Page 71 - Viva Real English 3 : Ebook

10 Po-wan and the Four

Questions

In China, many years ago, there was a boy named Po-wan. ‘Po-wan’ meant
‘a million pieces of gold’. When he was born, it was foretold that one day he

would be rich and have a million pieces of gold.

Po-wan was very generous. He gave away all his money to the poor. Soon
he had neither food nor good clothes for himself. One day he asked himself,
‘Why am I so poor when my name means a million pieces of gold?’ He decided

to go and seek the answer from the wise goddess Kuan-yin.

Po-wan travelled for
many days until he came

to a wide and fast-flowing
river. As he stood on the
riverbank deciding how
to cross, a deep voice

called him from the
hilltop, ‘Po-wan, are you
going to see Kuan-yin?’

‘Yes,’ replied Po-wan
when he saw a large
snake appear over the
hill.

‘Would you ask Kuan-yin
a question for me?’ asked
the snake.

Po-wan knew he could ask only three questions to Kuan-yin, and he had one
of his own to ask. So he agreed to the snake’s request.

foretold : told beforehand; generous : giving a lot

predicted seek : search for and find
million : a thousand thousands wise : having knowledge

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