The Fox’s Clay Pot
It had been raining on and off all day, and the little fox was starting to worry if anyone would show up for its birthday party. With the weather so bad, surely no one would come. Just as it was feeling sad, the postman arrived with a package. It turned out to be a birthday gift from its cousin! The little fox was thrilled and quickly ran inside to open it. But when it unwrapped the gift, the little fox was stunned…
Inside the box wasn’t the toy car it had imagined, nor a doll, and definitely not the bike it had been hoping for. Instead, there was an old-looking clay pot. The pot seemed like it had been through a lot of time: its surface was covered in speckled marks, the rim was dusty, and the bottom was dirty. The little fox couldn’t understand why its cousin would go to all the trouble of sending it a broken old pot. The rainy day, the bad mood, and now this strange clay pot all made the little fox’s long-anticipated birthday feel incredibly dull. It was so disappointed that it silently sat on a chair, lost in thought.
Just then, there was a knock on the door—it was the little monkey. “Happy birthday!” the little monkey said, handing the little fox a bouquet of flowers and two big, fresh peaches. The flowers and peaches were wet from the rain, and the sparkling water droplets made them look so vibrant and irresistible. The little fox’s downcast mood began to lift again. After all, a birthday feels special when someone comes to celebrate it!
Suddenly, the little monkey noticed the clay pot on the table and squealed, “Wow! A clay pot!…” Before it could finish speaking, the little fox hurriedly grabbed the pot and tried to hide it. If the little monkey found out this was its birthday gift, it would be so embarrassing! “Th-this is just an old pot for holding trash! I was just about to throw it out, hehe…” The little fox just wanted to hide the black, dirty thing in a corner.
“What are you talking about? You’re using such a valuable item for trash? Do you know what this is? This is a top-tier treasure!” The little monkey’s eyes widened as it spoke urgently to the little fox.
Now it was the little fox’s turn to be confused. It squinted its eyes and said, “Come on, Monkey, don’t joke around. A treasure should be shiny or have something special about it, right? How can this old pot be a treasure? What, was it used to serve meals to a princess or something?”
The little monkey took the pot from the little fox’s hands and said, “Well…you’re actually right! This really was used by royalty! It’s a valuable antique!” Seeing the little fox’s blank look, the little monkey continued, “Look, these speckled marks show that there used to be writing on it—maybe it recorded some kind of historical story! And the black rim here, that shows it was used many times, which means this treasure was very popular in its day. And here—at the bottom, that’s not dirt. That’s mineral deposits from being buried underground for a long time!”
The little fox, listening to the little monkey explain everything in such detail, started to get interested. “But, Monkey, how do you know all this?”
“I saw it on TV, and read about it in books. Plus, to tell you the truth, my family has a long history of being antique experts. I just keep a low profile, so I don’t brag about it all the time.” As the little monkey said this, it gestured with its hands just like an expert—it had seen experts make these gestures on TV.
Hearing that the little monkey’s family had connections to antique experts made the little fox even happier. It thought, “I’m going to get rich from this treasure!” The little fox was so distracted by thoughts of its valuable pot that it could hardly focus on the birthday meal. After the little monkey had eaten its fill and was ready to leave, it told the little fox, “Be sure to take good care of that pot. Don’t use it for trash anymore—get it properly packed up…” The little fox eagerly agreed.
Now that it was alone in the house again, the little fox hugged the clay pot and smiled for a long time. “My cousin is so thoughtful, giving me such a big surprise! I need to think carefully about where to keep this safe.” The little fox placed the pot on top of the wardrobe. But no, that wouldn’t do—the wardrobe was just ordinary wood, it didn’t match the elegance of such a valuable treasure. Only fine furniture would be worthy of such a high-class pot. Thinking this, the little fox couldn’t wait, despite the heavy rain, and rushed to Woodpecker’s furniture shop. It used all the money it had saved for winter to buy the most expensive cabinet, one with golden inlaid patterns—its understated elegance was the perfect match for the treasure of the clay pot.
When the little fox returned home, muddy and soaked, it saw the postman coming again. “It must be another gift…” thought the little fox. As it approached, it noticed a big box at the postman’s feet, and written on it in bold letters were the words “Bicycle”! The little fox was overjoyed. The postman handed it a letter, and the little fox quickly opened it. The letter read:
“Dear cousin, Happy Birthday!
So sorry about the mix-up. I originally meant to send you the bicycle you’ve always wanted, but I accidentally packed our family’s trash pot instead. I’m sending the bike now. Could you please throw away that old pot for me? Thanks! –Your cousin.”
The little fox’s head spun as it read the letter. “My money… the money I saved for winter… I spent it all on that cabinet just to match this clay pot…”
The rain seemed to pour even harder. Raindrops splashed on the little fox’s head, running down its neck, and it felt a bit cold…
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
