Tales Real and Imaginary
(13) Now I Can Tell
Sun Heng (孫衡) was a famous scholar for pragmatic practice in the Song Dynasty. He was also remembered as a man of humour.
One day, he was strolling along a road leading to a temple, when he was stopped by a passerby. The man asked: “Sir, How long would it take to reach the Temple of Benevolence?”
Sun Heng gave no reply but gazed at the passerby’s feet.
The passerby was a bit annoyed. He walked on, regretting he had asked such a strange impolite man.
But, a few steps later, he heard a call saying: “It will take you a full hour to get there.”
He was now bewildered. Looking back he saw the gentleman was looking his way, surely directing the remark to him.
He shouted back: “Why didn’t you reply me when I asked you before?”
Sun Heng replied with a smile: “I was waiting to see how fast you walk. Now I know. I hope my answer is not too late for you.”
The passerby was amused. He thanked Sun Heng and continued his way, muttering: “May be the Buddha likes it this way, that people are different doing things.”
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Note: This is a narration from a passage in the book 《趣聞述集》 It tells us that there are pragmatists who do things exactly. Their behavior may seem strange. But they insist on being correct with what they do.