Once, Bin Meng was on an outing in the suburbs. He was surprised to see a rooster pulling out its own tail feathers and asked his attendant why it was doing so.
The attendant replied, "It fears that people will kill it for sacrifice because they admire its feathers."
Hearing this, Bin Meng hurried back to the palace and recounted the story to King Zhou Jingwang. He advised, "Even a rooster knows it should discard its beautiful feathers to avoid fatal disaster, let alone a person. For the safety of the state, Your Majesty should remove the 'black sheep' from the government as soon as possible."
Bin Meng was alluding to two rival factions at court, each supporting one of the king's two sons. He wished to persuade the king to resolve this hidden danger but deemed it unwise to speak directly, so he used this allegory. However, the king failed to grasp the message, and soon had to face the bitter consequences.