I once read a story about a donkey. Blind-folded and with a heavy yoke on its shoulder, it turned a millstone day in and day out. As the donkey walked in circles, it chewed on straw from a basket covering its mouth. No one was driving  the donkey -- it just kept eating and walking in circles until its death.

This story reminds me of our lives here on earth. In many ways, we are just like that donkey. We too are carrying a heavy yoke just to make a living. We eat, drink and labor at the millstone day in and day out until we are old and dying, but we still do not know what life is all about. 

Among my old friends, Hong was the last one to decide to give up his tenure in the government to go out on his own amidst the great economic boom. About twenty years ago, he graduated from a famous university majoring in finance and economics. With his analytic skills and his mastery of financial laws and management, he gradually became one of the foremost experts in his field.

Koo was Hong's best friend in college. They both loved ball games and foreign literature. In fact, Hong was the matchmaker for Koo's marriage. Koo's beautiful wife was Hong's old classmate. Later, Koo left China for Hong Kong and eventually became a successful businessman. Whenever Koo was in Shanghai for business, he would always get together with Hong. 

When the local government in Shanghai opened Pudong for development, Koo decided to grasp the opportunity to make a fortune. Along with two other investors from Hong Kong, Koo invited Hong to join his venture in real estate development. Meanwhile, Hong was concerned about the impending crisis facing his job. He complained that his boss had forced him to falsify profit to preserve the good name of his company. He worried that someday he would be sucked into that black hole.

Since Koo was his best friend and needed his expertise to make the venture successful, he felt obliged to help him. Besides, he could then also avoid the coming doom of his job. So he resigned and forsook the benefit of a two-bedroom house and the opportunity of becoming a certified senior accountant. He jumped into Koo's boat without reservation. 

The new company was established. Hong was appointed Vice President of the new company and the general manager of the Shanghai branch office. He was very excited about the future of the company. He told me in a letter that the company might become the first in the market to supply large quantities of houses for sale in the Pudong-Shanghai area. 

But things did not turn out as Hong expected. Before the company was established, Hong, together with two other senior managers, had a serious talk with Koo. Since they all had given up governmental employment and its benefits, like housing, medical insurance and pension, in order to join the company, they asked Koo for appropriate compensation. Koo agreed to paid each of them thirty thousand US dollars when the first house came to the market. Koo even told them that what they asked was even lower than what he had expected. With that agreement, everyone was pleased. 

The sale of the houses went very well and it was time for Koo to fulfill his promise. About the same time, Hong found out that his sale accounts were quietly being transferred to another employee in Hong Kong and he was kept in the dark about the sale figures. Concerned, Hong, together with the two senior managers, again went to Koo this time to ask him to fulfill his promise.

As usual, Koo greeted them with a smile. Then Koo said, "About the matter you are mentioning, -- I can say that I made the promise, or I can say that I did not make any promise, for there are NO legal binding documents between us.

"Hong was totally stunned by the answer. Twenty years of friendship now appeared worthless compared to the greed for money. In fury, he resigned. 

"I have lost all that I had and need to start from scratch again." he said in his letter. "I will take hold of opportunities to gamble for a few years and then jump off this boat." He continued, "Billions in capital and thousands of businessmen are pouring into Shanghai in recent years. Many capable people who hung onto their secured government jobs are missing this golden opportunity to make a fortune. But this will not be my case. I am empty handed. I can catch whatever is thrown at me and pick and choose to my own satisfaction." 

Hong got himself involved in many different businesses. Not only did he start a real estate consulting firm. He also worked as chief accountant for several foreign real estate development firms and signed on as development manager for yet another company. He tried to do whatever he could lay his hands on -- he sold raw land, real estate, construction materials, etc., etc. "I am very tired, both mentally and physically. After so many years of hard work, I find myself exhausted. But these few years are my only chance. I think of myself as a licensed hunter. I am experienced and I am waiting for my prey. Unlike others, I am looking for big game." 

He confessed however, that all this hard work was to prove himself to Koo. He was trying to get revenge through his own success. He concluded his letter with Maxim Gorki's poem, "The Song of the Eagle "The wounded eagle struggled to the edge of the cliff and tumbled down to the valley, finishing its last flight with dignity." 

My heart was deeply troubled after reading Hong's letter. He has had hepatitis B before. How can he shoulder such a heavy yoke and continue to turn the millstone? I thought of that donkey pushing the millstone. With a mouthful of straw, it walked in circles of three hundred sixty degrees. Man is no better than that. Three hundred sixty days a year, man is carrying a heavy yoke and pushing a millstone to make a living, year after year until the day he dies. When he is gone, who can tell us what is left behind besides the yoke and the millstone?  

*****

Abridged from pg. 4-5, April 1995 issue of the Overseas Campus Magazine  

Shiao Gong came from Shanghai and is now a theological seminary student in Los Angeles.