How A San Got a Treat for the New Year

In A San's family, there were only two people: himself and his wife. From morning till night, the couple worked in the fields, yet they lived in great poverty. Today, they would worry about how to survive tomorrow; and the next day, they would despair over having nothing to eat the day after. And so their life passed without a single joyful day. Once, before the New Year, A San went to visit a wealthy neighbor and saw that his family was preparing for the holiday: they were baking sweet cakes, making soy cheese, and roasting meat. A San felt sad. He remembered that at home, he didn’t even have a handful of beans. Sorrowful, he returned to his wife and said:

"Our neighbors are preparing a lavish feast for the New Year, but we don’t even have the means to make soy cheese. And what about the offerings to our ancestors?"

"Yes! If we don’t offer food to our ancestors, they will suffer in the afterlife. We must think of something," replied his wife. They began to think, and suddenly the wife said:

"I know what to do. Can you pretend to be dead? If you can, we’ll have a feast for the holiday too."

"I don’t understand," A San said, surprised. "Why should I pretend to be dead?"

"Alright," his wife replied, "you’ll understand later. For now, listen to what you need to do. Tomorrow, at dawn, lie down by the doorstep and pretend you’re dead. I’ll call the monk, and he’ll surely come. Then you’ll see how cleverly I’ll trick him." A San didn’t understand anything, but he decided to obey his wife.

As it turned out, the monk had long been fond of A San’s wife and was eagerly waiting for A San to die.

The next day, A San did everything as his wife had instructed: he lay by the door, covered himself with a blanket, and placed a bamboo stick beside him—just like a real corpse. Soon, the monk arrived. He brought with him a lot of pork, soy cheese, wine, and under his arm, he carried a sacred book. He planned to recite prayers over A San, who was supposedly departing to the afterlife, and then hold a funeral feast. A San’s wife wept and wailed mournfully:

"Oh, my poor husband, who have you left me with? Will you never return? Oh, I am so wretched! Who will pity me, who will comfort me?!" Hearing her words, the monk thought there was more to it than met the eye. He opened the book and began to chant:

"Amitabha, Amitabha, who will pity her? I will pity her! Amitabha, Amitabha, who will comfort her? I will comfort her!"

And from behind the book, he winked at A San’s wife. She continued:

"Oh, my dear husband, come back and beat this foolish, impious monk!" When A San heard this, he threw off the blanket, grabbed the stick, and started beating the monk! The monk barely managed to escape.

And all the feast preparations were left to A San and his wife, and they joyfully celebrated the New Year.

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How A San Got a Treat for the New Year

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