Magic Leaf

   Magic Leaf

      In a small village deep in the heart of China, the local tax collector was feared. He taxed the villagers often. If they had no money, he took their possessions. And when possessions were of no interest to the tax collector, he would beat the taxpayers.

     One day a poor man entered the village. He had heard of the tax collector and his terrible ways. The poor man was carrying a plant that had many beautiful green leaves. The tax collector stopped the poor man before walking any further and told him he had to pay entrance fee if he wanted to walk through the village. The poor man said he had no money, but only the magic tree he was carrying. The tax collector, intrigued, asked what kind of magical tree it was. The poor man explained that it would make the holder of the leaves invisible. The tax collector snatched the tree from the poor man while striking him across the face. The poor man fell to the ground and was left in the dust of the tax collector's horse.

     That night, the tax collector picked a leaf from the magic tree and held it up to his forehead. "Wife," he asked, "can you see me?"

     His wife looked at him strangely, "Yes, I can see you."

     He picked another leaf and held it to his forehead. "Wife," he asked, "can you see me?"

     His wife looked at him again, "Yes, I can see you."

     And with the third leaf, the wife could still see her husband. Same with the fourth. And so on until it was late at night and the wife was ready to sleep.

     "Wife, can you see me now?" he asked, with the last leaf from the tree up to his forehead.

     "Husband, I'm tired. No, I can not see you any more," she said exasperated before she closed her eyes to sleep. And her tax-collecting husband smiled.

     The next morning, the tax collector held up his magical leaf to his forehead as he walked from store to store. The tax collector thought, "Hmmm, this is truly a magical leaf. No one can see me. No one acknowledges my actions." He continued to pass through the village, and no one said a word to him. No one looked at him in the eye. No one spoke to him, not even when he took money from the stores. Not even when he took food from the food stands. Every villager saw him, but in fear of a beating, did not speak to him.

     The emperor's son was passing through the village that afternoon. He and his entourage were returning from a rewarding hunting expedition. Among his trophies were the pelts of snow leopards and tigers.

     The tax collector saw the pelts hanging from the back of the royal saddle. Believing he was still invisible, he held his magic leaf to his forehead and reached out for the pelts.

     "Stop! You there! What do you think you're doing?" one the royal guards exclaimed.

     The emperor's son shouted, "How dare you steal from me! Did you not think I saw you approach me and attempt to steal my furs? You will pay for this. I will put you away in the palace dungeons." The tax collector was quickly apprehended and taken prisoner. The tax collector feebly tried to explain his tale of the poor man and his magical tree with the leaves to make one invisible. He tried to show the emperor's son the tree, but it had no leaves on it. The emperor's son, tired of listening to the alleged tale, had the tax collector beat by his guards before continuing on their journey homeward.

Oxford Dictionary (third edition)
Tax : money that has to be paid to a government for public services
Possession : thing that you own or have with you at one time
Intrigue : make somebody interested or curious
Invisible : that cannot be seen
Snatch : take somebody/something suddenly or steal something
Strange : unusual; odd
Exasperate : annoy somebody very much
Acknowledge : show that you have noticed somebody
Beating : punishment by hitting
Emperor : ruler of an empire

Pelt : animal's skin with the fur on it