Prevod

When Chen Zhongju was still a man of humble station, he often stayed at Huang Shen’s house. Just as Shen’s wife was giving birth, someone knocked at the gate, but no one in the household noticed. After a long while, a voice was heard inside the house saying, “There is a guest in the hall. We cannot enter.” Those at the gate said to one another, “We must go by the back door.” One of them went. Before long he returned, and the one who had stayed behind asked, “What is the child? What is his name? How many years is he to be allotted?” The other replied, “A boy. His name is Nu. He is to be allotted fifteen years.” “And how is he to die?” “By a blade.” Zhongju told the family, “I can tell from this child’s features that he is destined to die by a blade.” His parents were alarmed and would not let him hold even the smallest blade. When Nu was fifteen, someone left a chisel on a roof beam with its end sticking out. Taking it for a piece of wood, Nu reached up from below to hook it down. The chisel fell from the beam, pierced his skull, and killed him. Later, when Zhongju became governor of Yuzhang, he sent an official to bring gifts to Shen’s household and ask after Nu. The family gave a full account of what had happened. On hearing it, Zhongju sighed and said, “This is what is meant by fate.”