Section 1
Once upon a time, there was a man who was not wealthy, and he had a great number of children. He had already asked every possible person in the world to be the godfather of his children. However, when he had another child, there was no one left whom he could invite. The man was at a loss for what to do, and as he lay down to rest, he fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he saw himself going outside the gate and asking the first person he met to be the godfather of his child. Upon waking up, the man decided to follow his dream and went outside the gate. He asked the very first person he met to be the godfather of his child. The stranger handed him a small glass of water and said, "This water is extraordinary. It has the power to cure any illness, but you must first find out where Death is standing. If Death is standing by the patient's head, then give them some of the water, and they will be cured. But if Death is standing by the patient's feet, then all efforts will be in vain, and the patient will inevitably pass away." From that day forward, the man gained a reputation for his ability to determine whether a patient could be saved or not, and he became well-known and prosperous. He was even called upon to treat the child of the King. Upon entering the room, he saw Death standing by the child's head and was able to cure the child with the water. The man was called upon a second time, and once again, he cured the child with the water. However, on the third occasion, Death was standing by the child's feet, and the man knew that it was impossible to save the child. The child was destined to pass away.
One day, the man decided to visit the godfather and share his success with the water. When he arrived at the godfather's house, he was surprised to find a peculiar sight. As he climbed the first set of stairs, he noticed a broom and shovel engaged in a fierce fight, hitting each other vigorously. He approached them and asked, "Excuse me, can you tell me where the godfather lives?" The broom responded, "You need to go up one more flight of stairs." So the man continued his ascent and reached the second set of stairs. There, he saw a pile of lifeless fingers lying on the ground. Confused, he asked, "Excuse me, can you tell me where the godfather lives?" One of the fingers replied, "You need to go up one more flight of stairs." The man climbed up to the third set of stairs, and there he found a pile of severed heads lying on the ground. He asked them the same question, and they directed him to climb another set of stairs. Finally, when he arrived at the fourth set of stairs, he saw fishes frying on the fire, sizzling in the pans and cooking themselves. The fishes also directed him to climb one more flight of stairs, and he eventually arrived at the fifth set of stairs. There, he found a door and peered through the keyhole. He saw the godfather, who had a pair of long horns on his head. However, when the man opened the door and entered the room, the godfather hastily got into bed and covered himself up. The man said, "Dear godfather, I must say, you have a very unusual household. When I came to your first flight of stairs, I saw the broom and shovel fighting and hitting each other fiercely."
The godfather replied, "How foolish you are! That was just the boy and the maid conversing." "And on the second flight, I saw dead fingers lying," the man persisted.
"Oh, how stupid you can be! Those were just some roots of scorzonera," replied the godfather. The man then mentioned the pile of dead heads on the third flight, to which the godfather replied, "Foolish man, those were just cabbages." The man then asked about the fishes on the fourth flight, which were sizzling in the pan. The man was surprised when the fishes on the fourth flight came and served themselves. But when he mentioned seeing the godfather with long horns on the fifth flight, the godfather denied it and called him a liar. Feeling alarmed, the man quickly ran out of the house. Who knows what the godfather might have done to him if he had stayed any longer. And so, the story ends.
