Long ago, there was a notorious braggart named Balagen Cang. He lived in Mongolia, and the herdsmen there loved to listen to his boasts because they often made them laugh so hard that they forgot their fatigue and worries.
However, the wealthy landlords did not share the herdsmen's fondness for Balagen Cang. Because of his incredible eloquence, none of them could debate against him. So whenever they heard Balagen Cang boasting, they would hate him with a passion and wish he would fall ill and die soon.
One day, as Balagen Cang was walking across the grasslands, the herdsmen saw him and all eagerly greeted him: "Hello, Balagen Cang! We haven't seen you for a long time. Where have you been?"
Balagen Cang sighed and said, "Indeed! It has probably been a year since we last met! In this year, I have traveled between heaven and earth and seen many interesting things and encountered many bizarre events. This period has truly been full of variety!"
The herdsmen were astonished and asked Balagen Cang, "Is this true?" They knew another good story was coming and were delighted. Everyone urged him, "Tell us quickly, let us open our eyes!"
Gladly, Balagen Cang agreed, "Alright! Let's start now." And thus, Balagen Cang began his tale.
"Last summer, one day I was idle at home when my wife asked me to go up the mountain to chop firewood. Of course, I had to listen to her! Ha ha! I took my sharpened axe and rode my old, skinny horse towards the mountain. As I was riding, suddenly the horse stopped moving. I turned around and saw that the axe, which had fallen from my waist, had accidentally cut off one of the horse's hind legs. Alas, how could a three-legged horse climb the mountain? I panicked and cut a thick branch, tying it under the horse's rump as its leg, and continued on my way. But after a short while, the horse stopped again. I looked back and saw that the thick branch tied under the horse's rump had grown into an incredibly tall tree, its top reaching all the way to the heavens. At that moment, I thought, 'Why not visit the heavens?' So I climbed up the tree trunk. After climbing for eighty-one days, I finally reached the heavens. I played around in the heavens for a long time. Later, when my stomach started growling from hunger, I remembered I should return home for a meal. However, no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find the tree. Do you know what happened? That skinny horse had pulled the tree away. With no tree, I couldn't go home. What should I do? Don't worry! I found a Lama temple. Inside the temple, there were several Buddha statues, doing nothing but squatting there swatting flies. I asked them, 'Oh venerable Buddhas, I am a person from the earth, and I am extremely hungry now. Could you give me something to eat?'
At first, they paid no attention to me. Later, they slowly lifted their heads and said to me:
'Don't you see that we are also starving? There have been fewer people coming to worship lately, and the offerings of food have diminished. Tell you what, we ourselves don't have anything to eat, so how can we help you?' Only then did I carefully look at them and indeed, each was pale and emaciated, speaking with barely any strength. I had no choice but to leave the Lama temple and try my luck elsewhere. I searched for a long time in the heavens but didn't even see a single person, truly starving beyond endurance..."