Page:Chinese Merry Tales (1909).djvu/72

Chinese Merry Tales mandarin. At the gates of the city they saw a man with a bamboo pole trying to pass the gate. Holding it vertically, the gate was too low; horizontally, it was not wide enough. After making several attempts, he failed to enter. The underlings said: "This is another stupid worm; we will take him along. There is one more whom we cannot find anywhere. We can only take these two along and ask for more time to catch the third." They were brought before the magistrate, who asked the one that rode on horseback: "Did you place a package on your head to relieve the horse? You may be regarded as a stupid worm." Then he asked the one with the bamboo pole: "Did you carry a bamboo pole to pass the gate? When you held it straight up, the gate was too low; crosswise, it was not wide enough. Why did you not use a saw and saw it in two? Then you could enter the gate."

When the underlings heard this, they hastily knelt down and addressed the mandarin thus: "We have found the third stupid worm." They were asked: "Who is he?" They replied: "Wait till your successor arrives; we will know whom to arrest."