The Illusion of Preparedness

 

One day, a stork moved its nest from a mound outside the city gate to a pillar at the entrance of a graveyard. The keeper of the yard noticed this and hurried to inform Ziyou, a local official of Wucheng.

“Storks always know when rain is coming,” the keeper said. “Now that it has moved its nest, there must be a flood on the way.”

“You’re right,” Ziyou agreed. He immediately ordered the townspeople to prepare boats.

A few days later, heavy rain poured down, and the river swelled, flooding the mound where the stork had once lived. The downpour continued relentlessly, and soon, even the pillar—along with the nest perched upon it—was nearly submerged.

The stork circled above its drowning nest, crying out in distress, unsure where to go next.

“How tragic!” Ziyou sighed. “Though the stork is wise, its foresight is still limited.”