The Ill-natured Scholar
故事全文
During the Qing Dynasty, there were two scholars from Tainan. One was called Li Shu-guan. He was very clever, but he was ill-natured and unconscientious. The other was called Lin Wen-tang. He was good natured and conscientious, and often gave his left-over food to a stray cat. Li, on the other hand, liked to bully the cat.
While on their way to the capital to take the national exam, they stopped for the night at a dilapidated temple that enshrined Lü Dongbin. Li went to sleep straight after eating his dinner. Lin, on the other hand, swept the temple floor and dusted the altar table. That night, they both dreamt that Lü Dongbin wrote a word in the palm of their hands. The word on Li’s palm was “have”, and the word on Lin’s palm was “have not”. Lü Dongbin said,“When you meet a shepherd along the way, show the word on your palm to him, and he will tell you the results of the coming examination.”Then, Lü Dongbin vanished in a puff of smoke. When both of them woke up, they found that they indeed had the words written on their palms. They paid their respects to Lü Dongbin and went on their way. After a while, they saw a shepherd and decided to show him the words on their palms. Li thought,“Since my word is ‘have’, my name must have been present on the list of graduates who passed the examination.”However, the shepherd took a look at his word and said,“The word ‘have’ means that you have a burden on your shoulders. You will not ride in a palanquin and will have to walk on foot. Your name will not be on the list.”Li was very unhappy when he heard this, and asked Lin to show the shepherd his word. The shepherd said,“The word ‘have not’ resembles a palanquin carried by four people. Only high-ranking officials are allowed to ride palanquins carried by four people. You are sure to top the list.”
The night before the examination, Li made Lin drunk and plucked all the brush from his ink brush so that he would have nothing to write with the next day. After Li fell asleep, the cat that he bullied jumped in from the window and switched their calligraphy sets. During the examination, Li had no pen to write with and had no choice but to hand in a blank sheet of paper, which naturally led to him failing the examination. Lin on the other hand, performed well due to his conscientiousness, and aced the examination. There is a children’s song that people sing,“Li had a bad heart. He wanted his friend to fail the examination, but the grateful cat switched their pens. What one sows one reaps. Don’t blame the shepherd for your misfortune. Don’t blame the god for not helping you. Blame yourself for your unkind heart.”
