5. He asked three of his followers to join him after a few days.
6. He told them to take care of
Margoton in the meantime.
7. He went to the city, and gorged on
8. He fell asleep in a garden.
9. When he woke up, he wrote a letter to
Yake Lakang
about a dream; and the first
went North.
10. The three followers went West.
11. They went through a desert.
12. They went over a thousand mountains.
13. They went along the River.
14. They came to the city of
15. They asked for their Master.
16. The city was so huge, they could never find him.
17. They asked a
and found out that the Master was not famous at all.
18. They opened a teahouse, serving mainly
in case he would care to come there; and the second
went into the vernal breeze.
19. The first follower, strolling in a garden, met an unknown lady.
20. Each morning, he journeyed in her company, to the realm of delusion.
21. He became one more lazybones in the City.
22. The second follower built some
23. In the morning, he went to various monasteries, to peddle his wonderful
machines.
24. The idle monks were grateful that he spared them the burdens
of their trade.
25. The third one served in the teahouse.
26. All day long, he served
27. All the people in the city came to him, and the third
went to a bunch of trees.
28. The three followers stayed in the city for a long time.
29. Unable to learn from the Master, they taught each other.
30. They wanted to have followers of their own.
31. But no people from the City, in case the Master would hear of it.
32. One spring evening, they went to the garden.
33. In great ceremony, they bowed to the horizon of
34. They listened to inner voices.
35. They selected nine Western
36. They instructed them, and the fourth
went away, and its gait made one think of the
37. The
acquired the Great Learning.
38. They got employment from the City Hall.
39. Everyone admired their faith in Cochonfucius.
40. But they were not sure about their role in transmitting the Learning.
41. One spring evening, they went to the garden.
42. Shall we, they said, proceed to some more admissions?.
43. Each of these
adopted one
44. This commemorated the loss of the
45. Each
had to establish one chapter of the Learning, and the fifth one went into the mist.
46. The fourth
had a gait that made one think of the
47. It spoke up.
48. It said the Learning would not benefit from recruiting new followers, as long
as the Master was absent.
49. And that a book is made of chapters.
50. And if one
makes a chapter, nine make a book.
51. It took a sheet of paper.
52. It asked its eight siblings to do the same.
53. Each
went into the teahouse.
54. They reappeared in the garden, each of them with a white sheet
and a bucket of black ink, and the sixth
went in the direction of the star Gaoxing.
55. The first
spoke of its cousin, who stole
56. It said how Cochonfucius had left his native country.
57. The second
told of desert, mountains and river.
58. They told of that huge maze of a city.
59. They drew its plan.
60. They drew each street and house, every branch on a tree.
61. One of them was a great perfectionist.
62. It was the fourth one, with a look that made one think of
63. It thought about writing this book, and looked at its partner, the seventh,
going away with a hell of a noise.
64. The fourth
described the recruiting rite.
65. It described the garden.
66. It explained about honorific ranks, from "First" to "Ninth" inclusively.
67. It explained that recruiting is pointless, when the Master is not here.
68. And that a book is made of chapters.
69. And that each
can take care of a chapter, even if it looks like the
70. They put the written sheets to dry in the garden.
71. At the four corners of each sheet, they put a large stone.
72. The eighth
went on to new adventures.
73. A rooster crowed in the garden.
74. The last
was standing on the wall.
75. Quickly, the rooster went near it.
76. The last
went cautiously away.
77. The three followers came to the garden.
78. At the gate, a drifter begged for some bread.
79. "Please note this", he said. "This city is huge, and once you get lost..."
80. They recognized the voice of their Master.
81. The three guys could not believe it, that their followers
had gone away, that their Master was back, that it was all written in this
book, very similar to the Canon of Reason and Virtue.
