Once upon a time, there was a traveling merchant. One day, he wanted to cross a river to do business on the other side.

“But Sir, the weather is bad today, are you sure you want to cross the river?”asked the ferryman. The merchant said impatiently,“I have important business waiting for me. Hurry up and ferry me across the river!”

The ferryman had no choice but to ferry the merchant across the river. The weather was really bad that day. The wind howled and the waves roared. The boat had just set off and then a huge wave capsized it. The ferryman knew how to swim, and quickly swam to shore. But the merchant did not know how to swim. He could only cling onto a wooden plank and shout for help.“Help! I will give one hundred taels of gold to whoever saves me!”

A fisherman happened to be fishing nearby. He heard the merchant’s cry for help and quickly rowed over to rescue him. But after he had rescued the merchant, the merchant only gave him ten taels of gold, and bid him on his way.

The fisherman asked the merchant,“Didn’t you promise a hundred taels of gold not ten?” The merchant grew angry and replied,“How much money can you earn as a fisherman in your lifetime? You just earn ten taels of gold unexpectedly. You should be content with what you have!”The fisherman realized that the dishonest merchant did not want to keep his promise. So, he told the merchant angrily,“Hmph! Just my luck! I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

A few days later, the merchant finished his business and wanted to go home. However, the weather was also bad that day, and the merchant’s boat capsized at the very same spot.

The merchant clung onto a wooden plank, and yelled at the top of his voice,“Help! I will give one hundred taels of gold to whoever saves me!”

Someone wanted to rescue the merchant, but the fisherman who rescued him before said,“One hundred taels of gold? Don’t believe him. He tricked me before!”The merchant heard the fisherman, and felt sorry for breaking his promise. So, he yelled,“To the fisherman who rescued me before: I am sorry! I was wrong! Please forgive me!”

The fisherman heard the merchant, and braved the storm to save him. After the merchant climbed onto the boat, he took out two hundred taels of gold and handed it to the fisherman.“I am so sorry,”he kept telling the fisherman.“I shouldn’t have broken my promise just to save money.”

　　從前有一個商人，常常到各地做生意。有一次，他準備搭船過河，談一筆大買賣。
　　「趙老闆，今天天氣不好，您真的要過河嗎？」船夫問。趙老闆不耐煩地說：「你知道這筆買賣多少錢嗎？快點兒開船！」
　　船夫沒有辦法，只好開船過河。那天的天氣真的不好，風大浪也大，船才開了沒多久，就遇到一個大浪，船一下子就翻了，船夫會游泳，很快地游上岸去，但是趙老闆不識水性，只能抱著破木板大聲呼救：「救命呀！誰能救我，我就給誰一百兩金子！」
　　剛好旁邊有一個漁夫正在捕魚，他聽到了趙老闆的求救聲，趕緊划船過去救他。等到把趙老闆救起來後，趙老闆從錢包裡拿出十兩金子，隨隨便便交給漁夫。
　　漁夫說：「數目不對呀，不是一百兩金子嗎？」趙老闆聽了很生氣，他說：「你捕魚捕一輩子，能賺多少錢？突然得到十兩金子，還不知足嗎？」漁夫生氣了：「哼！算我倒楣，不跟你計較！」
　　過了幾天，趙老闆談完生意要回家，沒想到天氣還是不好，船又在同樣的地方翻了。
　　趙老闆緊緊抓著一片木板，大聲喊著：「救命呀！誰能救我，我就給誰一百兩金子！」
　　有人想要划船救他，之前救過他的漁夫說：「一百兩金子？他不會給你的啦，上次我就被騙過一次！」趙老闆在水中想起上次的事情，覺得很後悔，於是大聲喊著：「上次救我的漁夫，對不起！是我錯了，請你原諒我！」
　　漁夫聽了，就在風雨中划著船去救趙老闆，趙老闆一被救上船，就拿出兩百兩金子送給漁夫，還不斷地道歉：「對不起！我不應該為了省一點兒錢，說話不算話。」