When the Cocks Crow
故事全文
Zu Ti, a famous general of the Jin dynasty, worked with his good friend Liu Kun in Sizhou as a young man. One night, as they were fast asleep, there came the sound of cocks crowing.
Zu Ti woke up, and thought for a while. Then, he woke Liu Kun and told him, “Listen, the cocks are crowing! ”
Liu Kun said, “Indeed! The noise so early is disturbing my sleep.“
Zu Ti smiled and said, “It is not noise, but a call to wake up early to begin sword practice! ”Upon hearing this, Liu Kun felt that it made sense. So, they got out of bed and into the courtyard to practice sword fighting.
From then on, Zu Ti and Liu Kun began getting out of bed to practice sword fighting upon hearing the cock’s crow every morning, and only stopped after daybreak. They never took a day’s break from their sword practice. After years of training and hard work, they finally became two of their country’s greatest talents.
