Thorough Comprehension of Life (11)

1 Dongye Ji was famous for his horsemanship.

2 Once, the Duke Zhuang of Lu invited him to perform his horsemanship in the palace. Dongye Ji’s horse marched and backed in a singular line. Left and right circling was as round as the compasses did.

3 Duke Zhuang acclaimed for the horsemanship. He said, “The line of embroidering is no straighter than it.”

4 To please all audiences, the duke asked him to circle another one hundred times. When Dongye Ji rode his horse to circle, Yan He entered into the duke’s camp and told him, “Dongye Ji will make a mistake soon, I think.”

5 Ignoring Yan He, Duke Zhuang kept talking about Dongye Ji’s horsemanship with his ministers. After a while Dongye Ji’s horse made a mistake to run out of the original trace. Reminding the prediction by Yan He, Duke Zhuang turned to ask Yan He, “How do you know that he will make a mistake?”

6 Yan He answered, “Even the best horse, if it fatigues after constant riding, its attention will reduce. I saw his horse appearing exhaustion, so I predicted that it would make a mistake. That’s all.”