Prince Mu, the lord of Jin, said to Bole:
- You are burdened with years. Can anyone from your family serve me and choose horses instead of you?
Bole replied:
— A good horse can be recognized by its appearance and movements. But the incomparable steed is the one that does not touch the dust and leaves no trace. This is something mysterious and elusive, intangible, like morning fog. My sons' talents do not reach the highest level: they can recognize a good horse by looking at it, but they cannot recognize an incomparable steed. However, I have a friend named Jiu Fangao, a merchant of firewood and vegetables - he knows a lot about horses as well as I do. Call him to you.
The prince did just that. Soon he sent Jiu Fangao to look for the horse.
Three months later, he returned and reported that the horse had been found.
“She’s in Shayu now,” he added.
- What kind of horse is this? - asked the prince.
“A bay mare,” was the answer.
But when they sent for the horse, it turned out that it was a stallion as black as a raven. The prince, in displeasure, summoned Bole to his place.
“Your friend, whom I entrusted to find the horse, has completely disgraced himself.” He can't tell a stallion from a mare! What does he understand about horses if he couldn’t even name the color?
Bole sighed with deep relief:
- Has he really achieved this? - he exclaimed. “Then he’s worth ten thousand like me.” I do not dare compare myself with him, for Gao penetrates the structure of the spirit. By comprehending the essence, he forgets the non-essential features; seeing the inner virtues, he loses the idea of the outer. He knows how to see what needs to be seen and not notice what is unnecessary. He looks where he should look and neglects what is not worth looking. Gao's wisdom is so great that he could judge more important things than the merits of horses.
And when the horse was brought in, it turned out that he truly had no equal.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru