When the Qi king heard of it, he was seized with fright and, summoning his court officers, said to them, “If any of you can come up with a brilliant plan, let me make use of it.” The erudite Chunyu Kun 145 threw his head back and laughed heartily but made no reply.
The king repeated his request three times but each time was met by a laugh from Chunyu Kun. Displeased, and with anger in his face, the king said, “Are you making fun of my words?” “I would never dare to make fun of Your Majesty’s words,” said Chunyu Kun. “I am rather laughing at the way my neighbor prays to the god of his fields.
Offering a box of rice, a pot of wine, and three minnows, he prays like this: “May my high and arid fields be suitable for wheat, and may I obtain a hundred cartloads of grain from my low and humid fields; and may all my descendants enjoy plenty.
I was laughing because his offerings to the spirit were so meager, and what he asked for was so great.