The frog catcher

The frog catcher

Once upon a time, there was a rich man named Chung who lived in Chang Hua in central Taiwan. He had three daughters, two of whom married rich men. The third one, Yi-Chu, did not want to marry a rich man.

Cerita narrative text bahasa inggris - the frog catcher

“Why don’t you marry a rich man like your sisters?” her father asked. “You’ll be able to live a very comfortable life.”

“Thank you, father.” She said. “But a rich man today may be a poor man tomorrow. In the same way. A poor man may become a rich man.”

Her father was very angry. He ordered her to marry a poor man named Lee who was a frog catcher. So Yi-Chu became Lee’s wife.

One day, Lee went to the river to catch frogs. However, he could not find any. Suddenly, he saw a rabbit running by. He followed it and saw it go into a hole in the ground. He looked into the hole and saw some black stones inside. He picked one up and took it home.

When Yi-Chu saw the stone, she cried out in surprise, “Where did you get? It is black gold,” Lee told her, “Run back quickly and get some more,” his wife said.

Lee run back to the hole, when he arrived there, he found that all the stones had gone. An old man, with a long white beard, was standing nearby. “I am looking for some black stones,” Lee said, “Have you seen any?”

The old man smiled. “They belong to a man called, Door,”  he said.

“Who is Mr. Door?” Lee asked. But the old man disappeared from sight in a puff of smoke.

Six months later, Yi-Chu had a baby son. Lee took the baby to show his father-in-law. Mr. Chung was very happy to see it. He took it in his arms and played with it. The baby cried and cried. Finally, Mr. Chung took it outside. As he passed through the door, the baby stopped crying and smiled. Mr. Chung named it ‘Door’ because of this.

When Lee heard of the baby’s name, he remembered what the old man had said. He went again to the hole in the ground. There were many black stones inside. He took all the stones away. He was now rich man.

Some time later, Lee and Yi-Chu went to Mr. Chung’s house for a feast. Everyone was dressed in fine clothes except Lee. He wore old clothes and no one would talk to him. They did not know he was a rich man.

One of his sister-in-law said, “I have some land I would like to sell cheaply.”

“I will buy from you,” Lee replied.

Everyone one laughed at him. “How can you afford it?” his sister-in-law asked. “If you have enough money, I shall be glad to sell it to you at half-price.”

Lee took out the money straight away from his pocket. His sister-in-law had to keep her promise.

Soon Lee became the richest man in town. No one laughed at him any more.