Trapped by the clam, both he and the sandpiper are paralyzed without the other's help.

“You first,” insisted the sandpiper.

“You first,” argued the clam.

They bickered, argued, and would not let go.  Both hung on tightly.

“You big-mouth no-good clam!  If it doesn’t rain today or tomorrow you will dry up and die,” the sandpiper ranted.

“You long-legged sandpiper, if I don’t let you go, you can’t fly away.  One day, two days, and then you will starve to death,” the clam raved.

Time went by and the sun crossed the sky from east to west; they remained locked to each other on the beach and neither one would give in.

A returning fisherman went past the beach and saw the two creatures tightly bound together.  The fisherman stretched out his arm and caught both the clam and the sandpiper in one taking.

“What a bountiful catch!” he exclaimed.  “Two in one haul with no effort on my part at all!  How lucky I am today!”

Ho’s Jade

In the state of Chu there lived a man named Ho.  One day when he was on the Chu Mountain he happened to find a beautiful stone.  The more he looked at the stone the more he believed that he had found a piece of magnificent jade.  With a great effort he was able to take the stone home.

Ho was not a selfish man.  “Only King Li deserves such a lovely jade,” he thought.  “The king’s skilled craftsman can carve this stone into an exquisite jade piece, and his palace will be enhanced by it.”  Ho therefore carted the stone to the palace gate and presented it to the king.

King Li immediately sent for his jade carver to examine the stone.