In ancient times, there was a man who followed the old Way to learn the art. At the beginning, he was diligent and inquisitive, but the old way never praised, and he was very disgusted. As a result, something happened one day, and he began to lose his mind

In ancient times, there was a man who followed the old Way to learn the art. At the beginning, he was diligent and inquisitive, but the old way never praised, and he was very disgusted. As a result, one day something happened, he began to be unguarded, not thinking of making progress, but lao Dao was very happy, congratulated him on having completed his division, and ordered him to go down the mountain.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in a small mountain village in Yangdu, Xuzhou, there was a small baby who could not speak until she was seven or eight years old. Because his family was poor, his father saw that he could not read, so he asked him to herd cattle on a nearby mountain.

There is a Taoist temple on this mountain, and in the Taoist temple lives a white-haired old Taoist. The old Taoist saw that Xiaowa was clever and kind and sensible, so he decided to help him heal. After a while, Xiaowa's dumb disease was indeed cured by Lao Dao. Xiao Wa's father and mother came to the Taoist Temple to thank them for their kindness, and the old Daoist said:

I like this child very much, so why not let him follow me to read and hyphenate, learn some yin and yang gossip, the art of the five elements, and have a living in the future, can you agree?

Xiao Wa's father and mother were of course very willing to hear it, so they left Xiao Wa to go down the mountain. Xiao Wa is indeed obedient, following the old way every day sunrise class, the sun sets to school, rain or shine, day after day.

In the blink of an eye, 5 years have passed, Xiaowa is diligent and studious, reading books and concentrating, reading books that have not been forgotten, and the old Taoists are very pleased. But the strange thing is that he never praises Xiaowa, and often frowns, shakes his head and sighs.

One day, the old Daoist called Xiaowa to him and said: For the master to see that you are very weekdays, today I will reward you with a book, and when you go back, you must read it well, and after reading it, you will be tested for the teacher.

If Xiao Wa had obtained the most precious treasure, she happily went back with the book, read it 3 times in a night, and memorized the book to a ripe end. Early the next morning, he ran to report to the old man.

Who knew that the old Tao listened to it, not only did not boast a word, but also burned the book in anger. He even said very angrily: You go down the mountain, I really can't teach you. Finish talking and brush your sleeves away.

Xiao Wa saw that the teacher was so angry, "pounced" and fell to his knees and prostrated his head repeatedly, begging the old man not to push him down the mountain. When Lao Dao saw that his head was broken and bleeding, Yu Xin couldn't bear to sigh and said: "That's it, that's it, the widows are not teachable."

After this incident, Xiaowa read the book even harder, and she couldn't release the scroll all day, and there was almost nothing to distract him. In this way, in the blink of an eye, another 5 years have passed, and the little baby has grown into a young man.

On this day, the old Man ordered the young man to go down the mountain to buy daily necessities, but when he returned, he had just walked halfway up the mountainside, and suddenly the wind was fierce, and the rain was coming. The young man saw that there was a place not far away to shelter from the rain, so he hurried over.

When I looked closer, it turned out to be a nunnery. At this time, a young girl of good age came out and welcomed him warmly. When the young man saw this woman with bright eyes and bright teeth and ice muscles and jade bones, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: There is such a wonderful woman in the world!

The two had a good conversation, but soon the sky cleared. The woman sent the young man to the door and said reluctantly: Even if we know each other today, you will be free in the future, but you can often come to chat with me.

After that, the young man often sneaked down the mountain, went to the nunnery to chat with the woman and laugh, and played chess to relieve boredom. Since then, the young man has become unruly and does not want to forge ahead.

One day, the young man sneaked out again, but when he came back, he was listless, and when he walked to the door, he said: Go out and be happy to enter the door, and the smile is lost outside the door. As a result, as soon as I entered the door, I saw the old Daoist standing in front of me.

The young man quickly prostrated his head and confessed his mistake. Unexpectedly, the old Daoist was not only not angry, but also seemed to be very happy. He pointed to a tree in the courtyard and said to the young man: You see, why doesn't that tree die or live, and doesn't grow up?

The young man quickly replied: Because it makes kudzu too tightly wrapped. The old man said: Yes, this is called "the tree is afraid of soft vines". The young man could not hide things when he saw it, so he had to talk to him.

The young man thought that Lao Dao would be annoyed and angry, but Lao Dao said to him: Tonight, you go to the nunnery to invite the girl, if she wants, I will marry you two.

Although the young man did not know why the old Taoist let him go to invite people late at night, because he was too happy, he only cared about "whistling" and kowtowing, even if he thought about it so much.

The old man also commanded: If she does not come, you will resist her; if she is not there, you will take her back. Otherwise I think you two colluded and wanted to elope.

Before the young man went out that night, the old Taoist gave him a wooden stick, and then said to him: The mountain road is not easy to walk at night, in case of encountering a beast, you can use a wooden stick to hit it to save yourself. The young man thanked the teacher and went out happily.

Who would have thought that when they arrived at the nunnery, there was no one left, only one piece of clothing on the bed. The young man remembered the words of the old man, picked up his clothes and went outside. But as soon as he reached the door, a large eagle swooped down, and the young man hit it with a wooden stick in a hurry, and the big eagle was shot down a few feathers and flew away with a howl.

The young man was horrified and returned to the Taoist Temple with a stomach full of questions. The old Daoist said to him: The woman was originally an eagle in the Heavenly Palace, but she was beaten down because she stole and ate the peach of the Queen Mother's mother. Fortunately, you did not hide it from me, otherwise she would have harmed you in the future.

The eagle had a habit of flying up to the Heavenly River every night to bathe, but if she took her clothes with her at this time, she would no longer be able to transform into harm. The young man broke out in a cold sweat, but the old Daoist patted him on the shoulder and smiled: You are full of teachers and can go down the mountain.

The young man looked confused, and the old Taoist explained: The skills learned from books must ultimately look at the changes in heaven and earth, turn at any time, and adapt to changes. For example, the lesson of this time tells you that what you see in front of you is false.

By extension, everything in the world should not be confused by its appearance, but should be carefully engaged in and insight into its essence. The same is true of reading, although you can never forget it, but if you don't understand the true meaning of what you learn in the book, what is the use of learning more?

Listening to the teacher's words, the young man thanked the teacher, but there was no trace of the old Taoist. Later, in order to remember the teacher's teachings, the young man made those feathers into a fan and held them in his hands all day, always reminding himself to be cautious.

This is the folklore of the origin of Zhuge Liang's feather fan.

Small stories contain big truths: first, to be upright and self-motivated, not to learn without skills; second, to know that mistakes can be corrected, not to add mistakes to mistakes; third, to do things with bright eyes and clear minds, not to be confused by appearances.