Narrative Text: The Legend of Magic Pear

Long ago, there was a farmer in Taiwan who was very greedy. One day he took  some pears to the market for sale. An old monk came up to his cart and asked for one of  the pears.

“Why should I give one to you? Asked the farmer. “ You are a lazy good – for nothing.”

“You have hundreds of pears,” answer  the monk. “You will not be able to sell all of them. I ask for only one. Why are you so angry?

Everyone said  that the farmer should give the monk one of the smaller pears. But he still refused.

Finally, a merchant who was there bought a pear and gave it to the monk.

“Thank you sir,” said the monk. “ I am a holy man. I must not be selfish. I invite everyone to eat pears with me.”

Someone asked him, ‘ How can you do that? You have only one pear.”

“wait until I have finished eating this pear,” said the monk. “ I shall then plant one of the seeds and it will quickly grow into a pear tree.”

The monk then dug a  hole a few inches deep and planted a pear seed in it. He asked someone to bring some water with wich to water the seed. Within  a very  short time, the seed grew into a tree. There were  branches and leaves on it, and many  large sweet-smelling pears.

The monk climbed up the tree. He threw down pear after pear to the people waiting below. When all the pears were finished, the monk climbed down to the ground. He took his axe and cut down the tree and carried it away with him.

The farmer was furious but there was nothing he could do. He turned round to look at his cart. All his pears had disappeared! Also an axle of his cart had gone! Then he realized what had happened. The clever monk had used the axle as the trunk of the pear  tree. All the pears which the monk had given away had been taken from his cart.

He rushed the monk, but the monk was nowhere to be seen. However, he found the freshly-cut axle of his cart lying on the ground outside the city gate.

Everyone laughed at him. “It is your own fault for being so greedy,” they said.

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