The Fortune Teller

In the great city of Taipei, there lived a man called Lin and his wife. They had no children. Because of this, they were very unhappy. One day, they found a baby boy outside their door. He was wrapped in a blanket and crying. They took the baby into their house and called him Sau Ling. They loved him very much.

 When Sau Ling was a young man, a fortune-teller came to the house. "You must send your son away," he said. "One day he will become a thief and cause you a lot of trouble."

Mr and Mrs Lin were very sad to hear this. They believed what the fortune-teller said. They gave Sau Ling some clothes and money and sent him away.

Several years later, Sau Ling was having a meal in an inn several miles from Taipei. He put his bag on the floor near his table. After finishing his meal, he picked up his bag. "That's strange!" he thought, "It feels so heavy." He looked inside. It was full of small gold bars. Then he realised that someone had taken his bag by mistake and left another bag, in its place.

 That evening, a young man came to the inn, "Has anyone seen my bag?" he asked. Sau Ling was very honest. He returned the bag to him. The young man thanked him. "You are really very honest," he said, "I shall ask my Read the following words taken from the text. Then find their synonyms. father to give you a job." The young man's father was a rich merchant. He gave Sau Ling a good job. "But go home first," he said, "and take a holiday." Sau Ling returned to Taipei. Mr and Mrs Lin were delighted to see him again. The fortune-teller was also present. Sau Ling told them what had happened. The fortune-teller did not know what to say. He left the house without saying a word. Mr and Mrs Lin never believed in fortune-teller after that. Sau Ling took them to live with him and they were very happy and contented until the end of their lives.

Taken from Favourite Stories from Taiwan, 2000