There was an archer named Geng Ying in the State of Wei. He went sightseeing with the King of Wei at Jingtai. At that time a bird was circling around in the sky, uttering sad and shrill cries now and then. The King of Wei looked up at it for a while and said to Geng Ying:

"Do you see that bird? Can you shoot it down?"

"I can shoot it down without using an arrow," Geng Ying said.

The King of Wei said in surprise:

After a while, the bird flew near. Geng Ying pulled his bow to the full, plucked the bowstring, and at the sound the bird fell to the ground before their feet.

"You can shoot down a bird without an arrow. Your skill in archery is really wonderful."

"Your Majesty, this is not due to my good skill, but because this is a bird of bad luck. You can hear how sadly and shrilly it wailed, and see how tiredly it flew. It was already wounded, and for a long time could not find its companion. Therefore it couldn't stand the least fright. As soon as I twanged my bow, it thought it had been shot and fell down of its own accord from the sky. What a pitiful bird frightened by the mere twang of a bowstring!"

Geng Ying said: