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When a monk came back from cutting wood from a mountain,
He saw a teenager on the road.
The teenager caught a butterfly and held it in his hand.
The young man saw the monk and asked him to make a bet.
The monk asked: “What would I be betting on?”
The boy replied “You would guess whether the butterfly in my hand is dead or alive.
If you’re wrong, I’ll have your firewood.”
The monk thought for a while and said that the butterfly in his hand was dead.
The boy laughed and said, “You were wrong.”
He opened his hand, and the butterfly flew away.
Win or Lose
The monk said, “This load of wood is yours.”
Then he laid down the wood and left happily.
The boy didn’t know why the monk was so happy,
But there was no time for reflection;
He cheerfully carried the firewood home.
His father asked him about the origin of a load of wood.
The boy told him truthfully what had occurred.
After hearing this, the father said that he had been foolish.
“Do you think that you have won?
You don’t even know that you have lost!”
Immediately, the father ordered the boy to return the wood.
Together, the father and his son took the wood back to the temple.
Upon seeing the monk, the father said
“Master, my child has defended you.
I beg for your forgiveness.”
The monk nodded and smiled.
On the way home
The father finally explained his reasoning.
He said, “If the Master had said that the butterfly was dead,
Then you’ll let it go and win a load of wood.
On the other hand, if the Master said the butterfly was alive,
you would have pinched the butterfly to death to win the firewood.
Do you think the Master doesn’t know your logic?
He lost a load of wood, but he won mercy for the butterfly!”
Winning and losing in daily life
Often affects our ability to show mercy.
Sometimes we think we’ve won, however,
We may lose more than we have gained.
Let us have a kind heart,
And be truthful.
Don’t lose your sense of mercy because of profit.
Don’t grovel for power.
Be an honest person so that
You will feel no shame when you contemplate your sense of justice.
The original Chinese text is from https://www.facebook.com/hydro.chen/posts/5079394148745331.