Tale #39 -- A Folk Tale from China

Aniz the Shepherd

Once upon a time a wealthy land owner hired a shepherd boy whose name was Aniz. This boy was very well liked. People enjoyed listening to him play his bamboo flute. The land owner was jealous of the boy's talent and popularity. One day, he broke Aniz' flute into little pieces and sent him away without any food or money. "You little wretch!" the master yelled. "I don't pay you to sit around playing the flute!"

Aniz left his master's house and wandered through the streets. He didn't know what to do.

An old man took pity on him. "Hello! What's the trouble, young fellow?" the old man asked. "Who are your parents? Why are you out here all alone, crying?"

"Grandpa! I am a shepherd. My name is Aniz. My master beat me, drove me out and trampled my lovely flute to pieces..."

"Don't cry, Aniz," said the old man kindly. "Come and stay with me!" He took Aniz to his home. He used a length of bamboo to make the boy a new flute which was much better than his old one. He taught him how to play it. After his lessons with the old man, Aniz could play more beautifully than ever. Even the various animals in the forest came and sat round him, listening to him quietly and never wanting to leave. Aniz and the animals became close friends.

The land owner who had driven Aniz away had a dream one night. He called his three sons and told them about it. "Last night I dreamt of a beautiful rabbit, white as snow, with a black spot on the top of its head. I want that rabbit. Go and catch it for me."

"Father, we have never even heard of such a rabbit!" his sons replied. "How can we find it?"

The land owner started scolding his sons. "You hopeless creatures! Go and look for it. Whoever finds it will inherit everything I have when I die."

The eldest son stepped forward and said, "Brothers, let me go! I fear no danger, if only I can make father happy!"

He set off on his way looking around him carefully. After a while an old man came towards him and asked, "Young man, where are you going?" The eldest son told him why he had come.

"Go to the forest then," said the old man, "and look for the rabbit! Aniz is tending my cattle there. Tell him what you want and he'll help you."

The eldest son went into the forest, found Aniz and asked him for his help. "Of course!" Aniz smiled. "I can help you to find the strange rabbit. Come and get it this evening. But you must bring a thousand strings of cash to pay for it."

The eldest son thought, "Compared with the property I am going to inherit, a thousand strings of cash are nothing!" In the evening he returned to the forest with the money and found Aniz sitting on a tree stump, playing his flute. All the little animals were squatting round him entranced, pricking up their ears to listen to the music. The eldest son saw the white rabbit among them. It really did have had a tiny black spot on the top of its head.

Aniz put down his flute, stretched out his hand, took hold of the rabbit by its long ears and handed it to the eldest son. "Here you are. Hold it tightly!"

The eldest son paid the money and set off home with the little white rabbit. Aniz started playing the flute again. As soon as the rabbit heard the music, it jumped out of the man's hand and ran away. The eldest son searched for it for a long time but could not find any trace of it. In the end he gave up and went to see Aniz again.

"The white rabbit has run away. What can I do?" he asked.

Aniz answered, "There is nothing I can do about it. Didn't I warn you to hold it tightly? It's no use blaming me."

The eldest son went home empty-handed and told his story to his family.

The second son said, "Father, don't worry. I'll go and catch it tomorrow." Nextday, the second son went to try his luck and met the same fate as his elder brother -- time wasted and another thousand strings of cash down the drain. On the third day, the youngest son went, but he fared no better.

It made the landlord very angry to watch his three sons lose three thousand strings of cash like this, without so much as a piece of fluff to show for it.

"You fools!" he cried. "You worthless pack of fools! Tomorrow I shall go and catch it myself!"

So the following day the land owner went into the forest. When Aniz spotted him,he took out his flute and began playing. All the beasts of the forest -- rabbits, bears, snakes, wolves, foxes and many different sorts of birds -- came and surrounded the land owner. They looked very dangerous. The man fell to his knees in despair and begged Aniz, "My lord, save me! Save me!"

"Hello, master!" Aniz said. "Do you remember me? You treated me cruelly, and now I will have my revenge. These animals are my friends. As soon as I give them a signal with my flute, they will eat you alive!"

"No, no, my lord Aniz!" the man cried. "Please don't treat me as once I treated you!" He lay at Aniz' feet and sobbed, "I promise to give you anything you want. Don't let them hurt me ... I'm so scared...."

"Very well," Aniz said, "I will spare your wretched life this once. But you must never bully poor folk again! If you don't turn over a new leaf, I won't be so easy on you next time. When you get home, you must give half of all your property to the poor villagers. Is that clear?"

"Yes! Yes!" The man rose to his feet and ran home. He didn't want to give his things away, but he was too afraid of Aniz and the animals to break his word. He followed Aniz' instructions and distributed half of his estate to the poor. That upset the land owner's sons, but it made Aniz more popular than ever with the villagers.