The man made of mud replied:

Meng Chang Jun was a famous counsellor of the State of Qi.

The wooden puppet said to the mud man:

"Once when I was passing the Zi River, I heard in my dream a man made of mud talking with a wooden puppet by the river bank.

One day, he wanted to leave his native country to be an official in the State of Qin. His subordinates all advised him not to go, but Meng Chang Jun wouldn't listen to them. At this time, a man told him such a story.

`You were formerly a lump of earth, now made into a man of mud. But if it rains and the water in the river rises, you will surely be damaged by the water.'

After Meng Chang Jun heard this story of the conversation between the mud man and the wooden puppet, he changed his mind and decided not to go to the State of Qin.

`If I were damaged by the water, I would not be afraid, but would only return to my original state and dissolve into earth. But you? You were carved from the peach tree in the garden. If it rains heavily and the water in the river rises, you will be in no position to decide for yourself and can only float away with the river current. Since you cannot decide for yourself, then you will never be able to return to your original place."'