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long time ago a family lived in the mountains. Living in the house were a husband, a wife, and two children. During the seasons when he wasn't working in the fields, the husband went away to do business in order to supported the family. The two children were of the same father but had different mothers. The second wife was very fond of the son to whom she had given birth. "Ah! I really want to get rid of the older son and allow my own flesh and blood to inherit the land. " "It's best to make him die of sickness. I must think of a good way to do it. "Listen to what your mother has to say. Be good and wait for your father to come back. " "Your father has gone far away on business, and he'll be away from home for a while. The household is busy now. So, I'll make a boxed lunch for you, and you go to look after the fields. " So, the eldest son had to go look after the fields, no matter if the wind blew or the rain fell, for fear that the crops would be ruined by wild beasts. Every day the second wife put some rice only partially cooked in the eldest son's lunch box. Every day the eldest son ate this kind of lunch. Exactly as one would expect, his stomach started feeling uncomfortable. Day after day he got thinner and thinner. "Mother, the rice in my lunch box is too hard. When I eat it, my stomach aches. " "You evil, useless child! How dare you criticize my cooking!" The eldest son didn't dare to rebel against his cruel stepmother. He could only hide in the mountains and weep. On top of the mountains, every place was covered with wild hawthome. The eldest son then plucked haws (hawthome fruits) to fill up his stomach. His stomach forgot to be hungry, and his mouth wasn't thirsty! Every day when he went to look after the fields, he ate some haws. His bulging stomach became much more comfortable. No matter what he ate, he could digest it. "How could this be ? He ought to be getting thinner and thinner. Eventually he ought to die off. I never thought that he'd be getting fatter. Does that child have the help of some god?" From that time on the second wife didn't dare to mistreat the first wife's child. After a number of days, the husband returned. The eldest told him all the details of everything that had passed when the father was away. The father heard that his son had eaten haws and afterwards his stomach did not hurt. Therefore, he made medicine balls from the haws, and he sold them all over. Ever since, people have known that haws can promote the digestive processes and are useful for soothing the stomach. |
