, just maybe, a little more mischief.
One fine day, Afanti was passing by the house of Master Bahi.
This greedy man is always trying to find as many ways as possible to make money, by fair means or foul ones.
Bahi was sitting in his garden enjoying some chicken.
He had the finest cooks in the land and the smell of his food was irresistible.
Attracted by the enticing smell, Afanti walked right up to Master Bai's gate.
Ah, such a delicious smell.
Bai spotted Afanti from the corner of his eye.
Before making any moves, finished every single morsel of his meal, slurping every bone with noisy delight.
Then, with a satisfied sigh, he set down his bowl, wiped his mouth and strode over to Afanti, smiling like he had just come up with a very clever idea.
Afanti, you owe me money!
For what?
You just enjoyed some of the meal I had.
I pay a lot for my cook, which is why my meal smells so good.
And good smells don't come cheap.
What do you mean, Master Bai?
I didn't eat any of your meal.
I've been standing here the whole time, just breathing like anyone else.
Well...
Won't you agree that aroma for fine meal is an important part of its enjoyment?
Yes, of course.
Sometimes the smell of food can be as good as the taste.
Then you agree with me that, by standing here and enjoying the smell of my chicken, you have benefited from the meal that I just paid for.
Afanti thought about this for a few moments and then smiled broadly.
He reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a big bag of money.
He shook it around a few times so that the coins jangled loudly.
Master Bai reached out to grab the bag, but Afanti snatched the bag just in time.
Ah, not so fast, Master Bai.
I have just given you the payment for the smell.
What do you mean?
Wouldn't you agree that hearing the sound of jiggling coins is part of the enjoyment of being wealthy?
Yes, of course.
Then the sound you just heard must surely be enough to pay for the smell of your chicken.
Fair trade, wouldn't you say?
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy some real lunch.
Good day to you, Master Bai.
Yes, of course.
And with that, Afanti mounted his donkey and rode towards the town, happy with his own cleverness.
Master Bai however, remained behind, shaking his fist at Afanti's departing back, furious over having been tricked.
Hang on a second.
Afanti is a poor man.
Where did he get all that money?
Hey, Afanti!
How come you have so much money?
But Afandi just rode on, pretending that he hadn't heard.
Master Bai, curious and maybe more than a little jealous, grabbed his coat and hurried after him.
He ducked behind trees and fences, tiptoed from bush to bush, trying to keep himself out of sight.
But, of course, Afanti knew very well what he was doing.
The two travelled on in this fashion for several miles before coming to a clearing in the woods.
There, Afanti, dismounted from his donkey, pretended to look about to see if anyone was watching.
Then he knelt down at a spot and buried five gold coins in the soil.
He then stood up, stretched out his arms in a dramatic fashion and mumbled something strange and magical under his breath.
Then, just loud enough to be heard by Master Ba Yi, Afan Ti said And tomorrow, at this time, I shall return to harvest my coins.
Master Ba Yi was puzzled.
Could Afan Ti be so stupid as to believe that coins could grow in the ground?
This was madness, even so.
He decided to come back early the next morning to check on the coins himself.
Now, where were they?
Somewhere around here.
Master Ba Yi, who won't move a finger for any other purposes, dug deep into the ground with his bare hands.
Ah!
Here they are!
I don't believe it!
Where I found he had planted five gold coins, there are now fifty!
How can this be true?
As Master Ba Yi stared in disbelief At the fifty coins, his hands shook while inspecting each one carefully.
This is just so unbelievable.
He was so absorbed in looking at the coins that he didn't notice Afanti coming up beside him on his donkey.
Ah, Master Ba'i.
I see that you have discovered my little secret.
But it doesn't matter.
Seeing Afanti, Master Bayi reached into his own pockets and pulled out all the gold coins he had and instructed Afanti to plant his money for him right now, right here.
Make my money grow.
Make me rich.
Next day, Afanti arrived early at Master Bayi's house and handed to him a large bag of money.
Here you are.
Here's your harvest.
Master Bayi was absolutely stunned.
He immediately started gathering together all the gold coins he had in the house and demanded they go at once to plant them so he could become wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.
Let's go plant them right now!
You know what, Afanti?
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I suppose I could spare a few coins for you.
To thank you, of course.
Afanti happily accepted.
They reached the secret spot.
And together they dug a big hole and planted all the coins.
Again, Afanti stood up, stretched his arms and mumbled some special magical words that Master Bahi couldn't quite hear.
But Master Bai, the incantation must be recited twice for it to work.
Normally, I would come back at the stroke of midnight to repeat it.
But sadly, my donkey is sick and I must take him to the next village for medicine.
Maybe I can teach you the spell.
Would you be willing to see the second incantation in my place?
Oh, of course.
That would be my pleasure.
Just leave it to me.
But listen carefully.
It must be recited exactly at midnight.
After that, you must leave immediately.
The magic will only take effect if no one is present.
The coins won't be ready until dawn, so when you return home, don't oversleep.
Come back at daybreak, and I will be back the same time.
We will reap the riches together.
And with that Afanti rode off, not to the next village, as he claimed, but just far enough to be out of sight of Bahi.
Sure enough, when the clock struck midnight, Master Bai returned.
He stood on top of the buried gold coins, stretched his arms wide and chanted the magic spell that Afanti had whispered to him.
Gold coins grow faster.
Gold coins grow faster.
Gold coins grow faster.
Gold coins grow faster.
But did he return at dawn as Afanti instructed?
Of course not.
Master Bahi had no intention of sharing the treasure with Afanti or anyone for that matter.
He didn't even rest.
Instead, he paced back and forth, growing more and more impatient.
He simply couldn't wait for daybreak.
Long before the first light, he snuck back to the spot and with greedy fingers to dig.
No one will share my wealth.
No one.
No one.
Master Pai dug and dug and dug.
Little did he know that he was already too late.
Earlier that night, Afanti had quietly crept out from his hiding place once the coast was clear.
He ordered his donkey to dig up every last coin with its hooves.
There, neatly patted the soil back in place, leaving no trace behind.
So when Master Bayi began to dig, excited to reap all that gold well, let's just say he dug up a whole lot of nothing.
What?
There's nothing here.
Where are my gold coins?
What's happened to them?
I must have been tricked by that cunning man, Afanti.
I will let him pay for this.
Just when his name was mentioned, Afanti showed up with a big smile on his face.
He sauntered over to where Baiyi was kneeling on the ground.
Hands covered in dirt.
Is there anything wrong, Master Ba'i?
What happened?
You know exactly what happens.
My gold coins are all gone.
You've taken them.
Me?
Taking your gold coins?
Oh no, Master Ba'i.
You must have started digging too early.
I warned you, didn't I?
Chant at midnight and harvest at dawn.
Magic is a delicate thing, you know.
Timing is everything.
Good day to you, Master Bai.
Good day.
Master Bai could jump up and down all he wanted, but his coins won't grow out of the ground this time.
Afanti took the money he'd dug up and handed it out to all the poor villagers.
And guess what?
That money was wealth that Bayi had squeezed out of the poor villagers in the first place.
Now that brings us to the end of this episode of Chinese Folk Tales.
Thank you for listening.
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Bye for now.
