The Jade Master

One cold winter morning a young man walks five miles through the snow. He knocks on the Jade master’s door.

The Jade master answers with a broom in his hand.

“Yes?”

“I want to learn about Jade.”

“Very well then, come in out of the cold.”

They sit by the fire sipping hot green tea. The Jade master presses a green stone deeply into the young man’s hand and begins to talk about tree frogs. After a few minutes, the young man interrupts.

“Excuse me, I am here to learn about Jade, not tree frogs.”

The Jade master takes the stone and tells the young man to go home and return in a week. The following week the young man returns. The Jade master presses another green stone into the young man’s hand and continues the story. Again, the young man interrupts. Again, the Jade-master sends him home. Weeks pass. The young man interrupts less and less. The young man also learns to brew the hot green tea, clean up the kitchen and sweep the floors. Spring comes.

One day, the young man observes, “The stone I hold is not genuine Jade.”

(This story also appears in the Prologue of the book ‘The New Market Wizards’)