In the Qing Dynasty, an official tried to help his daughter escape her fate after he hired a well-known Chinese fortune-teller to reveal his daughter’s fortune. “She faces an early death,” said the fortune-teller. “A tiger will kill her.” He even stated the year her fate would happen.
“My daughter lives in a very secure place!” said the official, as he burst out laughing. “Many people live in my large complex community. She barely goes out; how could a tiger possibly get near her? You are absurd!”
Although the official dismissed the fortune-teller, he was still anxious. When the year of his daughter’s impending death arrived, he put her on the top floor of a tall building to protect her from any tigers. The door to the building was always kept locked and everything that his daughter needed was tied to a rope and sent up to her window. In her father’s mind, there was no way a tiger could get into the tall building even if it managed to run into the complex. His daughter was safe, as far as he was concerned.
Chinese fortune sticks. (Image: Supoj Buranaprapapong via Dreamstime)
No one can escape their fate
But during those long days locked up in the building, the girl got restless. There happened to be a tiger skin stored up there, among many other old objects and decorations. One day when she was particularly bored, she played with the tiger’s whiskers and one cut her finger. The wound soon became infected, and the infection spread. She became ill and died.
The fortune-teller foretold her death. The preventative measures the father took actually led to his daughter’s death. The lesson to be learned is that one cannot escape his or her fate; it is what it is.
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