The Porter and the Teacher from Mulberry Yard were friends. One day, when it had been raining for ten whole days, the Porter said to himself:
- As if trouble were to happen to the Teacher from Mulberry Yard!
He took food with him and went to feed his friend. At the very gates of the Teacher’s house, the Porter heard either crying or singing. The blow to the strings of the qin was followed by the words:
"Oh father!
O mother!
Oh nature!
Oh people!..”
The weakening voice hurried to finish singing the stanza.
- Why did you sing such a song? - The Porter asked him when he came in.
“I was looking for the one,” answered the Teacher, “who brought me to such an extreme, but I don’t know who.” Did my father and mother really want me to be so poor? The sky impartially covers everything, and the earth impartially supports everything. Have heaven and earth been partial to me, making me poor? I looked for who did this, but couldn't find anyone. So, what brought me to such an extreme was fate.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru