[The story is taken from the Folk Tales from China (1957). It is a Zhuang folktale and is translated to English by Yu Fan-chin]

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Once upon a time, there was a very poor old man who kept his family by fashioning bamboo into all sorts of useful articles. This old man had three sons. On his deathbed he told them: “Everyone should learn a trade. I’ve lived my life to bring you up. Now you’ll have to earn your own living.” After the old man had said this, he breathed his last. With the little money he left them, the three sons bought a colfin and gave him the usual day’s funeral service. After the funeral they had only three coins left. So each of the three sons got one.

The eldest son was an idler. He did nothing but fool around all day. His coin was spent soon after the old man’s death, and he died of hunger in the end because he was too lazy to do any work. The second son was industrious. He learned to grow vegetables, bought seeds with the coin send. became a good market gardener. Even so, he could barely make ends meet despite his industry. The third son was still very young but he was thinking all the time what he could do to earn a living.

One day he saw some fishermen by the riverside. He watched them with great interest till he had learned their trade. Then he took the coin his father had left him, bought two fish-hooks and went to fish in the river every day. He caught a great many fish which he sold. In this way, he earned enough to feed himself and to have some money left to buy the things he needed. Soon he was quite a good fisherman.

But one day, he caught not even one fish although he had been sitting by the riverside for a long time. He was worrying over his bad luck, especially when he looked into the water and saw a huge fish, its eyes bulging, swishing its tail, swallowing in big gulps all the fish that he might have hooked. The third son got so angry that he grabbed his harpoon and threw it at the fish. With a splash, the speared fish turned over and sank to the bottom, the air slowly coming up in bubbles. Then the third son pulled the fish up on the bank by the rope fastened to the harpoon.

That day, he caught nothing but the one huge fish. So he decided to cook it for himself. When he cut its stomach open, he saw many small fish in it, a very beautiful golden carp among them. It was still alive, since its gills were opening and closing. The third son took pity on the beautiful creature and put it in a little copper basin that he filled with clear water. Soon the golden carp began moving around swishing its tail. As he looked at it admiringly, the third son liked it more and more. So he kept it and fed it with earthworms, duckweed and algae.

The golden carp grew more beautiful every day. The third son was so fond of it that he took it wherever he went, whether it was fishing, to market or to watch a play. But one day, when he went to sell his fish, the third son did not take his carp along. When he came back, it had disappeared! He stood and stared at the empty copper basin, his tears dropping into it. From that day on, he felt unhappy and very lonely.

One day, he was fishing under a banian tree by the river. The cool, breeze was caressing him and the river flowed so slowly that he dozed off. But suddenly he woke up. He rubbed his eyes as he saw a young man of his own age bending over him, patting him on the shoulder and calling to him affectionately: “Don’t you know me, sworn brother?” The third son thought this was very strange since he had not sworn to be brothers with anybody. Who could it be calling him that? “So you don’t know me, eh?” the stranger said again. “I’m your close friend, and you’re my benefactor.” The third son was more puzzled than ever and did not know how to answer. At last the stranger said: “I was the golden carp whom you saved and took such good care of.”

Then the third son began to understand. "The golden carp", he was told, "was the son of the Dragon King, the ruler of the water creatures." The other day, he had taken the shape of a golden carp while out to enjoy himself and the huge fish had swallowed him. It was only thanks to the third son that he was saved.

“You preserved my life, you kept me and fed me. Neither my father nor I shall ever forget your kindness. I’ve now come to invite you for a visit,” the Dragon King’s son continued.

“I’m glad to go with you,” the third son replied “But how can I proceed under water?”

“Close your eyes and hold on to me by my clothes!” the soft of the Dragon King advised him.

The third son followed these instructions and saw a wide road stretching before him. Soon they came to the dragon palace with its pillars of red crystal, walls of yellow crystal and tiles of green crystal. How beautiful the different colours of crystal made this palace!

The Dragon King received the third son with much cordiality and gave him the best room and the best food. The son took him for walks in the garden where he saw many strange flowers and fruit. There were lichee nuts without stones, sweet as honey, "dragon’s eyes” the size of a teacup, and juicy peaches. There were evergreen plantains and many other beautiful things in the garden such as he had never seen on earth.

The third son had been living for more than a month in the Dragon King’s palace when, one day, he said to the son: “I’m only too grateful for your kindness and hospitality, sworn brother! But since there’s no one else to look after my place, I'd better go back.”

“If you really have to,” the Dragon King’s son agreed. “But you must come and visit us often. And one more thing: when my father wants to give you a present, ask for a white chicken.”

The following morning, the third son went to take his leave from the Dragon King. Very kindly the king pointed to several rooms filled with gold and silver and said: “Take whatever you like of the precious things here!” The third son looked over the glittering gold bars, the silver, pearls and jewels, but then he remembered what the son had told him, and so he said instead: “I’m alone at home with enough to eat and wear, Dragon King, but sometimes I feel lonely. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have a white chicken to keep me company.” The Dragon King pondered this for a while, fingering his white beard, but finally he let the third son have the fowl.

The third son thereafter kept the white chicken in a cage. Back at home, he still went every day to fish and sell his catch. But every day there were dishes and rice on the table steaming when he returned!

At first, he thought that perhaps the neighbours had cooked food for him. But when he went to thank them, they were surprised— not one of them had done any cooking! The third son became so curious that he stayed at home one day to find out. However, not a soul came to cook for him. The next day, he went out to fish as usual. And when he came back, again there was a meal ready on the table. He wondered and wondered who it could be that prepared the food, so he could go and express his thanks. The next day, he only pretended to go fishing and turned back half-way. Peeping in through a crack in the door, he saw a girl in a white blouse and a coloured skirt standing before the stove cooking! He couldn’t hold back any longer and called out: “How can I thank you, fair maiden?” But when the girl heard him, she clapped her hands, and suddenly turned into the white chicken, hiding in the cage.

The third son could do nothing but wait for another day. Again he pretended to go fishing, then turned back half-way and peeped in. Soon he saw the white chicken turning into a beautiful girl. Quickly he pushed the door open. Unable to get back to the cage, the girl stood shyly before him.

“You’re so kind-hearted, fair maiden, you cook for me every day. . . . Who are you and where do you come from?”

“You needn’t thank me,” was the maiden’s reply. “It really is nothing what I’m doing for you. I’m the Dragon King’s daughter, I’ve come to pay our thanks to you for having saved my brother.”

After that, they became man and wife and people came from far and near to congratulate them and to hear of the wonder of the third son marrying the Dragon King’s daughter.

One day a flunkey of the county magistrate came by and reported immediately to his superior that he had seen a beautiful girl who came from the Dragon King’s palace. From then on, the young couple was in for a lot of trouble. Within a few days, the magistrate summoned the third son to appear before him.

“In all villages, big and small, under my control everything is done according to my orders,” the bully said to the third son. “Now my orders are that you send your wife to me within three days, or else your head will be cut off!”

“You can have everything but my wife,” the young husband replied steadfastly. The magistrate wrinkled up his face in a wicked smile: “I can have everything, did you say? All right, then. Since you are a fisherman, bring me within three days one hundred and twenty carps of the same size and same red colour’, each weighing exactly twelve ounces.”

The third son was very worried when he came home and told his wife what the magistrate wanted. But she comforted him: “Don’t you worry. I’ll cope!” Then and there she cut one hundred and twenty carps of the same size out of a sheet of red paper, put them into a jar, poured cold water into it, and lo! the one hundred and twenty paper fish immediately turned into lively carps, all of the same red colour and the same size. Swimming around in the jar, they looked so lovely that the third son couldn’t help looking at them with his mouth wide open with astonished pleasure. Then he had to take them to the magistrate.

Unable to get the better of the third son in their first encounter, the official bully now wanted something else: “I was told that your wife can weave very well,” he said very haughtily. “Ask her to weave a bolt of blue cloth as long as the road, but she must have it done within three days.” “Why do you demand one thing after another?” the third son asked. “Didn’t you say I could have everything I wanted?” Knowing that it was no use to reason with him, the third son went home angry. Again his wife comforted him: “Don’t you worry. I know what to do!” Thereupon she turned into a white fish and swam to the crystal palace to bring back with her a magic gourd which could grant them every wish.

When he held the gourd in his hands, the third son felt very happy. The third day, they sent a bolt of blue cloth to the magistrate as he had desired.

“How long is this piece of cloth?” the latter demanded to know. “As long as the road,” the third son answered. "How do you know it’s as long as the road?” bawled the magistrate. “You can measure it, if you like.” So the magistrate ordered the cloth to be measured at once. They were at it a day and a night, yet the measuring was still going on. So, with ill grace, the magistrate said: “All right, we’ll reckon you gave me right measure. But tomorrow you must bring me a flock of red sheep!”

When he had received the red sheep, he asked for water buffaloes and the third son had to get them for him. This went on, the magistrate demanding things and the third son fulfilling his demands. The magistrate became annoyed with the third son: “How is it that a poor person like you can give me everything I ask for? You must possess something magic. Hand it over to me!”

How greedy this magistrate was, demanding one thing after another! If I give him the magic gourd, what can I do if he still demands other things from me, thought the third son. So he said aloud: “I gave you everything you asked for. Where would I get a magic thing?”

The magistrate pounded the table in his fury. “You take my orders! Just one more word from you, and I’ll have you locked up!”

The third son was ready to burst with anger. As soon as he was outside the yamen, he could contain himself no longer and cursed loudly: “Monster! Monster!”

The flunkey who overheard him ran in to report to the magistrate, so the third son was pursued and seized and thrown into a dark dungeon. The next day he was taken before the magistrate again. The official shouted at him at once: “You called me monster. Do you know what monsters look like? Bring me one hundred and twenty monsters in three days or I shall have your head!” There was nothing else to be done but promise. The third son went home and asked the advice of his wife. “What does he want the monsters for?” the wife wondered. “All right, he shall have them, but not the magic gourd.” She asked the gourd for one hundred and twenty big cages and for twelve hundred catties of charcoal. Then she put ten catties of charcoal in each of the one hundred and twenty cages, pasted coloured paper over the cage, and poured oil into it. As soon as the oil was poured into the cages, they became alive as monsters of different forms that called without cease: “Monster! Monster!”

The third son then took these monsters to the magistrate’s yamen. Of course, they attracted great attention on the way. By the time he reached the yamen, there were more people still watching. The magistrate ordered his flunkeys to drive the people away and put the monsters in an enclosure. “They really are monsters!” he said. “But what do they eat?” The third son replied: “Nothing but oil. And all you have to do is feed them up just once. They’ll never need to feed on it again, and yet they won’t die. You only need to keep them locked up.”

The magistrate had nothing more to say after that and let the third son go home.

Actually, the magistrate was quite pleased with the monsters and intended to present them to the emperor for their queerness. At night, he had the monsters fed with a great deal of oil and properly cared for.

The monsters had big stomachs indeed! In one meal, they devoured twelve hundred catties of oil till their stomachs were bulging. And all through the night they kept shrieking and screaming. Thinking that something might have happened to them, the magistrate at last lit a lantern and went out to have a look. As soon as he came near the monsters with his lantern, all of them caught fire, and ran around like mad. The whole yamen was on fire in an instant and burned down, and the magistrate, the other officials and all the flunkeys perished with it.