Laughing Buddha

My sweet man returned on Saturday from a mandatory exercise in ridiculousness (i.e. a global sales and field engineering meeting in Kuala Lampur). Among the things he bought at the Chinese market is a green stone laughing Buddha: the symbol of happiness, contentment, and prosperity. Hurray! We'll take all the happiness, contentment and prosperity we can get. Interestingly, our Buddha carries a wulu gourd (or calabash) that is said to be filled with the elixir for eternal youth [very AXE, if I do say so myself ;)]. It's supposed to keep diseases away. He also carries "bag full of treasures" on the end of a stick (or vine?). It either symbolizes wealth, or is the vehicle through which problems and unhappiness are collected and exchanged for remedies, cures and blessings. It's sort of amusing to me that Buddha's big belly actually means something as well: abundance and mirth. Our Buddha has a scroll too, but I can't seem to google any meaning for it.