Blacksmith and copper nails

There is a missionary in a small town. Whenever people go to church, he will take the trouble to teach everyone: Be honest and kind, and not be as insidious and greedy as a devil... Over time, even the children in the small town. will say.

　　There was a blacksmith nearby. If he was not busy on Sundays, he would go to church to help. But he didn't go this Sunday because a special guest came to the store early in the morning.

　　The guest was fit and fit, wearing a black robe and a black hat, so that people could not see his face clearly. The guest said that a seven-inch copper nail was to be struck. The blacksmith was very surprised. The seven-inch copper nail, isn't that for nailing the coffin? One is definitely not enough. Although the blacksmith was full of doubts, he was inconvenient to ask more questions. He turned around and built the stove. After a while, he handed the guest a large copper nail that shone in gold.

　　The guest put the copper nail into his arms with satisfaction and said, "The craftsmanship is good! There is a large dry pond two miles out of town, and there are seven big willow trees by the pond. I buried a gold coin under the first tree, please Take it yourself." After speaking, he turned and left.

　　The blacksmith came to the pond dubiously, and he was stunned to find a golden coin under the first willow tree.

　　Early the next morning, the mysterious black-clothed guest came again and said coldly, "Excuse me today, and help me build a seven-inch copper nail."

　　The blacksmith was full of doubts and hesitated, but he agreed. When he handed the brand new copper nails to the man in black again, just like last time, the man in black took the copper nails into his arms with satisfaction and said, "The craftsmanship is good, there is a large dry pond two miles out of town. There are seven big willow trees on the edge of the pond. I buried a gold coin under the second tree, please take it yourself." After speaking, he turned and left.

　　The blacksmith came to the pond again with a shovel, and sure enough, under the second willow tree, he dug up another gold coin.

　　The blacksmith muttered: "This is purely a prank." Suddenly, he picked up the spade and dug under the third tree. As expected, he dug less than a foot deep, and he did find another gold coin. Then, he dug gold coins under the fourth, fifth... until the seventh tree, and he was both excited and puzzled.

　　That night, the blacksmith tossed and turned, and by feeling, he firmly believed that the man in black would come tomorrow, and he decided to ask no matter what.

　　But this time the blacksmith was wrong. Since then, the man in black has never come. The blacksmith looked through the autumn waters and didn't even see the shadow of the man in black. Until five days later, on this Sunday, the man in black finally came.

　　Before the blacksmith could speak, the man in black said coldly, "This time I'm going to hit five seven-inch copper nails."

　　The blacksmith stared blankly at the man in black, swallowed the words to his mouth, turned around and started the stove... I don't know how long it took, he came out of the house and respectfully put the first four seven-inch bronze nails. Handed over one by one, and finally handed the fifth copper nail solemnly into the hands of the man in black. Just as he was about to speak, the man in black spoke.

　　"The craftsmanship is good. There is a large dry pond two miles out of town. There are seven big willow trees on the edge of the pond. I buried them under the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh trees. A gold coin, please take it yourself." After speaking, he suddenly laughed and said, "Actually, you don't have to run this time. I know you took it long ago, don't you?"

　　"You... how do you know?" the blacksmith asked dumbfounded.

　　"Do you still want to know why I made seven bronze nails? Isn't today a Sunday? You'll understand everything when you go to church in a while." The man in black said as he strode away.

　　The blacksmith never said what he wanted to say, which was too strange. As soon as the man in black left, he quietly followed behind, and he didn't stop until the man in black walked into the old missionary's wooden house. Suddenly, voices came from the house...

It was the voice of the man in black: "Missionary, you lost, what else do you have to say?"

　　The missionary answered, "Are you saying that the blacksmith really took your five gold coins without permission?"

　　"If you don't believe me, you can call him and ask." There was a jingling sound from the room, it should be the sound of copper nails hitting, and the man in black asked, "Isn't the cross ready yet?"

　　Seven-inch bronze nails, crosses? Is the man in black going to crucify me because I took his five gold coins ahead of time? The blacksmith was startled when he heard this, his legs softened, and he fell on the hidden door.

　　When the man in black saw the blacksmith, he laughed loudly and said, "You came at the right time, tell the missionary, did you steal my five gold coins?" As soon as these words came out, the blacksmith trembled with fright and said nothing..

　　Suddenly, the missionary closed his eyes, slowly stretched out his arms and said, "In that case, crucify me as agreed."

　　The blacksmith got up and asked boldly, "Why did I crucify you? What agreement?"

　　"Let me tell you." The man in black laughed loudly, "Do you still remember what this bad old man likes to say most? That is to be honest and kind, not as insidious and greedy as a devil, to tell the truth Let's go! I'm a devil." The man in black lifted his black robe, revealing a strange look.

　　The blacksmith was startled, and the devil continued: "Since the missionary slandered me every time, I found him and made a bet with him. I bet that human beings are more insidious and greedy than the devil. If the missionary loses, I will Crucify him; if I lose, I will disappear into this town and let him slander him."

　　The blacksmith took a deep breath and asked, "Why did you choose me?"

　　The devil smiled and said, "The missionary chose you. He said that you are an honest and kind person and worthy of trust, so I deliberately set a trap. You are really insatiable. It doesn't matter if you take a gold coin from me for a copper nail. He also poached my other five gold coins without permission."

　　"Haha..." The blacksmith suddenly laughed, "The missionaries didn't lose at all, it was you who really lost."

　　The devil was taken aback and asked, "What did you say? I lost?"

　　"Yes, it's rare for missionaries to trust me so much. You used a trap to lure me into the bait from the beginning, which is enough to prove your insidiousness. From the moment you asked me to build the second copper nail, I thought it was a prank, but I didn't understand it., so I kept acting with you. In addition to teaching us to be honest and kind, missionaries also told us that ill-gotten gains are not advisable. I never asked you for a gold coin, look, is there a copper nail that is different from others?"

　　The devil took out the seven copper nails, feeling that one was extraordinarily heavy and shiny. He said madly, "How is this possible?"

　　The blacksmith said, "Actually, the copper nail I finally handed over to you was made of seven gold coins. At that time, I wanted to tell you, but you were in a hurry to leave and didn't pay attention."

　　The devil was ashamed, screamed, turned into a puff of smoke and ran away.

　　"Be honest and kind, and don't be as insidious and greedy as a devil..." Since then, the missionary's mantra has spread further, and there is another story to support it, that is: the story of the blacksmith and the copper nail.