"The Heaven-Sent Pig" is a Chinese tale.

Once upon a time, a farmer and his wife prayed to heaven every night that their hard work would bring good fortune. At long last, they saved enough pennies to buy a small pig.

"This will be the start of our fortune," the farmer said, and so he believed.

But after a year, the pig had not grown a single inch. He was so tiny, in fact, he seemed to be growing smaller.

"Heaven has forsaken us," the farmer complained.

His wife said crossly, "Why bother working to feed a creature no one will ever buy?"

And so they set the pig free to roam, but every night it returned and begged for food.

"Perhaps heaven will smile down on us if we are good to the poor pig," the farmer said, but his wife refused to do even this.

So at night the farmer sneaked out food to the pig, and one evening as he was carrying a pail of slop outside, a stranger passed by. "How much would you like for your pig?" asked the stranger.

The farmer was surprised. Perhaps heaven was smiling down on him tonight. So he smiled. "He's a small pig," said the farmer, "but I could sell him for 10 taels of silver. That is how much I paid, plus the cost of boarding him for one whole year."

Inside the house, the farmer's wife overheard. "Fool," she muttered to herself. "No one will buy your pig for 10 taels," but before she had finished speaking the words, she saw the stranger reach into his pouch and bring out a handful of silver.

She ran outside. "Wait!" she cried. "Husband, just yesterday another stranger offered me 500 taels for our pig, but I told him that wasn't enough."

The farmer was astonished; how could she tell such lies?

He turned to the stranger. "Forgive my wife," he said, "but I will sell ..."

But the stranger waved away his words. "I will pay 500," he said, and again reached into his pouch.

The farmer was about to take the money, but once again the wife spoke up.

"Five hundred isn't enough," she said. "No, I think we'll keep our pig," and she walked away.

But the stranger called to her. "Wait, please. I will add another 500 to that."

The farmer was stunned to silence, but his wife, smiling from ear to ear, said, "Agreed," and put out her hand for the coins.

Now the stranger bowed. "One request," he said. "Since you changed your mind already, before I pay, I ask you to bow to heaven and vow that your word is good."

Now the wife, sure she had made an extraordinary bargain, willingly bowed to heaven and offered her vow.

The stranger thanked them, took the pig into his arms. As he was about to leave, the wife asked, "Why are you willing to pay so much for a scrawny pig?"

The stranger smiled. "I will tell you since you have vowed to heaven that you will not break your word. This pig may look like any ordinary pig to you. Most people see only with their eyes. But I see with all my senses, and I know that inside this pig are two magical candles."

The woman stared. "I see no such thing," she snapped.

The stranger nodded. "Ah, but they are there, and anyone who takes out those candles and prepares a table of rice and fruits as offerings will discover every treasure imaginable flying toward him."

Again the woman did not wait for the stranger to finish. She reached out and snatched the pig from his arms. "I've changed my mind. I'll keep this pig," she said. "Here's your money."

"But you vowed to heaven," the stranger said.

But the wife, dreaming of treasure, carried the pig into the house. The stranger departed.

When the woman had the pig to herself, she prepared a table of fruit and rice, and then she slaughtered the pig. Sure enough, she found the candles, as the stranger had described.

At once she lit them and bowed to heaven, and to her delight the air above her filled with gold and silver and jewels. They swirled over her head.

She reached up to grab them, but no matter how close she got, each time she reached, the treasures swirled away. Her husband also grabbed and failed.

Now the candles were burning down, and the woman tried to catch the floating treasures, but the candles flickered out, and everything vanished.

"We are ruined," the woman lamented. "We are ruined."

Months later, just before the new year, the stranger appeared again. The farmer and his wife were even poorer, and hungry.

"You!" hissed the wife at the stranger. "You lied to us," and she told the stranger what had happened.

He only smiled. "You interrupted me," he said. "I didn't have a chance to tell you that to catch those treasures, you must throw rice at them and repeat your vow to heaven."

The farmer was silent, for he understood now. This was a messenger from heaven.

"It is greed that destroys dreams," he said to his wife.

"Yes," she said. "Now I know that is so."