10. The unsolicited alms
Líang Hào, ten days before presenting himself for the literary examinations,
dreamt that a man was giving him alms: a slice of dog meat.
The next day, as he was sad and unhappy, his dream was explained in this way:
"Gou: dog, can also be written with the character quan,
and piàn: slice, can be written mirror-inverted.
Their combination gives the character zhuàng:
first in the literary examinations (in the expression zhuàng yuán );
you will certainly come out first".
He did, in reality.
If one is prepared to succeed, one will dream of failure:
Líang Hào feels himself treated as a beggar,
but the latent content is not deceptive and the reward,
the slice of dog meat, is (in China) a very good piece: the first prize.
10/16/08 22:02