太學李月生，升宇翁之次子也。翁最富，以缸貯金，里人稱之「八缸」。翁寢疾，呼子分金：兄八之，弟二之。月生觖望。翁曰：「我非偏有愛憎，藏有窖鏹，必待無多人時，方以畀汝，勿急也。」過數日，翁益彌留。月生慮一旦不虞，覷無人，即床頭祕訊之。翁曰：「人生苦樂，皆有定數。汝方享妻賢之福，故不宜再助多金，以增汝過。」蓋月生妻車氏，最賢，有桓、孟之德，故云。月生固哀之。怒曰：「汝尚有二十餘年坎壈未歷，即予千金，亦立盡耳。苟不至山窮水盡時，勿望給與也！」月生孝友敦篤，亦即不敢復言。無何，翁大漸，尋卒。幸兄賢，齋葬之謀，勿與校計。月生又天真爛漫，不較錙銖，且好客善飲，炊黍治具，日促妻三四作，不甚理家人生產。里中無賴窺其懦，輒魚肉之。踰數年，家漸落。窘急時，賴兄小周給，不至大困。無何，兄以老病卒，益失所助，至絕糧食。春貸秋償，田所出，登場輒盡。乃割畝為活，業益消減。又數年，妻及長子相繼殂謝，無聊益甚。尋買販羊者之妻徐，翼得其小阜；而徐性剛烈，日凌藉之，至不敢與親朋通弔慶禮。忽一夜夢父曰：「今汝所遭，可謂山窮水盡矣。嘗許汝窖金，今其可矣。」問：「何在？」曰：「明日畀汝。」醒而異之，猶謂是貧中之積想也。次日，發土葺墉，掘得巨金，始悟向言「無多人」，乃死亡將半也。
太学李月生，升宇翁之次子也。翁最富，以缸贮金，里人称之「八缸」。翁寝疾，呼子分金：兄八之，弟二之。月生觖望。翁曰：「我非偏有爱憎，藏有窖镪，必待无多人时，方以畀汝，勿急也。」过数日，翁益弥留。月生虑一旦不虞，觑无人，即床头秘讯之。翁曰：「人生苦乐，皆有定数。汝方享妻贤之福，故不宜再助多金，以增汝过。」盖月生妻车氏，最贤，有桓、孟之德，故云。月生固哀之。怒曰：「汝尚有二十余年坎壈未历，即予千金，亦立尽耳。苟不至山穷水尽时，勿望给与也！」月生孝友敦笃，亦即不敢复言。无何，翁大渐，寻卒。幸兄贤，斋葬之谋，勿与校计。月生又天真烂漫，不较锱铢，且好客善饮，炊黍治具，日促妻三四作，不甚理家人生产。里中无赖窥其懦，辄鱼肉之。逾数年，家渐落。窘急时，赖兄小周给，不至大困。无何，兄以老病卒，益失所助，至绝粮食。春贷秋偿，田所出，登场辄尽。乃割亩为活，业益消减。又数年，妻及长子相继殂谢，无聊益甚。寻买贩羊者之妻徐，翼得其小阜；而徐性刚烈，日凌借之，至不敢与亲朋通吊庆礼。忽一夜梦父曰：「今汝所遭，可谓山穷水尽矣。尝许汝窖金，今其可矣。」问：「何在？」曰：「明日畀汝。」醒而异之，犹谓是贫中之积想也。次日，发土葺墉，掘得巨金，始悟向言「无多人」，乃死亡将半也。
Li Yuesheng, a student of the Imperial Academy, was the second son of old Mr. Li Shengyu. The old man was very rich. He kept his money in vats, and people in the village called him Eight Vats (Bagang). When he fell ill and took to his bed, he called his sons in to divide the money: eight parts to the elder brother, two to the younger. Yuesheng was bitterly disappointed. “It is not that I love one of you more than the other,” the old man said. “I have money buried in a cellar. I will give it to you, but only when there are not many people. Don’t be impatient.” A few days later the old man was sinking. Yuesheng was afraid he might go at any moment. When he saw that no one was about, he asked him in secret at the bedside. “A man’s joys and sufferings in life are all fixed in advance,” said the old man. “You are enjoying the blessing of a good wife. It would not be right to give you a lot of money besides. It would only add to your faults.” He said this because Yuesheng’s wife, who was born a Che, was a most virtuous woman, with the virtues of Huan and Meng. Yuesheng kept pleading. The old man grew angry. “You still have more than twenty years of hardship ahead of you. Give you a thousand taels and it would be gone at once. Until you have come to the end of the hills and the end of the waters, don’t expect a thing from me!” Yuesheng was a devoted son and a loving brother, and he did not dare say any more. Before long the old man’s illness turned grave, and soon he died. Fortunately the elder brother was a good man and did not haggle with him over the costs of the funeral services and the burial. Yuesheng, for his part, was guileless and open-hearted and never counted the coppers. He loved company and liked his wine. He would have his wife cook millet and lay out food and drink three or four times a day, and he paid little attention to how the household made its living. The ruffians of the village saw that he was soft and preyed on him at every turn. After some years the family began to decline. When things were tight, his brother helped him out a little, so he never came to real want. Before long his brother died, old and ill. With that help gone, Yuesheng came to have no grain at all. He borrowed in spring and repaid in autumn. Whatever his fields yielded was gone as soon as it reached the threshing floor. So he lived by selling off his land a piece at a time, and the estate dwindled further. Some years later his wife and his eldest son died one after the other, and he was more wretched than ever. Soon after, he bought the wife of a sheep dealer, a woman named Xu, hoping to get hold of the bit of money she had. But Xu was hard and fierce. She bullied him every day, until he did not dare exchange so much as condolences or congratulations with his relatives and friends. Then one night he dreamed that his father said to him, “What you have come to now may truly be called the end of the hills and the end of the waters. I once promised you the buried money. Now the time has come.” “Where is it?” Yuesheng asked. “I will give it to you tomorrow.” He woke and wondered at it, but still took it for a poor man’s fancy, brooded on too long. The next day, digging up earth to mend a wall, he unearthed a great hoard of money. Only then did he understand that when his father had said “not many people,” he had meant that nearly half of them would be dead.