A. One day, a rich man stopped at the inn. The innkeeper looked at the guest's fat money belt and thought, "Oh, if only all that money could be mine!" The rich man asked for the most expensive room at the inn, and he went up to his room to dress for dinner.
B. Soon, the rich man went down the stairs to have dinner. The innkeeper could hardly hide her delight (高兴) as she served him dish after dish of ginger (生姜) buds. "Delicious!" said the rich man. When dinner was finished, he went to bed, happy and full of ginger buds.
C. In the morning, the innkeeper saw the rich man off at the door. Then she raced up to his room and looked for the money belt, but she couldn't find it. Suddenly, she noticed a piece of paper on the floor. It was the rich man's bill. He had forgotten to pay it. She ran down the stairs, out the front door and up the road, but the rich man was already far, far away.
D. Now, all around the inn there grew beautiful Japanese ginger plants. Many people say that eating buds of ginger makes a person forgetful. This gave the innkeeper an idea. "This evening for dinner I will serve ginger buds!" she thought, "Then, when the rich man leaves in the morning, he will be forgetful and leave his money belt behind!" She ran into the kitchen and started cooking the most delicious ginger buds she had ever made.
E. Once upon a time, in a beautiful mountain inn (客栈), there was a greedy (贪婪的) old innkeeper who was always thinking about money.
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