Another Afanti Story

Here is another story about the Smart Afanti, translated by my daughter:

Ā Fán Tí Borrows a Pot

Once upon a time there was a person who was an official. He was very rich. He had lots of money, but very selfish. He only wanted other people’s stuff, but wouldn’t help other people. He was never willing to lend his own stuff to other people. One day, Ā Fán Tí begged him for a long time and finally borrowed a pot from him. He promised to return it in 3 days.

The next day, Ā Fán Tí held a small pot. He happily visited the official’s house. He entered through the door and yelled, “Congratulations! Congratulations! Last night your big pot had a child!” That person unexpectedly got a free pot. He was very happy, so he told Ā Fán Tí, “Tomorrow, you do not need to return the big pot, let the pot stay at your house for a longer time. Let it have more children for me.”

Several days later, Ā Fán Tí came again. He told the person, “Not good! Yesterday, the big pot died! I am very sad for you.”

“Nonsense! How can pots die? You are a liar!”

“Oh, dear master, if there is birth, there is death. If the pot can give birth, why can’t the pot die?” Hearing what Ā Fán Tí said, the person was speechless.

The original Chinese:

阿凡提借锅

从前有一个做官的人，家里很富有。他虽然很有钱，但是非常小气。他只想要人家的东西，却不肯帮助别人。他家的东西，从来不愿意借给别人。有一天，阿凡提求了他很久，终于从他那里借到了一只锅子，说好第三天就还回来。

第二天，阿凡提拿着一只小锅子，喜气洋洋地来到了那家人家。他一进门就高声喊：“恭喜！恭喜！昨天晚上，您家的大锅生了孩子！”那人白白地得到一只锅子，很高兴，就对阿凡提说：“你明天不用还我那只大锅子了，就让它在你家里多留些日子，为我多生几只小锅子吧！”

过了几天，阿凡提又来了。他对那人说：“不好了！您家的大锅子昨天死了！我真替你难过。”

“胡说！锅子怎么可能会死？你骗人！”

“啊，亲爱的老爷，有生就有死。既然锅子会生孩子，那它为什么不会死呢？”听了阿凡提的话，那人什么话也说不上来了。