Yie Chien Wu

Be careful in what you wish for

Yie Chien Wu was an only child from a poor family in Pang Ho. His clothes were scant and his shoes worn to threads as fine as butterflies wings. Different from the other boys and their families, he sat a forlorn figure at the back of class, alone with his indifference. Often taunted and bullied, Yie Chien Wu sought solace and comfort away from the glare of ignorance and intolerance under the shade of his favourite wanga tree. Feeding from his meagre provisions, Yie Chien Wu would sit and watch those around him gorge on racks of lamb and revel in their asparagus sprigs and minted dips.

Yie Chien Wu was of pure heart and innocence; his virtue overflowed in abundance. Each night before slumber heavied, Yie Chien Wu would pray to the Four Directional Winds of Good Fortune to blow his way and rid him and his family of their lot. One day after school, wallowing in his thoughts and wishes, he strayed from the path back to Pang Ho and found himself lost in the Forgotten Forest of Potential Futures. Mist began to settle. Cold and frightened, he followed a dimly lit opening towards the stream. In the distance, the figure of an old man fishing at the brook came into view. As Yie Chien Wu got closer he could see that his robes were of the finest silk and his hair was as wild as that of an ox.

Your name is Yie Chien Wu, said the old man. How do you know my name? replied Yie Chien Wu. The Celestial Ancestors had spoken of a day when a young boy with pure heart but heavy mind would come seeking elevation from his woes and the answers to lifes injustices. Its true, old man, replied Yie Chien Wu. I long to be the same as the other boys and their families. You long to be like the others, with their shoes made of goat and their stomachs full of flesh. You believe these things will grant you happiness? asked the old man.

Those of which you speak are happy only in their foolish misguidedness. Their happiness is one derived and driven by delusion. If you attain and value these things above all else in the belief it will bring you and your family happiness, your heart will be tainted and your path to true enlightenment will be wayward and fraught with obstacles. This is not the way. It is written by the Great Sages that some people will find satisfaction in good food and fine clothes, money and status. When these objects are attained they are not satisfied. It is better to remain silent and truthful to oneself, not being bound by custom and social convention. Let yourself grow naturally. Your mode of living has its own place in the universe. If you try and change your way of life, you will upset the balance of things and the order of the universe will be disturbed. All things have their place in the universe. They fulfil their function in simply being what they are. You are Yie Chien Wu. If you take this wisdom and gain understanding from it, your path to attainment will be natural and unhindered. If you do not, calamity will follow and you will forever be lost.

In an instant, the mist of the forest swirled and entwined Yie Chien Wu until his vision was obscured in a heavy white cloud of blindness. Then suddenly, as quickly as the mist had descended, it vanished. Yie Chien Wu now found himself standing at the door of his parents house in Pang Ho.

That night having listened to the words of the old man, Yie Chien Wu began to sew himself a costume and set sail for the Land of Plenty, where he would try his luck as a WWE wrestler.

On his raft made of pinecones and sugar twine, Yie Chien Wu crossed the treacherous Sea of Misforgiving. Six days passed and the Land of Plenty neared the horizon. As Yien Chien Wu approached, he could see that waiting upon the shore was a chauffer-driven limousine. It was as sleek as any chariot he had ever seen. It stood proudly before him glistening like a freshly opened tin of peach halves. Yie Chien Wu clambered inside and was taken aback by the luxuriousness of the tanned leather furnishings. The limousine was to carry Yie Chien Wu to the bright lights of the big city where an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno beckoned. Yie Chien Wu stood anxiously in the wings as the big announcement was made: From Pang Ho! Ladies and Gentlemen! Yie Chien Wu! The rousing reception that greeted Yie Chien Wu overwhelmed him with feelings of popularity and immense significance. The captive audience listened with eager ears and baited breath, as Yie Chien Wu impressed them with his new found confidence and enthusiasm for wealth and success.

Overnight, Yie Chien Wu had become the talk of the town. Money and status quickly followed. This filled Yie Chien Wu with a sense of brighter and greater tomorrows. Yie Chien Wu began shopping at Bloomingdales and receiving invites to the most expensive and exclusive restaurants in the city, socialising with people of great importance and notability such as Danny DeVito and Cissy Spacek. But Yien Chien Wu was beginning to tread a delicate path in the expensive Italian shoes that now adorned his feet.

The following morning was the day of Yie Chien Wus fight. His challenge was against one of the lands mightiest warriors: The Block. That evening, multitudes gathered from far and wide. The arena seethed and bubbled with excited anticipation. Yie Chien Wu! Yie Chien Wu!, they cried. The bell rang out and Yie Chien Wu moved cautiously towards his opponent, like a cat on roller skates. The Block, quick to attack, put Yie Chien Wu in a crippling broadside-camel clutch followed by a devastating reverse angled monkey check off the ropes. Yie Chien Wu was killed.

A week passed and Yie Chien Wus family received news of their sons death back in Pang Ho. The pair of expensive Italian shoes Yie Chien Wu had worn with such pride and joy during his short spell in WWE were passed on to his father, but were of no use he had just lost both his feet that afternoon in a wheat sheafing accident.

Many generations passed, and the memory of Yie Chien Wu began to fade, the remnants of his tale existing solely as a late night fable. The villagers of Pang Ho would often speak of a distant forest where a young boy with potential, pure heart and innocence once entered, seeking elevation from his woes and the answers to lifes injustices, but never returned. Many people since had found and entered the forest. Some returned; others did not. Those that did return told of seeing a pair of expensive Italian leatherwares near a brook. The likes of which, they never really attached much importance to.