A story on arrogance and the dangers of pity, originally published in the Ming Dynasty’s Oceans Stories of Past and Present (海說古今).

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One day, King Jian of Zhou was leading a hunting party through Zhongshan (中山) when he came across a wolf. The delighted king frantically took aim with his bow and arrow but missed and hit a nearby stone. The wolf, suddenly aware of its situation, desperately fled for its life with the hunting party in pursuit. As the wolf made its way through the forest, it stumbled upon a traveling Mohist scholar named Mr. Dongguo (東郭先生) and his donkey.

The wolf begged the scholar for help and explained that it would die if left alone. The scholar, who believed in universal love, pitied the wolf and decided to hide it in one of the bags strapped to his donkey. A few moments later, the hunters arrived and questioned Mr. Dongguo, who denied any knowledge of the wolf’s whereabouts. When the hunters left, Mr. Dongguo let the wolf out of his bag.

The wolf now asked the scholar to save his life again, this time from starvation. Mr. Dongguo offered the wolf some pastries, but the wolf smiled and said, “I don’t eat those, I dine solely on meat”. Puzzled, Mr. Dongguo inquired if the wolf intended to eat his donkey to which and the wolf replied, “No, no, donkey meat is no good”. To Mr. Dongguo’s surprise, the hungry wolf pounced on him and announced its intention to eat him. When Mr. Dongguo protested at the wolf’s ingratitude, the wolf argued, “You saved my life once. Why not do it again? Besides, I nearly suffocated while jammed in your little bag and you owe me for that.”

Dongguo and the wolf debated and finally decided to present their case to the judgment of three elders.

The first elder they presented their argument to was an old withering apricot tree. The tree related its own experience to the two on how when it was young, children used to pick its fruits from its branches and the tree would tell them to eat their fill. Now it was about to be chopped down to provide firewood. The tree agreed with the wolf. The wolf was very pleased.

The second elder they presented their argument to was an elderly water buffalo. The buffalo told its story on how it served its masters for many years dutifully providing him with milk and plowing his fields. Now its master wanted to butcher it so he could eat his meat. The buffalo too agreed with the wolf. The wolf grinned and felt even more justified in his request to eat the scholar.

The last elder they presented their argument to was a wise, elderly farmer. The farmer was skeptical and didn’t believe that the wolf could fit into the bag. The wolf scoffed in arrogance and crawled back into the bag to prove his story. Right then, the old farmer tied up the bag and began to beat the wolf with his stick. The farmer bashed the wolf to an inch of his life then untied the bag, dragging the wolf out.

Seeing the pitiful wolf, the scholar thought that the old farmer was too cruel. Yet right then, a weeping woman came running towards them and screamed at the wolf, explaining how it dragged off her little boy. Mr Dongguo, now no longer pitying the wolf, picked up the stick and landed the final blow to the wolf’s head.

Credits to Lynn for the story.