[The story is taken from Goenggeq gangj gojgaeq Bwz Licuh, At Grand-father’s Knee - Zhuang Folk Tales from Wuming - 主編白丽珠 ; 副主編李作应. The storyteller is Ma Swliu from Xiuolu Villuge, Matou Township, Wuming County. Guangxi]

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Geese eat neither fish nor shrimp, nor do they eat tadpoles or any other animal that lives in the water. Why should that be? Here is the story behind it.

Long ago there were two friends, and one of them was very poor. One day the poor man was visited by his friend. The poor man had no money to buy bean curds and had no meat to prepare a dish for his friend. Usndly he would just buy a bit of the dregs from the bean curd makers to use as fat to stir-fry his vegetables. But now that his friend had come to visit. what was he to do? His son said, "Father, dont we still have some bean curd dregs left?" The man brought them out and smelled them, and found that they had already spoiled.

When his friend saw this, his heart was filled with pity. The poor man owned a pair of mated geese. Since he had nothing else to serve his friend, he set about slaughtering one.

He sharpened his knife, but as he held the goose down by the neck his friend shouted, "Oh! Don't kill him, don't kill him!

You are in such dire straits, and you are depending on these geese to support your family. How could you think of killing them?"

"But if I don't kill them, what can I give you to eat?"

"I can cat whatever there is. If there are some vegetables, I'll just eat those. Even if you just have bean curd dregs to use as oil and even if they have soured, that's good enough for me. I've come here because we like each other, and if I can come and visit and talk with you, that's all I want. I didn't come just to get something to cat!" After saying this he wrested the knife out of his friend's hand, and let the goose go free.

But the poor man still felt embarrassed about hosting his friend. He then remembered that he had a pond, so he took a fishing basket and went to catch some fish. Then he enjoyed a happy meal together with his friend.

If he hadn't had that fish pond, he would have had to kill the goose, no matter what his friend said. The goose knew that the fish had saved its life, so now geese will not eat any of the animals that live in the water, whether they be fish or shrimp, or even tadpoles. Geese throughout the world are all like that. Even if the fish is cooked, geese will not eat it.