[reedak]

Subtitle: Combat on the Brink of Crater ( 火山口边缘之战 )

One evening, the Priest found scores of people queueing for tickets outside a shop in a small town. Asking a person in the queue, he learned that they were buying tickets to watch an unarmed combat between two best martial artists in the country. The match was scheduled for next day evening on a nearby mountain. He found a long queue in another shop next door waiting to bet on the match. After joining the queue to get a ticket for the match, the Priest stayed for the night in an inn.

Early in the morning, the Priest set off for the mountain which was an active volcano about 4,000 metres high. It took him about ten hours to reach the peak where he found thousands of people seated on rocks awaiting to watch the combat. The rocks, each painted with a seat number, were placed in a semicircle about sixty metres away from the volcanic crater. Many spectators were so excited about the combat that they camped overnight in a nearby open space beside a stream.

After walking through the crowd the Priest managed to find his seat -- a rock which he paid a few dollars more to be seated in the front row. After a short while, the two martial artists arrived. Both of them were tall muscular men in their thirties. One guy looked blankly inscrutable with an expression as deadpan as a statue. He seldom spoke and was almost as silent as a stone. The other guy, with his back facing the spectators, was a controversial and colourful character. He spoke in an incoherent style, full of digressions and rambles, with fractured and unfinished sentences.

Instead of shaking hands before the fight, the babbler stretched out his hand and gave his opponent a hefty shove in the chest. Apparently caught off guard, the other guy took a few steps back. Amazed by the ease of pushing his opponent, the babbler continued pushing his opponent towards the crater. His fans whistled and applauded loudly as they saw their idol gaining the upper hand. He shouted at his fans, "Cheer louder! We've got ourselves from a position of strength." Expressing delight with their idol's impending victory, his fans shouted loudly in response: "Kill the dumbbell! Send the sick man to Hell!"

The babbler managed to push his opponent thirty metres towards the crater. At this point, the silent man seemed to have just woken up. He stretched out his right hand to push back in his opponent's chest. The unarmed combat had degenerated into a shoving match. The silent man managed to stand his ground for about fifteen minutes even though his opponent pushed with all his might. In a deadpan voice, the silent man opened his mouth for the first time: “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you (Hinduism: Mahabharata 5:1517)."

Shouting at his fans to cheer him on, the babbler exclaimed: "You want to know something. You want to know something. We always win." He stretched out his other hand to push his opponent in the chest. His fans were excited to see their idol pushing the silent man all the way for twenty metres more towards the edge of the crater. They kept chanting: "Finish off the coward! Shove the sick man into the crater!"

Meanwhile, the silent man's fans were struck dumb by what they had seen. They were so exasperated with their idol's weak response that they began to shout angrily at him: "Dumbbell! Dumbbell! Sick man! Sick man! Go home! Go home!"

With his feet on the brink of the volcanic crater, the silent man seemed to wake up completely at last. He started to push back at the babbler in the chest with both hands. In a deadpan tone, he said: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful (Buddhism: Udanavarga 5:18)." He managed to keep his balance for more than fifteen minutes on the brink of the crater.

Turning to his fans, the babbler shouted: "Are you all tired of winning? Order this sick man to jump down by himself! Quick!" His fans shouted in response: "Sick man, jump down! Quick! Quick!"

Becoming increasingly exasperated, the silent man's fans shouted at their idol: "What are you waiting for, sick man? Are you waiting to die, dumbbell? Fight back! Sick man, fight back! Push back! Dumbbell, push back!"

Besides pushing with all his might, the babbler kicked so hard at his opponent's left foot that the silent man ended up balancing with one foot on the brink of the volcanic crater. In a deadpan voice, the silent man said: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you (Confucianism: Analects 15:23)."

Thinking he was on the verge of victory, the babbler laughed: "A wolf that does not eat a lamb is not a wolf." The silent man did not hear his words. Instead, he heard a very clear voice in his right ear: "Dumbbell, dumbbell, can you claim the moral high ground once you fall off the edge? Nobody will ever know your high moral principles after your death. Instead, you will be inevitably labelled an idiot or a worthless fellow. Furthermore, you won't be dying alone. Thousands of your fans who bet on you will follow you all the way down the crater."

Amidst the chanting of "killing the sick man" and "pushing the dumbbell into the crater", the babbler said sarcastically: "I am the Chosen One to send you off on your last journey." Then he added jokingly: "Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31)." Making a last attempt to send his opponent down the crater, the babbler kicked hard at his opponent's right foot. To his great surprise, the silent man was as immovable as an old pine tree on the brink of the volcanic crater.

The silent man saw nothing but contempt in his opponent’s eyes. Meanwhile his back and feet could feel the heat of the rising steam from the crater. In addition, the rumbling and hissing from the crater were getting louder and louder. Giving a loud, high cry that sent the surrounding mountains vibrating for several seconds, the silent man pushed forward with such force that his opponent was lifted off the ground and landed on the head ten metres away.

When the vibration of the mountains stopped, there was dead silence among the spectators, for all of them were struck dumb by what they saw. After they realised what had happened, the silence broke into cheers and rapturous applause. As though joining in the celebration of the silent man's victory, the volcano began roaring like thunder and erupting with tiny fragments of lava blasted into the air like a firework display. While some spectators rushed to rescue the unconscious loser, the rest ran for their lives down the mountain.

[BartSimpson]

Welcome to our newest member from Singapore!

[reedak]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Welcome to our newest member from Singapore!

Thank you. As a travelling salesman, now it is the most dangerous time to travel from one country to another in my job because of unexpected lockdowns or flight delays. Hope I won't die of COVID-19 in Singapore or during my homebound flight before I could reach my homeland.

Nowadays, nobody is immune from the coronavirus as can be seen from the news that three White House staff are in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. It is a stark reminder that not even the most secure building in the world is immune from the coronavirus.

I am sure my good friend moderator Bart Simpson will agree with me that he won't be safer than Trump from the coronavirus threat despite wearing a superman's costume.

Meanwhile, while I am still alive and kicking, I have to rush out all my posts to kick Trump's ass. At this critical time, everybody has to remind himself that time is short, and life is shorter still.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-amer ... 54rk1.html

[reedak]

Subtitle: When they go low, you go high

Narrator: Since he left his homeland, the priest had travelled miles of rough terrain in the daytime and lodged mainly in an inn or slept on a tree at night. One month after meeting the twin brother of the Old Man of the Mountain, he came to a mountain stream near a forest. After tying his horse to an ancient giant tree, he took a dip in the stream. After eating some wild fruits, he climbed up the giant tree to retire for the night.

Next morning while bathing in the stream, he suddenly felt the whole ground and the water shaking violently around him. With much difficulty, he rushed up the bank and sprawled flat on the ground. The earthquake lasted about 30 seconds. Meanwhile his horse was neighing loudly and prancing wildly under the tree.

After sometime when there were no more aftershocks, he got up, put on his clothes, untied his horse and continued his journey. Soon he found himself galloping along a vacant sandy land where he could see crabs crawling beside some dead fish. As the breeze blew towards his face, he could smell the salty air.

To his amazement and horror, he discovered that he was actually travelling in a sea whose water had receded far out into the ocean. He was not alone as he discerned a figure walking with an animal in the distance. As he approached them, he saw an old man walking a dog.

Priest: Hi, Old Man of the Mountain! Glad to see you here!

Old man: No, I am not the Old Man of the Mountain. I am his real twin brother. I am his real, real twin brother.

Priest: Glad to find you alive and kicking after jumping down the wall. But why the need to highlight your identity now?

Old man: I have won the election and will be sworn in as the ruler of the Mountain next month. Since my election victory, my name and identity have often been stolen by imposters, particularly in telepathic communication.

Priest: Congratulations on your new job! Sometimes the fake looks more real than the genuine.

Old man: That's why I have to highlight to everybody, particularly in my telepathic messages, that I am the real twin brother of the Old Man of the Mountain.

Priest: What is your goal for the Mountain?

Old man: I shall "make the Mountain great again"!

Priest: Do you think you can ever achieve your goal?

Old man: Of course, I have what it takes to "make the Mountain great again" because I am a brilliant deal maker. In addition, I am a businessman who knows how to get things done.

Priest: On the way, I heard from some people that your twin brother had mocked your business failings in a major speech arguing that you would be disastrous for the economy. He said, "He’s written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at Chapter 11. He bankrupted his companies not once, not twice, but four times."

Old man: Hundreds of companies have filed for bankruptcy. I used the law four times and made a tremendous thing. I'm in business. I did a very good job.

Priest: One guy had investigated your business dealings and found a total of six bankruptcies. Why the discrepancy?

Old man: I counted the first three bankruptcies as just one.

Priest: You seem to have invented a new form of mathematics which makes "three equal to one". It's good news for any man with three wives. He can claim that he is practising monogamy.

Old man: You are welcome to exchange anything three for one with me. It reveals the great business acumen and winning mentality I have to become the greatest ruler of the Mountain.

Priest: You are as slippery as the dead fish on the ground, able to convince your voters of your so-called "high net worth" with your twisted arguments after filing for bankruptcy multiple times.

Old man: That's why I claimed that I did a very good job.

Priest: Okay, enough of your "very good job" in multiple bankruptcies. Let's switch to another subject. Are you willing to accept the election outcome as the will of the voters?

Old man: Of course, I am glad to accept the election results now.

Priest: But do you peacefully accept the election outcome if you are the loser?

Old man: Ask me this question in the next election.

Priest: Do you think the Old Man of the Mountain, who is your twin brother and election opponent, is accepting the election results willingly?

Old man: It is the “Mountain way” to peacefully accept election results. He had conceded defeat by congratulating me on election night. He told his voters, "We must accept this result and then look to the future. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead."

Priest: Do you think he will push for vote recounts under the pretext of examining whether the electoral democracy of the Mountain is working?

Old man: In the last debate, he chastised me for my unwillingness to pledge that I would accept the outcome of the election. Calling my statement “horrifying”, he said: "That is not the way our democracy works. We’ve been around for 240 years. We’ve had free and fair elections. We’ve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during an election.” Hence I don't think he will push for vote recounts. So much time and money will be spent - same result! Sad.

Priest: On the way here, I heard allegations of a hack-riddled election with hacking into the party members' brains with witchcraft. The election system of the Mountain is even condemned as extremely vulnerable for relying on a system that is wide open to hacks by sorcery. Hence do you think he will eventually push for vote recounts?

Old man: I can still remember what he said in the first election debate. He said: "Well, I support our democracy. And sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But I certainly will support the outcome of this election. And I know my twin brother's trying very hard to plant doubts about it."

We had even sought the advice of our first ancestor who gave a grim warning through the mouth of our temple medium: "That is not a joking matter. No, no, no. I want everyone to pay attention here. That is dangerous. When you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people’s minds about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy. Then you are doing the work of our adversaries for them because our democracy depends on people knowing their vote matters.”

Hence I don't think my twin brother will go back on his word.

Priest: Don't you know that your twin brother is so notorious for flip-flopping on key issues that he is nicknamed Mr Flip-flop?

Old man (pointing to a dead fish on the wet ground): Like that dead fish, he is something of a spent force. I have yet to hear any flip-flop from him.

Narrator: As soon as he finished speaking, there came a sudden aftershock. The horse neighed loudly and pranced around wildly. The old man tried to restrain his frightened, barking dog which was pulling hard on the leash to run away.

As the ground shook violently, the fish trembled as though they were shivering in the cold. Some of them even "jumped" about as if they had come back alive. When the aftershock was over, the old man turned to the priest.

Old man (jokingly): Now I know dead fish can flip-flop.

Priest (laughing): You were flip-flopping like one of those dead fish just now when you were pulled along by your dog.

Old man (laughing): It's the same with you. You were bouncing like a ball on your prancing horse.

Priest: On the way, I heard that the intelligence agencies of the Mountain had concluded with “high confidence” that the great bear demon acted covertly in the latter stages of the election campaign to harm your twin brother's chances and promote you. Thirty-five warlocks were expelled from the Mountain for allegedly helping the great bear demon to hack the brains of your twin brother and his campaign staffers during the election.

Old man: Unless you catch "hackers" in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn't this brought up before election?

If the great bear demon, or some other entity, was hacking my twin brother's brain by black arts, why did he wait so long to act? Why did his party members only complain after he lost?

A whistleblower who published the telepathic messages of my twin brother's campaign manager said "a 14-year-old wizard could have hacked his brain by sorcery" — why was his election committee so careless? He also said the great bear demon did not give him the info!

Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and we tried to play the great bear demon card. It would be called conspiracy theory!

The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest victories of the Mountain in history. It’s now time to move on and "make the Mountain great again".

Priest: Tomorrow is new year holiday, do you have any message for your twin brother and his campaign staffers?

Old man: Happy New Year to all, including my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love!

Priest: The great bear demon had reportedly said he would not "stoop" to "irresponsible diplomacy", but rather attempt to repair relations once you take office.

Old man: Great move on delay - I always knew he was very smart!

Priest: He was so smart that he even hacked your brain and those of your campaign staffers by witchcraft too, but he did not release whatever information they gleaned from the brain waves. This finding was reportedly reached with "high confidence" by the intelligence agencies of the Mountain.

Old man: I don’t believe the great bear demon had interfered. I know a lot about hacking the brain by black arts, and such hacking is a very hard thing to prove, so it could be somebody else. I know things that other people don't know. And so they cannot be sure of the situation. You know, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way. Because I'll tell you what - no brain is safe from hacking by sorcery when it is emitting brain waves in telepathy. I shall reveal details people don't know about the incident in the coming days.

I was supposed to get the intelligence briefing on the so-called great bear demon's hacking of the brains by sorcery yesterday but it was delayed until next week, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!

According to the whistleblower, the Mountain's news media coverage is “very dishonest”. More dishonest than anyone knows.

Narrator: As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground shook violently. The dog barked loudly and pulled hard at the leash in its attempt to run away, but it ended up running in a circle around the old man. The horse neighed loudly and pranced wildly in a circle around the old man and his dog. The dead fish "jumped" to shoulder height from the ground. The old man screamed at his dog in his effort to stop it from running, and one of the fish landed in his big potty mouth. When the aftershock was over, the priest said jokingly.

Priest: The sight of the fish in your mouth reminds me of a proverbial saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." It seems that God has given you a fish while teaching you how to fish like a hungry brown bear plucking a leaping salmon from the air.

Old man (spitting out the fish angrily): If God really wants to give me a fish, He should not give me a rotten one.

Priest: Okay, we have enough talk about brain hacking by black arts. May I contact you when I reach the Mountain?

Old man: Why not?

Narrator: Suddenly there came another aftershock. "Leaping" to eye level, the dead fish seemed to "dance" in celebration of a special occasion. The dog kept barking and pulled so hard on the leash that it pulled the old man along with it for some distance. The horse neighed loudly and lifted its front legs so high that the priest almost fell off from its back. When the ground stopped shaking, the two men resumed their conversation.

Priest: I have to take my leave now. There is a popular quote by someone in your region: "When they go low, you go high.” I have to go high now not because of my grace, forgiveness, and enemy love but because of the impending arrival of tsunami.

Old man: This place is a paradise to me when I think of the congratulatory calls from the leaders of all the other regions after I won the election. Don't forget to call me when you reach the Mountain. Goodbye!

Priest: Enjoy the gorgeous landscape of your paradise before it turns into hell. Goodbye!

Narrator: Thereupon the priest put spurs to his horse and sped on towards a distant mountain at full gallop. However, he turned back to speak to the old man after galloping a few hundred metres.

Priest: I almost forgot to tell you something that was purported to have uttered by your first ancestor through the mouth of a temple medium. Suggesting that the Mountain is entering a time of hopelessness, he said: "We feel the difference now. Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept. And the Old Man of the Mountain didn’t just talk about hope because he thought it was a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believed that … what else do you have if you don’t have hope? What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?”

Old man: We have tremendous hope and we have tremendous promise and we have tremendous potential. I assume my first ancestor was talking about the past, not the future.

Narrator: No sooner had he spoken than the ground began to shake. The quake of the aftershock was so powerful that the priest was thrown off the horse. After performing a somersault in the air, he landed safely but rose in full pursuit of his horse which had galloped up a slope. After a while, he managed to catch up with his horse and jumped onto its back.

Meanwhile, the old man was chasing his dog which had broken free from the leash and was running towards the rising waves. The dead fish shot up like rockets from the ground and rained down on the two men and their animals. One of them landed on the old man's golden locks.

[reedak]

Subtitle: Captain Shrimp Roe

Narrator: After walking many miles along a coastal area, the priest found a middle-aged man lying on a sandy beach. He seemed to be unconscious and his clothes were heavily clogged with water. The priest squatted down and patted him gently on the shoulder. After a while, the man slowly opened his eyes.

Priest: Dude, why are you lying here?

Middle-aged man: I have been drifting in the sea, I suppose, for several days.

Priest: Please elaborate on how you end up lying here.

Middle-aged man: I came from a remote pirate stronghold which was besieged by government troops, I think, about a week ago. After a fierce battle, the pirate chief nicknamed Captain Shrimp Roe and 19 other pirates managed to escape from the island in a small boat. Before boarding the boat, Captain Shrimp Roe gave an order that nobody, except himself and two other pirate lords, was allowed to carry weapons onboard.

On the way to another island, a storm appeared out of nowhere and the boat was tossed about in the huge waves. Captain Shrimp Roe ordered the other two pirate lords to draw their swords, saying: "To put it simply, we are standing at the crossroads of immense promise and great peril. It is entirely up to us whether we lift ourselves to new heights above the waves or let ourselves suck into the maelstrom of disrepair. As the chief of the pirates, I will always put our gang first.

In order to survive the storm, we have to reduce the load on the boat. Both of you have to force the unarmed men to jump into the sea. You should know how to deal with them if they put up stubborn resistance.”

Priest: So you were one of the unarmed pirates thrown overboard to lighten the boat, but you are lucky enough to survive in the end.

Middle-aged man: No, I am not an ordinary pirate but a pirate lord. As I was third in the leadership lineup, I had to obey Captain Shrimp Roe's command. The other pirate lord and I had no choice but help him slay all those unarmed pirates who refused to jump overboard.

Priest: Please tell me how you end up drifting in the sea.

Middle-aged man: At first, I thought the bloodshed was over with only three men remained onboard. Captain Shrimp Roe, however, said: "It's not over because the storm is not over. As a human, I will always put myself first, just like you, as humans, will always, and should always, put yourselves first."

Priest: I suppose you and the other pirate lord had engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Captain Shrimp Roe before you ended up drifting in the sea.

Middle-aged man: In the final battle, three of us stood on the boat with our swords drawn. The other two were standing at each end of the boat, while I was the unfortunate one to stand between them. Captain Shrimp Roe told me: "My dearest best friend, I can't bear to kill you with my own hands. Among the three of us, you are the least-skilled in swordsmanship, but you are the best swimmer of the gang. Hence you have a better chance of survival if you choose to jump overboard than to die under my sword."

While I was hesitating whether to swim or fight, I did not notice that he was inching towards me. Suddenly he gave me a kick and I fell overboard. I let go of my sword, and swam as hard as I could to stay atop the huge waves. As I drifted further and further away from the boat, the last thing I heard was the noise of clashing swords, shouting and yelling.

Priest: Do you know who the final victor is?

Middle-aged man: God knows. I was fortunate enough to cling to a piece of driftwood in the choppy seas. I was in a semi-conscious state, losing all sense of time. When I felt my body hitting something hard, I found myself lying here. I suppose I have been washed up ashore after drifting for several days in the sea. I was so exhausted that I fell into a deep slumber until I felt your warm hand on my shoulder.

[reedak]

Subtitle: Lei Tai ( 打擂台 )

Narrator: After many days of travelling, the priest arrived at an open space in a tribal region. There he found a huge crowd gathering around a raised platform, 24 feet by 24 feet and 4 feet high, without railings.

He spotted among the spectators an old friend who told him the tribal chief's eldest son would be defending his championship title in 10 consecutive years. The 10th annual mixed martial arts "lei tai" championship was a full-contact tournament with no protection for the fighters such as protective headgear and gloves.

There were no written rules or round limits, no weight categories and no referee. The fight continued until either fighter surrendered, was thrown or forced from the stage, was incapacitated or even killed. The winner would remain on the stage unless ousted by a stronger opponent. If there were no more challengers, he would become the champion. In other words, a fighter had to defeat countless opponents to become a champion.

As the defending champion, the tribal chief's son was the first martial artist to go up onto the stage and issued his challenge to the crowd below. One after another, he was challenged by 18 martial artists, but he swiftly demolished them in succession. The spectators could see him moving his mouth throughout the fights, but they could not hear what he was talking.

After 18 consecutive wins, he raised both his fists in the air as a gesture of victory and invited anyone among the spectators to knock him off. After waiting for a while, there seemed to be no more challengers. As he was about to declare himself the unbeaten champion in 10 consecutive years, a man in his early thirties suddenly leaped up onto the stage.

The defending champion said something softly to the new challenger. As the spectators could not hear the conversation, they took it as an initial greeting. As in his earlier fights, the defending champion kept muttering something throughout the fight. The challenger showed no response but kept fighting hard with a straight face. Unlike the rest, the challenger did not give up fighting after getting hit with a clean punch. After a long drawn-out fight, the defending champion was kicked off the stage like a football and carried away on a stretcher. Filled with curiosity, the priest turned to his old friend.

Priest: I am not surprised by the defeat of the undeserving champion. What's puzzling is the irrational behaviour of the first 18 challengers. Why should they concede defeat after exchanging a few light blows?

Old friend: Your question brings to mind my bitter experience in the 1st annual mixed martial arts "lei tai" championship 9 years ago. Despite the passing of time, I can still recall it as if it were yesterday. At that time, that so-called champion was 30 years old -- about the same age as me. He built the first "lei tai” platform in the tribal region and challenged all martial artists to a fight.

Among 30 martial artists, I was the first to challenge him on the elevated fighting arena. After exchanging greetings, he warned me in a whisper: "There's a special place in hell for any martial artist who dares to retaliate against my attacks. My father, the tribal leader, will arrange with Yama, the god of death, to invite you and your entire family to the underworld if you won't acknowledge defeat."

Throughout the fight, he used a combination of taunts and intimidation to pressure me into capitulation, labelling me “an embarrassment” and a “terrible martial artist”. “You are easily this region’s worst martial artist yet," he whispered so near that I felt his stinking breath on my face.

He continued taunting, "Honestly I think you have done a terrible job so far in your martial arts school. You should be ashamed to call yourself the grandmaster of your martial arts system. Well as I’m sure you know, I’ve closely followed news of whatever happening in your martial arts school all my life. And I think you've done such damage to your leadership that your disciples should rename it to like, gang leader or something more sounding, like mafia boss. You accept all kinds of characters into your school. You are the founder of a terrorist organisation in this region.

"You acted so meek and mild during our breakfast meeting this morning only to be the first challenger in my first mixed martial arts ‘lei tai’ championship, telling the other martial artists that my invitation to them to a duel is kind of insulting. You are very dishonest and weak. You have stolen many pupils from my martial arts school by regularly lowering your tuition fees. My punches are in response to your repeated theft. If you want to be the adult in the fighting arena, you need to behave like an adult."

Priest: It looked like the so-called unbeaten champion was conducting a psychological warfare to undermine your will to fight.

Old friend: Quite true. Accusing me and other martial artists of starting the problem by unfair competition, he said: "If you and other martial artists retaliate, you’re making a mistake. Due to unfair competition by all martial artists, my school's enrollment has decreased tremendously. There’s very bad spirit when I have a small enrollment and all of you keep taking away my students so my martial arts school can never catch up. That’s not a good thing to do. And I have very, very strong measures that take care of that. The numbers are so astronomically against all of you. I shall win this championship a thousand times out of a thousand. I shall not be pushed around. It’s going to change, 100%. My martial arts school is like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing. And that ends."

So he kept taunting and insulting me throughout the fight. Gradually I lost my temper. If the gates of hell opened suddenly, I would not hesitate to throw him down below. However, I was aware of the catastrophic consequences of defeating him. My entire family and I, even my relatives would be executed by the tribal chief as punishment. Hence before any tragedy happened, I gave up fighting by leaping down the stage.

Priest: Did he use the same psychological manipulation techniques to force the others into submission?

Old friend: Yes, I found out from all the other challengers that he had used the same underhanded tactics against them in the past 9 years.

Priest: How did the spectators, particularly your disciples, respond to the outcome of your match?

Old friend: The spectators found it very puzzling why I should give up fighting for no rhyme or reason. Of course, they could not hear the big bully's taunts and intimidation because he uttered very softly, almost in a whisper. I was labelled as a coward and failure. My reputation was destroyed in the wake of my apparent defeat. Many of my disciples left to join his martial arts school. After some years I had to close my school because of declining enrollment.

Priest: Did the same thing happen to the others after their apparent defeat?

Old friend: Yes, many of their disciples went to learn martial arts from that so-called unbeaten champion. Many martial artists had to close their schools due to declining enrollment, and some of them had their schools taken over by the big bully.

Priest: Then how come the last challenger could dismiss all the threats and put up a good fight to become the new champion?

Old friend: The last challenger is deaf. That explains his apparent ignorance of the bully's intimidation, and his smashing success in smashing the crown of the undeserving champion to smithereens.

Priest: It seems that you know the last challenger very well.

Old friend: For many years after my apparent defeat, I suffered from depression and anxiety. Then I decided to exact revenge against the big bully. But I could not find any way to deal with him until I saw a busker performing acrobat jumping in a street. He is the best person to teach that big bully a lesson for the following reasons:

Firstly, his kung fu fighting techniques were superb. Actually that so-called unbeaten champion's martial arts system is not that superior. If not for his underhand tactics, the big bully could have been vanquished long ago by any challenger.

Secondly, he is an orphan without any family or relative, and a vagabond without a home. If the tribal chief wants to revenge his son's defeat, the only way is after the new champion’s blood.

Thirdly, and most important of all, he is deaf so he would be immune to the undeserving champion's taunts and intimidation.

Using sign language, I persuaded him to compete in the championship.

Priest: Did you inform him of the big bully's psychological manipulation techniques?

Old friend: No, I want to ensure that both his sanity and his will to fight will not be undermined by the enemy.

Priest: But he will be executed by the tribal chief if he stays behind to receive the prize money and be crowned the new champion.

Old friend: Although I did not inform him of the big bully's underhanded tactics, I had warned him of what might happen if he won the fight. Hence he would run for his life immediately after the fight. I had asked my old servant to wait for him with two horses -- one for each rider -- some distance ahead on the main road. I had given both of them more than enough money to last for the rest of their lives. By now, they should be heading towards a neighbouring tribal region on their horses. Down there, in my old servant's birthplace, they will live happily ever after.

Priest: Capitalism exists everywhere, even in the most unlikely places. Is there any betting on the championship?

Old friend: There was betting during in the first few years on the championships. But after five or six years, when the people found out that the same person always won the championship, they stopped betting altogether. I could have won a huge fortune if I place my bet on the new champion.

Priest: Why didn't you do so?

Old friend: I don't want to be the prime suspect of the big bully's defeat. I don't want the tribal chief to exact revenge on me.

Narrator: The spectators were awestruck at first when they saw the so-called unbeaten champion of 9 successive years kicked off the stage by a newcomer. Then the dead silence was broken by a huge applause. However, when they tried to look for the new champion, he was nowhere to be seen.

After bidding farewell to his old friend, the priest continued his journey, knowing somewhere in front of him two men were speeding on their horses toward the border of a neighbouring tribal land.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lei_tai

[reedak]

Subtitle: The Orchard of Democracy

Narrator: The priest turned and continued his journey to the old man's mountain fortress. After sometime, he came to an apple orchard. He looked around and found that all the trees were full of golden apples. He saw a young lady carrying a spade beside a tree. He assumed that she was the owner of the orchard.

Priest: Are you the owner of the orchard?

Young lady: Yes.

Priest: May I get an apple from your orchard?

Young lady: It's the apple picking season. My orchard is always opened to the public. You are welcome to pick an apple from any tree here.

Priest: May I pick the apple that is nearest to me?

Young lady: Yes, go ahead.

Priest: This apple looks good. I can't wait to take a bite. Ewww, it's rotten. May I pick another apple?

Young lady: Yes, make sure you choose a good one this time.

Narrator: The priest, accompanied by the lady, walked around the orchard to pick the best apple he could find. He found that all the apples were alike. They were sparkling gold and of the same size. Finally he picked an apple from one of the trees.

Priest: I hope I am lucky this time. Argh, it's just as rotten! Can I pick another apple?

Young lady: Nobody has ever picked more than two apples from this orchard. If you don't believe, try for yourself.

Narrator: The priest tried to pick another apple. No matter how hard he pulled, he could not pluck an apple from any tree. He even used his sword, but he could not cut any apple from the trees. Finally he gave up trying and asked the lady.

Priest: Are all the apples rotten here?

Young lady: No, there are thousands of good apples on the trees.

Priest: Since there are so many good apples in your orchard, why are you so cheapskate as to give me only two rotten apples?

Young lady: You have all the freedom to pick the best apples here, yet you end up picking two rotten fruits. Don't blame your bad luck on me.

Priest: Where is this place?

Young lady: It's the Orchard of Democracy.

Priest: May I know your name, please?

Young lady: Columbia.

Narrator: After telling her name, the lady gradually melted into thin air. Meanwhile all the trees gradually shrank and sank into the ground. When the last tree disappeared from view, a sudden gust of wind rose from the ground and roared like the laughter of thousands of invisible beings in the air.

After the wind died down, the priest found himself squatting in the middle of a wasteland. He began throwing up yellow foam and several wriggling worms. After taking a rest on the roadside, he resumed his journey.

On the way, he tried to figure out what had happened. He concluded that it was a ruse by the Old Man of the Mountain to weaken him before their duel.

[reedak]

Subtitle: Think Twice, Even Thrice, When Someone Wants To Purchase Your Lapsap

Narrator: By nightfall, the priest came to a thatched cottage. After knocking at the door, an elderly man came out. The priest asked him to let him lodge in the house for the night. The owner agreed, saying he had a spare room for any weary traveller who knocked at his door. Inside the house, he found an elderly woman sawing a broken table.

Elderly man: My wife is busy sawing off the table legs.

Priest: I suppose you are turning your broken table into firewood.

Elderly man: No

Priest: Then you are making a new piece of furniture out of the old.

Elderly man: Let me explain to you. Two days ago, we were carrying this old broken table to a garbage dump at a nearby forest. On the way, we met a young man who offered a high price for the table. He was my former neighbour but moved to another village after a fight with my brother. At first I thought he was off his nut, but on second thought I told him we needed time to consider his offer. I told him to meet us at the same time and place next day for our reply.

After carrying back the table, we examined it thoroughly but found nothing special and valuable about it. Suddenly I recalled that my brother had walloped him with a stick about the length of a table leg during the fight. I came to the conclusion that the table legs could be used as offensive weapons if he plans to fight with my brother again. We met him yesterday and informed him of our decision to sell him the table minus the legs. He agreed to meet us again at the same time and place tomorrow to close the deal.

Narrator: The priest lodged in the house for the night. Out of curiosity, he followed them to meet the "crazy" buyer. The deal was closed without hitch. After the couple left for home, the priest asked the young man why he was willing to pay a high price for the table top.

Young man: The tables made by his late grandfather were much treasured by the villagers and fetched a very high price in the market. I should be thankful to him for removing the table legs which are partly consumed by termites. As the table top is still in good condition, I can get a carpenter to replace the legs later on.

Narrator: The priest offered to help the young man carry the table top home.