Short Pieces

By Chen Mei-yi Translated by Tang Yau-yang

Since 1986, Chen Mei-yi (陳美羿), a retired teacher and well-published author, has left her marks on the written history of Tzu Chi, directly through her own writing and indirectly through that of her students. Over the years, “Teacher Mei-yi,” as she is fondly called in Tzu Chi, has taught many volunteers how to write, and many of them are still actively writing about the foundation. Here we have translated a few short pieces from her works for you. The accompanying artwork was done by Su Fang-pei (蘇芳霈).

Sometimes It Takes a Busybody

From the back seat of the taxi, I saw in the rearview mirror that the young driver was wearing a poker face. I tried to strike up a conversation with him. “It’s cooled down quite a bit recently,” I chirped. But he didn’t reply.

Just then a car raced past us, too close to our car. As it whizzed by, it hit and broke the side wing mirror on the taxi. Seeing the car speed away as if nothing had happened, my taxi driver floored the gas pedal in hot pursuit.

I tensed up and said to the driver, “When you get to him, just talk to him. Don’t get worked up and do anything rash.”

He ignored me and just sped ahead.

He caught up with the other car. The two men got out of the cars and had a few words before they got in their own cars again. Then they drove ahead. I figured that they were going to pull over to the side to talk again, but the offending car took off instead. My driver cursed and resumed his chase.

“I know you’re mad, but please be sure to keep it under control,” I said to him. “Master Cheng Yen once said that getting angry is like punishing ourselves for others’ mistakes.”

He threw me a glance in the rearview mirror.

I decided to continue to meddle in this affair between the two young men. “I hope you talk to him nicely. Just ask him to pay for the damage,” I said. “Don’t argue or fight with him. Big trouble often awaits those who lose their cool.”

The driver still said nothing in response. He kept on pursuing the other car. After a long while, he managed to force the other car to stop.

Both drivers got out of their cars. I saw them talking and gesticulating to each other. Then the other driver took some money out of his pocket and handed it to my taxi driver. After that they got into their respective cars and got going again. Good, a crisis averted.

When the taxi arrived at my home, I took out 150 NT dollars (US$30) to pay the fare, but the driver refused to accept it.

“I’m sorry that it took me so much time to get you here,” he said to me. “Furthermore, if it hadn’t been for your advice to keep calm, I could have gotten into a fistfight with him.”

“Oh by all means, you shouldn’t have done that. Otherwise you would have had to pay for it,” I said.

“Right. That would have been a big waste of time, not to mention that I might even have had to go to the police station to make a statement. And if there had been any injuries, I would have had to go to the hospital,” he said. He still looked cool, but he had become more talkative. “You said getting angry is like punishing ourselves for others’ mistakes. That’s well said. Thanks!”

With my money in hand, I watched him drive away, feeling very happy. It’s sometimes nice to be a busybody.

The Old Woman Who Picks Up Dog Pooh

Early every morning, she leaves her home with plastic bags in one hand and a wet towel in the other.

Despite a head of gray hair, she is still quite nimble. Maybe her daily morning “exercise” explains her vigor.

Her exercise is nothing if not unique. “She picks up dog pooh in the neighborhood every day,” a neighbor said. “And then she uses a wet towel to wipe the ground clean. Her spirit is admirable.”

Dog owners need to walk their dogs. As the dogs walk, they leave their waste products behind whenever and wherever they want. They don’t use a toilet like humans. It is entirely up to their owners to pick up after them, a duty discharged thoroughly by many dog owners. Some owners, however, totally ignore this responsibility of theirs. Stray dogs, of which Taiwan has its fair share, only exacerbate the situation.

Nobody takes pleasure in stepping on dog shit; some curse out loud when they do. You can even slip and get hurt. A retired Japanese man who came to Taiwan for an extended stay once said of the town he stayed in, “There’s too much dog waste in Puli [in central Taiwan].” His comment caused quite a sensation and, as can be expected, some residents there felt offended.

Dog droppings are avoided by all. When you see them, you most probably give them a wide berth. This old woman in Sanchong, northern Taiwan, however, makes it a morning routine to patrol her neighborhood streets looking for dog waste. When she sees a pile, she puts her hand inside a plastic bag, picks the pile up, and drops it into a bigger plastic bag. Then she uses the wet towel to wipe the ground clean.

I saw her story on a video clip shown in a Tzu Chi year-end blessing ceremony. She was just identified as Ms. Wu—no other personal information was revealed about her. The film showed that after her rounds, she took the wet towel home and washed it. “A Tzu Chi recycling volunteer gave this to me,” she said of the towel. “It doesn’t stink after I wash it, and then I can use it again.”

The clip lasted just a few short minutes. There were no flashy displays or gimmicks—the film simply followed the woman around as she walked the streets, picked up dog waste, and wiped the road. Then the camera zoomed in on her wrinkled, smiling face when she said, “I enjoy doing this. That makes the foul smell go away and makes the work easy.”

Buddhists aspire to be reborn in a Pure Land after they die, but we can actually create our own Pure Land in this very world. If all people were like Ms. Wu, this not-so-perfect world of ours would indeed be a Pure Land.

Watermelon Fields on the Border

Master Cheng Yen once told a story.

In the Spring and Autumn period in ancient China, from approximately 771 to 476 bce, the two states of Chu and Liang shared a border. The climate and soil in the areas on either side of the border were hospitable for growing watermelons, so many people in both places cultivated the crop for a living.

The people in Liang were industrious. They weeded, watered, fertilized, and did all that good farmers would do. As a result, their watermelons grew extremely well and they always had bumper harvests. On the other side of the border, however, the people of Chu were indolent, so their harvests were often poor.

When they saw the ripe, juicy, sweet watermelons across the border, the Chus became envious. They crossed the line into Liang in the middle of the night and vandalized the fields and fruit there. The Liangs were furious when they found out what had happened. They reported the incident to their county magistrate, Wu Jiu (吳就), and demanded revenge.

Wu was very wise, though. He said to his people, “An eye for an eye only leads to an endless cycle of antagonism. Let me tell you a better way. You just do as I say, and they’ll quit coming to destroy your fields. ”

Wu told his people to cross the border into Chu, also in the middle of the night, to water, fertilize, and do whatever else they would do to their own farms at home. He also told them to keep the whole thing under wraps and not let the Chus know.

Under the care of the Liangs, the watermelons in Chu grew to be plump and juicy. The people in Chu were befuddled. What had happened? They launched an investigation and found that their fruit was growing so well because the Liangs had been doing the unthinkable by actually helping them. When the truth came to light, the Chus were embarrassed.

The ruler of Chu was touched when he heard the news. He sent a worthy gift to his opposite number in Liang. Relations between the two states became friendly, and there was never another border dispute between them.

Magistrate Wu’s solution may at first glance have appeared outrageous and ridiculous to the uninitiated among us, but it turned out to be a brilliant strategy, the best of the best. Large-heartedness can thoroughly dissolve animosity, while any thought of resentment or revenge only leads to more of the same and to a never-ending cycle of tension—the worst of the worst.

Wu Jiu’s wisdom still applies now as it did then. What a wise man he was. There is much that we can learn from him.