And the wife thought to herself, “If I can eat this ginseng, I can become one of the immortal spirits and can have any man or spirit for my husband, and I will not have to listen to the orders of that man any more. But he must not eat any of it.” And they both thought of ways to deprive the other of the ginseng.

The wife said, “We have much ginseng here, why don’t you go to your father and mother and bring them here to taste the ginseng?”

The father knew what the mother had said and what she meant, so he answered, “Your father and mother are alone and infirm. Why not bring them here and let them have some of the ginseng?”

The wife knew what her husband had said and what he meant, but there was no other way out, so they both began to leave. Just then Little Mushroom woke up and asked them where they were going. The parents told him that the little fat boy was really a giant ginseng plant and that they were cooking it, and that eating it would make them all immortal. And then they left. But Little Mushroom was shocked. He ran to the kettle, lifted the lid, and took the giant ginseng plant out of the pot. As he was about to run away with it, his father came back through the window and his mother came back through the back door.

“You were going to get your parents,” said the mother.

“I thought the kettle’s lid might be loose, so I returned to see. You were going to get your parents,” said the father. “I thought the door might be unlocked, and I returned to see.” They began to hit each other with clubs as Little Mushroom ran away into the sunlight with the giant ginseng, which turned into a little fat boy with a red vest. The parents killed each other, and no one ever saw Little Mushroom and the little fat boy with the red vest again.

The collection goes on

Manchu tales have survived only in part. This rich tradition is being actively collected in China today as part of a government-sponsored attempt to preserve the traditions of the ethnic minorities.