Three treasures from the little tree spirit

Once upon a time, there was a poor widow who lived with her son. The son's name was Aung San. This smart child was very liked by the people in the village.

　　Only his aunt hated him. His aunt's name was Suu Kyi, and she was also a widow, but without a son, she couldn't see anyone else's son being smart and cute. Suu Kyi lives alone outside the village, and there is a road to the forest outside her house.

　　On this day, the widow told Aung San to go to the forest to chop wood, and gave him three loaves to eat on the way.

　　Aung San came to the big forest. He sat and rested under a century-old banyan tree. He didn't know at all that there were three dryads in the hole of this tree. This is a small, timid kid.

　　Aung San remembered the bread the widow gave him, and said to himself, "I'm really hungry! Eat two of them first, and then eat the third one later..."

　　When the three little dryads heard this, they were all terrified. They hurriedly jumped out of the tree hole, knelt at the foot of Aung San, and said, "Forgive your life, don't eat us. We'll give you a jar made of coconut shells!"

　　"I don't like jars, I have them at home!"

　　"This is no ordinary jar." The little devils explained, "This is a magic jar. Whatever you want to eat, you will have it in the jar right away."

　　"That's another story." After saying that, Aung San picked up the magic jar and walked home.

　　When he got home, he had to go through Suu Kyi's house.

　　When Suu Kyi saw Aung San holding a jar in her hand, she scolded him: "You fool! Why did you go home with a broken jar from the forest? Don't you even have a jar at home?"

　　"This is no ordinary jar, this is a magic jar." Aung San told Suu Kyi what he had encountered in the forest.

　　After listening to Aung San, this cunning and treacherous woman suddenly became extraordinarily kind. "My good nephew! Not far from my house, there are tigers now, and I won't let you leave my house before dawn."

　　She stayed with Aung San for the night. As soon as Aung San fell asleep, the woman stole the magic jar for one of her own ordinary coconut shell jars.

　　The next morning, Aung San thanked Suu Kyi, picked up the jar and hurried home.

　　When the widow saw that he had not come back with firewood, she asked, "Where is the firewood you chopped? Can I cook for you without firewood?"

　　"Mom, you don't have to worry about cooking anymore!" Aung San happily told his mother about his adventures in the woods.

　　The widow said, "I really want to eat dried shrimp with rice noodles now!"

　　Aung San said solemnly: "Mom, open the lid of the magic jar, there will definitely be dried rice noodles and shrimp, and there will be zongzi!"

　　The widow hastily opened the jar and said angrily, "There's nothing in this jar. You kid shouldn't make fun of your mother. If you can't chop wood back tomorrow, then you'll have to eat raw rice..."

　　The next day, Aung San went to the forest to chop wood again. He saw a rabbit nest near the old banyan tree, and there were three little rabbits looking around in the nest.

　　Aung San said to himself again: "That's great! I'll catch them now and roast all three little ones on the campfire until they're fragrant. What a delicious lunch!"

　　When the three little devils in the tree hole heard this, they were terrified again. They thought: This is going to roast us and eat us! So they all jumped out of the tree hole again and kept begging, "Please don't hurt us, we will give you a magic whip, and you only need to wave the whip., there will be a herd of buffaloes."

　　Aung San admired the gift so much that he was so happy that he completely forgot about chopping wood. He grabbed the whip and ran home.

　　When he walked to Suu Kyi's house, he saw Suu Kyi standing by the side of the road again. "You silly boy! You don't even have a donkey in your house, what are you doing with a whip to drive buffaloes?"

　　Aung San recounted what had happened in the forest. The sly Suu Kyi became kinder and said, "My lovely nephew! Now there are ferocious wild bears not far from my house. It's not dawn, and I won't let you go anywhere!"

　　Aung San had to stay at Suu Kyi's house for the night again. Like last time, as soon as he fell asleep, Suu Kyi stole the magic whip and put an ordinary whip next to his pillow. In the morning, Aung San picked up the whip, said goodbye to Suu Kyi, and went home.

　　The widow was angry when she saw that he didn't bring back the firewood again. "You lazy bastard, why did you come back empty-handed again?"

　　The child replied: "Mom, you can be happy. From now on, our family will never live in poverty again. Now I just wave the whip and our family will have our own herd of buffaloes."

　　Saying that, he waved his whip. However, no miracle happened, not a single buffalo appeared in front of him.

　　The widow was furious: "You deceived me again! Go chop wood for me now!"

　　Aung San had no choice but to return to the forest to chop wood. He walked under the old banyan tree and saw three wild fruits growing in the grass beside the tree, so he inadvertently said to himself: "There are only three, too few! I don't know whether to eat them together or one by one. eat."

　　Hearing this, the three little devils jumped out of the tree hole again, hurriedly handed over a rope, and said, "Give it to you, please don't eat us!"

　　Aung San said, "I have the rope for the bundle of firewood myself, what's the use of this rope for you?"

　　The little devils hurriedly said: "This is not an ordinary rope, this is a magic rope. Except for you, as long as someone touches it, that person will be bound..."

　　Aung San rolled up the magic rope, chopped another bundle of firewood, and left the forest and went back.

　　As she walked past Suu Kyi's door, the cruel woman thought: "This kid may have guessed that I stole the treasure that the dryad gave him. I have to find a way to get rid of him."

　　So she smiled and said to Aung San, "My lovely nephew! There are wild elephants near my house now, and I will never let you go before dawn."

　　The third time Aung San stayed at Suu Kyi's house overnight, he put the magic rope on the bedside and fell asleep. The cruel-hearted Suu Kyi decided to tie him up while he was sleeping and throw him into the mountains to feed the beasts.

　　"I don't even have to pay for a rope," she said smugly. "He has a pretty strong rope by his bed."

　　However, as soon as she took the rope with her hands, she was immediately bound by the magic rope. All night, the female thief who stole other people's treasures moved around, trying to break free, but the magic rope became tighter and tighter.

　　In the morning, when Aung San woke up and saw that Suu Kyi was firmly tied there, he understood it all: she stole the magic jar and the magic whip.

　　"My dear good nephew, lovely child, I beg you, untie me..."

　　Aung San replied, "If you don't tell where you hid the magic jar and magic whip, just stay like this until you die!" The female thief had no choice but to return the tree spirit's gift to Aung San.

　　Satisfied, Aung San untied Suu Kyi, picked up the firewood on her back, and went home. I saw the widow with a sad face and said to him, "Child, you brought the firewood back, but there is not even a grain of rice in the house. Cooking without rice is difficult!"

　　The child said: "Mom, we will have food, and it will be a very rich lunch." He wanted to eat food such as dried rice noodles and shrimp, zongzi, sugar cane, cakes and jams.

　　This time, when Aung San opened the jar, the widow saw that the jar was full of delicious food. Then, he waved the whip again, and the dryad's words came true: In a blink of an eye, the widow's yard was crowded with a large herd of buffaloes.

　　The mother and son had a better life. Their neighbors had a better life. As long as they came to Aung San's house, any poor man could have a full stomach and get a buffalo to cultivate his only small piece of land.

　　Aung San lived to be a hundred years old. Neighbors said he was a rare kind man. After his death, his thatched hut disappeared, as did the magic pot, magic whip, and magic rope that the tree spirit gave him.