During the Ming Dynasty, there was a legend of liquor well in Tonglu County, Zhejiang Province. According to the records of Fan Garden, a Taoist traveler came here. He drank heavily in a bar and left immediately after finishing. He seldom thanked the bar owner, and the owner did not ask him to pay for the bill. Every time the Taoist came, the bar owner treated him courteously and respectfully. It was like that for a long time.
One day, the Taoist said goodbye to the owner, taking out two pills from the fishing drum he was carrying. The pills were yellow and very hard, as big as a longan. The Taoist said: “I have nothing in return for your hospitality. Today, I will throw these pills into your well, and you will have fine liquor every day so that you don’t have to work hard to make it.” After speaking, the Taoist left.
The Taoist’s pills turned the well water to liquor
The next day, the water in the well boiled. When the owner took it out, it was clear and mellow liquor. The aroma of alcohol is mellow and intoxicating. Therefore, it is called “immortal liquor.”
The bar owner didn’t have to work hard to cook rice and make liquor anymore and made huge profits. With the pills given by the Taoist, the bar accumulated a considerable fortune selling liquor. After 30 years of running a bar business, the owner became rich.
The Taoist disappeared after he put the pills into the well. Thirty years later, the Taoists came to Tonglu County again. One day, he visited the bar.
The Taoist asked the owner calmly: “How much money has your family earned since the liquor well came into existence?”
The owner said: “The liquor is delicious, but it’s a pity that there are no dregs to feed the pigs.”
The Taoist removed the pills from the well
The Taoist sighed and said: “Has the greed in people’s hearts reached such a level?” So he stretched out his arm into the well and took out the pills. The pills have been immersed in water for many years. Not only did they not melt, but even the color was the same as it was 30 years before, and it did not change. After the Taoists took away the pills, the alcohol in the well also disappeared. The water in the well regained its former taste and no longer had any alcohol smell.
The owner felt very ashamed and regretful for his blunder. Since then, the bar business has also turned into a depression. In the Ming Dynasty, when Qian Xiyan recorded this story, the bar location was still there. The story has been widely circulated for a long time.
The bar owner had a good nature, and he treated the Taoist with courtesy, and the Taoist also repaid him with kindness. However, the greed in human nature gradually expands and deepens under circumstances that people are challenged to detect and predict, eventually becoming a drawback that prevents the sublimation of destiny. This is the lesson of this legend.
Translated by Patty Zhang
