Meng Chang Jun, a renowned counsellor of the State of Qi, once considered leaving his homeland to serve as an official in the State of Qin. Despite his subordinates advising against it, he remained determined. At this point, a man told him a story.
"Once, while passing the Zi River, I dreamt of hearing a conversation between a man made of mud and a wooden puppet on the riverbank.
The wooden puppet said to the mud man: 'You were formerly a lump of earth, now shaped into a man of mud. If it rains and the river rises, you will surely be damaged by the water.'
The mud man replied: 'If I am damaged by water, I have no fear, for I would merely return to my original state and dissolve into earth. But you? You were carved from a peach tree in the garden. If heavy rain comes and the river swells, you will have no control over your fate; you can only float away with the current. Since you cannot decide for yourself, you will never be able to return to your original place.'"
After hearing this story of the mud man and the wooden puppet, Meng Chang Jun decided to change his mind and not go to the State of Qin.