Old Mole Qili’er
I know an old mole whose name keeps changing. His name is Qili’er.
Old Mole’s appetite isn’t very big. Every morning, noon, and evening, he only eats seven grains of millet per meal, so his name is Qili’er (which means “seven grains”).
Moreover, the old mole’s household food storage is not abundant. Eating seven grains of millet per meal, his days are lived quite frugally.
One day, Old Mole Qili’er was calculating how much stored food he had left and whether it would last until next spring. He calculated over and over and found he was still one month short. This worried Qili’er a bit. If he didn’t replenish his food supply before winter, he would starve during the last month of winter.
It was too late to plant more millet; that was a spring task. He needed to go out and collect dry fruits that hadn’t been picked yet under the trees and dig up some plant roots buried underground.
To be honest, these dry fruits and plant roots weren’t as fragrant and crunchy as millet, not as tasty to chew. But to avoid hunger, he had to use these sour, bitter, and astringent dry fruits and roots as supplemental food.
2
That day, Qili’er went out to look for food again.
As he passed by a small house by the roadside, he saw a little boy mole crying sadly.
Qili’er asked the little mole what was wrong.
The little mole pointed to the small, broken-down house and said that last night two ferocious weasels broke into their home, robbed their belongings, and ate his parents. Fortunately, the little mole was small, and his father hid him in a small closet, so he wasn’t discovered.
Qili’er looked at the poor little mole and decided to adopt him. Otherwise, the little mole might suffer even greater misfortune.
Seeing the kind and gentle old mole in front of him, the little mole stopped crying. He wiped away his tears and said, “Can I call you Grandpa?”
“Of course, you can also call me by my name, Qili’er.”
“No, I’ll call you Grandpa. Thank you for taking me in!” The old mole took the little mole home with him. At Qili’er’s house, the little mole could eat four grains of wheat each meal, while Qili’er only ate three grains. Qili’er thought that the little mole was still growing and needed to eat more. It didn’t matter if he ate less. If he was really hungry, he would eat some dried fruits and roots.
From then on, the little mole was called Sili’er, and the old mole Qili’er changed his name to Sanli’er.
3
One day, the old mole Sanli’er was returning from searching for food when he saw the little mole Sili’er sitting alone at the table, counting something. The old mole went up to take a look and saw a small cloth bag on the table, and Sili’er was counting a small pile of golden grains:
“One grain, two grains, three grains, four grains…”
Ah, the little mole had hidden so many grains.
The old mole was very angry and said to Sili’er, “I save my food to feed you, but you hide so many grains for yourself. You have no conscience…”
Hearing this, the little mole Sili’er ran outside and cried sadly. He cried the whole morning.
The old mole Sanli’er thought, a heartless child wouldn’t cry so sadly. Could he have been wronged?
The old mole went to ask the little mole. The little mole said, “I’m not a heartless mole. These are the seeds my father hid. My father said these are very good seeds. If we plant them next spring, we’ll harvest many plump grains. No matter how hungry we are, we can’t eat even one.”
“You didn’t eat a single one?”
“No. When the weasels broke into our house, I hid in the closet, holding this bag of seeds. I was so hungry and dizzy, but I didn’t eat even one. Later, I met you, and I wanted to surprise you next spring. As long as we plant these seeds, my mole grandpa will have endless grains to eat…”
The old mole stepped forward and hugged the little mole Sili’er tightly, saying, “Sanli’er, this old fool, really was unreasonable and wronged little mole Sili’er!”
“No, Grandpa. You’re the best grandpa who cares for me!”
4
The next spring, the old mole Sanli’er and the little mole Sili’er planted those seeds together. With their hard work, they harvested a great crop.
The old mole Sanli’er had never harvested so many grains before.
Looking at the barn full of golden grains, the little mole Sili’er said, “We have endless grains to eat!”
“No,” the old mole Sanli’er kindly said to the little mole Sili’er, “There’s no such thing as endless grains to eat, only endless grains to harvest. Besides, these seeds are too good. We should give some to our friends so that everyone can grow good crops.”
“That’s great,” the little mole Sili’er said, “We should eat sparingly and send more plump seeds to our friends…”
5
From that day on, the
old mole could eat six grains of wheat at each meal. He said that was enough because he was getting older and his appetite wasn’t as big as before. As for the little mole, the old mole believed he had grown into a big mole and needed to eat more, so he ate nine grains at each meal.
From then on, the old mole Sixli’er and the little mole Ninel’er would often carry golden grains and visit their friends…
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
