The Auspicious Beast hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, "The traveler pleaded repeatedly, but the boatman remained unyielding. I witnessed all of this, but since I was deep within the mountains, I was unable to lend a helping hand. In the end, the traveler proposed a deal."
The Auspicious Beast silently raised his head and, with lowered eyelids, said, "He said that within the mountains, there was a half-human, half-ape creature that could speak human language, and it was that creature that had saved him. If the boatman would provide him with some food, he was willing to show the boatman the way. The boatman could then lead people up the mountain to capture the strange beast. They could skin it for its fur, take its meat to sell at the market, or confine it in a cage and sell it to the nobility as a rare and exotic creature for their amusement. He would not take a single cent of the earnings, leaving all the profit for the boatman."
