The Trial of the Stone

One day, Ah Niew was lucky. He had sold the three hundred cakes very fast. He was about to go home home when he saw an old woman crossing the street with a basket full of fruits. In her haste, she stumbles and her fruits rolled in the streets. Ah Niew put down his basket with the money in it and came to the woman’s rescue. He gathered the fruits, rubbed off the dust from them, and returned them in the basket.

Reflection:

We would earn more if we do things honestly than cheating or stealing. We would earn the trust, honesty, the comfort of not hiding something and more blessings.

Climax - This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?

Part of the Story:

Paw Kong, a judge, happened to pass by. he asked all the people but they all denied. He brought the stone to the court, making the people laugh. They have to pay 20 cents on a pot full of water to enter the court.

Characters:

Rising Action - This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed.

Falling action - The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not.

Part of the Story:

At last, a man with a big nose put his 20 cents in the pot. Paw Kong asked his servants to arrest the man and open his bag. Ah Niew claimed that it was his money. It was because Ah Niew puts all his money under the paper lining of his basket, so all his money is soaked in oil.

Ah Niew was able to sell all his cakes very fast. He saw a woman who stumbled in the street, so he left his basket and helped the woman. when he was done, his money was all gone. He cried aloud, attracting everyone on the streets.

• Ah Niew - the boy who sells cakes cooked in oil
• Paw Kong - the judge who helped Ah Niew

Resolution - The Part of the plot that concludes the falling action by revealing or suggesting the outcome of the conflict.

Introduction/Exposition - The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.

Part of the story:

Part of the Story:

Paw Kong returned all of Ah Niew's money, including all the money in the pot. He then ordered twenty cakes from Ah Niew's grandmother. Ah Niew went home happily.

Ah Niew was an orphan when his mother died when he was still 2 years old. He lives with his grandmother who cooks cakes in oil for him to sell in the streets.

Summary:

The boy Ah Niew was an orphan whose mother died when he was two years old. His grandmother brought him up by selling cakes cooked in oil. He carried the cakes in the basket lined with oily paper and peddled these in the streets.

When he turned to get his own basket, it was gone. He looked around and saw it beside a big stone. But the money was gone.

Ah Niew cried so loud that the people came to see what the matter was. “Oh! Oh! My money is gone…” Ah Niew wailed. “What will my grandmother say? She work so hard baking all those cakes in oil – and I sold them all. But the money is gone.”

Then Paw Kong told his servants, “Give Ah Niew his money, plus all the money in the pot.” Turning to Ah Niew, he said, “Your grandmother makes very delicious cakes. You may ask her to make twenty of them, and you bring them to me.”

“Thank you, thank you, Sir,” replied the grateful Ah Niew as he went home to his grandmother.

The mandarin’s servants seized the man, opened his bag, and true enough! They found two hundred eighty cents.

“That is my money,” shouted Ah Niew.

“How did you know that is the boy’s money?” asked the people.

“Look!” said Paw Kong. “Look at the water. Ah Niew put his money under the paper lining of the basket. I saw the paper. So his money has oil in it. There is oil on the water, which appeared only when the man put his twenty cents in the pot.”

-END-

Paw Kong, a Mandarin who was a kindhearted judge, happened to be passing by. Ah Niew ran to him for help. Paw Kong scrutinized the faces of the onlookers.All the people around whom he had asked denied that they had taken the money.Paw Kong said, “I have asked all of you and none would admit theft. The only remaining object nearby is this stone, so it must be the thief. Servants, take that stone to the court. I shall try it for taking the boy’s money.”

The people laughed but they were curious to see the trial of the stone, so they went with Paw Kong to the court.“Each person must put twenty cents in the pot of water before he enters the court,” he told the people.

Paw Kong stood by the pot of water, looking intently at the water as each man dropped in twenty cents. The pot was nearly full of money.

At last, the man with a big nose put in twenty cents.

“That is the man who took the money,” said Paw Kong. “Servants, take him! Look in his bag and you will find the money.”

The Trial of the Stone

A Chinese Folktale