![]() ![]() Time passed, and again the washerman could not resist, and soon he was appearing at the mullah's door each Thursday afternoon, begging for news of his son. ![]() "His ears are growing shorter, and his tail as well, but I still have much work to do." "He is learning slowly," said the teacher. "But tell me, please," the washerman pleaded, "how is my boy doing in your school?" His eyes gleamed with hope, for he had begun to dream of a talented and wise young man, his only son. "Go home and come again on the date I told you," he scolded. "Go see what has happened so far," the washerman's wife said, and so the washerman once again knocked upon the mullah's door. But one month later, the couple became impatient. The washerman agreed, and he raced home to tell his wife the good news. "That is when your donkey shall be a young man." ![]() Then he instructed the washerman to return to fetch his son on the third Thursday of the seventh month. Now the mullah was a greedy man, and a hundred rupees was better than nothing, and so he took the money. "I will pay you all I have," said the washerman, and he pulled from his bag his life savings, a hundred rupees. It would cost you a great deal of money." "I would be glad to help you, my good man," he said, "but teaching donkeys is hard work. I would very much like you to turn him into a young man in both form and nature." "Sir," he said to the teacher, "I wish to enroll my donkey in your school. He could not resist the mullah's promise, and so he knocked upon the door. If only he could send his donkey to school. Now the washerman looked into his donkey's eyes, and he began to imagine how wonderful it might be to have a true son instead of this creature. "By the time I'm finished with all of you, you shall be men." "I'll teach you donkeys," the mullah thundered. As he passed by a school, he happened to overhear the mullah, the teacher, speaking angrily to his students. And so the term 'Bian's Jade' came into being.Once upon a time, a poor man who made his living washing clothes was leading his donkey through the village. In memory of the faithful man Bian Heh, the Emperor named the jade by Bian Heh. Then it was carefully cut and polished fine and at last, the jade became a rare treasure of the state of Chu. To their astonishment, in the rough coat, the pure content was sparkling and translucent. Why was a real jade mistaken as a plain stone again and again? Why was a loyal man thought faithless time and time?" Emperor Chuwen was touched by Bian Heh's deep grief and ordered the jaders to open the jade to have a close look. Bian Heh sobbed out "Call a spade a spade. He ordered his men to find out why he was so sad. And it happened to be heard by the emperor in the court. He could not stop crying for several days and nights he almost wept his heart out and even blood was dropping from his eyes. However, the moment he thought of what he had incurred, he couldn't help crying beside a hill. "After the death of Emperor Chuwu, the prince Chuwen was enthroned, that gave the poor Bian Heh a gleam of light of proving his clear conscience.
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