Three Visits To The Thatched Cottage
Before leaving for Xuchang, Xu Shu recommended Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei to be his strategist, telling Liu that he needed to recruit Zhuge Liang personally. Accompanied by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Liu Bei travelled to Longzhong (in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei) to find Zhuge Liang. They reached Zhuge Liang's house (described to be a "thatched cottage") but Zhuge's servant said that his master was not at home. Liu Bei then asked the servant to pass a message to Zhuge Liang, telling him that Liu Bei came to visit him. Several days later during winter, Liu Bei brought his sworn brothers along with him again to visit Zhuge Liang. This time, the servant led Liu Bei to his "master", who turned out to be actually Zhuge Liang's younger brother Zhuge Jun. Just as he was about to leave, Liu Bei saw someone approaching and thought it was Zhuge Liang, but the person was Zhuge Liang's father-in-law Huang Chengyan. When winter was over and spring came, Liu Bei decided to visit Zhuge Liang again, much to the displeasure of his sworn brothers. This time, Zhuge Liang was at home but was asleep. Liu Bei waited patiently until Zhuge Liang woke up and they had a discussion. Zhuge Liang drafted a Longzhong Plan for Liu Bei and agreed to leave home and become Liu's strategist.
Read more about this topic: List Of Fictitious Stories In Romance Of The Three Kingdoms
Famous quotes containing the words visits, thatched and/or cottage:
“The soul is no traveler; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from his house, or into foreign lands, he is at home still and shall make men sensible by the expression of his countenance that he goes, the missionary of wisdom and virtue, and visits cities and men like a sovereign and not like an interloper or a valet.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Gold or silver mansions are not as good as one’s own thatched house.”
—Chinese proverb.
“The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail—its roof may shake—the wind may blow through it—the storm may enter—the rain may enter—but the King of England cannot enter!—all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!”
—William Pitt, The Elder, Lord Chatham (1708–1778)