Hello, welcome to Our Regular Future Chinese Folk Tales.
I'm Wang Lu.
Today we have a story from the Kazakh people of northwestern China.
It's titled, She Outwitted the Greedy.
On the grasslands there lived a girl named Agaisha and her old father.
The poor family's only possession was an ancient cow that no longer produced milk.
One day, the father planned to sell a bunch of firewood for five coins.
He loaded his cow and drove it to the market.
On the way he was stopped by a pot-bellied merchant who asked him if the lot would be served for that price.
When he got a positive reply, the merchant shouted out the deal to everyone around.
After the cow and cart were driven to his courtyard, he ordered the old man to go back home alone with his five coins.
As he explained, the lot meant everything the seller had, including the cow and the cart.
When the old man wanted to back out of the deal, the greedy merchant threatened to take him to court.
What a trap!
With so many witnesses against him, the old man was sure he'd lose the case.
So hot was rage, he left the scene of the unfair transaction with only the five coins.
When his daughter Agaisha heard what had happened, she quickly came up with an idea.
The next day the father and daughter borrowed an ox cart and drove it to the merchant's home with another load of firewood.
The merchant pulled the same trick, but this time the girl was the one to have the last word.
She asked aloud, Will you give me the money with your hand?
Yes, of course.
Again, everyone present was witness to the business.
When the ox was driven into the courtyard, the merchant took out five coins and gave them to the girl.
But she grabbed his wrist and lifted her axe.
Remember, the merchant's hand was part of the deal.
This time, the rich man himself was caught.
With so many witnesses, he had no advantage, even if he went to a judge.
So he reluctantly agreed to pay a thousand coins for keeping his hand.
But the merchant was not the kind who would easily let others win.
He soon developed an ingenious plan to avenge himself.
He challenged the girl to a trial of wisdom before the judge.
Each would tell fantastic stories to the other.
If one of them couldn't prove the other story true, he would have to pay one thousand coins.
The strange transaction drew the attention of all the people in the village.
They gathered in a judge's chambers to observe the competition.
The merchant was the first to tell a tall tale.
This year I planted ten caddies of wheat.
There were no other seeds mixed in, and at harvest time there were no weeds or grasses to be seen.
But when it came time to tie the sheaves, I found a little lamb in each sheave.
Then, when a wheat was taken to the threshing ground and winnowed, a lamb appeared in each grain.
When a winnowed grain was taken to the mill, the lambs all came out running and bleating.
Everyone except the girl declared it was apparently a lie.
The girl gave the spectators her reasonable explanations.
If the seeds are carefully selected, the wheat will grow very cleanly.
In autumn, the stacks of harvested wheat look just like fat little lambs.
When thrown into the air during winnowing, each grain becomes a lamb too, and when the grain is ground, all the lambs will bleed.
Then it was the girl's turn.
Looking at the cunning merchant, she said, My uncle works as a guide for merchant caravans.
Once he was leading a caravan of 600 camels in a desert when suddenly a band of robbers set upon them.
They took all the goods away and killed some innocent travellers.
Yesterday my uncle told me that you were the head robber.
Well, what do you say?
Am I lying or telling the truth?
The court was brought down by the roar from the crowd and the greedy merchant was frightened.
He realised there was no way out.
He had to admit it was a lie or he would not only have to pay back the goods, but also be sentenced to death.
Thus, the girl Agaisha outwitted the greedy merchant.
That's the story from the Kazakh people called She Outwitted the Greedy.
I'm Wang Lu, looking forward to your company for another edition of Chinese Folk Tales next week.
