◎ Nancun Chuogenglu by Tao Zongyi
It was said that a bird called the winter-wailing bird lived in Mount Wutai.
The bird had very beautiful, colorful feathers every hot summer. What he did all day long was to sing once and again, “Aha! The phoenix is inferior to me! The phoenix is inferior to me!” Other birds were busy making nests, but he kept singing without stopping.
When autumn came, it started to become cool, but he was still boasting his beautiful feathers, while other birds were building homes on a tight schedule. Other birds advised him, “Winter is coming. You better make a nest now otherwise you will freeze to death if it snows.”
The bird answered, “It does not matter, take it easy, and I will do it tomorrow.” He said “tomorrow” today, and also said “tomorrow” the day after tomorrow.
Soon winter came, but he had not built his nest yet. His beautiful feathers fell off gradually, and he became naked in the cold winter. When the cold winter came, he was trembling from the frost and could not sing clearly to change “the phoenix is inferior to me” to “drift along”.
One day, a severe wind came, and it snowed a heavy snow. The winter-wailing bird died the next day.
