Once upon a time, in China, there lived a musician named Gongming Yi. He played all the musical instruments, especially the lute very well. One day when Gongming Yi was unwinding himself in the countryside, he saw a cow grazing in a field. He thought, ‘Everybody loves my music. Why don’t I play some music for this cow?’ He set the lute, plucked the strings and started playing quaint music for the cow. But the cow did not pay any attention to the music and kept grazing. Gongming Yi thought, ‘Maybe the cow doesn’t like this one.’
Then he played another joyful music, but the cow still kept grazing. Gongming Yi kept changing songs, but the cow was totally indifferent. He felt disappointed and started questioning his abilities. At the end, the cow wandered away after it was well fed. A passerby said, “It’s not because your music is bad. It is because the cow can’t understand music at all.” Gongming Yi felt relieved and went home.
