Zun - The Long Day

The greedy landlord Tsung was famous throughout the province for his wealth. His income grew with each passing day, but the rich always want more. Often, sleep would evade the greedy Tsung at night. Tossing and turning on his featherbed, the landlord would spend all night thinking about how to become even richer.

One day, as Tsung finally fell asleep at dawn, he had a dream: it was as if he had found a way to lengthen the day by a full six hours.

When Tsung woke up, he began to pray to the Heavenly Emperor to extend the day. He rejoiced in advance: after all, then his laborers would work for him six hours more each day than they had before.

The peasants heard their landlord's plea and grew sad. And no wonder! They already worked in Tsung's fields for no less than twenty hours a day. And Tsung wouldn't let them straighten their backs. Whenever one of the laborers wanted to rest, Tsung would shout:

"Work, you lazybones! You'll rest when the time comes!"

That's why the peasants were so frightened when they learned of Tsung's prayer. They feared that the gods might hear the landlord's request and grant it. After all, it's well known that the gods are always on friendly terms with the rich.

And so, one evening, a monk approached Tsung's estate. When Tsung was informed of his arrival, the landlord hurried to meet him. He ordered that the guest be fed and comfortably accommodated for the night. Tsung cared for the visitor because he had heard about the monks' ability to perform miracles.

In the morning, as soon as the monk woke up, Tsung entered and said:

"For many days and nights, I have been praying to the gods for a miracle. Can you, honorable man, help me?"

And he told the monk about his wish. To this, the monk replied:

"The gods have heard your prayer. Now everything depends on you. There will be as many hours in a day as you can work without rest in the field."

Tsung was overjoyed:

"If the hungry laborers can work for me twenty hours a day, then surely I can work for myself for thirty hours just once. And then there will be thirty hours in a day, and I will become the richest man in the world."

That's what the greedy landlord thought.

The sun had not yet risen, but Tsung was already in the field where the peanuts grew, digging them up. The monk followed him. For the first hour, Tsung worked briskly and cheerfully. By the second hour, he began to tire and decided to rest for just a minute. But the monk scolded him:

"Work, you lazybones! You'll rest when the time comes!"

And the rich man, breathing heavily, continued his work. By the time the sun rose, Tsung was already drenched in sweat.

He didn't even notice that all his laborers had stopped working and were watching to see how the landlord's scheme would end. And truly, not everyone is fortunate enough to see a rich man toil in their lifetime.

Tsung wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and wanted to ask the monk how many hours he had worked, but he was too exhausted to speak.

And the monk kept shouting:

"Work, you lazybones! Look at the shadow: you haven't even worked three hours yet."

The landlord swung his hoe a couple more times—and then his legs began to buckle. It seemed as if all his strength had drained into the ground. Tsung collapsed from exhaustion, but even then, his greed prevailed. He no longer had the strength to hold the hoe, so he began to dig with his hands. Tsung scraped his hands until they bled, and finally, in a faint voice, he asked:

"How long have I been working?"

And the monk replied:

"It will be noon in four hours."

At these words, the landlord lost consciousness.

They carried Tsung on a stretcher back to the estate. Needless to say, no one worked in his fields that day. And the monk disappeared somewhere. Many of the laborers said that there had been no monk at all. That one of the peasants had simply disguised himself as a monk and taught the greedy Tsung a lesson.

And after that incident, whenever the landlord walked down the street, everyone would mockingly say after him:

"There goes Tsung—Long Day!"

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Zun - The Long Day

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