¹When Gong-sin arrived at Nongbau Village, he found Sangjenim and several disciples resting at an inn.²Sangjenim had been sojourning there for three days while conducting a work of renewal.³Gong-sin entered the inn and said, “Excuse me, may I rest here a while?”

⁴“Certainly. If you seek rest, why not join us?” With this, Sangjenim ordered the proprietress, “Bring us another table of rice wine.”

⁵Gazing upon Sangjenim, Gong-sin saw that his round countenance radiated resplendence, and thus Gong-sin instantly knew him to be the Teacher.

⁶At that moment, Sangjenim was sitting on one side of the room with his disciples beside him, all of them drinking rice wine. Gong-sin listened as they conversed.⁷He noticed that all the older men used expressions of reverence before the younger Sangjenim who, in turn, spoke to them as if they were his juniors.⁸Gong-sin thought, “He must indeed be the Teacher, for the elderly men speak to him with reverence while he speaks to them informally.”

⁹Abruptly, Gong-sin went before Sangjenim, prostrated himself before Him, and announced, “I earnestly wish to become your disciple.”

¹⁰Instead of welcoming him, Sangjenim thundered, “You fool! What an insolent fool! You must be a follower of Eastern Learning through and through!”

¹¹Still prostrating himself, Gong-sin repeatedly begged to be a disciple, but Sangjenim remained silent. ¹²After a time, Sangjenim ordered another table brought out, drank a bowl of rice wine, and then had the proprietress fill the bowl for Gong-sin.

¹³Gong-sin protested, “How could I possibly accept this when it is I who should offer wine to you?”

¹⁴“Drink it, you fool, and then you can offer me two bowls of rice wine in return,” replied Sangjenim. ¹⁵Gong-sin considered this reasonable and drank the wine. From that day onward, Gong-sin, who was twenty-nine years of age, was allowed to follow Sangjenim.