But from then on, whenever they returned home after dark, they would close the door and open the moneybag. In the daytime they went as usual to cut firewood. Once home, he gave the moneybag to his wife and told her the whole story. He took the empty moneybag and, clinging onto the enormous rope, he was lowered to the ground. Every day, you can take one tael of silver out of it, and no more.” Just at this moment, the white-haired old man came in and, with a stern expression on his face, said to the young man, “You cannot take that one. Give me that round, bulging one.” He chose the biggest one and took it down.
#Moneybag moneybag moneybag full
The woodcutter was beside himself with joy, “I’d like that moneybag, the one full of precious things. The fairies asked him, “Which one do you like best? Choose whichever you please, and take it home.” Moneybags of all shapes and sizes hung in one room. Inside the palace there were many kinds of rare objects on display that he had never seen before.
Its golden eaves and gleaming roof tiles shone so brightly that, the moment he entered, he could no longer open his eyes. Take it back with you and it will provide you with your livelihood.”Īs soon as he had finished speaking, there came seven fairies who led the young man into a magnificent palace. The old man chuckled and said to the woodcutter in a warmhearted tone of voice, “I’ve known for a long time that you are a decent couple and lead a frugal and hardworking life. With it, we can buy rice to make porridge.”
One bundle is for our own use and the other we carry to the market. That’s why my wife and I cut two bundles of firewood a day. The woodcutter made a bow and replied, “We are penniless. The old man untied the bundle and when he found the man inside it, he asked, “Other people only cut one bundle of firewood a day. On his arrival in heaven, he saw a kindly looking, white-haired old man coming in his direction. At midnight, an enormous rope descended from the sky, attached itself to the bundle, and lifted it up into the sky, with the woodcutter still inside it. From the outside, it looked just the same as before. On the fifth day, he made a hollow in the bundle of firewood in the courtyard and hid himself inside it. The same thing happened on the third and fourth day as well, and the husband began to think there was something strange going on. But the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had vanished again. They put one bundle in the courtyard for market and kept the other bundle for their own use. That same day, they cut another two bundles of firewood as usual. There was nothing to do but to sell the bundle they had kept for themselves. When they woke up the following morning, the bundle in the courtyard had mysteriously disappeared. The other bundle, they kept in the kitchen for their own use. They put one bundle in the courtyard and planned to sell it at the market the next day to buy rice. One day, the young couple came back from the mountain carrying the firewood. They were so poor that, every day, they had to cut two bundles of firewood and carry them to market on their backs. Long, long ago, there was a young couple who lived in a small thatched hut in a gully.