Wu smiled at his companions, shifted a little, and straightened his posture.  With one final sip and a moment to gather his thoughts, he began the tale.<br/><br/>"There once was an elderly tea-house proprietor named Chou, a childless widower who lived far, far to the west in a village at the foot of a great mountain.  He was a good man, but a sad one, for he had loved his wife very much even though she had borne him no heirs, and when she died he had chosen not to remarry.  One night, venerable Chou had a dream in which the Benevolent Goddess herself appeared in his tea shop and conversed with him.  When he awoke, he could not remember a word of their conversation, and so he made his way to her nearest shrine and there prayed for guidance.  That night, the dream repeated with the same results, so he returned to the shrine again the next and made a small sacrifice.  As he pleaded with the Benevolent Goddess, a priest came out to see what was the matter."<br/><br/>"I have been given a vision from the Goddess," Chou explained.  "But when I wake I cannot remember what she asks of me!"<br/><br/>"You are the man from the tea-house?  She came to me as well and said you would be here!  Go home and go about your normal business.  A young woman will come to you tonight.  Take her to wife and treat her with great kindness.  When the child she carries is born, treat that child as your own.  Do this, and the Benevolent Goddess will smile upon you.  But!  You must never tell the child that you are not their father."<br/><br/>"How can I remarry," Chou cried out.  "I am old and my heart is tired.  What young woman would want me for a husband?"<br/><br/>"Yet he left the shrine and returned, and it was as the priest said.  That evening a young woman, ragged and barefoot, miserable and mute, swollen with child, passed by his tea-house, gesturing helplessly for alms.  As soon as he saw her, Chou felt his heart burst with compassion.  Inspired by the priest's words, he took the young woman in and cared for her...and before long he took her to wife, and when she gave birth to a daughter he named the baby Sulan after his beloved first wife."<br/><br/>"As the Goddess had promised, his tea-house flourished once again.  The villagers forgot that he had taken in a shamed and crippled girl with no family and remembered instead that Chou had been compassionate and merciful, and saw that he was a dutiful father to the little girl.  Where he was once thought an old fool, now his virtue and generousity were praised.  Indeed, given the girl's wild nature, he was granted higher esteem for his patience!"<br/><br/>"The child proved to be a wild and free spirit who preferred to play rough and tumble games with boys and running about, laughing loudly with great joy.  She was prone to pranks and often scolded for it.  She would speak her mind to any who would listen, and pestered the village storytellers to spin more and more fantastic tales.  Yet there was no malice in her, and her mother could always bring her back to propriety with a frown or a simple gesture."<br/><br/>"For a time, old Chou was happy.  Happier still was he that the girl asked him constantly if he was her father.  Mindful of the priest's warning, he always answered her sternly: yes, I am.  And he took joy from her trusting nod at this reassurance."<br/><br/>He paused to wet his whistle...