Lan Yan Turnips and a Bear There once was a poor old woman that lived all alone up in the hills, out back beyond the forest. One morning she was washing some turnips down in the creek, and all of a sudden a giant bear came charging down the hills, hollering so loud she about fainted right into the water. The bear yelled at her and told her to give him a turnip to eat. The scared old lady, being an old lady and scared, gave him a turnip. Not being filled up yet, as he was a big, young, healthy black bear, the bear demanded another turnip. She gave him another one. He demanded more. She kept giving him turnips until she had only one more turnip yet. the bear got angry and told the old woman that if she couldn’t give him any more turnips, then he would come back that night and eat her. Then he ran back up in the hills. When the old woman heard that the bear was going to eat her, she started to cry. At that very moment, a sewing salesman was passing by. He saw the old lady crying and asked her why. She told him the story about the giant bear that was going to eat her. After listening to her story, he told her not to be afraid, and he gave her a package of sewing needles as a gift. “Stick the needles in into your door,” he told the old lady. Then he left. The old woman started crying again for fear after the sewing salesman left. A little while later, a green pea farmer was passing by. He also saw the old lady was crying, and he asked her why. She told him, too, about the gigantic bear. He told her not to be afraid and gave her a bag of dried green peas as a gift. He said, “Before it gets dark, scatter the peas in your yard.” Then he left. At first the old lady felt better, the two gentlemen being so kind and all, but then the thought came back how the giant bear was going to eat her. She started to cry again. This time, a salt merchant came by and asked why the old woman was so sad. She told him the story, just as she had before to the sewing salesman and the pea farmer. The salt merchant said, “Don’t worry.” He gave her a big container of salt as a gift. He said, “If you put the salt in your water tank, everything will be all right.” The old woman took the salt, but she could not stop crying. You’d have thought that little creek would flood over from all the tears. It was getting on toward dark. A chestnut gatherer was on his way home, and he stopped to see if the old woman was all right, as they were friends. Once gain, the old woman told her story. the chestnut gatherer handed her a package of chestnuts and told her not to cry anymore. “Bury the chestnuts under the ashes in your fireplace,” he said. “Then go hide when the giant bear comes.” He left, and the old woman finally stopped crying. When the old woman went back to her home, she stuck the needles into her door, scattered the dried green peas in the yard and poured the salt into her water tank. Then she buried the chestnuts under the ashes in her fireplace and went to hide in the bushes. When the sun went down, the giant bear came to the old woman’s house, just like he said. He stood outside and shouted and told the old woman to hurry up and open the door. When there was no response, the giant bear got mad and struck the door with his paws. “Ouch!” Screamed the giant bear. The needles in the door made the bear’s paw bleed! Since the bear couldn’t push open the door, he decided to jump through a window. As he tried to jump, he landed on his head because the ground was covered with dried green peas. “Ouch!” Screamed the giant bear. “My head hurts!” The bear got up thinking he needed to clean the blood from his paws and wash his face, which was all dirty and stuck with peas. So he went to the water tank. As soon as he put his paws in the salted water, he cried out with pain. The salt water on his paws stung so terrible that he fell on his head again. The bear got so furious with the old woman that he was steaming with anger. After a couple of tries, he managed to get in through the window — though not without hitting his head a few more times. Inside it was dark, and the only place he could see light from was the kitchen. The bear started to go near the glowing coals, and when he got closer the chestnuts snapped open from under the hot ashes. They landed in the bear’s eyes, and he was nearly blinded! The bear got so scared that he ended up going way back up into the hills where he came from. He never bothered the old lady again.