A Turtle's Gratitude
During the Chin dynasty of the
fourth century, there was a middle aged man in Shanyin called K'ung Yu. He was an official
for the government, but he had practically the lowest official position in the whole
dynasty. His position was low and so was his pay. Times were rough for him.
Once he saw a turtle someone was getting ready to eat.
He felt sorry for it, so he bought the turtle and took
it to the river. There he let it go.
The turtle seemed to understand that Yu had saved it from the soup.
As it swam away, it kept looking back at him. Yu watched it until
he couldn't see it any more.
Years later, Yu had reached a better position. Leading troops,
he quelled a rebellion. For his great deeds, the Emperor raised him
to the rank of Lord, a high and powerful position.
The official insignia for the rank of Lord is a metal seal, or chop.
When K'ung Yu was promoted, the royal artisans cast a seal for him,
but for some reason it came out with a turtle on top, which was looking back over
its shoulder. They thought that was strange, so they melted the seal
down, made a new mold and cast it again. However, it still came out
with a turtle looking back over its shoulder!
The artisans tried over and over again. Every time they made
the mold very carefully, and everybody inspected the mold. Every time, the mold
was fine, but every time they cast the seal, it came out with a turtle
on top of it and every time the turtle's head was looking back over its
shoulder!
The artisans thought this was very weird. So they decided to go to the
new Lord and see what he thought about it.
They knelt in front of him and said, "My Lord, as directed by our
Emperor of Ten Thousand Years, we have tried to make a seal for you as
sign of your new rank, but every time we cast the mold the seal comes
out with a turtle on top, and the turtle is always looking back
over its shoulder."
"Carry on," K'ung Yu directed. "Do it over again."
The artisans followed his command, but once again, the seal appeared
with a turtle on top, looking back over its shoulder. K'ung Yu was perplexed.
The news of this strange occurrence spread, and eventually reached
the royal ears of the Emperor.
The Emperor called K'ung Yu in to explain why his seal always came
with a turtle, but K'ung Yu was at a loss to explain.
On his way home, K'ung Yu suddenly remembered something.
The next day in court, he reported, "Your Highness's loyal minister
has considered the manner of the seal and the unexplainable turtles,
and perhaps has found a reason.
Many years ago, I happened to see a fisherman preparing
to cook and eat a turtle he had caught. I felt sorry for
the turtle, and so purchased the turtle from the fisherman and
released it in the river. The turtle seemed to understand, for it
swam along the surface of the water and looked back as if in gratitude.
Your Highness has currently granted me the rank of Lord; the official
seal has a turtle on it; this must be a sign that I have had the
opportunity to win such favor from Your Highness due to the gratitude
of that turtle, which must have moved Heaven on my behalf."
The Emperor then told the court, "Those who do good will reap good rewards.
The Lord K'ung is an excellent example."