Chinese Traditional Story: The Adventures of a Shepherd Boy

Hello everyone, the story I'm going to share today is the adventures of Shepherd Boy. In the Ming Dynasty, there was an officer named Zhou living in Hanyang County, Zhejiang Province. His family hired a boy to herd the sheep. The boy was 13 years old. As he was about the age of One day, he came back from herding the sheep and went to have lunch, but the chef in charge suddenly refused to give him food, feeling both angry and hungry. The shepherd boy left his master's house in disappointment. He sat on the edge of a field crying alone. At this time, a dog passed by and saw him crying in such a pitiful way that he asked him, My child, why are you crying? The boy sobbed and told him, I am hungry, but they don't give me food to eat. After hearing this, the dog took out a black pill from his sleeve and handed it to the boy. The pill was only as big as a long gun. The dog said, Swallow the whole pill, don't chew it, then you won't feel hungry anymore. As the boy was very hungry, he took the pill and put it in his mouth and swallowed it right away. He suddenly had a feeling of fullness in his stomach. Before leaving, the dog told the boy, Don't tell anyone. Since then, the shepherd boy no longer needed to eat. He didn't go to the kitchen to ask for food for five or six days in a row. The chef felt very strange, so he suspected that he had stolen some food from the kitchen and reported it to Master Zhu. Master Zhu called the shepherd boy into the house to ask him, but he didn't say anything, which made Master Zhu even more suspicious that he had stolen some food. Thus, Master Zhu got so angry that he took out a big whip and was about to whip him. The boy got terrified, so he told Master Zhu all about it. Hearing this, Master Zhu knew that the shepherd boy had met an immortal, so he asked another boy to go together with the shepherd boy to herd the sheep the next day. He told the boys, If you meet immortal again, one of you sees his whip, and the other one immediately come back to report it to me. The next day, when the two boys were herding the sheep, the immortal indeed reappeared. At this time, the other boy rushed back to report it to Master Zhu. The dogs told the shepherd boy in a regretful tone, Why did you reveal the secret to others? The boy explained that he was afraid of being bitten by his master. The dogs stepped forward to lift the boy's chain with one hand and patted the top of his head with the other hand. The shepherd boy couldn't help opening his mouth, and instantly the black tail he had swallowed rolled out of his mouth, and the dogs reached out to catch it and then put it back into sleep. The shepherd boy tried his best to keep the dogs and asked him, What kind of tail is the black tail that you let me eat, and now you take it away? The dogs replied, Have you heard that there are divine fruits such as jiao li and fire date in Fairyland? This black tail is the fire date. At this time, the other boy had already rushed over with Master Zhu. They were still several hundred steps away, and what they saw shocked them. They saw the dog's feet gradually sinking into the soil. Upon seeing this, Master Zhu ran even faster, and the dogs continued to sink into the soil. Only the head was left, and in a moment even the head had disappeared. After Master Zhu had arrived, they checked the ground carefully, but there was not slightest difference on the ground, and there were no holes or signs of cracks. He looked around. At this moment, he suddenly saw the dogs had appeared on the other side of the river, bowing his hand to them, and then disappeared. He knew that the dogs left by means of a dog's spell called Earth's Escape. From then on, the shepherd boy ate normally again. According to the records in ancient books, the shepherd boy got a fire date and was not hungry anymore. Yet, because he was afraid of being beaten, he disobeyed the instructions of the dogs. As a result, he lost his chance to become immortal. This story tells us how important it is to follow one's master's words, because it's the only way to be saved. Thank you very much for listening to the story. More touching stories will be ready for you if you just subscribe it.