Fun story

Three Wood-oil Trees

        Once upon a time, there was a father, he has three cute children: First daughter Ying Zi(罌子), second daughter Hai Hung(海紅) and third son Bai Song(百松). They live by knitting and selling bamboo basket.

        One bamboo basket doesn’t worth much, in order to survive, they work day and night. Back then there wasn’t enough oil to light the light, so at night they just have to burn the woods, to bamboo basket the whole house, so that they can knit bamboo basket. They work in a dusty environment, the light is too dark, they all have eye problems due to the light, they become red and swollen, can’t stop droping tears.

        When it comes winter, cold wind burst into the house, make the light flashy. To earn more money for the winter, the whole family rubbing their eyes and work even harder to knit bamboo basket. Ying Zi(罌子) suddenly drop a half-knitted bamboo basket, with a sad face and said: ‘How could this work? My eyes are blinding, it’s too hard to work!’

        Hai Hong(海紅) came up with a strange idea, said: ‘If the moon is as bright as the sun, and comes out every night, this way we can see very clearly, we could all save our eyes!’

        Little brother Bai Song(百松) ask naively: ‘How can we make the moon as bright as the sun, and comes out every night?’

        Dad thinks and said: ‘I heard there’s a place far away, there’s a mountain. In the mountain lives an old god, white hair white beard and white brows. The old god often goes to play in the moon when it comes across the top of this mountain. If the old god can go talk to the moon and ask the moon to release the light as bright as the sun and comes out every night, then we can work at night and our eyes will have no problems!’

        ‘Let’s go see the old god and ask him for a favor!’ said three children together.

        Dad said: ‘It’s not going to be easy! The mountain is one thousand feet high, and it’s covered with white cold snow, it’s going to be a long and tough journey!’

        The children answered immediately: ‘We’re not afraid of anything if we can work at night, we have to go.’

        On the second day’s daybreak, Ying Zi(罌子) and Hai Hong(海紅) leave for the task, left Bai Song(百松) to take of their father. They crossed river after river, climb over mountain after mountain, go through forest after forest, their feet get hurt, then they just knee down and keep crawling; their knees hurt, they tear down their cloth and warp them up and keep crawling.

        Nine months passed, they finally arrived at the snowy mountain. They saw an old man with white hair, beard and brows sitting on a rock on the peak of the mountain, combing his white beard with a huge comb. His white beard is thin and tight, and also shiny.

        Ying Zi(罌子) crawled to the old god and said sincerely: ‘Old god, could you please tell the moon to release light as bright as the sun, and comes out every night.’

        The old god keep silence, still combing his white beard.

        Hai Hong(海紅) begged as well: ‘Please, god, save everyone! Many people make fire to work at night, the smoke hurt their eyes, somebody even blind because of it!’

        The old god raised his head slowly, he saw Hai Hong(海紅) is crying; then he saw Ying Zi’s(罌子) feet are frozen. He pity and said: ‘ Wait a second, children!’

        The moon raised on the peak of the mountain, the old god dropped his comb, wind his beard around his neck, jumped into the moon. Ying Zi(罌子) and Hai Hong(海紅) couldn’t stop watching at the moon.

        Soon, the old god jumped out of the white moon, said to the children: ‘The moon said she can’t! She is not capable to shine like the sun. Sometimes she has to dive into the sea to wash her face, if not, she will becomes even darker, so she can’t comes out every night.’

        Ying Zi(罌子) and Hai Hong(海紅) were extremely disappointed, they think of their father, brother and others who has to work at night, they couldn’t help crying. The old god kindly comforted them and said: ‘Children, let’s think of another solution!’

        ‘What are other solutions?’ saying with Ying Zi(罌子) and Hai Hong(海紅)’s crying face.

        The old god said: ‘If we can turn people into wood-oil trees, generates oil for others to light their lights, everyone can work at night without hurting their eyes.’

        Ying Zi(罌子) and Hai Hong(海紅) said without hesitation: ‘As long as everyone can benefit from it, we would become wood-oil trees.’

        The old god saw the determined looks on their faces, his nod his head, use the comb to comb his shiny white beard, and give the oil bead to Ying Zi(罌子) and asked her to swallow it, and the other one to Hai Hong(海紅).

        Soon after, Ying Zi(罌子) shake her body and became a tree with long branches and large leaves, and then purple flowers bloomed out, and then grew fruits as big as eggs and it’s filled with oil. The old god said: ‘We should call you 桐油樹!’

        Hai Hong(海紅) became a tree with short branches and small leaves, red flowers bloomed out, and then grew fruits as big as an egg and it’s filled with oil. The old god said: ‘We’ll called you 茶油樹!’

        A gentle breeze blew by, two trees laugh as if they’re happy.

        Ying Zi(罌子) and Hai Hong(海紅) has been gone more than nine months, father and Bai Song(百松) didn’t see them for quite a long time. By this time, Bai Song(百松) had become higher than his father, he said fearlessly: ‘Dad, let me go see the old god and bring back my sisters.’

        The next day’s moring, Bai Song(百松) left also. He spent nine months to get to the mountain just like his sisters did. He saw the old god sitting on the rock and combing his beard, Bai Song(百松) ask the same thing to the old god just like his sisters did.

        The old god told him that the moon can’t do such things and said two girls came to him nine months earlier, in order to let everyone else have the oil to like their candles, they both turned into wood-oil trees.

        ‘I want to be a wood-oil tree, too!’ Bai Song(百松) asks.

        The old god said: ‘ I don’t have any oil bead left!’

        Bai Song(百松) grabbed the old god’s thigh and asks piteously: ‘Please think of something else, make me a wood-oil tree, too!’

        The old god was touched and said: ‘Let me try!’ He then comb his white beard, but only oil needle came out. He handed the oil needle to Bai Song(百松) and said: ‘Kid, if you could swallow this needle, you will get what you want.’

        Bai Song(百松) did it without hesitation. The needle cut his throat and hurt him so he shook his body and tear came out. Not long after, he became a tree with needle-shaped leaves, and branches are filled with oil. The old god pat the branch and said: ‘Good kid, we’ll call you 松樹!’

        Here comes a gentle breeze, 松樹 make laughter sound like hua hua hua.

        Three of them never think about going home, father waits impatiently! He murmured: ‘Maybe something happened to the children, I should go check on them!’

        The father walked nine months painfully just like his children did, he finally arrived at the mountain. He said to the old god: ‘Please tell the moon to shine brighter and comes out every night!’

        The old god shook his head and told him his children had become wood-oil trees.

        The father looked at the three wood-oil trees and said with sorrow: ‘Huh! They were willing to sacrificed themselves, that’s my children!’ He then talked to the old god: ‘Since my children had all become wood-oil trees, please turn me into a wood-oil tree?’

        The old god shook his head and said: ‘ No no no, I don’t have any oil bead or oil needle left. But you come just about the right time, bring these wood-oil tree’s seed back and plant it at your home, then you people can uses their oil to light the candles.’

        A gentle breeze blows by, three wood-oil trees shaking their branches and laughing. The father collected the seeds from all three wood-oil trees in a bamboo basket and plant the seed along his way home.

        Sometimes later, the whole mountain grew many wood-oil trees.

        From this moment, everyone learned how to squeeze oil, they light the candles at night, working in a bright environment, nobody hurt their eyes anymore. How about the good kind father? Rumors says that in a night of the full moon, the old god picked him and all the three wood-oil trees to live in the moon!