| In the Jin Dynasty, there lived a man named Le Guang,
who had a bold and uninhabited character and was very
friendly. One day Le Guang sent for one of his close friends
since the friend had not turned out for long.
At the first sight of his friend, Le Guang realized
that something must have happened to his friend for
his friend has no peace of mind all the time. So he
asked his friend what was the matter. "It was all
because of that banquet held at your home. At the banquet,
you proposed a toast to me and just when we raised the
glasses, I noticed that there was a little snake lying
in the wine and I felt particularly sick. Since then,
I lay in bed unable to do anything."
Le Guang was very puzzled at the matter. He looked
around and then saw a bow with a painted snake hung
on the wall of his room.
So Le Guang laid the table at the original place and
asked his friend again to have a drink. When the glass
was filled with wine, he pointed to the shade of the
bow in the glass and asked his friend to see. His friend
observed nervously, "Well, well, that is what I
saw last time. It is the same snake." Le Guang
laughed and took off the bow on the wall. "Could
you see the snake any more?" he asked. His friend
was surprised to find that the snake was no longer in
the wine. Since the whole truth had come out, his friend
recovered from his prolonged illness right away.
For thousands of years the story has been told to advise
people not to be too suspicious unnecessarily.
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