Sanje o treh žitnih klasih

Besedilo

Sanje o treh žitnih klasih

Cai Mao of the Han dynasty, whose courtesy name was Zili, was a native of Huai in Henei. While serving in Guanghan early in his career, he dreamed that he was sitting in a great hall, with three ears of grain upon its ridgepole. He reached for them and took the middle ear, only to lose it again. He asked his chief clerk, Guo He, what this meant. Guo He replied, “The great hall represents a government office. Grain upon the ridgepole signifies the highest emoluments a subject can receive. Taking the middle ear is a sign of the central seat among the Three Excellencies. As for the written characters, ‘grain’ (禾) and ‘lose’ (失) together form ‘official rank’ (秩). Though you speak of losing it, that very loss signifies your emoluments. A high ministerial post now stands vacant; surely you will be appointed to fill it.” Within a month, Cai Mao was summoned to court.