Once upon a time, there lived a mother and her son named He at the foot of Mount Yunu in the Songshan Mountains. The son who was named Shouhu was extremely intelligent and from the time he learned to read was always a great scholar.
He passed the county level imperial examination at the age of 19 and became a Xiucai. The other villagers were very happy and they implored him, “Shouhu, work hard and you may pass the provincial level imperial exams .” Shouhu agreed and he redoubled his eff orts at his studies. The other villagers helped him and his mother out bringing food and clothes for them, and some even helping them to farm their land. They hoped that Shouhu would gain success in the imperial exams and bring great honor to their village.
Inspired by their encouragement, Shouhu did not leave his house for 300 days. After the Spring Festival, he went to the provincial capital to participate in the imperial exams . When the results were announced, amazingly, Shouhu, a simple mountain peasant, had won the first place – an honored position known as Xieyuan.
At that time the local provincial magistrate was planning to select a husband for his daughter. On the day when the results of the provincial imperial examination were posted, he asked an intermediary to approach Shouhu about marrying his daughter. The family and neighbors of Shouhu were very happy. For them it was a double happiness after Shouhu’s success in the exams.
Several days later, the magistrate threw a banquet to celebrate the impending marriage.
When he first caught sight of He Shouhu, the magistrate was very disappointed. Shouhu had many wrinkles on his face and was as thin as a rake. He looked over 40 years old. The magistrate felt that such a person was not an appropriate son-in-law. But what was done was done he thought to himself. He would have to put up with it. At least, he comforted himself Shouhu was a successful candidate in the provincial imperial examinations.
At the banquet, all the guests including the prefecture leader and county officials proposed a toast to the bridegroom. He Shouhu was a poor peasant. He had never seen such a scene and was unsure how he should respond. After drinking several cups of wine, he began to sweat and so took off his hat, revealing a head of grey almost white hair. The guests began to mutter to one another saying, “Look, the son-in-law of the magistrate is an old man?” The magistrate couldn’t take it any more. He thought that Shouhu had cheated him. He flew into a rage and shouted in front of everyone, “This old man has concealed his age. Drive him out of my mansion.” Shouhu was unceremoniously thrown out of his own betrothal banquet.
He had been such a diligent scholar and had focused so much on his studies that he had neglected to take care of his body. He hardly washed and never looked in the mirror. Now he borrowed a copper mirror and was horrified at his white-headed and very thin appearance. He was greatly shocked and saddened. What was the point of the scholarly life he thought if this is what it brings you. Surely it would be better to be a farmer.
