In 231 AD during the Three Kingdoms period,a woodcutter trekked into the hills for firewood.

One Mid-autumn day at dawn,There were misty clouds,and morning fog all around.

The woodcutter got lost halfway,Deep in the trees and flowers.He spotted two or three huts.

The woodcutter wondered:Throughout more than a decade as a hermit here,He had met a total of seven to eight guests.But had never heard about someone else living in the mountains.

“Is someone there?”

He entered the courtyard,And saw wild grass,heavy dirt,and flling leaves all over.

He entered the rooms,And was shocked to find,the tables very clean,the beds neat and tidy,the candles still lit and ink not dried.

He looked at the handwriting,He could feel the vigor and strength in the strokes,An indeed scholarly calligraphy.

He looked around the house,And noticed the burnt incense,which seems to come from some pious sage.

Seeing this, he recited a poem:“A woodcutter walked past a hill,but the house owner here was not found. In such a big world we dwell in,We are destined to meet someday."

Before dusk the woodcutter headed home with his firewood,There was dusk fog again in the trees,and misty clouds all over again.

A while later,He dropped by the same place,asking if the owner was back.and walked to the souther room,only to find the incense still burning,candles lit,but still no one there.He was deeply puzzled,and did not know why.

Back home,His wife had prepared dinner.But because of all the happenings,the woodcutter was not in the mood.

Early in the morning,The woodcutter came here for the third time.

He entered the courtyard.went to the southern room.Wild wind blowing through the weeds,Incense was burning and candles still lit.But stil with no one there.

“I am a woodcutter down the hill,not some thieves or bandits,so don't worry."

His virtuous wife,noticed his bad mood,and asked him why,So the woodcutter told her everything.His wife said:“When ruler Liubei visited politician and military strategist Zhuge Liang,He bathed himself, perfumed with incense and dressed formally. Though my husband is an ordinary folk,Good manners are still the most important.”

“i'm a vulgar folk down the hill.Sorry to have offended you.I'm here to apologize.Hope you don't mind."

A breeze happened to blow open the wooden door behind him,woodcutter entered the room.

“If you are at home,sir, don't bother to show up.”
“I'm leaving in a minute."

Before he left, he took the incense from the table, lit it and placed it in the censer like a pious saint.

But the woodcutter was so tired that he rested softly on the straw mat for a whlie. then he fell asleep.

In 231 AD during the Three Kingdoms period,a woodcutter trekked into the hills.got lost halfway,And never came back.His wife looked for him day after day,but could not find him.

Three years later,she married someone else.People asked her:where is your husband, the woodcutter?Reciting a poem, she said:He should be in the mountains,But deep in the trees and clouds, somewhere I don't know.

8.5/10