THE MAGIC BOX

Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer who dug up a big box in his field. He took it home with him and showed it to his wife. His wife cleaned it and kept it in their home. One day she dropped an apple into it. Immediately the box began to fill up with apples. No matter how many were taken out, others took their place. So the farmer and his wife sold the apples and were able to live quite comfortably.
Then the farmer dropped a coin into the box. At once the apples disappeared and the box begin to fill itself with coins. Everyday, the farmer and his wife collected hundreds and hundreds of dollars from the box. Soon they became very rich.
Now the farmer’s grandfather lived with the couple. He was not very strong and he could not go out to work, so the farmer asked the old man to help him take the money out of the box. When his grandfather became tired and wanted to rest, the farmer shouted at him, “Why are you so lazy? Why can’t you work harder?”
The old man did not say anything but he continued working until he fell inside the box and die. At once, the money disappeared, and the box began to fill up with dead grandfathers.
The farmer had to pull them out and bury them. To do this he had to spend all the money he had collected. When he had used up all the money, the box broke and the farmer was just as poor as he was before.

(Favourite stories from Taiwan, Leon Comber & Charles Shuttleworth)