Greetings!
My husband grew up in a village. When the weather was nice, sometimes the villagers sat in the open space chatting and enjoying each other's company. As a youngster, he liked to sit near the storytellers. He had heard many interesting stories of historic figures as well as of people that were locally known. Over the years, he had shared with me the stories that he could remember. From my understanding, many of these stories might not be real historical events, and some of them could have been made up by creative storytellers; oftentimes, these stories that had passed on were meant to inspire us or teach us life lessons.
Below was one of those stories that my husband heard when he was young.
In the market place, a student of Confucius (a teacher and a philosopher) overheard a man saying 3 x 8 equaled to 23. He walked forward to tell the man that 3 x 8 equaled to 24. He explained how 24 was the correct answer to 3 times 8. The man got very angry. He insisted that he was right. He refused to hear any explanation or reasoning. As they argued, more and more people gathered around them. Finally, the student of Confucius said, "3 x 8 is equal to 24. I will give you my hat if you can prove that I am wrong." In return, the man said, "You are wrong! 3 x 8 equals to 23. If I am wrong, I will give you my head!" Some people in the crowd suggested for them to go to Confucius to verify the answer.
The crowd walked to where Confucius lived. After listening to the whole story, Confucius looked at his student. He said, "Give him your hat. 3 x 8 equals to 23." The student was very upset. He tried to argue, but the teacher asked him to give his hat to the man. The man proudly put on the hat and walked away. Others also walked away.
After everybody left, the teacher said to the student, "Yes, 3 x 8 equals to 24. However, it is better for you to lose your hat than for the man to lose his head. I hope you learn your lesson that it is a waste of time to engage in foolish or ignorant debates."
The student was still upset for he felt he had lost face in front of many people. He asked to be excused from school for the time being for he wanted to go home to visit his wife.
Confucius looked at the student for a while.
He said, "You may go home if that is what you want. In case it rains, please remember not to stand under a tree. I notice you carry a sword wherever you go. Please don't be too fast to pull out your sword from the scabbard for it may hurt innocent people."
Along the fields and mountain side, he walked home. Rain began to pour before he reached his house. He went to stand under a big tree. As he did, he remembered what the teacher said. Immediately, he ran away from the tree looking for another place for shelter. He heard a loud bang behind him. He looked back. He was horrified to see the tree was burning for lightning had stricken the tree. He felt lucky to be alive, and was glad he remembered the teacher's advice.
After a long walk, he arrived home. It was night time. He knew his wife must be sleeping. Quietly, he walked into the bedroom. In the dim light, he saw someone sleeping next to his wife! He thought his wife must have betrayed him and had been sleeping with another man while he was away. Anger and jealousy surged! He rushed forward. His hand reached for his sword. At that instant, the teacher's words came to his mind. He decided to take a close look at the one that was lying next to his wife. It was his wife's younger sister! As he stood there shaking thinking about the possible dreadful outcome if he had acted impulsively, his wife woke up. She was overjoyed to see him. His wife told him that her sister came for a visit earlier that day. She invited her to stay for the night.
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Since hearing the above story from my husband years ago, I had read a few more stories about Confucius on the Chinese newspapers. The stories, fact or fiction, portrayed Confucius as a wise teacher that people often went to him for advice. Reading these stories, I believed Confucius was very intuitive or psychic in the modern term.
I used "3 x 8 equals to 23" as the title for this post because that was how the conversation started before he (my husband) shared with me the story.
Love and blessings,
Q of D
