Playing the Lute to a Cow

Gong Mingyi was a famous musician in ancient times, who played the lute very well.

    One day, while playing the lute indoors, Gong Mingyi saw a cow eating grass leisurely outside the window. He had a sudden whim to play some melodies for the cow. He first played the "Exercise of Qing Jiao", but the cow still kept on eating grass with head lowered. He seemed to realize that the melody was too highbrow for the cow to understand.

    So he played several other melodies, imitating the buzzing sounds of swarms of flying mosquitoes, and the bleats of a calf looking for its companions. At this, to his surprise, the cow stopped eating grass, but raised its head, pricked up its ears, wagged its tail and, pacing up and down in small steps, began to listen attentively.

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