The Waterfall of Wine

A poor young woodcutter lived on the edge of a forest and looked after his old parents. His mother was a good-natured and hard-working woman but his father was a grumpy and selfish man. He was always telling his son to bring him a little wine, because rice and curry was not enough.
One day, while woodcutter was chopping wood in the forest, he saw that his flask of water was empty. So, he went looking for some water to fill it. He came upon a stream that fell from a mountain-top in a sparkling waterfall. He filled up his flask with water and took a sip of water.
He looked astonished, for it was not water. It was wine. He filled up his flask again and took it home for his father. The old man was very happy but he wanted more. So, the next day, his son took a bigger flask and got him more wine.

That evening, a neighbour came over to meet the old man and the old man happily offered him some wine. It was delicious, and soon word spread in the village that the old man’s son had found a source of wine in the forest. At first, the number of visitors at home grew larger, but soon the neighbours wanted to get the wine themselves.
One fine morning, when the young woodcutter set off to chop wood in the forest, he saw a long line of people going into the forest. They were carrying jars, flasks, pots, pans, pitchers and buckets. They were going to the waterfall for more wine.
He hid himself near the waterfall to see what was going on. He saw them filling up their containers with the sparkling water. Then one of the men tasted the water.
“Ugh! This is not wine. It is only water!” he shouted. And when the others tasted it, they too said it was only water. Grumbling because they thought the woodcutter had lied, they all walked back to the village. But whenever the young man filled up his flask with the water, he had always sweet wine.

The Emperor heard the story of the woodcutter’s waterfall and said, “He is unselfish and cares for his parents.” And he rewarded the young man, for this was a lesson to everyone to do something good for others, not just for oneself. Nature itself had rewarded the young man by giving him sweet wine.

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