Chapter 128 127. The Donkey, the Tablecloth, and the Stick

Once upon a time there was a mother who had a son.The mother sent her son to a monk to study theology, but the boy was not in the mood to study.The neighbors advised the mother to send her son to the village primary school, and the principal, Squire, admitted the students for free.Mr. Squire tried every means to teach the student patiently, but he couldn't even learn the simplest things.In the end, he kicked the student out of school.The child went home happily, bouncing and bouncing.When the mother saw her son coming back, she grabbed a broom and beat him. "Get out, you bastard! Get out of the way, I never want to see you again!"

He left the house and walked along the road.After walking for a while, he came to a garden without walls.He was hungry, so he climbed to a pear tree and ate pears. When he was eating vigorously, he heard a voice: "Say, say, I smell human flesh here!" It turned out that the demon father was sniffing here and there under the pear tree.He is the master of this garden. The child said on the tree: "I am a human being. I am a poor child who was kicked out of the house by my mother." The demon father said: "Then you come down, I will take you to my house." He took the child home, dressed him, and let him stay. "You will live with me from now on, and no one will beat you again." The demon father went out to work every day and took the child with him.In this way, they spent two years together.

One day, the child drooped and was very unhappy. The demon father asked, "Why are you so sad?" "I miss my mother. God knows how many tears she's shed since I left home." "Do you really miss your mother? Well, I'll tell you to go back and see her. I'll give you a donkey, which you brought to mother as a present. When you get home, take the donkey into the house and say, 'Chew Chew, donkey, donkey, money, money!' Then the ass of the donkey will give you money. Be careful on the road, don't let the donkey be stolen!" The child led the donkey on the road.After walking half a mile, he thought, "I'm going to try and see if this donkey can really give money." He looked around and saw that there was no one there, so he jumped off the donkey and said: "Hey, hey! Donkey, donkey, money, money!" The donkey yelled, raised its tail, and dropped many, many coins.

The demon father climbed on the roof of his house to see what the child was doing.He said, "Well, he's tried it!" The child stuffed the money in his pocket and rode off on the donkey again.He came to an inn and asked the boss to arrange a superior room for his donkey.The boss said he wanted to know why this arrangement was made. "Because my donkey will suck money." "Why, donkeys can give money?" "All you have to do is say, 'Boom, boo, money, money!'" "Well, no, boy," said the shopkeeper, "we've got to take him to the barn, and put a sack over him so he won't catch the cold. Don't worry, no one will touch him."

When the child has a lot of money, he eats and drinks, and then goes to bed.The boss went to the stable, took the child's donkey away, and brought another donkey with the same appearance as a substitute.Early in the morning, the child wakes up and asks the boss, "You didn't talk to my donkey, did you?" "Look what you said, why should I talk to it?" The child said, "That's good, that's good," and rode on the donkey towards his home.When he reached the door, he called out, "Mom, open the door. Your son Tony is back!" "Thank God! You're back at last! I thought you were dead outside."

The child came into the house and asked, "Mom, how is your day?" "I'm dying of exhaustion! I wash a big bucket of clothes for people, and the money I make is just enough to buy a few beans." "Really? You eat this kind of rotten stuff?" He picked up the pot and threw it out the door.The poor woman watched the beans fall on the ground helplessly, and cried and screamed. "Don't cry, mother, I'll make you rich!" He pulled the coverlet off the bed, spread it on the floor, and, leading the donkey in, said, "Boy, boo, money, money!"

Yes, he really wanted the donkey to get the money! "Boy, boo, money, money!" he said over and over, but nothing came.He picked up a stick and said, "Bang, bang, bang!" He beat the donkey viciously, and the donkey was so beaten that it blew all over the floor.When the mother saw that the quilt was full of feces, she grabbed the stick and beat her son. The son went back to find the demon father with a sad face.When he saw the child came back, he said, "You are back again! Well, stay here, don't cry about missing your mother anymore." After a while, the child was crying again and wanted to go home to see his mother.The demon father gave him a tablecloth and said: "My tablecloth, the food is set on the table!" There is good wine.

"This table is really good. la!" he exclaimed. "This time, my mother doesn't have to cry and pick up the beans that are scattered on the ground and eat them." He was well fed, and then said, "My tablecloth, clear the table!" and walked home again.On the way, he stayed in that hotel again.The guy in the shop saw it He asked, "Hey, Tony, how are you doing?" "Excellent. What's there to eat?" "There are radishes and string beans. My son, our shop is for coachmen. There is nothing delicious." "Hmph, I don't eat these nasty things! I want to show you real delicious food." He took out the tablecloth and said, "My tablecloth, the table is ready!" In the blink of an eye, the table There was steamed fish, grilled fish, steaks, wine, and many other kinds of food and wine.When he was full, he put the tablecloth into his underwear pocket and said, "I'll see if you can steal this tablecloth again as you stole my donkey! Here I put it." !” But at this moment, he had eaten and drank enough, and fell asleep, and others had to carry him to the bed.They took out his tablecloth and stuffed it with a cloth of the same appearance.The next morning, he got up and said, "Well, you didn't steal my tablecloth." He went on his way home.

When he got to the door, he knocked on the door. "Who is it?" "Mom, it's me." "Oh, you're back again. Get out! Don't come into my house!" "No, Mom, let me go in. This time I bring a good thing, so that you can eat and drink for the rest of your life." After his mother let him in, he asked, "What's for dinner tonight?" "What can I eat? I pick a little mustard greens behind the Madonna in my master's garden, and that's all I eat." The son grabbed the pan and dumped the mustard greens out the window.

"You lawless thing! You scoundrel! You're going to starve me again. I was caught picking mustard greens by Vito Bozzia, my boss, and he yelled at me. You scoundrel, When I came back, I dumped the food out the window!" The child replied, "No, don't worry, dear mother. Hold this tablecloth and see what will appear. My tablecloth, there is food on the table! My tablecloth, there is food on the table!" But, no matter how many times he shouted, nothing appeared on the tablecloth.He jerked it this way, jerked it that way, and at last it left a tablecloth in shreds, useless for use as a dishcloth.His mom beat him up and kicked him out of the house again.

He returned to the demon father again. "Stupid boy, what happened this time? Didn't I tell you earlier that you will be more unlucky this time?" The child had no choice but to follow the demon father to work in the fields as usual. But after a while, he clamored to go back to see his mother.Father Demon said, "Well, boy, this is the last time. Take this stick. When you get home, say, 'Give me my stick! Give me!'" The child wept reluctantly and left the demon father and walked towards his hometown.He was always curious, so he stopped at the place where the donkey was tested before, and wanted to try this stick.He said: "My wooden stick, give me! Give me!" The wooden stick turned and hit him like a machine, left and right, and kept hitting. The demon father stood on the roof, watching this situation, bent over with a smile. "This will keep him awake!" The child cried out in pain, "My stick, stop! My stick, if you don't stop, it will kill me!" From the roof the demon father yelled, "Hit again! Hit again!" Seeing how badly the boy was being beaten, he said, "Stop now!" The stick stopped. The child arrived at the hotel listlessly. "Tony, are you back? How are you doing? Why are you wearing bandages?" "I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to sleep. Keep this stick for me, but don't Never say, "My stick, give me, give me!" At night, the boss picked up the stick and wanted to have a try, so he said: "My stick, give me, give me!" The stick waved like a weaving shuttle, and hit the boss and their family. Beat them dizzy. "Help, help! Have mercy on us, and beat us to death!" The boy rushed into the house. "Give me back the donkey and the tablecloth, or I won't let the stick stand." They gave him back the donkey and the tablecloth.After looking carefully, he found that the donkey and the tablecloth were indeed his, so he took back the stick and left the inn.He led the donkey and returned home with the tablecloth and stick. His mother opened the door a crack when she heard the knock, and seeing her son bring another donkey, she began to curse: "You robber! You scoundrel! Go away! Go away! I hope you will be caught and live!" Skin you!" He said: "Wooden stick, hit her a few times, but lightly." The wooden stick got in through the crack of the door, bang, bang, and hit her several times. "You monster! You unfilial son! You beat your own mother?" "If you want to make the stick stop, then you open the door." Mother opened the door and he rode in on his donkey.She—yelled over and over; "No, for God's sake, don't let the donkey in! Do you still want that donkey to mess up the house?" He said, "Okay, stick, hit her twice." In this way, she quickly stopped talking.Her son pulled the sheet off the bed and made the donkey suck up a pile of gold coins.Then he took out the table-cloth and ordered it to set the table.The two of them sit at the table and eat and drink, but we, the story-tellers and listeners, are dying of thirst. (Otranto area)