Long ago there were a priest and an acolyte in a mountain temple. This priest was an extremely stingy man, and when he received anything delicious from one of the families that supported the temple, he wouldn't let the acolyte eat even a little bit of it. He would eat it all by himself. One time he got some really delicous sweet sake from a parishioner family. As usual, the priest was unwilling to let the acolyte drink any, and so he said, "Acolyte, acolyte! This is called sweet sake, but sweet sake is poisonous to children. If a child were to drink any, it would die right away. So be sure you don't drink any by mistake, okay?"
The next day the priest left to perform a memorial service down in the village. The acolyte was left behind to watch the temple, but once he was alone he couldn't help thinking about that sweet sake.
He thought to himself, "the priest said sweet sake was poison and would kill children who drank it, but he was probably lying as usual. He just said that because he didn't want me to drink it." And he took the jar of sweet sake out of the cupboard. Then he put just a tiny bit in a saucer and tasted it. Oh, it was so delicious that his mouth just melted with delight.
"This is so delicious-- I can't stop at just one taste," the acolyte thought. He had one more taste, and then another. And he went on drinking, a little bit at a time.
Then he thought, "This will be the last taste," and he poured some sweet sake into the saucer.
Then, "Since this is the last taste, I'll make it a little bigger," and he poured in all the saucer would hold. But he still couldn't stop.
"Just a little more-- just a tiny bit." He drank a little and thought, "Just a tiny bit more wouldn't make any difference.
And so he had just a little more, and just a little more, and soon the jar was empty. The acolyte was shocked when he saw that it was empty, and only then did he begin to worry.
"This is bad. There's no telling how angry the priest will be when he returns, or how much he'll beat me. It won't be a little beating, and it won't be a quiet one. I'm in trouble now! What on earth can I do?"
He thought for all he was worth, and finally said, "That's it!" He thought he had a good idea. The temple had a treasure called "Kibi no Hotei." This was a small figurine of Hotei-sama made of Imbeyaki porcelain. The acolyte removed it from the alcove, and hit it against a rock in the garden, breaking it into pieces. Then he sat on the wooden walkway sobbing loudly.
About that time the priest returned.
"Acolyte! I'm back!" he said from the entryway, but the acolyte didn't come to greet him. He went on in to see what was the matter, and heard the sobbing.
"What happened? What happened?" the priest asked when he reached the walkway.
"After you left I was cleaning the hall, and I broke the figurine of Hotei-sama. I felt like I didn't deserve to live after breaking one of the temple treasures, and so I drank that sweet sake that you said would kill children. I drank and drank, and still didn't die, and now it's all gone. I still didn't die, and now I'm crying and waiting for the death that will arrive any minute now. "
When the priest heard the acolyte's story, he laughed out loud. "Still," he said, "I wish Hotei hadn't gotten broken."