There lived a man in a small village in China. He was an eccentric man. His old shoes were worn out. So, he decided to buy a new pair of shoes. Before he went to the marketplace, he drew a detailed picture of his feet on a piece of paper, carefully measured them, and wrote down all their dimensions. Then, he set off on foot for the shoe store. Arriving later that day at the marketplace, he unhappily discovered that he had forgotten to bring the paper with his measurements on it! He turned around and walked back home to get it.
It was sunset by the time he returned again to the market, and all the shops were closed. He saw only one shopkeeper who was about to close his shop too. He explained his situation to the shopkeeper who had already packed away all his wares. “Foolish man!” said the shopkeeper, “You could have trusted your feet and tried the shoes on in the store! Why did you go home to get your diagrams?” The man blushed, “I guess I trusted my measurements more.”
