Long ago, a son was born to a rich man. So he grew up under comfortable circumstances. But when his father died, the family fell on evil times, and they gradually declined into poverty. As a result, he reached the age of 30 still unmarried. But he was most honest and dutiful to his mother, and so was held in high repute among the villagers.

When he came home from work one evening, he found his mother seriously ill. He stayed at home to nurse her and provided all the medicines he could get, but none of them had any effect. Then one day he heard from the villagers that there was a famous doctor living in Unbong. Unfortunately, he had no relatives whom he could send for the doctor, nor could he leave his sick mother to go and consult him himself. He did not have enough money, in any case, to pay the expenses that would be incurred, and so, in despair, he wept by his mother’s sickbed.

One day his mother said with a sigh, ‘I would very much like to be treated by the noted doctor in Unbong at least once before I die.’ Her son decided that he must go and consult the doctor. He borrowed money from one of the neighbors, pledging his wages in advance, and left his home, first asking one of the villagers to do him the favor of looking after his mother while he was away. He crossed over the steep pass of Zi Ze and reached Unbong just as night was falling. He saw the doctor at once, and was given some medicine. Without stopping to rest, he turned and set out for home, carrying the box of medicine on his back.

When he reached the pass, he found a merchant grappling with a tiger. When the merchant saw the young man, he shouted for help. With his concern for his mother uppermost in his mind, the young man at first thought of passing by and ignoring the merchant. But, on reflection, he felt that he had to help the man fighting for his life. So he went up to the tiger from behind and tried to kill it. The merchant said, ‘You hold the tiger, and I will tear its eyes out.’ So the young man put his bag on the ground and gripped the tiger tightly with his arms. Thereupon, the man let go of the tiger and made no attempt to tear out the tiger’s eyes. Instead, he ran away, taking the poor son’s medicine bag with him.

Thus the merchant cheated him, and even robbed him of the medicine that might have cured his mother’s illness. But he had to keep his grip on the tiger, for if he relaxed for a moment, he would have been eaten. When he thought of his mother sick in bed and waiting anxiously for his return, he went almost mad in his despair. His bones grew cold, and his hair stood stiff on end. Chills ran up and down his spine, and his body was covered in goose flesh. In the end, he fell down in a faint.