During the Qing Dynasty, there was a butcher who lived in Lin-qing County, Shandong. One day, he bought a bull for eight thousand taels of silver. The bull refused to follow him as it knew that it would be slaughtered. The butcher was so angry that he took out a whip and lashed it. The bull tried to avoid the whip but it still refused to move. Finally, when it was too tired to resist, it followed the butcher home.
When they passed by a rich man's house, the bull saw the master and suddenly it knelt before him and cried, just as if it was seeking his help. When the rich man saw the poor animal crying, he felt very sorry and offered to pay the same price, that was eight thousand taels of silver to save the bull. But the butcher refused to sell because he was angry at the bull for being so stubborn. He said, "This bull is very stubborn. I can only vent my anger by killing it!" He refused to sell it even when the rich man increased his offer. When the bull heard this, it gave up all hope. It stood up angrily and followed the butcher home.
After slaughtering the bull and chopping it up, the butcher put the meat into a cauldron to cook. Then he went to sleep. The next morning, he woke up at five o'clock and went to taste the beef. When he did not return after a long time, his wife was very concerned and went to take a look. To her horror, she found the butcher's body in the cauldron of beef soup, with the upper part already half-cooked.
Oh dear! Just like all human beings, animals do not wish to die. When the butcher saw that the bull was so frightened, not only did he not show any pity, but instead he was very angry and vented his anger by killing it. By then the hatred felt by the bull had greatly increased. With such a powerful feeling of resentment, the retribution of hatred would surely befall the man swiftly.
Comments