Fungiling Lesser Yaoguais
Description
In the highland bounds, there lived a widow and her girl, left to fend against the harsh days alone. The mother sold pancakes in the nearby village; the girl gathered firewood, ground grain, and cooked meals, shouldering her share of the family’s responsibility.
Ceaseless rains had worn down the woodshed, long neglected without a man’s hand. The beams rotted, and the roof caved in. One day, the girl found atop the ruins a gleaming mushroom, vibrant and capped like a bowl, dew dancing on its surface, a spark of life too precious to pluck. She sheltered it with straw, letting it thrive in peace.
Laden with tasks, the girl had no time to play with other children. All her secrets and dreams, she whispered to the mushroom, as if it were a dear friend.
The toils of life led the widow into illness, urgently needing money for medicine. After discussing it, the widow and her daughter decided to sell their house. A wealthy neighbor, who had once been close to the widow’s late husband, expressed interest in buying the house. However, this neighbor was very stingy and tried to exploit the widow’s illness to lower the price. They spread various rumors to scare away other potential buyers, bullying the helpless widow and her daughter.
Worried and anxious, the girl often hid in the woodshed to cry. The mushrooms witnessed all her grievances.
The next day, something strange happened at the neighbors’ house. Overnight, mushrooms had sprouted all over their property. When the neighbors ordered their servants to clear them away, they discovered a large, eerie mushroom about a foot tall, neither green nor yellow, growing on the main beam.
When they tried to cut down the mushroom with long-handled sickles, it suddenly rose into the air, opened its cap like a fishing net, and floated above them. It shook itself and then fell onto the man of the house, crushing him to death. The air was filled with countless spores the creature released, knocking everyone to the ground.
Afterward, the mushrooms crawled out of the ground, transforming into many guais. They helped the widow and her daughter pack their belongings and leave the village, disappearing into the mountains.
Poetry
As mountain rains kiss the ground,
Youthful green is all around.
In her virtue’s quiet display,
Even guais in the woods repay.
Sign up
No Comments