A long time ago, there lived two friends in China, one of them skillfully played the harp, the other skillfully listened. When the first played and sang about the mountains, the second said: “I see the mountains in front of us.”
When the first played about water, the listener exclaimed: “I see a running stream.”
But the second one fell ill and died.
The first of the friends cut the strings of his harp and never touched it again. Since that time, the custom of cutting the strings of the harp has been a sign of true friendship.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru