Old Man Moves Mountains
愚 公 移 山
Lie Zi, Han Dynasty Taihang and Wangwu were two mountains that covered an area of seven hundred square Li and rise over thousands of meters. They were originally situated south of Jizhou and north of Heyang. North of the mountains lived an old man called Yugong (literally 'foolish old man') who was nearly ninety years old. Since his home was surrounded by the two mountains, he was troubled by the fact that people in the neiborhood had to take a roundabout route whenever they went out. He then gathered his family to discuss the matter. "Let’s do everything in our power to flatten these forbidding mountains and get a direct route to Yuzhou and Hanyin. What do you say?" Everyone applauded his idea, except his wife, who voiced her doubts. "You are not strong enough to even remove a small hillock like Kuifu. How can you tackle Taihang and Wangwu? And where would you dump the earth and rocks?" "We can dump them into the edge of the With that Yugong took with him three sons and grandsons who could carry loads on their shoulders. They broke up rocks, dug up mounds of earth, and transported them to the edge of the An old man called Zhisou (literally 'wise old man') who lived in Hequ, near a bend of the The god of the mountains heard about this and was afraid that Yugong would not stop digging at the mountains. He reported the matter to the king of the gods. The king was moved by Yugong's sincerity and commanded the two sons of Kua'eshi, a god with great strength, to carry away the two mountains on their backs: one was put east of Shuozhou and the other south of Yongzhou. Since then, there is no obstruction between Jizhou and Hanyin. |