They say that there once lived in Fuzhou a poor student. His name was Mi. He was so poor that he could not even pay for a cup of tea. Mi would probably have died of hunger if not for one tea shop owner. He fed and watered the student Mi for free, feeling sorry for the poor man.
But then one day Mi appeared to the owner of the tea shop and said:
- I'm leaving. I have no money, and I have nothing to pay for everything I drank and ate here. However, I don't want to remain ungrateful. Here, look!
And he took a piece of yellow chalk from his pocket and drew a stork on the wall of the tea room. The stork was just like a living one, only yellow.
“This stork,” said Mi, “will bring you ten times more money than I owe.” Every time people gather and clap their hands three times, he will come off the wall and dance. However, remember one thing: never force a stork to dance for one person. And if such a misfortune happens, then know that the stork will dance for the last time. And now goodbye!
With these words, Student Mi turned and left.
The owner was surprised, but decided to try it. The next day, when a lot of people gathered in the teahouse, he asked everyone to clap their hands three times. And now the yellow stork came down from the wall and danced several dances. And how fun and funny it is! And then he went back. The guests were delighted - they were surprised, gasped, not believing their eyes. And this happened every time people gathered in the teahouse.
The rumor about the curiosity spread everywhere. People flocked to the teahouse, and the owner quickly became rich. Student Mi's promise was coming true.
But then one day an important boss came into the tea shop. He sees only peasants and artisans sitting around. The boss got angry and ordered everyone to be kicked out.
The servants attacked with sticks - the people fled, and the boss was left alone. He laid out a lot of money in front of the owner and demanded to show him the stork. When the owner saw the money, he forgot about everything. He clapped his hands three times, the stork reluctantly came down from the wall and danced one dance. He looked gloomy and sick. Then he went back and didn’t move again. The boss shouted and threatened, but could not do anything.
And at night someone knocked hard on the teahouse door. The owner went to open it and saw student Mi standing there silent. Mi took the pipe out of his pocket, started playing and walked away without looking back. The stork perked up, jumped off the wall and followed him. Since then, no one has ever seen student Mi and his magical yellow stork.
Old people say that if such a curiosity appears somewhere, then it is for everyone. And when only one person owns it, then it’s as if it doesn’t exist - it will disappear anyway.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru